“The situation is very bad”. This is how Yamina Saheb, PhD in energy engineering and European energy policy analyst, started her intervention at the event Energy transition: utopy or reality? which took place in Barcelona on May 2. This is the first session out of a series of events that the Catalan Energy Cluster and the Catalan Newspaper ARA, with the support of Estabanell, are organising to disseminate and raise awareness about energy transition and decarbonisation-related topics among society.
Saheb was clear from the off and stated that the Paris Agreement is not being fulfilled. Following this, Yamina pointed out that her mother’s generation will reach 80 years of age with no problems, but her son’s generation will suffer the effects of climate change. "The chances of my son, who was born in Paris in 2020, reaching his grandmother's age are close to zero."
The ICCP expert reviewed the decarbonisation policies implemented by the European Union and measures to reduce emissions. However, she reckoned long-term policies have not been attended. “The problem in Europe is that elections are for a short term, and what we need are long-term policies", she stated. Saheb warned that no action now might result in an uprise of mortality rates in Europe in the next few years, “as emissions have no borders”. "How many deaths do we need to wake up our politicians?", she asked herself.
Regarding the difference in decarbonisation pace in the different continents, she had no hesitation. Europeans “cannot teach a lesson on that". French citizen but born in Algeria, Saheb criticized that we do not make development policies, but “neocolonial policies”. The lesson, she continued, is that we took nature for granted and that we thought we could domesticate it, which was “stupid”. Therefore, she concluded, something different must be done and, as a firm believer in European values, she was plain clear: "I think we can do it."
The energy transition
The event continued with a round table with the participation of Joan Herrera, lawyer specialised in energy and the environment and partner at SAMSO; Daniel Pérez, CEO of l’Energètica (public energy company from Catalonia); Irene Bartol, partner at Verdia Legal, and Pere Borràs, director at the generation subsidiary of Estabanell. Two main conclusions were extracted after their debate: we need to speed up renewables and we need to increase electrification. "We have sun, wind and territory", summed up Joan Herrera to explain that we can grow in renewables. And his commitment to electrification is clear: the electoral debate, he says, should focus on removing gas from gas boilers in residential homes.
On the other hand, Daniel Pérez said that decarbonisation will accelerate for economic reasons, because technology evolves very quickly. Despite the general agreement between the participants, Pere Borràs emphasized that Catalonia "has its homework to do", that it has started "to walk, but it is necessary to run". In addition, he complained about the slowness in the processing of renewables. Irene Bartol has asked for "coordination between the administrations". And made a final point about energy poverty: the war in Ukraine led to unprecedented peak prices, but now, this April, prices have been at zero for many hours thanks to renewables. Regulators have taken many measures, she said, remembering that energy "must be accessible and affordable".
Written by Xavier Grau del Cerro, chief financial editor at Ara