Energy issues dominate eco-innovation debate at European Business Summit

Shell CEO Jeroen Van der Veer asked which energy sources were best suited to fuel economic growth in today's context of high energy prices and concerns over global warming. In his view, energy choices need to fulfil three conditions: i) Convenience; ii) Cheapness; iii) Cleanliness. 

However, he added, energy sources may fulfil two but rarely three conditions at the same time. With growing environmental challenges and uncertainties over long term availability of fossil fuels, he wondered what technology would be the winner in 20-30 years time. He cited wind power, synthetic fuels, advanced oil drilling techniques and 'greener fossil fuels', using CO2 capture and underground storage, as possible winners.

Mr Bernard Meric, Senior Vice President for External Affairs  at Hewlett Packard, said improved energy performance of PCs and printers was already helping to bring valuable savings to a lot of different industries. Meric made the case for 'virtual studios' for holding 'meetings' between people at a distance from each other to save on travel costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation.

Dr. Wolfgang Sachs, Senior Research Fellow at the Wuppertal Institute in Germany said eco-innovation is the cornerstone of long-term economic growth. However, he said eco-efficiency gains would be insufficient to ensure long-term environmental sustainability. Taking cars as an example, he said fuel efficiency gains made over the past decades, although substantial, have been entirely wiped out by parallel growth in the number of cars in circulation. For that reason, he said personal ownership was "an outdated idea"; he preferred the concept of "shared access" to belongings such as cars as the hallmark of a more efficient economy.