From Lisbon to the world, on the virtual stage of the 2020 edition of the Web Summit, Carlos Gomes da Silva accepted the role of keynote speaker to spend 15 minutes talking about the ongoing energy transition process, the challenges involved and the role played by Galp in this process. The company's CEO pointed out that energy transition has been taking place for almost two hundred years in the form of continuous technological progress, however “decarbonisation is a huge challenge for mankind”, he acknowledges.
The growing consumption of natural resources and the greater need for energy in tandem with human development are increasingly on the rise, resulting in spiralling greenhouse gas emissions. In the last 30 years, illustrated Carlos Gomes da Silva, the world and the economy have undergone unprecedented development, improving the lives of millions of human beings. However, the negative consequences of progress have led to a 60% increase in CO2 emissions. The goals for the next few decades are clear, added the CEO: “to continue to improve the lives of billions of people, preventing climate change on a large scale and simultaneously reducing carbon emissions by at least 50%, while developing global energy systems to reduce energy needs by 7%”. A challenge of gigantic proportions, particularly when compared to what has been happening over the past 20 years, and only possible with the help of technology. “Most of the technologies geared to a low-carbon future already exist or are being developed, meaning we are moving from a point where the question is ‘how do we do it?’ to another where we ask ‘how much will it cost?’”, he reinforces.
CREATING THE ECOSYSTEM FOR ENERGY TRANSITION
There is no perfect recipe for rapid, efficient energy transition. However, Carlos Gomes da Silva believes that adding the right ingredients will create the necessary environment. Technology, investment, the global CO2 market and a fair transition, defined by global policies promoting cooperation, are the factors he regards as essential in this process. “We need to create an energy transition environment based on these elements”, he says.
With regard to technology, Carlos Gomes da Silva recalled that this has been “the greatest hope for faster energy transition, as these tools have enabled us to significantly reduce energy costs in the past twenty years (will enable us to significantly reduce energy costs in the next twenty years). “From the development of EV mobility to the increasing competitiveness of solar PV power and, more recently, hydrogen, nobody knows for sure how much R&D will affect the competitiveness of each option”, he stresses.
As for the creation of a global CO2 market, the Galp CEO argues that energy transition needs to bear this external factor in mind, and “which we will need to address in the best possible manner”. One of the mechanisms he defends is carbon taxation, which will enable us to fix the market price of different products and services in accordance with the cost of carbon emissions.
Cooperation in sustainable development is also an important part of the fair transition process, which, in the opinion of Carlos Gomes da Silva, will depend considerably on transition policies committed to a collective effort on both a national and global scale.
Finally, investment, which is fundamental to achieving such an ambitious goal, will encompass an enormous effort. “Trillions of dollars of investment will be needed in the coming decades. For that to happen, investors need to see the sector as sustainable from both an energy and an economic perspective”, underlines the CEO.
A FOCUS ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
In front of an audience of hundreds of people from all over the world, Carlos Gomes da Silva made sure he shared Galp's goals and strategies on carbon neutrality. As both a petroleum enterprise and an integrated solutions company focused on providing sustainable energy for the future, energy continues to pave the organisation´s path towards decarbonisation. “We will continue to need our upstream business for years to come, but we have one of the most competitive portfolios in the world, both financially and in terms of carbon intensity, which will enable us to energise the world in this transition period in a responsible manner”, declared the CEO. However, as he admits, the supply needs to be adapted to new consumer needs and the increasing regulation of the market, raising investment in energy efficiency. The expansion of the renewable energy portfolio is an example of this – Galp leads the way in the solar energy sector in the Iberian Peninsula –, along with its investment in mobility management with the company Flow, a pioneer in SMM (sustainable mobility management) solutions, which enable companies to reduce costs and decarbonise their mobility. “Flow's sustainable mobility management solutions enabled customers to save more than 225 euros per vehicle and 500 tons of CO2 last year”, says Galp CEO Carlos Gomes da Silva. He also highlighted the company's commitment to UP - Upcoming Energies, the innovation factory whose mission is “to test new business models with a go-to-market approach geared to integrating the latest tools in the market and creating a firm relationship with the innovation ecosystem“ with a view to scaling the business exponentially.
The path has been paved, the direction is clear and the know-how, both human and technological, is perfectly tuned. However, as Carlos Gomes da Silva reminds us, “energy transition is an expensive, complex and ambitious process. We know how to do it, but we have a deadline and we need to meet it”.