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Andrew Hill (72-78), An open letter from Andrew Hill after the events of Eco Week at the College in which Andrew, a forty-year veteran of the energy industry, reflects on the related issues of delivering the energy transition. The move to a greener economy is of course a difficult conundrum for the world and, as I work for a company supplying energy, I am right in the middle of it. Indeed, having worked in the oil and gas industry for 40 years, I may be considered to be part of the problem, rather than the solution. While it is good to see the College moving to electric vehicles (EVs) and commitment to 100% renewable electricity, I hope the boys are also being challenged to think about where the metals for the EV batteries come from and in the UK, when the wind doesn’t blow, whether your electricity supply remains truly 100% renewable. For example, is burning Canadian Biomass a sustainable energy resource? It is a fact that EVs in the UK are powered by a mixture of electrical sources, which on windless days would mean increased use of coal. In Norway, however, an EV is Hydro-powered, in France they are Nuclear-powered, while in Poland and Germany they are predominantly lignite- powered. We know all electricity is not good electricity – yet it must come from somewhere. I hope the boys are debating these issues. Understanding the scale of the change is also not helped by journalists and numerous presenters using cleverly selected Y-axes that do not start at zero for demand e.g. for oil or gas. They then use severely compressed X-axes for time to make the apparent demand dip precipitously, which must be good? This encourages the belief that one can simply stop using fossil fuels “now.” As an excellent speaker I heard not long ago highlighted, and I would hope Dulwich boys would understand, “it’s not the [apparent] shape of the curve, it’s the area under the curve that matters!” And when you look at it this way, even the most aggressive energy demand scenarios require a vast amount of oil and gas to be produced - which of course means “used” - by 2050. That is exceedingly sobering! So, what we use needs to be the most environmentally friendly barrels that can be produced. Therefore, in the words of F.D. Roosevelt, “Look to Norway” with a complete ban on flaring (reduced CO2 and residual unburnt methane emissions), platforms run by hydro electrical power sent from shore (reduced gas or diesel burning emissions) and produced CO2 being injected back into the subsurface for permanent storage. We should look to stop using barrels from the likes of the Middle East with endemic cold (i.e. direct release of “waste” methane to the atmosphere) or hot flaring and overall poor field management practices. When we do use hydrocarbons, their use should be effective; for example, using methane to produce blue hydrogen with the carbon permanently stored underground. In the late 16th century, Edward Alleyn looked to move away from the pollution of Bankside to the fresh air of the country for the health of his wife, ultimately settling in Dulwich. Three hundred years later, the exact same process was repeating itself with the occupants of fine housing in the corridor of Wandsworth through Battersea, and Clapham to Brixton, moving out to the likes of Bromley and Beckenham for their health. Why? Due to the agglomeration of coal-powered electricity generation, coking plants sweating off town gas (some may remember the putrid smell of the things – now thankfully long gone) to go into gasometers, beside The Oval cricket ground for example, and the incredible density of rail lines with coal-powered locomotives focusing in on London. Together, they must have made the air insufferable. For the well-to-do and the expanding middle class of the time, the answer was simple: move out. By the 1950’s, the conditions remained the same; the “fine housing” had become run down and few wanted to live there. As a result, the arriving Caribbean community found themselves being dropped into the empty and dilapidated housing. Come the disappearance of coal-powered rail, followed by the end of town gas (as North Sea gas began to arrive ashore) and ultimately the demise of coal-powered electricity generation along the South Bank, dramatic air quality improvements kick started South Bank regeneration. What is important is that this would not
Dan Demilew (91-98), Program Manager at Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) I am a Program Manager at Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), a green hydrogen and green ammonia developer. I left the College in 1998 to study Civil Engineering at Durham University before embarking on a career encompassing various engineering projects throughout the UK, Australia and the Middle East. After doing an MBA at Central Saint Martins, I moved into renewables and I now develop projects in Africa and Europe to build renewable power generation (wind, solar, hydropower), green hydrogen/ammonia manufacturing facilities and ports for exporting the green products around the world. Green hydrogen and ammonia are seen as the primary green fuel solutions to decarbonise industries and sectors that are hard to electrify, such as shipping, freight transport and mining vehicles (dump trucks, drill rigs etc). Green ammonia can also be used to make green fertilizer and green hydrogen can substitute coal as an iron ore reducing agent to make green steel, helping to decarbonise a sector responsible for 7% of global CO2 emissions. BMW and Volvo are already using some green steel in their cars. Green hydrogen is made by passing renewable electricity through water. This can then be combined with nitrogen from the air to make green ammonia. I am currently based in Nairobi with my family, working to bring my green dream to life. Paul Formanko (08-25), Climate Risk Analyst at KPMG & Photographer Since leaving Dulwich in 2015, I’ve enjoyed working for a host of sustainability-focused organisations, including an electric boat company, a parliamentary research commission and an off-grid solar firm. Upon finishing an undergraduate degree in Geography at UCL and a postgraduate degree in International Relations at LSE, I was in search of a job where I could apply my academic and personal interests in a meaningful and impactful manner. After finishing my master’s dissertation, I joined KPMG as an Analyst in a brand-new team named Climate Risk and Decarbonisation Strategy. In my role at KPMG, I help some of the world’s biggest companies understand the climate risks they face and decarbonise their business models to prepare them for a low-carbon future. Climate risks can be either physical (weather-related events such as floods damaging factories, for example) or transitional (a risk associated with changes in policy or strategy, such as an oil price increase) and it is vital to understand both. Taking an airline as an example, a physical risk may be ocean current changes impacting the shipping times of aviation fuel. A transitional risk may be the introduction of a carbon border tax on the airline’s parts suppliers. A company like KPMG would produce a risk assessment for the airline and suggest various actions, from investing in more fuel-efficient aircrafts to using sustainable aircraft fuel, or perhaps utilising more thorough climate modelling or cutting unsustainable flight paths. Similarly, I recently completed a project for an international soft drinks company, helping them understand how climate change will impact their bottling plants and supply chains across southeast Asia. My ultimate hope is that companies recognise the changes they need to make if we are to become a net zero society. have started but for the demise of the use of coal and its replacement by natural gas from the North Sea. We have, therefore, already been through a previous energy transition and it resulted in enormous environmental benefits. The UK leads G7 countries in reduction in emissions since 1990 – down by 43%! No longer is the UK called “The Dirty Man of Europe”. There is no reason why we should not be able to achieve an energy transition again. However, the lessons from displacing coal from the UK energy economy suggests it may take decades to achieve and, sadly, there is no magic switch to flick to effect the change. Yet, for the good of all, change we must! On its own, my work will not save the planet, but it is part of a complex jigsaw of making the world habitable for future generations.
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