Business leaders and energy experts call for government
action to decarbonise power generation

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With the World Business Summit concluding on
the 26th, Alstom, together with Duke Energy and Vattenfall
co-hosted a round table on 24th May to discuss how the power
generation industry, responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions, can be
de-carbonized to tackle climate change.

Present at the round table were Philippe
Joubert, President of Alstom Power, and the CEOs of leading
energy companies Duke Energy, Vattenfall, DONG Energy, TATA
Power, BP, AMEC, Bruce Power, PG&E and Eskom. Also present
were policy makers from the Danish Prime Minister's office,
governments from Japan and Sweden, and CEOs from leading
organisations the World Bank, the Global CCS Institute, the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development, the International
Emissions Trading Association, the World Energy Council, the
European Investment Bank and the International Energy Agency.

All agreed on the unprecedented nature of the
scale and urgency of the action to be taken. Here are a number of
recommendations made by participants:

• If all current policies are successfully
  implemented we will still only be halfway to the target of
  450 ppm (or a global temperature increase of 2° C). Much
  more action is needed. Urgently.
• Costs of new low-carbon technologies can
  only be driven down through deployment. We need to make
  progress with deployment of technologies.
• A clear signal from the industry is that
  we need confidence in the direction we are taking, as well as
  the stability of the regulatory framework to provide an
  incentive for investment.
• We need to confidence in the long term
  carbon price.
• Political leadership is needed.
  Developing countries will need to find low-carbon pathways to
  development, but the resources required are very large and
  need to be found very quickly.
• Lenders have a role to play, but will
  look to governments to help off-set the worst case scenario
  risks.
• Governments must resist the temptation
  of short-term policy intervention that might adversely affect
  the investment decisions of the industry.
• A long-term strategy must urgently be
  established for R&D well as for investment, a domain
  which requires very long-term decisions from utilities
• The regulatory model needs to change to
  encourage a shift in the mission of the power sector.
  Affordability and universal access to electricity is
  essential, but clean power has to trump some of these issues.
  CO2 emissions targets will not be reached unless we
  decarbonize power generation.
• Regulation benefits industry by
  providing a consistent approach, necessary to encourage
  investment and ensure the biggest possible reduction of
  costs.
• Areas to be regulated include efficiency
  standards, not just on the demand side; mandatory CCS, as
  recently proposed by the UK for coal fired power plants;
  smart grid standards; demand side management; and sectoral
  approaches based on best available technologies, which could
  help provide a fair and even international context.

“It takes more than a generation to replace the capital
stock of power generation. If nothing is done now, we will delay
the change for yet another generation,” said Philippe
Joubert, commenting on the discussions. « We have the
technologies. The challenge now is to implement them quickly and
to drive the commercial ramp-up. Policy makers should resist the
temptation to adopt simplistic solutions. With the right market
and regulatory framework, businesses can deliver what is needed.
»

• Visit the World Business Summit on climate change website
• More information on the Alstom Power website