Tips and trends
It seems appropriate to start the New Year with the famous quote of Jimi Hendrix at his live concert “Band of Gypsys” on New Year’s Eve 1969-70 in New York. ‘Happy New Year first of all!’ he said – after which he started playing “Machine Gun” – a really depressing song about the Vietnam War.
Those were troubled times. And surely troubled times are back again! Monetary crises, political turmoil, environmental problems, the threat of war in the Gulf – these are darkening the prospects for 2012. And the energy sector is at the heart of the troubles.
Yet it does not mean that we should be pessimistic. Today’s challenges are hardly unique, as the Jimi Hendrix anecdote reminds us. What our future will look like, depends on the choices we make today.
With this in mind, EER’s editor Karel Beckman solicited the advice of energy security expert Matthew Hulbert. Together they prepared a brief “guide” that might help you, as a professional in the energy sector, navigate the stormy energy seas of the coming year.
They have tried to give some idea of what the major trends (and traps) are for the energy sector in 2012. And they come up with a number of practical tips for decision-makers and policymakers. Their most important recommendations:
-check your plan B
-prepare the International Energy Agency for a global crisis
-launch an Apollo programme for energy efficiency
-free nuclear power from the embrace of the State
-put an end to UN climate conferences
-and hold on to your hats
To consult EER’s “Quick Energy Guide for 2012”, please click here.
Special E-World supplement: smart grids, Austrian gas hub, offshore wind
But we have more for you. We are happy to announce that we have produced a Special Issue for the E-World Conference and Exhibition which will take place from 7 to 9 February in Essen, Germany.
E-World is one of the major annual energy conferences and exhibitions in Europe, attracting some 20,000 visitors. This year’s edition has signed up 540 exhibitors from 20 countries. Over the three days of the event, some 20 conferences will be held, on a wide variety of subjects, including the gas market, smart grids, communication strategies and much more.EER has prepared, in collaboration with a number of advertisers, a special thematic issue that will be distributed among visitors and exhibitors of E-World. It includes an exclusive interview with Gottfried Steiner, CEO of the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) in Austria, and an in-depth report on European developments in smart grids written by our Italian correspondent James Osborne. It also includes an interview with Anders Eldrup, CEO of Dong Energy, on that company’s offshore wind strategy, which was published on our website last year.
To read this special E-World issue, please go to our homepage and click on the banner.
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