Walt Patterson On Energy

Energy futures: Speeches




Twenty-five years ago, in 1990, Friends of the Earth invited me to deliver their John Preedy memorial lecture. In my archives I recently found the text of my lecture, entitled The Energy Alternative. It gives an uncanny early foretaste of my current work. At Chatham House in 1993 I spoke about Technological Revolution. In 2000 I told a Uranium Institute symposium in London about 'Electricity In Flux', and an ABB colloquium in Interlaken about 'Future Electricity Systems'. In 2005 my keynote address at York University in Toronto was on 'The Electric Challenge: Getting The Story Right', and my lecture to the London Boroughs Energy Group on 'Getting Energy Right'. In 2006 my presentation to the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London was on 'Sustainable Electricity: Cultural Barriers'; at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London I declared that 'Energy Policy Is Infrastructure Policy'. In 2007 I spoke in London, Stornoway, Belfast and elsewhere, on my book Keeping The Lights On. In 2008 at the 'Electric West' conference in Las Vegas I gave a keynote speech entitled 'Down with conservation! Forget efficiency!'. At the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alberta, I argued that we should 'Start With Electricity'. At the 'Future Power' conference in London I discussed 'Upgrading Electricity'.

In 2009 I gave the keynote address at the 'Energy In Transition' conference of the Energy Institute in London, and spoke on 'Energy Security and Regulation' at a seminar at the Warwick Business School. At the Energy Ireland conference in Dublin, I spoke on 'What The Future Holds For Energy Users', and at the World Forum on Energy Regulation in Athens on 'Managing Energy Wrong: and What Regulators Can Do About It'. For UK-ISES I gave the David Hall Memorial Lecture, entitled 'Down With Fuel!'. You can see a four-part video starting here.

In 2010 I gave the 'Core Connections' guest lecture at the University of New England, on 'Changing The Way The World Works'. At the Oxford Literary Festival, I called for 'A New Energy Story'. To the Electricity Policy Research Group at Cambridge, I gave a seminar on 'An Electric Planet?'. At Warwick Business School I spoke on 'Energy Policy and Regulation: Future Challenges'. In the opening plenary of the annual conference of the International Association for Energy Economics in Rio de Janeiro, I pointed 'Toward Real Energy Economics'.

In April 2011, at the Chernobyl 25th anniversary conference in Barcelona, I took a different angle on 'Changing The Way The World Works'. In June, at the Equinox Summit in Waterloo, Ontario, I described the 'Electric Future'. You can download a video (32Mb) - right-click here. In November, at the Conference on the Assessment of Future Energy Systems in Calgary, Alberta, I discussed 'Making Electricity Sustainable'. You can see a video here.

In November 2012, at the gala dinner at the Quality Urban Energy Systems for Tomorrow (QUEST) conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, I gave a keynote entitled 'QUEST For Better'.

In February 2014 at University College London I gave a seminar entitled
Beyond The Fire Age: What We Do, How We Do It, How We Can Do Better, on what has since become my latest book, Electricity Vs Fire: The Fight For Our Future. You can see the seminar here. In May, at the Deloitte annual Energy Conference in Washington DC, developing the analysis further, I asked 'What Should Governments Do About Energy?'. In June, at the Energy Institute conference in London on 'Energy Systems', I called for us to move 'Beyond The Fire Economy', as you can see here.

After publishing
Electricity Vs Fire: The Fight For Our Future I've been doing my best to publicize it. In May 2015, at the International Energy Research Centre conference and workshop in Cork, Ireland, I spoke on themes from the book - 'Rethink Energy - Rethink Efficiency' and 'Better Activity Systems'. In June I gave a seminar about Electricity Vs Fire at Chatham House. In June, at the Energy Risk Summit conference in London, I gave the closing guest address entitled 'Fire Risk 2015'.

In November, at the Seoul International Energy Conference in South Korea, as chair of Mayor Park's Seoul International Energy Advisory Council, I gave a keynote address entitled 'Rethinking Energy: Implementing The Global Future Locally Today'. The next day at Korea University I gave a lecture on 'Electricity Vs Fire'. In December at University College London I gave a seminar on 'The Politics of Electricity and Nuclear'.

On 29 June 2017 at the Energy Risk conference in London I gave the closing keynote address, entitled ¨Playing With Fire: Will Your Business Model Go Up In Flames?¨ .

On 15 November I spoke at a Chatham House briefing on ¨The Geopolitics of Renewable Energy¨. You can listen to the entire briefing here.

On 6 February 2018 I gave a seminar at the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex, about what I hope will be my next book. Its provisional title is Living Cool: Taking The Heat Out Of What We Do. I returned to the theme on 13 August, addressing students from the Indian NTPC School of Business.

Just before we realized the full impact of covid-19, I gave a seminar 28 January 2020 at the Sussex Energy Group and 27 February at Chatham House . As an introduction to what I hope will be my next book I called the presentation Living Cool: A New Story. As the world battles covid-19 I am now immersed in a deep reassessment of the analysis underlying Living Cool. I still think it's valid, but its implications are now dramatically different.




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