Renewable Energy Opportunities for a Sustainable Future

Panel on Renewable Energy Opportunities for a Sustainable Future Held

Sabancı Üniversitesi and Istanbul International Energy and Climate Center (IICEC) organized a panel titled 'Renewable Energy Opportunities for a Sustainable Future'.

According to a statement by Sabancı Üniversitesi, the online panel featured leading actors from the energy sector as speakers and shared assessments on growth, development and opportunity areas in renewable energy as well as Turkey's position in this field.

IICEC Coordinator Mehmet Doğan Üçok, in his opening remarks at the panel, stated that exceeding the established average temperature increase of 1.5 degrees in global warming would alter all balances in the world, and said: 'According to figures from the International Energy Agency, nearly 60 percent of power plants established globally last year were solar, and nearly 30 percent were wind energy plants. In other words, almost all renewable energy. Despite these steps, halving global emissions by 2030 still appears quite difficult.' Drawing attention to where we stand on global warming, Üçok warned that if the average temperature increase goes beyond 1.5 degrees, many balances in the world could change. Pointing to reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) under the United Nations (UN), Üçok noted that according to the report, climate warming caused by human activity reached an unprecedented level between 1850 and 2000, and stated: 'Nevertheless, it is a scientific fact that climate change also brings extreme weather events with it.   In this context, the target of limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees is an extremely critical threshold for climate security. The International Energy Agency, in its 2050 net-zero report addressing this goal, presented a comprehensive roadmap for the global energy system to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. To bring emissions to net zero, renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification, hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels, bioenergy and carbon capture and storage were identified as key pillars. According to Stanford University's artificial intelligence-based modeling, the world will reach 1.5 degrees in the 2030s. Despite all these developments at the climate crisis juncture, positive developments continue worldwide. According to figures from the International Energy Agency, nearly 60 percent of power plants established globally last year were solar, and nearly 30 percent were wind energy plants. Almost all renewable energy. Yet despite current figures, halving global emissions by 2030 appears difficult.' Enerjisa Üretim Chief Executive Officer İhsan Erbil Bayçöl also drew attention to the importance of the human factor in Turkey's and the world's targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050 regarding renewable energy or zero carbon, saying: 'Currently, we can see this shortfall and difficulty both in Turkey and in other geographies. We need skilled workforce. Beyond that, one of the sector's biggest challenges is also the number of women employees. As Enerjisa Üretim, we have embarked on a 1,000 megawatt investment. We want to implement these over the next 3 years. Our only dream on that journey is not just to bring 1,000 megawatt power plants into operation, but when these plants are commissioned, to see at least a few of our plant managers as women, our engineers as women, our technicians as women, and to see an entire workforce of women when you enter a plant.' Source