Energy expert and deputy president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), professor Geoff Maitland, is urging governments to show collective leadership and commit resources to defeat the damage being caused by climate change.

(WK-intern) – Professor Maitland’s comments follow publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) third report: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change¹, which has called for a major shift towards renewable energy and increase the use of natural gas to help bridge the transition away from fossil fuels.

However, Maitland estimates that – taking a realistic view of the rate at which renewable energies can be developed and implemented at large-scale – fossil fuels will continue to provide around half of the world’s energy supply by 2050, and it will take a further 25 years before fossil fuels are fully replaced by low carbon, renewable energies.

Maitland said: “Many governments do have plans stretching decades ahead for the reduction of carbon emissions.  These address both increases in the contribution of renewable sources of energy and reductions in carbon emissions from the continued use of fossil fuels.

“However, it is the speed of implementation of these measures that is a major cause for concern.  The IPCC is saying that it is essential for governments to accelerate these processes if we are to combat effectively the hidden enemy of climate change.

“Renewable energy currently provides around 14 per cent of our needs. To move to 100 per cent by 2075 is not going to be achieved without sustained political will and resources.”

Maitland – a professor of energy engineering at Imperial College London and a Fellow of IChemE, Royal Society of Chemistry, Energy Institute and the Royal Academy of Engineering, continued:

“Waiting for renewable energies to take over will not cut emissions quickly enough to meet the target of restricting the mean global temperature rise to 2^oC. There is good evidence to support a greater emphasis towards using natural gas. In the US, the growth in shale gas has reduced the rate of increase in CO₂ emissions to around a third of their previous levels.²

“In the meantime, we have to abate greenhouse gases from existing fossil fuel energy sources much more rapidly than we are at present. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a solution, but will again need leadership and resources to help establish an estimated 3,200 CCS facilities required worldwide over the next 35 years to remove the necessary levels of CO₂ from the atmosphere.”

Maitland continued: “The IPCC’s three reports have made the clearest and strongest case yet of the damage we are doing to our planet and the rapid action needed to prevent this becoming catastrophic. The good news is that engineers, working together, have the potential solutions.

“Hurdles remain. Without government support there is a limit to which the rate of technology development for CCS and of these new sources of energy can be delivered to the market place in the quantities needed to meet global demand, whilst capping CO₂ emissions at acceptable levels. Inevitably, demand will increase further.

“Communication too must be addressed. The public perception that conventional cheap energy can continue is clearly wrong when issues of climate change are factored in.

“There is also the question of cost. New plants, especially gas, which include CCS, will need to be built. The costs of CCS may add 25 per cent to typical household bills. And further research and subsidies in renewable energy will be needed.

“However, the price of taking no action is immeasurable and unthinkable and we need to dispel the myths about continuing low energy prices compounded by political parties focussed on short-term, vote-winning electoral policies.”

Last week, Geoff Maitland emphasised the unique role of engineers – especially chemical engineers – to work together to lead the debate on climate change and provide long-term, sustainable solutions³.

The role of chemical engineers in the health, water, food and energy sectors is explored in IChemE’s latest technical strategy, Chemical Engineering Matters.

About chemical engineers

Chemical, biochemical and process engineering is the application of science, maths and economics to the process of turning raw materials into everyday products. Professional chemical engineers design, construct and manage process operations all over the world.  Pharmaceuticals, food and drink, synthetic fibres and clean drinking water are just some of the products where chemical engineering plays a central role.

About IChemE

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is the hub for chemical, biochemical and process engineering professionals worldwide. With a growing global membership of over 38,000, the Institution is at the heart of the process community, promoting competence and a commitment to best practice, advancing the discipline for the benefit of society, encouraging young people in science and engineering and supporting the professional development of its members. Further information: www.icheme.org

References

¹ Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change: http://mitigation2014.org/

² 1.1 per cent increase of CO₂ per annum, compared to around 3 per cent previously

³ Climate change: engineers more important than governments: http://www.icheme.org/media_centre/news/2014/climate-change-engineers-more-important-than-governments.aspx#.U0vAXfldWVM

About Geoff Maitland

Geoff Maitland is professor of energy engineering at Imperial College London, with a career that has straddled industry and academia. He studied Chemistry at Oxford University where he also obtained his doctorate in Physical Chemistry.

After a period as an ICI Research Fellow at Bristol University, he was appointed to a lectureship in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College in 1974. He spent a secondment with ICI Plastics Division from 1979-1981 and became a senior lecturer in 1983.

In 1986 Geoff moved to the oil and gas industry with Schlumberger, where he led research in oilfield fluids engineering for well construction, reservoir stimulation and production enhancement. He held a number of senior technical and research management positions in Cambridge and Paris, most recently as a Research Director. He rejoined Imperial College in September 2005 as Professor of Energy Engineering and his current research covers clean and efficient fossil fuel production with particular emphasis on carbon dioxide mitigation processes, recovery of non-conventional hydrocarbons including methane hydrate production and energy-related reactor engineering.

Geoff is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Energy Institute. In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He was awarded the Hutchison Medal by the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 1998 and served as President of the British Society of Rheology from 2002-2005. He was awarded the IChemE Chemical Engineering Envoy Award for 2010 for his media work explaining the engineering issues involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil-spill.

In 2011 he chaired the independent review of the UK Offshore Oil & Gas Regulatory Regime (‚The Maitland Report‘) and in 2012 received the Rideal Lecture Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Geoff will take up his year-long post of IChemE President on 28 May 2014.

PR: IChemE