Most renewable and clean energy technology will be developed and provided by the private sector ”” and this leaves energy businesses with important choices to make on their strategic direction. Stronger policy incentives are needed to give these businesses and investors confidence to make decisions. Long-term political commitment is needed for new technologies and processes to be developed, piloted and scaled up; inventions in the clean energy sector have taken two to three decades to reach the mass market.
The Copenhagen summit was a missed opportunity but we need global agreement on emissions targets. Governments need to identify a clear path towards sustainable energy that businesses can follow. But making the leap to cleaner energy involves a feat of imagination as well as money.
There’s one other lesson to learn from the attempt to stem the flow of oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig: the longer we wait to take action, the harder it is to clean up the mess.