Events

Graduate Seminar Series: Helge Haldorsen

Monday, March 27, 2023
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Speaker:
Dr. Helge Haldorsen, Senior Fellow, Switch Energy Alliance

Title:
The Dual Challenge: Energy for All and Environmental Protection

Abstract:
Human and societal development depend on energy. Over the last 250 years we have seen that access to affordable energy correlates with human flourishing – that is, if you and your country are positioned at a favorable point on these ‘energy-good thing’ correlations. If you are not, there are 17 ‘howevers’: UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We will focus on SDG-7: Affordable and clean energy (for all) and SDG-13: Climate action (on several levels). This is because: 1) 2.4 billion people do not have access to clean cooking, 2) 775 million people do not have access to electricity and 3.5 billion have unreliable electricity, 3) Global indoor and ambient pollution killed 9 million people prematurely in 2019, and 4) Global GHG emissions and the global average temperature continue to tick up with IPCC in a series of reports in 2021 and 2022 warning of dire climate change consequences: more frequent and intense drought, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and warming oceans and weather events becoming more frequent and severe).  

We have spent 200 years building a complex global energy system producing 600 quadrillion BTUs of primary energy. Since around 80% of this energy today comes from fossil fuels, the corresponding CO2 emissions were around 38 Gt in 2022 or 1250 tonnes emitted per second. The tasks at hand are to: 1) secure affordable and clean energy for all, 2) scale back the use of high (unabated) GHG emission energy sources, 3) scale up low emission energy sources (with sufficient storage to compensate for intermittency) and 4) synchronize the scaling up with the scaling down to avoid a series of energy crises. As lower emission energy sources have a lower energy density and requires much more metals as input (as well as battery storage), the demand for metals will grow dramatically. It also becomes clear that there is no fully renewable energy – rather, every energy source has their pros and cons.
 
So, we know what to do: Boost efficiencies to save energy, cut Scope 1,2,3 GHG emissions, decarbonize power, decarbonize hard-to-abate industries (steel, cement, plastic, fertilizer), fix agriculture and fix transportation (cars, trucks, aviation, ships). 
 
Today, the world economy is around $100 trillion and its ‘engine’ is fueled by 80% fossil fuels (100 million barrels per day, 400 billion cubic feet per day and 20 million tonnes per day of coal). In 2050, economists expect that the world economy will have grown to $200 trillion and the Paris Agreement ambition is to run the world on net zero. This will require a massive amount of CCS/DAC. It all adds up to nothing short of a second industrial revolution!    
 
In addition to above themes, the presentation will discuss the outlook for oil and gas, the trilemma facing energy companies, CCS as a business on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and the new ‘shape’ of E&P companies: E&P2.0. E&P2.0 will be looking for graduates with a new set of competencies: X, Y and Z.  Please join us on March 27 to find out about X, Y and Z!  

Bio:
Helge Hove Haldorsen received his MSc from the Norwegian Institute of Technology and his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin, both in Reservoir Engineering. HelgeHaldorsenIn his 40+ year career in the energy industry, Helge served in a variety of professional and management positions with ExxonMobil, BP, Norsk Hydro and Equinor. His positions span from Chief Reservoir Engineer, via GM International E&P, to VP Investor Relations North America. Helge is currently a Senior Fellow at the Switch Energy Alliance, an advisor at Bain & Company and the CEO of Wichmann WH&M. Dr. Haldorsen served as the 2015 president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). He was a professor of industrial mathematics at the University of Oslo and a second lieutenant in the Royal Norwegian Navy. See Helge’s full CV.

Location:
CPE 2.204

Questions:
Trevor Oxley