Power Engineering - Greenpeace protestors overshadow Prodis inauguration speech

12 November 2007 - Greenpeace activists protesting about the expansion of nuclear power in the energy mix were a distracting force during the delivery of a key speech from Romano Prodi, Italy's prime minister at the opening ceremony of the World Energy Congress in Rome.

Two activists, Carlo Porrone and Andrea Cuffi, dressed in red overalls, breached security and climbed the roof to the auditorium in hall 10 to wave banners with protest messages, ENERGY REVOLUTION NOW and NUCLEAR MADNESS, ENERGY REVOLUTION NOW. Dangling from the silver cylinders, they didn't say anything, but drew attention from the police and delegates, some of which were amused by the stunt.

Greenpeace warned that increasing nuclear power capacity undermined solutions to climate change by diverting financial resources away from urgently needed investments in clean, renewable energy and improvements in energy efficiency. It is calling for nuclear power to be phased out across the world because it is expensive with a long lead time to build infrastructure, and no sufficient solutions have been found on handling nuclear waste.

Prodi, who gave his speech without being distracted by the Greenpeace protestors, said that technological innovations would be crucial in managing energy resources responsibly and he called on producers and consumers to hold dialogue. He added that it was important that climate change should not be forgotten.

"The markets alone cannot guarantee success and a global effort is needed," Prodi stressed. "Strong willed governments and multilateral agreements are needed so that mankind can have a future."

He blamed speculation in the financial markets for driving up the price of oil, adding that "this speculation must be contained in the future."

But Chicco Testa, president of the WEC organising committee, offered a different interpretation with the view that stable high prices could help to drive innovation. "A stable high oil price is not necessarily a calamity." He said that improved energy efficiency would help to curb demand, whilst simultaneously increasing the supplies of renewable energy to meet new supply and demand issues.

One of the major challenges facing the energy industry is significantly increasing its investment, said Andre Caille, chairman of the World Energy Council. "We must keep all of our options open and the price of energy must stay high to encourage innovation and investment. We need to triple or even quadruple the current level of investment."

Russia's president Vladimir Putin called for dialogue and transparency in energy markets to establish trade rules based on the principles of justice and mutual respect. Russia has sent a delegation, led by Viktor Khristenko, Minister of Industry and Energy of Russia, to discuss its role in energy security and other energy issues at various events throughout the four day Congress.

Around 4000 delegates from 112 countries have signed up to discuss the major theme of WEC – Energy future in an interdependent world. Different workshops, technical sessions, and roundtables are being held to debate the scale of the challenge, climate change, renewables, and energy efficiency to name but a few.

With world energy demand increasing and traditional supplies dwindling, Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Republic, told delegates that "discovering sources of alternative and renewable energy has become a serious priority if we are to ensure the planet has a fair chance of progress. The role of research is therefore essential if we are to meet the challenge of sustainable energy use and to safeguard the global environment and eco-system."

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