How Young Professionals Are Reshaping the Future of Energy

It would seem fair to assume that young people are the most equipped and prepared to tackle climate change given that they grew up in an era where the subject was among the top concerns--not just in the society but within economic circles.

During a Gas Naturally panel at the United Nations climate summit in Paris last month, four young energy professionals were asked about the energy and environment debate. Though the four participants come from disparate backgrounds, they gave remarkably similar answers.

Thomas Porcher, an economist who teaches at the Paris School of Business (PSB), says that “climate concerns must be at the centre of the energy question.” He added that the older generations have largely bypassed these concerns because climate was not an issue when many large corporations were first built.

Christophe Heckler, a shale gas investor in the United States, agrees that climate concerns are a bigger issue for younger people. “Our generation cares a lot more about energy use and efficiency," he said. "There is an environmental awareness."  

Young professionals tend to encourage green innovation, another panellist said. “My younger colleagues are leading on specific matters such as combining innovations involving gas and new technologies,” said Alice Rodrigues, Project manager at GRTgaz.  

Young spirits have always dreamt of changing the world and the four featured speakers were no different. Filip-Alexandru Negreanu Arboreanu, policy advisor to a Member of the European Parliament explains why it’s was so meaningful for him to work, as an Eastern Europe native, in the energy sector. “I got into this field to help to change the paradigm that we are using for energy in our countries--to change from energy as a state owned utility, which is cheap, to energy as a market product, which can be traded.”

Gas has a role to play

The good news for the gas industry is that all of the young professionals agree on the fact that gas has a role to play in the energy transition, though each of them expressed their own views on the importance of gas.

Filip-Alexandru Negreanu Arboreanu thinks gas has to be a balancing instrument. “We will always need gas for a large part of the market to balance the network when the wind is not blowing [and] when the sun is not shining," he says. Alice Rodrigues from French natural gas transmission system operator GRTgaz stresses that natural gas will still be part of the energy mix in the future, with new gas technologies such as biogases becoming more important. “Gas will be used to compensate consumption peaks and decreases of renewables energies use. That's why gas is so important as a flexible source of energy we can compress and expand. Gas can be key to improving energy efficiency," she said.

Christophe Hecker considers natural gas to be “the fossil fuel that can support the development of clean energies in the most effective way by replacing coal.” He doesn't think gas will last forever and encourages gas companies to invest in renewables. “The oil and gas industry has to realise that this transition mix will last 30 or 40 years," he said. "They can diversify their electricity supplies by investing in renewable energies and tackling the transition themselves."

Thomas Porcher believes gas must play a big role in the energy transition but as a “back-up supply” to support renewable energy developments. The economist acknowledges that gas has “less impact on the environment than oil and coal”.      

Mr. Porcher also expressed his concerns about the transition from nuclear energy in France to renewables. “Without saying specifically how nuclear plants are going to be replaced, gas will be much more interesting than renewables”, the economist says pointing out that gas companies have the experience and the knowledge of the technologies involved in gas developments. “In that scenario [the transition away from nuclear power], we would replace nuclear plants with gas plants,” Porcher says.