Starting a chain reaction

Can a city be more energy efficient but also help combat climate change? Can a company construct an energy infrastructure platform that not only benefits its client but the spider’s web of partner relationships beyond it? And can public and private companies come together for their mutual benefit in search of energy solutions and new business opportunities?

The answers to all these questions are a firm “Yes” at Global Energy Basel (GEB) where private companies, public sector partners and NGOs come together to discuss and forge new energy integration partnerships and alliances. GEB advisory board chairman Klaus Töpfer says Global Energy Basel aims to bring a level of pragmatism and “real-life” debate rarely seen at traditional conferences. “It’s not about focusing on one type of energy solution, which many conferences tend to do. It’s about asking what are the possibilities to make a city or a company more energy efficient. The key word for Global Energy Basel is integration. So it’s about a problem-orientated conference with the aim of discussing concrete solutions with private business, a chance to exchange ideas and develop tailored solutions for different consumers.”

No ordinary trade show
Private business is increasingly aware there must be packaged solutions and not isolated technologies. It’s also vital that good ideas are tailored to the real needs of consumers. “Our conference,” says Mr Töpfer, “is about building the link between consumers and producers of packaged solutions. We see this in other industries such as those producing products for the car industry who often build a whole package of solutions for energy saving plus the driving technology. This conference is really a hybrid, a chance to market your products and a marketplace for discussion and an exchange of views. Very often conferences are about a lot of speeches. We want to avoid this so the programme is about lots of small workshops, meeting consumers, as well as a wide range of professionals, be they architects or engineers.”

Of course, it’s also planning for the future. Mr Töpfer emphasises the need for such debate, particularly as developing countries increasingly devour expensive resources at breakneck speed. “This sort of discussion is very critical, especially now as we prepare for the follow-up processes of the Kyoto Protocol, due in 2009. We sincerely believe that events like GEB will allow us to debate what kind of technologies are most useful.”

Targeting demand-side and sell-side
GEB business board chairman Klaus Willnow from Siemens says GEB will be emphatically targeting both demand and supply side in order to build better communication links. “We want to target business along the whole energy supply chain. The businesses behind this are classically the oil, gas and utilities industries, but also business on the demand side: infrastructure operations, transport, mobility – the complete chain.” Willnow is keen to emphasise that the conference will not attract just large and medium players. “We welcome entrepreneurs. Start-ups can have great ideas. It’s really about many different types of businesses coming together and exchanging ideas.”

What marks out GEB will be the sheer range of players representing a wealth of energy solutions. It will also showcase a huge amount of original thinking and talent that can be difficult to find and engage within ordinary circumstances. “There will be a lot of thinking outside the box,” says Willnow. “It’s also a chance where, for example, a maker of electric cars in the transport sector can talk directly to the energy supply side. By inviting different platforms to speak together, you get to understand the infrastructure that other businesses inhabit. It gives stakeholders and key experts the chance to not only form alliances but share their problems and solutions too. It’s a terrific opportunity.”

Willnow is well aware this type of conference is the first of its type – and he believes its format could well spawn similar conferences in the future. “I sincerely believe that the future will increasingly place a premium on these types of conferences. We’re all in the same position, faced with more energy demand, higher costs and prices. What is needed is a practical approach, a partnering concept that can help take the first steps to tackle all these issues.”

Everyone’s coming
A huge spread of speakers are attending, including Amory B. Lovins, President of the Rocky Mountain Institute, media expert Vijay Vaitheeswaran from The Economist, and star architect Jacques Herzog, to name just a few. Pioneering scientists such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Rajendra Pachauri, plus decision-makers like Indonesian energy minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro are also attending – as well as a wealth of energy solutions players spanning large corporations right down to the nimblest start-up.

The conference platform aims to shed light on a range of industry including
• Building Technology
• Facility Management
• Energy Supply
• Demand Side Management and Energy Mix
• Finance, Policy and Political Framework
• Mobility and Transport
• Waste and Water

Topics to be discussed include eco towns, sustainability∞oriented urbanisation schemes, green campuses, energy saving urban, rural infrastructure, low emission industrial plants and buildings. Companies will have full facilities to make their own presentations; the conference will also offer private lounges so individuals have the chance to meet in private.

GEB’s Basel location is designed to encourage the maximum amount of industry players from a wide range of disciplines. Basel’s central location, at the border triangle of Germany, France and Switzerland regularly distinguishes itself for international events. Moreover, Basel recently won a Gold European Energy Award for its sensible and efficient use of energy.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Peter Räber, Show Director; tel +41 58 206 25 71; peter.raeber@globalenergybasel.com;
www.globalenergybasel.com