WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Well, it's thank you for having me. It's great to 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:06.919 be here. Paris is one of my favorite places in 3 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:09.880 the world, and it's actually the the on the first 4 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:13.199 trip that I went out of South Africa, Paris, that 5 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:15.359 was where I went and when I when I was 6 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:17.399 a young little kid, well my my parents brought me 7 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.280 when I was like six years old, so I've loved 8 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:23.199 Paris ever since. So thank you for having me. What 9 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.239 I'm gonna talk about today is just in general terms, 10 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:32.240 what is needed to address the climate crisis. And this 11 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:34.920 is the thing that if, if, if, we if we 12 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.640 do what actions can we take that that will accelerate 13 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:44.479 the transition out of the fossil fuel era. So where 14 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:50.159 we are today is let's see if it's worthy. Maybe not, okay, 15 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:54.600 all right, we have the we have the present era 16 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.719 where we have the carbon cycle. And my apologies if 17 00:00:58.759 --> 00:01:00.759 if some of you already know all about this, but 18 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:03.159 I think some of these things are maybe not as 19 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.959 obvious as they may seem. So there's a certain amount 20 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:09.120 of carbon that is circulating through the environment. So it's 21 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:12.760 going into the air, being absorbed by and getting absorbed 22 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:15.799 by plants and animals, and then going back into the 23 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:18.359 air and this this carbon is just circulating on the 24 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:21.319 surface and this this is fine, and it's been doing 25 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:25.680 that for millions, hundreds of millions of years. The thing 26 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:29.560 that's changed is that we've added something to the mix. 27 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:32.480 So this is what I would call the sort of 28 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:36.840 the turd in the punch bowl. So we're added all 29 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:42.480 this extra carbon to the carbon cycle, and the net 30 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:47.480 result is that the carbon and the ocean's atmosphere is 31 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.000 growing over time. It's much more than can be absorbed 32 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.879 by the ecosystem. It's really it's really quite simple. We're 33 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:58.799 taking billions of tons of carbon that's been buried for 34 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:01.560 hundreds of millions of years and is not part of 35 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.319 the corbon cycle, taking it from deep underground and adding 36 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:08.520 it to the corbon cycle. The result is that a 37 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:12.319 steady increase in the carbon in the atmosphere and in 38 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:16.520 the ocean oceans, which doesn't look like much if you 39 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.560 look at it on this chart, but when looked at 40 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.759 in the context of history, it actually looks like this. 41 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:28.680 So the carbon posts million has really been bouncing around 42 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:33.479 the three hundred level for around ten million years, and 43 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:35.840 then the last few hundred years it went into a 44 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.879 vertical climb this. This is the essence of the problem. 45 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:44.479 This is very unusual and and a and a very 46 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:47.520 very extreme threat, as you can see from from this 47 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:51.599 rate of growth. Then this is accompanied by a temperature 48 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:58.039 increase as one would expect, and and then and this 49 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:01.319 and this temperature increase. If people talk about two degrees 50 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:04.919 or three degrees, it's important to appreciate just how sensitive 51 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.759 the climate actually is to temperature. And it's important to 52 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:13.080 look at it in terms of absolute temperature, not in 53 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:16.560 degrees celsius relative to zero. We need to say, what 54 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:19.680 is the temperature change relative to absolute zero. That's how 55 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.199 the universe thinks about temperature, It's how physics thinks about temperature. 56 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:31.719 It's relative to absolute zero. So for small changes result 57 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.360 in huge effects. So New York City under ice would 58 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:38.479 be minus five degrees. New York City underwater would be 59 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.879 plus five degrees, but looked at as a percentage relative 60 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:46.120 to absolute zero, it's only a plus minus two percent change. 61 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:55.759 So the sensitivity of the climate is extremely extremely high. 62 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.240 We've amplified this sensitivity by building our cities right on 63 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:04.240 the on the coastline, and most most people live very 64 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.360 close to the ocean. In some countries of course, that 65 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:09.800 are that are very low lying and would be completely 66 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:17.000 uh underwater in a in a climate crisis. So then 67 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:22.879 we've essentially designed civilization to be super sensitive to climate 68 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:33.199 change and the the the important thing to appreciate is 69 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.079 that we are going to exit the fossil fuels era. 70 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.000 So it is it is inevitable that we will exit 71 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:40.959 the foss fuel era because at a certain point we 72 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.439 will simply run out of carbon to mine and burn. 73 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:47.720 So the question is really when when do we exit 74 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:52.399 the era? Not not? If the goal is to exit 75 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:57.079 the era as quickly as possible, that means we need 76 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.920 to move from from the old goal with the prenu 77 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.759 real goal, which was to move from uh chopping down 78 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:10.360 forests and uh killing lots of whales. That the old 79 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.680 goal was to move from from chopping wood and and 80 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.439 killing whales to fossil fuels, which is actually in that 81 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:21.839 context was a good thing. But the new goal is 82 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:27.959 to move to a sustainable energy future, and we want 83 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:33.240 to use things like hydrosolar, wrange geo thermal. Nuclear is 84 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:37.480 also a good option in places like France which don't 85 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:42.120 aren't subject to natural disasters, and we want to use 86 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.720 energy sources that will be good for for a billion years. 87 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.839 So how do we accelerate this transition away from fossil 88 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.959 fuels to sustainable era and and and and what happens 89 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:04.000 if we don't? So if we if we wait, and 90 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:09.800 if we delay the change, the best case, the best case, 91 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:15.279 is simply delaying that inevitable transition to sustainable energy. So 92 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.120 this is the this is the best case. If we 93 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:21.240 don't take action now, at the risk of being repetitive, 94 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:24.120 it's there's gonna be no choice in the long term 95 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:27.199 to move to sustainable energy. It's it's totological. We have 96 00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:29.079 to have sustainable energy or something to run out of 97 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.360 the other one. So the only thing we gain by 98 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:36.160 slowing down the transition is is just slowing it down. 99 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:38.519 It doesn't doesn't make it not occur, It just slows 100 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:43.600 it down. The worst case, however, is more displacement and 101 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:47.240 destruction than all the wars in history combined. Okay, this 102 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:49.839 is these are these are the best worst case scenarios. 103 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:54.079 So then if we have you know, about three percent 104 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:57.000 of scientists that believe in the best case, about ninety 105 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.639 seven percent that believe in the worst case. This is 106 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.839 why I call it the dumbest experiment in history. Ever, 107 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:12.560 why would you do this? So the reason that the 108 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:17.439 transition is delayed or is happening slowly is because there 109 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:23.319 is a hidden subsidy on all carbon producing activity. In 110 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:26.639 a healthy market, if you have say ten years of 111 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.759 benefit and four years of harm to his society, the 112 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:32.759 profit would be six euros. The sort of you know, 113 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:36.399 makes obvious sense. This is where the incentives are aligned 114 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.639 with the good future. This is not this is not 115 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:43.240 the case today. But if you have the incentives aligned, 116 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.240 then the forcing function towards a good future, towards its 117 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:52.920 sustainable energy future, will be powerful. In an unhealthy market, 118 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:57.600 you have your ten years of benefit if your four years, 119 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:00.720 but the four years doesn't isn't tax. You have untaxed 120 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:05.759 negative externality. There's basically economics one on one. So you 121 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:10.800 have basically unreasonable profit and a forcing function to to 122 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:16.519 do carbon emitting activity because this this this cost to 123 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:21.399 society is not being paid. The net result is thirty 124 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:28.759 five gigatons of carbon per year into the atmosphere. So 125 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:34.679 this is analogous to not paying for garbage collection. And 126 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:36.759 it's it's not as though we should we should say 127 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:40.320 in the case of garbage, have a garbage free society. 128 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.480 It's very difficult to have a garbage free society, but 129 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.039 it's just important that people pay for the garbage collection. 130 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:55.000 So we need to go from having an untaxed negative 131 00:08:55.080 --> 00:09:00.200 externality and which is effectively a hidden carbon subsidy of 132 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:05.759 enormous size UH five point three trillion dollars a year 133 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:10.639 according to the IMF every year. We need to move 134 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.320 away from this UH and and and and have a 135 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.879 carbon tax. So but this has been this has been 136 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:24.519 fought quite hard by the UH, the carbon producers, and 137 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:26.919 they're using tactics that are very similar to what the 138 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:31.879 UH cigarette industry or the back industry used for many years. 139 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:36.159 They would they would take the approach of having of 140 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:41.759 even though the overwhelming scientific consensus was that UH smoking 141 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.559 cigarettes was bad for you, they would find a few 142 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:47.519 scientists that would disagree, and then they would say, look, 143 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.440 scientists disagree, so that that that's essentially how they would 144 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:55.360 try to trick the public into thinking that smoking is 145 00:09:55.399 --> 00:10:01.639 not that bad. The solution, obviously is to remove the subsidy, 146 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:09.440 so that means we need to have a carbon tax 147 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.919 and to make it sort of something which is neither 148 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:15.360 a left nor a right issue. We should make it 149 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.000 probably a revenue neutral carbon tax, So this would be 150 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:22.720 a case of increasing taxes on carbon, but then reducing 151 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:25.919 taxes in other places. So maybe there would be a 152 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.559 reduction in sales tax or VAT and an increase in 153 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:34.720 common tax, so that only those using high levels of 154 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:40.440 carbon would pay an increased tax. And moreover this I 155 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:44.440 mean in order to give industry time to react, This 156 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.440 could be a phased in approach, so that maybe it 157 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:52.159 takes five years before the carbon taxes are very high, 158 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.919 so that means that only companies that don't take action 159 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.360 today will suffer in five years. But there needs to 160 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.679 be a clear message from from government in this regard, 161 00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:06.720 because the fundamental problem is the rules today incent people 162 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:10.320 to create carbon and this is madness, and whatever you 163 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:15.279 incent will happen. That that's why you know we're we're 164 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:21.480 seeing little, very little effect thus far, and depending upon 165 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:25.440 how what what action we take, well we'll drive the 166 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:32.200 common number to either extreme or moderate levels. I think 167 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.399 it's pretty much a given that that the two degree 168 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.440 see increase will occur. The question is whether it's going 169 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.320 to be much more than that, not if there will 170 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:45.759 be a two degree increase. So then the question is, 171 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:48.960 so what can you do? I would say, whenever you 172 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:52.960 have the opportunity, talk to your politicians, ask them to 173 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.720 enact a carbon text where we have to fix the 174 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:59.720 unpriced externality. I'll talk to your friends about it and 175 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.679 fight the propaganda from the carbon industry. So that that's 176 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.240 the basic message I have, and I'm happy to take questions. 177 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:19.320 Okay, so we have we have some mics in the 178 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:22.360 audience being passed around. Do you want to raise your 179 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.279 hand and we'll give you a mic. 180 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:32.039 Hi, sir, he I'm coming old pass from the Master 181 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:36.639 of Innovation and Technology management management. And my question is 182 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:38.679 what do you say to those who think there are 183 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:42.840 more important concerns right now than clean change and global warming? 184 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:47.480 Sure, I mean there's definitely there are many important issues 185 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.720 in the world. This is not the only important issue, 186 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.240 but it is I think the thing that will have 187 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:57.559 the biggest negative effect on humanity if we do not 188 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:03.440 address it. I mean, based on the projections that we're 189 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.200 seeing right now, these are, like I said, arguably best 190 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:09.120 case projections. We're going to see significant rises in temperature 191 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.240 and sea level. The net result is if we don't 192 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.600 take action. We could see you anywhere from five to 193 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.519 ten percent maybe more of the land mass absorbed by water, 194 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:25.159 which would which is maybe not doesn't sound like that much, 195 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.440 but about a third of humanity lives right on the 196 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.240 coastline or in low lying countries, so we'd be talking 197 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:37.159 about maybe two billion people being displaced and their home 198 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:40.759 is being destroyed and their country is being gone. So 199 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:41.720 I think we should take action. 200 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.480 Hello, sir, thank you for coming here. My question is 201 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.200 I'm PhD student in marketing and what I study is 202 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:57.240 what motivates people to participate in challenges. Now, you have 203 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.360 created a company which creates challenges, which which brought a 204 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:02.519 rocket to Moon and back. If I if I'm not wrong, 205 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.000 my question would be, do you think a challenge? Maybe 206 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:06.559 not Moon and back? 207 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.360 Right? Yeah? Quite getting there? 208 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:10.840 Getting there? My question to you would be do you 209 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.679 think that incentives, which is the biggest incentive to use 210 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.879 monetary incentives are the best possible incentive to get people 211 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:19.399 to participate and solve the world's biggest problems or do 212 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.799 you think people can do it in order to just 213 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:25.039 help everyone on the planet and make it better. So 214 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:28.519 is money the only way to ask people to get 215 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.799 in and solve challenges, or do you have other ways 216 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:32.559 to actually motivate people to participate. 217 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:39.120 I think there's definitely a philanthropic element, and there's you know, 218 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:41.720 I think there's I think in general, people want to 219 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.240 do the right thing and they want to do what's good. 220 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.840 The the issue we have right now is that the 221 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:52.039 rules fundamentally favor the bad outcome. So when you're fighting 222 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.600 for the good outcome and it's an uphill battle, it's 223 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.960 just it's just slower. So with respect to to climate change, 224 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.480 it's just critical that the government and the goverment is 225 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:06.120 the center of rules. The government decides what rules companies 226 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:09.519 will play by. And if we currently have a system 227 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:15.919 which massively incents bad behavior, so even if most people 228 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.039 don't do the bad behavior, some people will still do 229 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:24.200 the bad behavior. Yeah, I mean money and prices are 230 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:27.440 Prices are basically just an information mechanism. They're just they're 231 00:15:27.480 --> 00:15:31.799 just basically they tell you that it's money. Is mostly 232 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:35.960 an information mechanism for labor, labor allocation and for you know, 233 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:38.799 and and sort of tells companies what to do. So 234 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:41.559 it's just critical, This is why it's so critical to 235 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.120 that actually be taken at a government level, because the 236 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:46.200 government is the one they're setting the rules of the game, 237 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:48.679 and it's just crazy to have the rules of the 238 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:53.279 game favor a bad outcome. The question up top there 239 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:58.519 there's a question here. Hi La Mosque. My name is Michelle. 240 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:07.519 I'm an undergriding economics that here. My question is, there 241 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:14.320 are some new studies on removing carbon dix dark side 242 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:18.840 from the atmosphere and burrowing deep in the ocean. Do 243 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:22.559 you think it's a sustainable solution and why? 244 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:27.600 Thank you? You know, I'm not aware of any carbon 245 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:31.600 sequestration or carbon storage system that is that that that 246 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:36.320 works and works economically, and I definitely wouldn't want to 247 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.679 I wouldn't want to store the carbon in the ocean 248 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:42.919 because of possible acidification. You know, as the as the 249 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.519 carbon as its huge levels rise in the atmosphere, some 250 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.960 of that is absorbed into the ocean becomes carbonic acid, 251 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:52.919 and a lot of the shell fish in particular are 252 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.879 super sensitive to changes in in VH level, So I 253 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:00.679 would definitely er against trying to store in the ocean. 254 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:02.600 There are potentially you could try to store some of 255 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:06.359 it in giant underground caverns, but the sheer quantity we're 256 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.079 talking about. I don't think itn be stored anywhere. There's 257 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:17.359 there's just nowhere to store it. Yeah, question love right, Hello, sir. 258 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:21.079 I'm sidering management at the Barion and I would know 259 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:24.799 how long do you do? Teslam Motors intends to use 260 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.160 lithium batteries knowing that it is not a limited resource. 261 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:32.920 Well, actually, I think so so lithium in terms of 262 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:35.599 energy storage. Lithium, I think is is definitely the future 263 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:38.519 and will be for a long time. There's actually not 264 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:42.079 a shortage of lithium on Earth, so lithium is number 265 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:45.559 three on the periodic table. It's actually extremely common. Any 266 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:50.279 salty water has has lithium, so there definitely won't be 267 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:55.759 a lithium constraint on energy storage for batteries. So I 268 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:00.119 feel pretty confident that one could make enough batteries to 269 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:02.440 store all the energy that the world needs with the 270 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:11.839 current resources that are that are available. Yeah, I know. 271 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.480 My name is idvite Idea. I am a PhD student 272 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:19.519 in Project and infrastructure finance in Sorbon. First of all, 273 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:22.079 I would like to thank you for your latest product, 274 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:25.799 power Wall, which to me, it gives to the citizens 275 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:28.160 to have the power to select the way they can 276 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:33.079 consume energy. I can spend a few thousand dollars to 277 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:38.559 buy some solar panel and the power wall and to 278 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:44.119 be free of any offer in the market. My question 279 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:50.279 is about the larger scale storage systems you have designed. 280 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:55.400 Have you received any serious involvement from governments and large 281 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:01.039 companies to develop such such infrastructure or do you have 282 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.680 any serious plans within the within the United States or 283 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.160 maybe in other countries. 284 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:11.880 For large energy storage. Yeah, we do. Actually we've got 285 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:18.400 a number of very very big storage projects underway with 286 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.279 utilities around the world, so both in the US and outside. 287 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:28.759 The thing that's interesting about the energy storage situation is 288 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:33.039 that even even without renewables, there's a there's a huge 289 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.920 potential to make the energy grid more efficient and to 290 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:40.839 be able to shut down the heaviest polluting power plants 291 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:45.880 because the the energy consumption through the day usually changes 292 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:49.000 by a factor of two or more so an ent 293 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:53.160 Since with the exception of hydroelectric, you can't store the power, 294 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.160 it has to be available in real time. The world 295 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.839 has somewhere between two to three times as many power 296 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.680 plants as it actually needs, so if you can buffer 297 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:05.559 the power with a big, big stationary battery packs, then 298 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:09.319 you can actually shut down the worst half of the 299 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.799 power plants in the world. So I think that's a 300 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.359 that's sort of a very exciting thing that I think 301 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:16.920 a lot of people don't appreciate, and I think it's 302 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.680 it's going to make it make a big difference. Yeah. 303 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.480 Hi, Sarah, I'm Geanny from the mess or degree Innovation 304 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.839 and Technology Management. And my question is do you believe 305 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.920 that in the ability of government, international government to prevent 306 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:35.920 climate change? 307 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:37.319 And what would you suggest? 308 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.319 Yeah? Absolutely, I think this fundamentally is a government issue. 309 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:46.720 So it's it's the as mentioned, the government is the 310 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:48.279 one that sets the rules of the game. That they 311 00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:53.640 said how companies are awarded financially, and so in the 312 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:57.880 absence of government, uh actually establishing some kind of a 313 00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:01.160 carbon tax or potentially a cap and trade on carbon, 314 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.279 which I was very excited to see that China announced 315 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.839 earlier this year that they were going to do that. 316 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.079 Unless the government does something to fix the market mechanism, 317 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.640 the it's we're fundamentally gonna have a very slow transition 318 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.839 out of the fossil fal era. So it's it's critical 319 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:25.519 that government action changed the incentive structure. Yeah, and and 320 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.720 that would be very clear. And so it's like, hopefully 321 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:32.279 what comes out of this, out of these the climate 322 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:35.519 talks in Paris, is that that the governments of the 323 00:21:35.559 --> 00:21:38.880 world say that they put their foot down and they 324 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.880 say five years from now, let's say there has to 325 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:46.839 be a huge change, and and and that companies know 326 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:49.599 for sure that this is going to happen and if 327 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.119 they if they do, then the the investment decisions that 328 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.319 make today will will will bear fruit in five years. 329 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:01.279 So the for for heavy industrial application, for heavy industry, 330 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:03.160 you kind of know what the world is going to 331 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.559 look like in five years if you know what plan, 332 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.519 what what what factories are being built today, because if 333 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.079 you built a really big factory, to get to full 334 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:15.920 production takes about five years from from the start. And 335 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:19.039 so since we know that today there are very few 336 00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:23.400 sustainable energy projects at large scale that are that are 337 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.799 being built, we know that unless something changes very quickly, 338 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:31.799 the sustainable energy will still be in a bad situation 339 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:36.319 five years from now. So you know, I mean, there 340 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:39.400 are companies like you know at Teslin and Solar City, 341 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:45.599 we're quite ideologically motivated, but but that's that's relatively unusual. 342 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:50.759 So Hiland, my name is Thomas. 343 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.200 What do you think about people who are saying, then, 344 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:57.359 rather than trying to save the years, we should try 345 00:22:57.400 --> 00:22:59.240 to colonize other planets. 346 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:05.680 Well, I think we should do both. Yeah, I think 347 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:11.680 we yea. The I mean, my sort of personal ideology 348 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.559 is is kind of split right now between trying to 349 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:19.440 be helpful on Earth related stuff, which is sustainable energy, 350 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:23.160 and then trying to you know, advance space technology so 351 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:25.759 we can establish self sustaining city on Mars. But I 352 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:27.720 do think it's important to be a multiplanet, not just 353 00:23:27.799 --> 00:23:32.200 one planet, but another planet. So the and and the 354 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:36.880 overarching goal is to minimize existential risk. You know, so 355 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:39.680 if we look at look out into the future and say, 356 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:43.240 what are the things that pose a risk to humanity 357 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:45.759 to what? What? What? What? What is going to make 358 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:49.079 the future good versus bad? And I think if obviously, 359 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:51.920 if we have sustainable energy future that's good and the 360 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.440 fastest that comes, the better. And then if we're a 361 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:58.200 multiplanet species, that gives us much more resilience against an 362 00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:01.440 extinction event and also would be a really great and 363 00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:02.200 fun adventure. 364 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:09.799 Hi, my name is Dreda, and I wanted to know 365 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.599 in your opinion, what would the future we look like 366 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:16.079 in termine energy sources and how soon could we use 367 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:17.559 nuclear fission efficiently? 368 00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:24.680 Thank you sure well. The the thing to appreciate about 369 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:29.240 the industry, the sort of installed industrial base, is that 370 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:33.960 it's it's really enormous. Like the number of petrol and 371 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.680 diesel cars on the road and trucks is about two billion. 372 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:43.440 There are sort of hundreds of thousands of of of 373 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:48.559 power plants using fossil fuels. So the the even if 374 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:51.559 we if today we went super hard in the direction 375 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:54.640 of renewables, it would still take a long time. So 376 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:59.240 I think we will. It's before we see significant changes, 377 00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:07.720 probably ten or twenty years, and there's a lot that 378 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:10.359 can happen in ten or twenty years of course, so 379 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:15.000 the faster we can bring that date forward, the better. 380 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:16.880 Yeah. 381 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.440 Hi, my name is Natasha and from the Master Program 382 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:26.119 of Sustainable Development. I have two questions. First one, because 383 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:27.680 I want to be optimistic that we are going to 384 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:30.960 switch at some point to be completely sustainable and to 385 00:25:31.079 --> 00:25:34.160 use renewable energies. Do you think that there are going 386 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:38.680 to be a gap between developing and developed countries and 387 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:42.279 when developing countries will be able to reach developed ones 388 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:46.279 switching into sustainable and renewable energies. Then second one would 389 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:49.720 be sustainability of nuclear energy. 390 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:54.279 In your opinion, thank you sure. And I actually I 391 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.319 should answer the nuclear question because that was posed just 392 00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:02.720 before this. I actually think that nuclear fission, if it's 393 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.599 in a location that is not subject to natural disasters, 394 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:08.599 like like in the case of France, there's a very 395 00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:12.519 hYP percentage of nuclear I think that's actually a good thing. Obviously, 396 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.200 you don't want to have nuclear fission power plants in 397 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:19.279 places that are subject to natural disasters because that obviously 398 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:25.200 it can go wrong. So and so I think fission 399 00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:28.200 is a good is a good approach. Fusion is also interesting, 400 00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:31.440 and it's exciting to see what's happening with the itroproject, 401 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.559