‘No bigger topic than energy.’ Carl Lomas was at the City of London livery of the Fuellers 17th Ezra Memorial education Lecture at Brewers' Hall on the revised date of Tuesday 8 November 2022.
Given by Louise Kingham CBE FEI, Senior Vice President, Europe & Head of Country UK, bp plc. ‘Spotlight falls today on the producers of energy.’
An enthralling and focused education lecture delivery followed by full house of livery, standing room only, well done the Fuellers. ‘A lower carbon energy, the effort is under way.’
‘Many years ago, when wood was the key source of fuel, brings the livery name of modern day fuellers, I am delighted to deliver todays Ezra lecture as a guest of the fuellers livery. My lecture begins with a lens to tell the industry to do better. Telling the story more directly about the energy system, it’s the right thing to do. I wagged my finger. I then made the leap and moved across to BP. Net zero as a journey, what a time to have taken that step. So much impact from so many events around us. Collins dictionary just announced word of the year ‘Permacrisis.’
‘The Global angle, this year was always going to be a challenge, bounce back from Covid, rise in request for energy and the Ukraine conflict. Add double-digit rise, cost of living crisis, floods in Pakistan. The bad news is we still remain on track for a 2.5 degree temp rise before end of century. More bad news is we need to move even faster to address the warming. Three PM’s in one year! The new PM has acknowledged we have a profound crisis. At times like these the spotlight falls on the producers of energy’.
‘We need to produce more energy to meet demand, we need to produce more low carbon energy. Together we can make a massive difference. Our aim is affordable clean energy for all. We are investing in the North Sea, we are looking to produce oil and gas as efficiently as possible, we are trying to take emissions out of production. We are also enlarging our solar business, not just power in the home but we will need more electricity for cars in the future. Those cars will need infrastructure, the right speed for the right need, a balance between slow and fast charge’.
We also have hydrogen on the agenda and need to produce hydrogen in a low carbon way. These are building blocks for a more sustainable energy production.
The human level, the impact of technology on people’s lives, inflation threatens to reverse the trend of access to energy, the global energy sector needs to invest to get in the right direction, the challenge is a shift to lower carbon energy, such an effort is under way.
Louise Kingham - Louise joined bp in 2021 from the Energy Institute (EI), where she was CEO for 22 years, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience across a broad range of issues within the energy industry and beyond. At bp, Louise integrates bp’s business activities in the UK and across continental Europe. She represents bp in the region to all stakeholders and works to identify opportunities to deliver decarbonised energy solutions at scale. She also works with her network of European heads of country to manage the governance of bp’s European legal entities. During her time at the EI, Louise worked at the intersection of energy industry policy and education, leading the development of industry good practice, evidence-based policy and learning opportunities for people interested in energy. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion and building a low carbon future for all.
Louise was appointed OBE in 2011 and promoted to CBE in the 2022 New Years Honours for services to the energy industry. In 2017 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of Bath.
