KEMA’s Thijs Aarten presents vision on energy transition in Mexico which coincides with state visit by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
Also H.R.H. Prince of Orange speaker at seminar on ‘Energy Sustainability and Efficiency’
November 5th, 2009 – On November 4, KEMA’s Executive Board Member Thijs Aarten gave a presentation about KEMA's vision on Energy Transition to Mexican and Dutch participants at a seminar titled, “Energy Sustainability and Efficiency – From the producer to the end-user”. KEMA was invited by the Dutch embassy to share thoughts on this hot topic during the one day seminar in Mexico City. The event was opened by the Secretary of Energy of Mexico,Dr. Georgina Kessel, and the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Mrs. Maria van der Hoeven. H.R.H. Prince of Orange gave at the closing of the seminar a speech called 'Sustainability in a Broader Perspective' and was present at the Signing of Memorandum of Understanding in Energy by Secretary Kessel and Minister Van der Hoeven.
Urgent need for change
Thijs Aarten delivered a speech to Mexican and Dutch companies involved in the industry, energy sector and academia on catalyzing the energy transition, focusing on the importance of planning, innovation and risk management as we face today’s sustainability issues. The global energy crisis, climate crisis and economic crisis have led to the urgent need for change in the energy game. We must take care that this change leads to a sustainable, energy-efficient society where environment and economy are balanced. This means intelligent investment in new technologies and business models, regulatory revisions. Only by working together will we truly be able to make the energy transition a success.
Keynote speakers
Keynote speakers included a representative of PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos), a Member of the Board of Shell and the CEO of Philips Mexico. Other presentations on energy sustainability and efficiency were delivered by CEMEX (Global building materials company), Essent and Delft University.
Catalyzing the Energy Transition
This seminar and Thijs Aarten’s presentation fit perfectly into KEMA's various services that are focused on enabling the energy transition. Examples are KEMA’s services on Smart Grids, Energy Storage, Electric vehicles & plug-in EV (PHEV) integration, Emission Verification, Energy & Environmental Policy, Renewable Generation, Carbon capture and Storage, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability.
The energy transition is creating many new energy value chains. New stakeholders are appearing and the traditional parties have to redefine their roles. New expert fields and technologies have to be developed, and policy & regulation have to be adjusted. Because nobody is sure of the outcome – there are a number of uncertainties – the risks for one party are too big to tackle alone. New and existing stakeholders have to work together in a radically different way. To smooth out this process, the industry requires new business models to prevent all initiatives ending a premature death. KEMA is well-positioned to play an intermediate role in these new value chains. The combination of technical, business, regulatory and testing expertise on a great deal of sustainability issues makes KEMA an ideal partner.