Cedric and the team invited Matthew to give this year's keynote at the 10th annual Smart Energy Summit in Switzerland, which brought together people from around the world to explore the future of energy. COVID-19 forced big changes: most attendees joined virtually, and strict social distancing was enforced at the venue, a few kilometres from Mont Blanc, where global warming is taking its toll on the Alpine glaciers.
Matthew set out the challenge. We already have the technology to eliminate over 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and energy, from generation to the emissions of aircraft, cargo ships and transport, accounts for almost 30 percent of that total. Many argue the transition away from fossil fuels to greener renewables is still too slow, and they have a point.
"Today, we already have the technology to help us eliminate over 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions."Matthew Griffin, Switzerland, September 2020
In a 30-minute keynote on our abundant energy future in 2050, he moved through what he calls a Cambrian age of innovation, from battery technology and grid-scale storage to fusion, nuclear and wireless energy transmission, before even reaching the explosion of innovation across renewables. Examples included new catalysts that could let cargo ships replace bunker fuel with seawater, solar panels with efficiencies in excess of 100 percent, and the use of AI in battery development.
The future of energy will be green, but Matthew also showed what happens when different exponential technologies are combined. In one case, that points to a future where houses could be 3D printed complete with their own nuclear reactors, something most of the energy experts in the room thought was impossible until they saw it for themselves.
