The Repsol Foundation presents Open Room, the digital community on the energy transition

Press Release 05/10/2021 00:00

Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau presented Open Room, the digital community on the energy transition, created to support and encourage knowledge and debate for a fair and inclusive energy transition.
Open Room es un “espacio digital abierto” de conocimiento y divulgación, que cuenta con un “foro permanente” en el que sus miembros van a poder acceder a las preguntas y respuestas sobre los retos y las oportunidades de la transición energética, que ahora más que nunca está en el centro de los debates a nivel mundial. Quienes se unan a Open Room, podrán participar activamente de esta gran comunidad digital de la mano de expertos e instituciones de reconocido prestigio y pertenecientes a todas las esferas: pública, privada, académica y social.
El Presidente de Repsol Antonio Brufau ha realizado una profunda reflexión sobre la necesidad de procurar una transición energética a nivel europeo, durante una entrevista que mantuvo en el acto de presentación con el periodista, Vicente Vallés. Brufau aseguró que ha de hacerse cumpliendo las metas de descarbonización, sabiendo medir los ritmos y el coste asegurando la competitividad de la industria y el empleo.
Antonio Brufau puso especial énfasis en la gran oportunidad que representa para España, una transición energética apoyada en el conocimiento, las capacidades tecnológicas e industriales del país y que están sobradamente demostradas por su impacto histórico en el PIB y en el empleo.
Refiriéndose a la Red de Cátedras en Transición Energética impulsadas por Fundación Repsol, Antonio Brufau ha destacado el papel indispensable del conocimiento académico y científico, de la tecnología y de la industria en torno a las grandes materias ligadas al proceso de transición y transformación energética como son: la captura, almacenamiento y reutilización del CO₂ (desarrollada conjuntamente con la Universidad de Barcelona), la movilidad sostenible y avanzada (con la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) , la descarbonización de la industria (con la Universidad Pontificia Comillas - ICAI), la economía del hidrógeno (con la Universidad de Navarra) y la economía circular (con la Universidad del País Vasco).
En el evento participó también Gabrielle Walker, experta referente internacional sobre cambio climático, quien hizo hincapié en que no es suficiente con “preocuparse” por los efectos del cambio climático que estamos presenciando y urgió a una respuesta global que pasa por la fijación de objetivos “cero emisiones” por parte de los países, las empresas y los inversores.
En la mesa redonda sobre el rol de la tecnología en la transición energética en la que participaron los Directores de las distintas Cátedras, un resumen de conclusiones fue que “las nuevas tecnologías energéticas como el hidrógeno verde, los gases renovables, el autoconsumo energético o las energías renovables pueden y deben contribuir a la descarbonización de la industria”; “que es erróneo identificar o confundir ‘descarbonización’ con ‘electrificación’, pues no todo se puede electrificar, y menos aún de forma sostenible, toda la economía. También se comentó sobre el “enorme potencial de la economía circular” y de las “soluciones basadas en la naturaleza como la reforestación”, como una “palanca indispensable para la compensación de huella de carbono” a futuro.

05 October 2021 - 14:30 CEST | PDF | 179.06 KB

The Repsol Foundation presented Open Room as a comprehensive part of its strategy to promote a fair and inclusive energy transition. Open Room is an online space of reference designed to address the challenges and key components of the energy transition in an open and easily-accessible way for society as a whole.

The members of Open Room will have access to high-quality information and events on various topics and in various formats regarding the energy transition at openroom.fundacionrepsol.com. Topics include: the circular economy, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, hydrogen, low-emissions synthetic fuels, carbon markets, natural climate solutions (like reforestation), renewable energy, and the road maps toward decarbonization from different industries and sectors, including regulatory, technological, fiscal, and financial aspects.

Open Room combines the work that the Repsol Foundation has been carrying out over the past two years in more than 38 events related to the energy transition. These events have been viewed by more than 15,000 people and more than 190 speakers have taken part, among them members of the European Commission, state ministers, ambassadors, secretaries of state, prestigious university professors, mayors, presidents and CEOs of major companies, as well as other leaders from the academic and scientific fields and representatives from associations, think tanks, and international organizations.

Energy challenges

During the Open Room presentation, which was held today at Repsol Campus, Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau was interviewed by journalist Vicente Vallés on the role of energy, the great challenges we face in the energy sector in Europe and globally, and the search for opportunities to meet decarbonization objectives set by the European Union for 2050.

The Repsol Chairman highlighted the fundamental role the academic and scientific sectors, knowledge, and raising awareness can play in the different fields of technology, from the reduction and capture of CO2 to sustainable and advanced mobility, competitive industry decarbonization, hydrogen, and the circular economy.

During the interview, Antonio Brufau placed special emphasis on the need to keep pace with the rate of energy transformation, reiterating that “we can meet decarbonization targets, but we must know how to keep up with the speed and associated costs to ensure competitiveness and employment in the industry.”

The role of technology in energy transition

A round table was held at the event with the directors from the five Energy Transition Education and Research Programs that the Repsol Foundation supports at the University of Barcelona, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the Pontifical University of Comillas, the University of the Basque Country, and the University of Navarra, which are focused on specific vectors of energy transition like the circular economy; industry decarbonization; sustainable mobility; hydrogen; and carbon capture, use, and storage technology.

The effects of climate change

Gabrielle Walker, internationally-renowned expert on climate change, and author of publications including best-seller "The Hot Topic", participated in presenting the Open Room event by focusing her attention on the devastating effects of climate change. “But we have to see opportunity in this transition” Walker said.“Just two years ago, no one talked about 'net zero', and now all over the world, many governments, businesses, and investors have publicly set carbon neutral targets for 2050”. “It's important to have a final goal but also intermediate objectives that measure the progress,” she stated.

Message from the CEO

The opening of the presentation ceremony was led by Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz who pointed out the relevance of Open Room today, when all of us have a responsibility in energy transition: businesses, the public sector, international organizations, and also any of us as consumers and as citizens.

He believes the launch of Open Room is one step more to demonstrating Repsol's complete commitment to progressing toward decarbonization and in its road map toward net zero emissions by 2050.