International VISTA seminar 2022

The North Sea Energy Hub and our Sustainable Future

Åpent
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Drammensveien 78, Oslo
VISTA COLLABORATION

The VISTA program is a continuation of a more than 30-year long collaboration between Statoil (now Equinor) and The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

On this background, the aim of the program is to support science that provides fundamental insight in: Basin analysis and efficient resource identification and utilization, or future development solutions, or sustainability, environment and low carbon solutions.

Two Centers

To accomplish this, two new centers have been established as VISTA-centers to host scientists from both academia and relevant business partners.

VISTA CSD Center for Modeling of Coupled Subsurface Dynamics in Bergen (UiB)



NTNU VISTA CAROS - Centre for Autonomous Robotics Operations Subsea is located in Trondheim (NTNU)

Moderator

Magnus Takvam will be the moderator of this seminar. He has worked as a journalist and commentator at NRK for forty years. He has followed climate, environment and energy policy closely and now works as an independent commentator and author

Speakers

Asgeir Tomasgard, FME, NTRANS / NTNU Energy Transition

Miranda Schreurs, Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, Technical University of Munich

Franziska Holz, Deputy Head, Energy, Transportation, Environment Department, DIW Berlin 

Linda Steg, University of Groningen

Simen Moxnes, Senior advisor, Equinor

Nils Gunnar Kvamstø, Institute of Marine Research

Ane Torvanger Brunvoll, Head of Energy System Section, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate

John Olav Tande, Chief Scientist, SINTEF

Sarah Eileen Gasda, Research director, NORCE

Ståle Aakenes, Senior researcher, Gassnova

With its biological resources and abundant access to fossil energy, the North Sea has been crucial to the growth and development of the surrounding countries. Today, these countries are the most energy-intensive countries in Europe with an energy consumption per person about 30 % higher than for other parts of Europe. The challenge now is, as for most other countries, to rapidly to convert the energy supply from fossil fuels from the underground to renewables harvested from the earth's surface, such as sun, wind and waterpower.

Watch part 1:

Watch part 2:

Practical information

The international VISTA seminar is held at The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters at Drammensveien 78, Oslo.

Register to participate

The seminar will be streamed live from this page. 

North Sea's fossil resources and our knowledge of these resources may also play an important role in the transition to a zero-emission society. Increased use of resources from the Earth's surface such as offshore wind will challenge ocean and biodiversity sustainability. Research is still needed in order to handle the delicate balance between harvesting and preservation of our natural resources for the future. 

Program

11:30 - 12:00   Coffee/Light lunch

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Lise Øvreås. (Foto: Thomas Eckhoff / DNVA)
President, Lise Øvreås. (Photo: Thomas B. Eckhoff)

12:00 - 12:15   Opening by Lise Øvreås, President of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, together with Tor Ulleberg, Equinor. 

The Energy Crisis - A European Perspective

12:15 - 12:45   The Energy transition and the European renewable energy landscape from 2030  towards 2050: The importance of  North Sea energy resources  and a sustainable future - an overview. Asgeir Tomasgard, FME NTRANS/NTNU Energy Transition

12:45 - 13:05   The Ukraine Crisis and its impact on European Gas Politics. Professor Miranda Schreurs, Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, Technical University of Munich 

13:05 - 13:25   European gas markets between the Ukraine war today and climate neutrality in the future.  Professor Franziska Holz, Deputy Head, Energy, Transportation, Environment Department, DIW Berlin

13:25 - 13:45  Offshore wind:  political conflicts and polarization. Professor Linda Steg, University of Groningen

13:45 - 14:15   Coffee break 

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Fire innledere før lunsj under internasjonalt VISTA-seminar 2022
Asgeir Tomasgard (foto: Silje Naarstad), Franziska Holz, Miranda Schreurs, og Linda Steg.
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Mann i dress og jakke.
Simen Moxnes. (Photo: Equinor)

The North Sea Energy Hub

14:15 - 14:35   Norway energy hub - an industrial plan for a European energy center. Simen Moxnes, Senior advisor, Equinor

14:35 - 14:55   Renewable energy technologies and environmental challenges. Director Nils Gunnar Kvamstø, Institute of Marine Research

14:55 - 15:15  The Norwegian Energy System towards 2050 – the importance of offshore wind. Ane Torvanger Brunvoll, Head of Energy System Section, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate

15:15 - 15:35   Offshore wind and the future renewable energy system. John Olav Tande, Chief Scientist, SINTEF

15:35 - 15:55   North Sea – an area for blue and/or green hydrogen?  Sarah Eileen Gasda, Research director, NORCE

15:55 - 16:10    Coffee break

16:10 - 16:30   Carbon capture and storage (CCS) – the technology we need for our low carbon future?  Ståle Aakenes, Senior researcher, Gassnova

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Fire av de seks innlederne etter lunsj på VISTA-seminaret 2022.
Nils Gunnar Kvamstø, Ane Torvanger Brunvoll, Sarah Eileen Gasda og Ståle Aakenes.

16:30 - 17:15   Panel discussion

The recurring question:  How to harvest the energy resources from the earth's surface without being detrimental to  biological diversity.

Biographies under the photo.

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Illustration for the international VISTA seminar 2022. By Nicholas Doherty / Unsplash
Photo: Nicholas Doherty / Unsplash


Biographies

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John Olav Tande
John Olav Tande. (Photo: SINTEF)


John Olav Giæver Tande is Chief Scientist with SINTEF Energy Research and director of FME NorthWind (Norwegian Research Centre on Wind Energy, 2021-2029). He is heading the sub-programme on offshore wind energy within the European Energy Research Alliance, and is member of the European Technology and Innovation Platform ETIP wind.

In May 2019, at the ministerial meeting in Vancouver, he was awarded Mission Innovation Champion for his research achievements in offshore wind. Throughout his long and productive scientific career, he has made a significant contribution to the acceleration of the clean energy revolution in the field of offshore wind power, and floating wind farms in particular. Tande was the initiator and centre director for the research centre FME NOWITECH (2009-2017) that generated 40 innovations with a potential net present value of about 5,000 MEUR, and he is now centre director of the successor FME NorthWind.

He has published more than 100 articles. A key publication is the textbook "Offshore Wind Energy Technology" authored by Olimpo Anaya‐Lara, John O. Tande, Kjetil Uhlen, Karl Merz and published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, April 2018, 424 pp. It is based on research material developed in NOWITECH and comprises a comprehensive reference to the most recent advancements in offshore wind technology.

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Linda Steg
Linda Steg.

Linda Steg is professor of environmental psychology at the University of Groningen. She studies factors influencing sustainable behaviour, the effects and acceptability of strategies aimed at promoting sustainable behaviour, and public perceptions of energy sources, technology and system changes.

She is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. She is laureate of the Dutch Royal Decoration with appointment as the Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and laureate of the Stevin prize of the Dutch Research Council.

She is lead author of the IPCC special report on 1.5°C and AR6, and participates in various interdisciplinary and international research programmes in which she collaborates with practitioners working in industry, governments and NGOs.

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Miranda Schreurs.
Franziska Holz.

Prof. Dr. Franziska Holz is the Deputy Head of the Department Energy, Transportation, Environment at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and a part-time International Adjunct Professor in the NTNU Energy Transition Initiative. Franziska is an economist by training. She works on European and international energy markets and their developments with climate policy.

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Nils Gunnar Kvamstø.
Nils Gunnar Kvamstø.

From 2022 Nils Gunnar Kvamstø is the CEO at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Norway for a six-year term. He is a meteorologist and professor in the field. He has been Marine Dean at the University of Bergen, where he had a long and eventful career, both as a researcher and leader. 

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Sarah Gasda.
Sarah Gasda.

Kvamstø worked with climate modelling and analysis and was central in the development of the climate modelling activity at the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research and in the establishment of the Bergen Offshore Wind Center.

Sarah Gasda is Research Director and Chief Scientist in Computational Geosciences at NORCE. She currently leads the Centre for Sustainable Subsurface Resources, a national research centre that will provide the knowledge required for the Norwegian petroleum industry to transition to zero-emissions production and clean energy resources in the next decades.

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Ane Torvanger Brunvoll
Ane Torvanger Brunvoll.

Dr. Gasda also holds a Professor II position at the University of Bergen in the Department of Physics and Technology. 

Ane T. Brunvoll is Head of Energy System Section at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE). Her responsibilities in NVE is energy system modelling, grid planning processes and digitalization of planning and licensing processes. 

She is an expert in sustainable energy systems and energy transition, and currently holds board positions in NETI, NTNU Energy Transition Initiative, and Energi21, National strategy for research and innovation new climate friendly energy technology. 

She is an experienced leader of more than 20 years within public and private sector and NGOs and has experience from being head of the Energix program in The Research Council, Head of energy and climate in the NGO Bellona, head of department in Sweco, CTO in Fronter and project manager in Holte Consulting.

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Ståle Aksnes  / Gassnova
Ståle Aksnes (Foto: Gassnova)

Ståle Aakenes has worked with Gassnova since its founding in 2005. As a senior economist, he has been working with market analysis and strategy development within all parts of Gassnova. He graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in 1985 and holds also a master's degree in Technology Management from NTNU from 2014.

Since 2007 he has also held key roles in the creation and development of Gassnova and is currently involved in managing TCM as an asset for the Norwegian state. Prior to Gassnova, Aakenes worked for Norsk Hydro, focusing on corporate governance and performance management.

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Miranda Schreurs.
Miranda Schreurs.

Prof. Miranda Schreurs (PhD University of Michigan) is Chair of Climate and Environmental Policy at the Bavarian School of Public Policy, Technical University of Munich. She investigates environmental movements, green politics, and climate policy making both comparatively and internationally.

She has lived and researched in Europe, the United States and Asia. She also specializes on the politics surrounding the disposal of highly radioactive waste. In 2011, Prof. Schreurs was appointed by Chancellor Angela Merkel as a member of the Ethics Committee for a Secure Energy Supply.

In 2016, she was appointed by the German Bundestag as a member of a committee established to bring citizens’ voices and ensure greater transparency in the search for a disposal site for highly radioactive waste. She was a member of the German Council on the Environment (2008-2016) and is Vice Chair of the European Advisory Council on Environment and Sustainable Development. She was a Fulbright Fellow to Japan and Germany and spent three years studying at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She also worked as a professor of comparative politics at the University of Maryland. From 2007 to 2016 she was Director of the Environmental Policy Research Center and Professor of Comparative Policy at the Free University of Berlin.

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Mann i dress og jakke.
Simen Moxnes (Foto: Equinor)
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VISTA

Simen Moxnes has been with Equinor since 1998 in a variety of positions and departments, he has been Chief Engineer within platform technology and has experience from a variety of projects. Simen is currently working as Sr. Advisor within New Energy systems in Equinor.