For much of the technology industry, there is a certain suspicion of COP28. They believe “sustainability” evangelists get paid large government salaries to regulate solutions, without building or solving very much at all. The Bitcoin industry is furious that their movement has been maligned for using too much energy, while others cut down trees. A reductive ‘abundance vs. scarcity’ debate has been visible online in the US and UK, in particular. But is it really this simple?

The UAE is hosting COP28, and both sustainability and technology are clear and mutually reinforcing themes. This is visible in many areas of the UAE, one of which is the local campus of Heriot Watt University.

We talked with Prof Tadhg O’Donovan, Deputy Provost and Head of the Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering (IMPEE) Research Institute, for insight into energy storage and reliability, solar power, thermal energy and some of the solutions that are already on the horizon.