Welcome to the Al-Attiyah Foundation’s latest interview, in a series of podcasts where we seek to address the urgent energy topics of today, by hearing the opinions and insights from our invited experts.

Before the outbreak of coronavirus, substantial progress had been made in the pursuit of the goal of providing access to sustainable energy for all. A recent multi-institutional report indicated that the global population without access to electricity decreased to about 840 million in 2017 from 1.2 billion in 2010. Renewable energy accounted for 17.5% of global total energy consumption in 2017, up from 16.6% in 2010. It also affirmed that energy efficiency improvements have increased steadily in recent years, due to concerted policy efforts in major economies, including China. 

Yet, a lot has been seen, written, and said about the devastating impact of Covid-19 on all sectors, including the energy sector. The pandemic has led to a crash in the global energy market, and consequentially, denting the progress made towards achieving the goal of universal access to affordable and clean energy by 2030.

In this episode, Chairman Ivan Marten of the Orkestra Basque Institute of Competitiveness joins us in his expert capacity to share some perspectives on how the technology change will affect various aspects of our lives and discuss “Will There Be New Technology Trends Post Covid-19?”