OPEC Secretary General: "I am convinced the world needs ITER"
"Energy is the lifeblood of civilization; the prosperity that we see in many parts of the world can be attributed to energy availability," he commented during his visit. "We don't need to be convinced that we need all sources of energy; no one can say otherwise."
"There is a misinterpretation of the basic principles of the energy transition. The current conversation is distorted to some extent, that it is a transition from one set of energy sources to another, from fossil fuels to renewables. This is a distortion of the science, the facts, and the data. The transition is about moving from emissions of greenhouse gases to a decarbonized world, driven by technology, policies, corporate decision-making, and much more."
The Secretary General travelled to ITER as part of a delegation led by Peter Kütemann, Chairman and CEO of Dietsmann, a global energy company that also contracts with ITER. The nine-person delegation was led on a tour of the ITER construction site, especially the Assembly Hall and Tokamak pit where giant ITER components are in various stages of assembly and installation.
"No matter how much one reads on the ITER website, it does not prepare you for what you witness in a personal tour. In the Assembly Hall, I was speechless at what I saw—the enormous engineering, the collaboration among all these countries. I spoke to as many workers as I could, and they were all of different nationalities. The common language is science, mathematics, and computing. I could see that in action inside the Hall."
"I see ITER as the future. I am convinced that the world needs ITER, for the simple fact that we do not have enough clean energy supply to meet current demand and future needs."
The Secretary General pledged to use the influence of his office to help raise of the promise of ITER and fusion. "This is what the world should focus on," he concluded. "Because of what I have seen today, I can see, clearly, light at the end of this dark global tunnel, that promises to address the global energy transition, that promises to address the global pandemic of energy poverty."