From 13th to 15th October at World Efficiency, Business takes centre stage

The first World Efficiency, the new biennial show created by the organizers of Pollutec, forms the next high point in the Solutions Agenda(1). Six weeks prior to COP21, it will enable commercial organizations that have developed professional solutions offering reduced impact on resources and the climate to present them to decision makers, specifiers and investors from the public and private sectors.

With several months still to go to the event, a number of talks by institutions and company representatives from around the world have been announced for the congress. These are intended to present the challenges and real solutions from professionals for the preservation of resources and the fight against climate change.

This initial batch of talks confirms that the new show + congress will get off to a flying start in 2015 as the new innovative and multi-polar cross-industry event for professionals.

A CONGRESS FOCUSING ON CHALLENGES AND REAL SOLUTIONS

Designed to complement the exhibits at the show, the World Efficiency congress programme will interpret market trends and developments as well as emerging innovative models of governance that will allow resources to be preserved and optimized and the challenges of climate change met.

Numerous figures from institutions, academics, politicians, experts and economic leaders will be attending and the ambitious programme aims both to stage a discussion about the challenges for the future and also to highlight the realities and the nature of solutions that are already in use. Open sessions addressing underlying themes will be combined with workshops dealing with more specific subjects that will focus on existing solutions, feedback from the field and demonstrations of projects that are currently being trialled or that are in the course of being implemented.

A CROSS-LINKED PROGRAMME TO ENCOURAGE INTER-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION

By planning the congress programme in partnership with market stakeholders and adopting a multi-themed, cross-linked approach designed to encourage an inter-industry sharing of know-how, World Efficiency will bring together resource and climate solutions for professionals from various different sectors of activity.

THE ‘MODELS OF GOVERNANCE’ ELEMENT

The ‘governance’ element of the programme will look at innovative cities and territories. Against a background of widespread and increasing urbanization, the city, a major consumer of resources and carbon emitter, represents a key challenge. Sustainable and low carbon urban management is steadily establishing itself in cities both old and new around the world through the gradual spread of profound, lower consumption changes in urban living. In front of an audience of local authority representatives from all over the world, the low-carbon city will be addressed from the technical angle, in terms of its infrastructure and networks, and from the social point of view. Themes announced so far include: the sustainable, connected city; Climate Plan: from quarter to the world; the technical and human aspects of the low carbon city.

This element will also address the question of the sustainable development of territories. In France, in Europe or elsewhere, any territory—whether it be urban, rural, on the coast or inland—exhibits specific features in terms of access to resources, the climate and development.

Finally, echoing the ‘markets’ element, the new models of private sector governance that the circular economy and the low carbon economy exemplify will be extensively treated as concepts and in the form of concrete examples to be found within various industries and territories.

THE ‘MARKETS’ ELEMENT

The ‘Markets’ element will focus on six key themes:

Energy production and saving

Planned in partnership with ADEME, SER (The French Renewables Syndicate), The Shift Project, ATEE, Syntec Ingénierie, Cleantuesday, Biogaz Vallée, OPQIBI, CINOV Federation.

The programme will tackle various aspects of this theme: technical, sector-specific and economic. Subjects to be addressed include: the development of renewables and the adaptation of networks; are there lessons to be drawn from the American solar market?; are we heading for a disruptive change in renewables? geothermal and CO2 storage; biogas opportunities; energy storage challenges and techniques; how to decarbonize European energy?; how to decarbonize GDP?

Building and development

Planned in partnership with the Sustainable Building Plan, the HQE Association, Construction 21, the CSTB, Syntec Ingénierie, CINOV Federation and The Shift Project.

In addressing improvements in the energy and environmental performance of buildings, one part of this programme will pursue two questions: What are the technical solutions, from products to practices? And, looking beyond the technical, what are the solutions for driving such a change?

More generally, a session will look at the decarbonization that is currently taking place in the sector in order to achieve ‘factor 4’, that is the reduction of CO2 emissions to a quarter of 1990 levels by 2050.

Numerous workshops will be run covering real solutions currently being applied in pursuit of this move to lower consumption and increased respect for the environment: the smart-building, innovative construction solutions and materials, the carbon balance, urban biodiversity, solutions suitable for renovation work, solutions involving practices and ways of living…

Transport and mobility

Planned in partnership with Fer de France, SLoCaT(2), The Shift Project, Syntec Ingénierie.

This theme will be addressed through several sessions focusing on the necessary decarbonization of the transport sector for both people and goods. One session organized by SLoCaT—an international partnership working with the UN for the development of sustainable, low carbon transport around the world(2)—will look at these subjects in broader terms and adopt an international perspective.

Workshop topics will include: energy audits and CO2 in transport activities; space technologies for sustainable mobility; transport engineering for sustainable mobility…

Industry of the future

Planned in partnership with the French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and the Digital World, Germany Trade and Invest, the SFGP.

France is driving forward the second phase of its ‘New Industrial France’ plan for the industry of the future and Germany is developing a platform that aims to create ‘Industry 4.0 ‘. These two programmes are now being pursued in a cooperative fashion and there will therefore be a special Franco-German session spanning a number of workshops devoted to the efficiency and energy performance of manufacturing processes; the processing of waste energy for reinjection into the network; the recycling and exploitation of materials...

Circular economy

Planned in partnership with ADEME, Orée, FEDEREC.

Although the recycling sector forms a natural component of a circular scheme for the economy—representing a break with the linear model (purchase, consume, discard) and forming a central element in the ‘3 Rs’ (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse)—the recycling industry is also aiming to be an engine of the low carbon economy. Emphasis on the use of recycled raw materials makes it possible to save energy associated with reduced CO2 emissions. This approach, covered in a strategic fashion in the open session, will also be dealt with in a series of solution workshops featuring companies and organizations involved in recycling.

Research and innovation

Planned in partnership with Cleantuesday, the Ecotech Network, the World Water Council, Green Win, Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster.

The Eco-Innovation Summit, which will take place on the 14th and 15th October, will combine a high profile ‘green business’ event devoted to cleantech and renewables (startups, finance and investment channels, disruptive trends…) and an inter-cluster meeting featuring French, European and international networks.

Other themed cycles are currently being developed. They include materials, and agriculture and diet, which is a major challenge for the rational management of resources and the necessary adaptation to climate change, as well as water and sea management. The subject of skills, their evolution through initial and ongoing training, or the transfer of skills will also be developed as part of the programme. Finally, there will be a special session devoted to the theme of Women and Climate that will aim to highlight the action of women and in particular to profile female entrepreneurs from various countries who have been working for the climate, searching for answers, solutions and opportunities for their local communities.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS FOR ALL REGIONS OF THE WORLD

Every territory is looking for solutions that both meet the local development demands of its people and their activities and that might also be adapted to the local context. The World Efficiency congress will shed light on solutions developed in various parts of the world.

It will, for example, open with Nordic Efficiency, a special initiative at this year’s World Efficiency looking at the principle of efficiency as applied in Scandinavia and the Nordic region, which is a pioneering model for environmental governance.

Likewise, there will be a session entirely dedicated to Africa as well as to themes looking at the question of regional development from a variety of angles: how to reconcile low carbon and financial aid for investments in France and in transnational processes?; the potential of the energy efficiency industry as a tool for sustainable socio-economic development in the countries to the South and East of the Mediterranean or the question of rural development in France and the opportunities presented by biogas.

Finally, as part of its Overseas to the fore initiative, World Efficiency will be playing host to the annual congress of the ACCD’OM (The association of French overseas local authorities). This will offer an opportunity to discover the specific needs and solutions of these territories as they face up to their climate challenges and also to engage in dialogues with regions in other parts of the world sharing the same characteristics, whether they be in Africa, Asia or Latin America.

SIDE EVENTS

In parallel to its own programme, World Efficiency is also hosting a variety of partner events that are integrated into the major themes of the congress. They include the 14th annual MEET.ING congress of SYNTEC Ingénierie and the Conference of the HQE Association, which this year is launching its new reference framework, “Sustainable building for all.”  

(1) The Solutions Agenda is a set of initiatives designed to complement the international agreement that is expected in Paris. Involving governments and NGOs, the aim is to support and amplify the commitments of states to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to the impacts of climate change and financing these actions.

(2) SLoCaT - Sustainable Low Carbon Transport: www.slocat.net