The Al-Attiyah Foundation The Al-Attiyah Foundation

In this podcast, the Al-Attiyah Foundation is joined by Rt Hon Charles Hendry, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Energy at the Department for Energy & Climate Change from May 2010 to September 2012.

Previously, he was a member of Parliament for Wealden from 2001 to 2015 and served as the Conservative Party’s spokesperson on energy issues from 2005 to 2010.

After Hendry left ministerial office, former Prime Minister David Cameron appointed him as a trade envoy to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, a role he continued to serve until he left the UK Parliament in 2015. He was awarded the CBE in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2019 Birthday Honours List for his work supporting British trade in Central Asia.

In this podcast, the following topics are discussed:
- The UK’s changing energy policy
- Primary challenges facing the UK's energy sector
- Role of renewable energy sources in the UK's energy mix
- Effectiveness of international collaborations and agreements in addressing global energy challenges

In this podcast, the Foundation is joined by Heinrich Hafner, the CEO of Hafner Energy from Waste Products. Hafner Energy from Waste Products has been active for about 40 years in the field of waste incineration. It is engaged with all facets of complex incineration plant development - from waste management techniques to energy recovery in the form of hot water, steam, and electrical power.

During the discussion, the following questions are explored:
• How is energy extracted from waste? 
• How is the energy generated by incinerators typically utilised?
• Can flue gas emissions be controlled?

In this podcast, the Foundation is joined by Bill Farren-Price, a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Gas Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Until early 2023, he was the Director, Head of Global Energy Macro Research at Enverus, a leading US oil and gas data analytics firm. Mr Farren-Price has reported and researched the Middle East energy industry for 25 years as a specialist journalist, and for the past 16 years, in research and advisory roles.

During the discussion, the following questions are explored:
How does the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies conduct its gas research?
Is there a genuine supply risk that is factored into LNG supplies?
Does coal to gas and gas to coal switching take place in some national economies?
Will global demand for natural gas up to 2050 go up; driven by population growth or down because of a move towards non-fossil fuels for electricity generation?

In this podcast, the Foundation is joined by Rory Miller, Professor of International Politics, Director of the Energy Studies Certificate program, and Co-Director of the small states research program at Georgetown University in Qatar. Professor Miller is the author and editor of 11 books, including "Desert Kingdoms to Global Powers: The Rise of the Arab Gulf," and "Overcoming Smallness: Challenges and Opportunities for Small States in Global Affairs."

During the discussion, the following questions are explored:
• Will some small states' influence decline if fossil fuel sales dip in the future?
• Will small states convert into knowledge or science-based economies?
• Does investing in soft power assets help build goodwill and gain political influence?

In this podcast, the Al-Attiyah Foundation is joined by Dr. Laurent Lambert, a faculty member at the School of Public Administration and Development Economics at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. At the institute, he oversees courses on energy policy and sustainability. Previously, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) and as a Senior Administrator of the Qatar Humanitarian Innovation Lab initiative (QHIL) at Qatar University.

In the interview, the following questions and more are discussed:
Was COP28 a success, failure, or just as much as could be expected?
Will Middle Eastern nations struggle to create and adhere to their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?
What is the Global Stocktake, and has progress been made in the race to achieve net zero by mid-century?
What will be the role of Artificial Intelligence in the energy transition and climate action?

In this podcast, the Al-Attiyah Foundation is joined by Sara Akbar, a Kuwaiti chemical petroleum engineer, women's rights advocate, and co-founder and former chief executive officer of Kuwait Energy. She is recognised as a "national hero" due to her firefighting efforts in the Kuwaiti oil fires and was subsequently awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honour from the United Nations Environmental Program. Ms. Akbar’s tenacity was also depicted in the Academy Award nominated documentary “Fires of Kuwait”. In the interview, the following questions and more are discussed: What were your firefighting exploits during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990s? How will Kuwait cope with changing industry dynamics with regards to climate change and the energy transition? How has the role of women in the energy industry grown over the past few decades? As the energy transition proceeds, is there a great danger of stranded assets both above and below the ground in the region?