Meet the Energy Leader: Kersti Kaljulaid

The TU Delft Energy Initiative invites you kindly to the online lecture:

“From oil shale to smart energy”

 By Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia

This webinar took place on 4 June 2020
Click here to watch the recording

Abstract:

Estonia was one of the largest CO2 emitters per capita in the European Union due to use of oil shale. According to President Kaljulaid, oil shale era is over and it is high time to look for new and smart solutions. Estonia’s current long-term goal is to reduce green-house gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050 (70% by 2030) compared to the 1990 levels. To reach these targets Estonia needs to restructure energy sector towards renewable energy sources. As of today, we are at the 50% level, but a lot remains to be done. Estonia has good experience in reorganising its economy (transformation to capitalism or to IT-solutions). This gives a good starting-point to move forward and promote future-oriented solutions more vigorously. Furthermore, new digital and smart solutions are being developed and applied at a very fast rate. What would the future look like for Estonia who could become an energy champion itself? Can a country do a total green U-turn? The national efforts are viewed as one nation’s contribution in the framework of the European Green Deal.

Biography:

Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia

President Kaljulaid is a supporter of a nonrestrictive legal space for the ongoing digitalization of economies and governments. She is an active promoter of sustainability and halting climate change. She advocates for publicly speaking up against violence and for giving a voice to those affected by it.

In 2016 Kersti Kaljulaid was elected President of the Republic of Estonia.

Previously she served from 2004 to 2016 as a Member of the European Court of Auditors. Kersti Kaljulaid was the CFO and CEO of the Iru Power Plant of state-owned energy company Eesti Energia and prior to that Prime Minister Mart Laar's Economic Advisor.

Kersti Kaljulaid has graduated from the University of Tartu in the field of genetics in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and she has a master`s in Economics and Business Administration.