IEEJ：June 2015

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Special Bulletin
A Japanese Perspective on the International Energy Landscape (223)
June 12, 2015

International Student Energy Summit (ISES) 2015
Ken Koyama, PhD
Chief Economist, Managing Director
The Institute of Energy Economics, JapanThe International Student Energy Summit (ISES) 2015 took place in Bali, Indonesia, on
June 10-13, cosponsored by Student Energy, a non-profit organization based in Canada's Calgary,and the Bandung Institute of Technology of Indonesia, this year's host country for the international
conference. From more than 90 countries, about 600 university and graduate school students
interested in energy problems participated in the conference on a registration basis. Following theopening ceremony on June 10, participants had active discussions in five plenary sessions and fourparallel sessions, based on panel debates among experts invited from various countries.
The first ISES conference opened in Calgary in 2009 at the initiative of students interestedin energy problems. Since then, the conference has been held biennially. The second one came in
Canada's Vancouver in 2011 and the third in Norway's Trondheim in 2013. The fourth was the Bali
conference. As was frequently pointed out in the latest conference, it is very important andsignificant for students as future leaders in the world to have great interests in energy andenvironmental problems in the sense that the world's future is in the hands of the young generation.
In this way, it is basically important for young people to have accurate knowledge about energy andenvironmental problems.
Topics selected for the conference and discussions there led me to think that young
students participating in the conference are interested in renewable energy promotion, proactive
efforts to address the global warming problem, and advanced and innovative energy technology
development and diffusion in connection with their high ideals and hopes regarding energy andenvironmental problems. From the viewpoint of inequality correction and balanced social
development, they impressively indicated their great interests in how to address “energy poverty” formany low-income people having no access to modern energy.
I think that it is natural and desirable for young people to believe that humans should havehigh ideals and goals in addressing these problems. At the same time, young people must haveaccurate, objective and neutral information and knowledge about problems in actual society whensetting the right ideals and goals. Without such information or knowledge, they could pursue reveries
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instead of ideals or go in the wrong direction in pursuit of ideals or goals.
Not only discussions among policy makers, industry players and experts but also
understanding by ordinary citizens is important for promoting renewable energy, global warming
measures and attaining the best energy mix. Young people who are to bear the future of the worldcan play a key role in enhancing such understanding. In connection with my 205th special bulletinon “A Japanese Perspective on the International Energy Landscape,” it is desirable for young people
to improve their “energy literacy” before pursuing their ideals and goals. ISES is expected to serve
as a platform for that purpose.
In this sense, it was significant that discussions on high ideals coincided with those on real
problems including crude oil prices’ recent wild fluctuations, the shale revolution underlying thefluctuations, and the importance of fossil fuels. Students’ questions frequently indicated their doubts
and concerns about the future course of fossil fuels and dependence on these fuels. In response,
many speakers and panelists explained about fossil fuel resources, their economics, relevant
technology development and their convenience, contributing to improving young people’s energy
literacy. It was impressive that active panel and floor discussions came on the advantages anddisadvantages of shale gas development while natural gas as the cleanest fossil fuel attracted
attention and became a central topic.
In a plenary session on “Emerging Asia” where I participated, discussions took place on
both ideal directions for the Asian energy future, and serious energy problems that Asia has faced
and how Asia has addressed these problems. As Indonesia hosted the conference with the center ofthe international energy market gravity shifting to Asia, Asian energy problems became a dominanttopic. This reflected that Asian energy problems have grown even more important as a matter ofconcern to young people. Students indicated their great hopes on technologies that would bridge thegaps between the present and the future regarding Asian energy and environmental problems,
discussing energy conservation, clean coal technologies, renewable energy and other possibletechnologies. An interesting point was that students’ questions centered on various constraints andchallenges on international energy cooperation that would be important for diffusing advancedtechnologies. Multiple students questioned how the present geopolitical tensions in Asia wouldaffect international cooperation. Impressively, these questions indicated that young people areconscious of “severe realities” in a sense.
Overall, the conference provided very significant discussions for improving energy
literacy among young people. My only concern was that students’ interests concentrated excessively
on environmental problems with energy security failing to attract attention. While energy security
contains complex problems and is difficult to understand, it is the most important among energy
challenges. In this sense, energy literacy improvement through balanced discussions on the so-called
three E’s -- economic efficiency, energy security and environmental protection -- is important for2

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young people and the future of the world.

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