OREANDA-NEWS. June 18, 2013. Dr Leonhard Birnbaum, the World Energy Council’s Vice Chair for Europe, has discussed global and European energy trends at a conference in Tallin, Estonia.

In a keynote speech at the International Oil Shale Symposium, Dr Birnbaum said:
“Oil shale can help to diversify supply of fuels, to enhance security of supply and to reduce the effects of crude oil price fluctuations. In order to have greater social acceptance, strategies to increase the public’s awareness about oil shale have to be developed and implemented. A sound life-cycle analysis is an important tool to gain social acceptance, as it can enable the economic and environmental impacts of oil shale to be better understood.”

At the conference Dr Birnbaum also provided his insights into the importance of unconventional oil and gas. These resources will be amongst the wide range of energy resource to be covered in the upcoming edition of the WEC’s flagship World Energy Resources study. For the first time the report will have an in-depth assessment of the growth of unconventionals.

The WEC’s World Energy Resources study has for over 80 years been used to provide a reliable assessment of the world’s energy resources and is widely used by governments, industry, investors, NGOs and academia. The full report, including resource information for all forms of energy, will be released during the World Energy Congress this October. The development of oil shale, an abundant resource in some countries, will be highlighted incorporating the insights from Estonia, where oil shale supplies about 90% of Estonia’s energy needs.

Dr Birnbaum commented: “Estonia has significant know-how in the oil shale industry and is well placed to share its experience with other countries.”

Dr Leonhard Birnbaum has been the WEC Vice-chair of Europe since November 2012. On 1 July 2013 he will become a Member of the Executive Board of E.ON SE. Prior to this he has been Member of Executive Board of RWE AG and served as a Senior Partner at McKinsey specialising in the European energy sector. Dr Birnbaum is a chemical engineer.