Join the debate and learn about the €1 million ClimateLaunchpad competition at the University of Aberdeen on Wednesday 27th April 2016. Register here

At the Entrepreneurial Scotland annual conference in Gleneagles yesterday, Mike Loggie (CEO of leading oil and gas rental specialist, Saltire Energy, and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year 2015) was confident that his industry has changed for the better. Production costs have been at least double the price of oil and this was an unhealthy and unsustainable situation that had to change. Loggie believes that the industry has made vast improvements in efficiency and productivity and that tremendous profit margins will be seen as the price of oil rises again.

So does this mean we can resume to business as usual and forget any concerns about the long-term future of Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland economy?

In other recent news, developments in electric vehicles should inform an answer to this. First is Tesla having taken over 400,000 pre-orders for their affordable Model 3 electric sports car, and now have a real manufacturing challenge to deliver on this demand. Secondly, lawmakers in The Netherlands took a step towards the outright ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025.

It’s clear that oil and gas is not going away anytime soon. Our society and global economy is too dependent on hydrocarbons. Not just for fuel, but for pharmaceuticals, plastics, fertilizers, cleaning products, cosmetics and thousands of everyday items we use.

But if you take a steer from some of the world’s most successful investors and business leaders who are seriously concerned about climate change (Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, John Doerr, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Vinod Khosla, Hasso Plattner, Ratan Tata, plus the CEOs of ABB, Accenture, AkzoNobel, Arun, BT, HSBC, IKEA, Lloyds Bank, Marks & Spencer, Siemens and Unilever) you have to accept that things are changing and the hydrocarbon economy’s days are numbered, or at least will be diminished to the point, soon, where it radically changes the Scottish economy.

So this is why we are running ClimateLaunchpad, and why we want to see lots of talent from Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland apply to the competition. ClimateLaunchpad is the world’s biggest cleantech and environmental ideas competition, running across 31 countries. This year the prize fund is €1m to be shared across the top ten entries. But beyond the money is support and a network of mentors and investors to help grow and scale your idea in to something globally significant.

Join us at the University of Aberdeen at 5.30pm on Wednesday 27th April 2016 to find out more and engage in a discussion on whether a Leopard can change its spots! Register for this free event at: http://climatelaunchpad.scot/aberdeen/