Global Apollo Programme Explained

The Global Apollo Programme was a historic call for a major global science and economics research programme to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025.^[1]

Inspiration and aims

Launched in June 2015, the project - named for the Apollo Program, which brought together thousands of scientists and engineers to put mankind on the moon - calls for developed nations to commit to spending 0.02% of their GDP, for 10 years, to fund co-ordinated research to solve the challenge. This equates to $150 billion over a decade, roughly the same cost committed to the Apollo Program in 2015 money.^[2] ^[3] Some developed nations, including the UK, already meet the GDP percentage target spend, but many do not and there is little international coordination to maximise the results.

It has been modelled on the more recent International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, an international research collaborative that is credited with greatly and swiftly improving the quality and economics of semiconductor manufacture.^[4]

Key areas of focus

Renewable energy - in particular that derived from solar and wind sources^[5]
Energy storage
Smart grids
hydrogen vehicles^[6]

Key people

Launch report authors

The initiative is spearheaded by the chemist Professor Sir David King, former Government Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government.^[7] Amongst the Apollo group are economists Professor Lord Stern (author of The Stern Review) and Lord O'Donnell (former Cabinet Secretary), businessmen Lord Turner and Lord Browne (former Chief Executive of BP), cosmologist and astrophysicist Professor Lord Rees (former President of the Royal Society) and labour economist Lord Layard.^[8]

Endorsers

The following were signatories on an open letter published to The Guardian newspaper, alongside the launch report authors, in September 2015.^[9]

Sir David Attenborough (video endorsement)
Professor Brian Cox, University of Manchester
Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever
Ed Davey, Former UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, Chair of the Grantham Institute
Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group
Ben Goldsmith Founder, Menhaden Capital
Zac Goldsmith, British MP and London mayoral candidate
Professor Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute
Professor Joanna Haigh, co-director, Grantham Institute; vice-president of Royal Meteorological Society
Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Professor John Shepherd, University of Southampton
Dr Arunabha Ghosh, Founder-CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University has separately publicly endorsed the programme.^[10]

Professor Sir David King has publicly stated that Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is "keen" on the programme.

Key dates

The programme was discussed at the Energy Ministers run-up meeting to the 41st G7 summit.
It featured in the Leader's Declaration of the 41st G7 summit itself.

References

News: Carrington. Damian. Global Apollo programme seeks to make clean energy cheaper than coal. 2 June 2015. The Guardian. 2 June 2015. Guardian News Media. 16 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191216031318/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/apollo-programme-for-clean-energy-needed-to-tackle-climate-change. live.
Web site: A Budgetary Analysis of NASA's New Vision for Space Exploration. https://web.archive.org/web/20061010034636/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/documents/o56716382.pdf. dead. 10 October 2006. Congressional Budget Office. Congress of the United States. 2 June 2015.
News: Clark. Pilita. $150bn needed to save world from climate change, warn scientists. 2 June 2015. Financial Times. Pearson PLC. 2 June 2015. 3 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150603004549/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ecef7a04-0621-11e5-b676-00144feabdc0.html. live.
Web site: Summary - the organisation of the Programme. Global Apollo Programme. 3 June 2015. 1 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150801165548/http://globalapolloprogramme.org/. live.
Rundle. Michael. How The 'Apollo Programme' For Energy Might Just Save The Planet. 6 June 2015. WIRED. 2 June 2015. 6 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150606230900/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-06/02/global-apollo-programme. live.
Book: Stern . Nicholas . 2015 . Why Are We Waiting? The Logic, Urgency, and Promise of Tackling Climate Change. 1st . . . 978-0-262-02918-6 . 267.
News: Harrabin. Roger. 'Moon shot' call on clean energy. 2 June 2015. BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 June 2015. 2 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150602215747/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32967386. live.
News: Coghlan. Andy. New Apollo programme wants moonshot budget to boost renewables. 2 June 2015. NewScientist. 2 June 2015. 2 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150602182144/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27635-new-apollo-programme-wants-moonshot-budget-to-boost-renewables.html. live.
News: Letters. Help the Global Apollo Programme make clean energy cheaper than coal. 16 September 2015. The Guardian. 15 September 2015.
Web site: Sachs. Jeffrey. Our generation's moonshot: A clean-energy world by 2050. MarketWatch. Dow Jones & Company. 4 November 2015. 2015-11-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20151110010658/http://www.marketwatch.com/story/our-generations-moonshot-a-clean-energy-world-by-2050-2015-10-06. live.