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The energy dilemma – politics and stark choice

Lord Oxburgh (l) receives his Melchett Award from Malcolm Brinded CBE FEI, vice president, Energy Institute
Lord Oxburgh (l) receives his Melchett Award from Malcolm Brinded CBE FEI, vice president, Energy Institute
The above is the title of the Melchett Lecture delivered recently by former Shell chairman Lord Ronald Oxburgh of Liverpool who was also presented with the Melchett Award.
“I’m delighted to have been honoured by the Energy Institute (EI) in this way,” said Lord Oxburgh KBE HonFEI.  “I offer my thanks both to the EI and to the numerous friends and colleagues with whom I have enjoyed discussing energy and energy policy over the years and from whom I have learned so much.”
An eminent geologist and geophysicist, Lord Oxburgh has worked in academia, the Civil Service and the private sector. After an early career teaching and researching in universities across the UK and the US, he became chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence and then rector of Imperial College.
Having been a member of the Shell Board for a number of years, he became chairman in 2005 and stepped down a year later having overseen the merger of Shell with Royal Dutch Petroleum to form the current Royal Dutch Shell.
He is currently president of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association and chairs several small renewable energy companies. He received his KBE in 1992 and became a life peer, joining the House of Lords in 1999, where he previously sat on its Select Committee on Science and Technology.