CERAWEEK 2026 DAY 2: CONVERGENCE & COMPETITION: ENERGY, TECHNOLOGY, & GEOPOLITICS
- Michael Thervil
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Michael Thervil
[CERAWeek 2026 energy technology geopolitics] Moving beyond the perpetual war and conflict in West Asia (Middle East), one of the biggest highlights of day two of CERAWeek 2026 was geothermal energy. While the mining and use of fossil fuels seems to be cheaper in terms of upfront cost than the utilization of geothermal energy, the long-term benefits associated with the utilization of geothermal energy appear to offset the high upfront costs associated with it. There were several geothermal businesses and organizations that were in attendance during this year's event, besides the Project Inner Space, which was Ram Geothermal.
Ram Geothermal was created and developed by the University of Arkansas Geothermal Dynamics Professor Christopher Liner. Passionate about not only educating and speaking about the benefits of geothermal energy, but he also presents it in such a way that the average person will be able to understand the gist of why geothermal energy will be one of the most important sources of renewable energy for the common man. We were able to conduct an exclusive interview with Professor Liner as well as a presentation by his team during this year's CERAWeek event.
Asia was also another focus today as panels were held to enlighten the world on what Asian countries have achieved and which methods Asian countries are currently implementing to satisfy their energy needs. Beyond that representatives from China were also in attendance as they revealed some of the ways in they have not only significantly reduced their carbon footprint, but how they have developed various solutions that will push them further ahead on the world stage to the point where China has become the world leader in terms of green energy manufacturing and production, energy renewables, sustainability, and logistics.
Although most of the attendees agreed with the panelist talking points when it came to the South American country of Venezuela, there were some that simply didn’t see eye to eye with any of the positions and views. When we spoke to the detractors, a few of them took the position that the forced military kidnapping of President Maduro was both against the rules of international law and that it forever adversely changed the landscape of diplomacy when it came to western nations and the global south. From their perspective, international law has been replaced by the “law of the jungle”.
Shell Company CEO Wael Sawan also made an appearance today as he discussed with Daniel Yergin what was not only to come soon from Shell, but what were some of the pitfall's America is suffering from in the oil and gas industry. Lastly, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado took to the stage and was met with applause by nearly the entire crowd of attendees that registered to see her this evening. While the typical talking points of wanting to spread “freedom and democracy” followed by the notion that the people of Venezuela should have the ability to privatize its oil resonated with those in attendance, it should be noted that there are a number of geopolitical pundits around the world who do not share this position.
OUR POSITION AT VEDA WORLD NEWS
While the positions and views expressed by the multitude of various panels of today's line up appeared to supercharge the majority of those in attendance, we are taking the position that many of the panel speakers were short-sighted in their positions and assumptions. In terms of the joint Israeli-American war of aggression towards Iran, those that spoke on it for the exception of General Jim Mattis who spoke yesterday, have demonstrated that may not be as knowledge as they think they were in terms of Iran when it comes to their social and religious values, everyday ideas, and position on war.
It should be noted that no one from Iran was invited to counter the train of logic that most panelists, specifically Brookings Institution Foreign Policy panelist Suzanna Maloney held regarding Iran. We are pointing this out because there should have been a balance present when it came to discussing such a sensitive and highly controversial topic like this. Secondly, it's one thing to have access to cheap energy, but it's another thing to understand that cheap energy will not last forever as there is no such thing as anything being in infinite abundance – and energy in terms of being cheap is no exception to this law.
We predict that there will be a time when other sources of energy like Thorium and geothermal energy will become increasingly even more relevant despite them being more costly to utilize as primary sources of energy in the future. This is coupled with the fact that the cheapest forms of energy such as coal will be continuously utilized by developing countries to keep up with developed nations and in doing so in their attempts to remain relevant, they will further increase their carbon footprint in the following decades.
Lastly, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Corina Machado, not only appears to be naïve with it comes to pushing for the Americans to essentially take over her home country of Venezuela and take control over and exploit the Venezuelan people along with their natural resources; but it appears that she has failed to understand and obtain a firm grasp on all the historic ventures that the Americans have embarked on in the past that led to socio-economic inequality and regional instability in the countries that it tends to do business with.
The question we are asking is, how much did the government of America pay her to buy her off so that she can regurgitate the talking points that she is speaking on now. Maria Corina Machado is either foolish or willingly foolish to trust anything actions the Americans are embarking on now and well into the far future.