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UT Energy Forum Explores Changing Energy Landscape
In the 1990s, when U.S. first began importing more foreign oil than it produced domestically, there was a renewed urgency in discussions about how the nation could prepare for life after...
member story
Cockrell School of Engineering Professor Michael Webber delivered the kickoff keynote address on the first day of the UT Energy Forum. Photo by Melissa Mixon
In the 1990s, when U.S. first began importing more foreign oil than it produced domestically, there was a renewed urgency in discussions about how the nation could prepare for life after fossil fuels. Decades later, the question has yet to be fully answered. But a new student-led initiative at The University of Texas at Austin provides a platform for industry experts to share their ideas about energy strategies for the next 20 years.
The inaugural University of Texas Energy Forum, held Feb. 3-4, drew more than 300 students, policymakers, industry leaders and researchers to discuss global energy challenges and the innovations needed to help solve them. The forum, which continued despite the wintry weather conditions that caused the university to close Feb. 4, was organized by graduate students from the McCombs School and their peers in the university’s business, engineering, architecture, public policy, geosciences and law programs.
"We realize that the energy landscape is changing," Josh Stillman told the Austin American-Statesman in a Jan. 29 story previewing the event. Stillman, MBA '11, is head of the steering committee for the forum. "UT is doing a lot of that research, and while its reputation is still in the oil and gas realm, (the forum) shows a major balance in the research done at UT," he said.
The forum featured eight panels addressing topics including alternative energy, transportation, federal policy and the future of America’s reliance on fossil fuels. Keynote speakers included Ethernet pioneer Robert Metcalfe, who was recently named a professor of innovation at the Cockrell School of Engineering, and Arun Majumdar, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).
Majumdar said solving the energy challenge is the “biggest business opportunity” of our time—one that requires innovation to be aligned with policy, education, science and research. “Unfortunately today, these vectors are pointed in different directions and we need to align them to get our nation back on track,” he said.
He also said the biggest challenges to supplying the world with clean and affordable energy are finding low-cost capital to fund new technologies at the pilot-scale level and grappling with the world’s growing population. In a session called “Energy Resources for the Next 20 Years,” panelists made their own cautious predictions about the future of energy consumption and production.
“We’re very bad at predicting the future,” said Tad Patzek, professor and chair of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. “But 20 years from now, we as humans will realize that it is the environment that protects us. We will realize that human economy is embedded into the economy of the earth.”
Scott Tinker, director of the university’s Bureau of Economic Geology, said the federal government is taking steps to invest in new fuel sources, but it is too focused on getting away from importing energy from outside the country. What matters more, he argues, is energy security.
“One thing the federal government needs to get off of, at least for the next several decades, is the concept of energy independence,” Tinker said. “That’s not the same thing as energy security—energy that is available, affordable, reliable and clean—you can do that without being independent. I don’t worry so much about importing energy. We import and export lots of stuff. We’ve been doing it for centuries.”
University President William Powers Jr. spoke at the event, commending panelists and participants for taking a long-term perspective.
“This is people working together on what has to be one of the great challenges and issues for the 21st century. That is, how are we going to deal with our energy needs, and our need to conserve our resources with sustainable energy use, and have the kind of environment that is also sustainable?” Powers said. “If we don’t think now and plan now, there will be an environmental crisis and an energy abyss in the future.”
The early stages of planning have already started for next year's event.
To see more detailed highlights from the event panels, read the full article here.
Also, check out a Texas MBA student blog about this event.
This is member-submitted content.
BusinessBecause does not take responsibility for member-submitted content.
When publishing this story the member accepted responsibility for the content according to the User Generated Content policy in our T&Cs
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member story
Cockrell School of Engineering Professor Michael Webber delivered the kickoff keynote address on the first day of the UT Energy Forum. Photo by Melissa Mixon
In the 1990s, when U.S. first began importing more foreign oil than it produced domestically, there was a renewed urgency in discussions about how the nation could prepare for life after fossil fuels. Decades later, the question has yet to be fully answered. But a new student-led initiative at The University of Texas at Austin provides a platform for industry experts to share their ideas about energy strategies for the next 20 years.
The inaugural University of Texas Energy Forum, held Feb. 3-4, drew more than 300 students, policymakers, industry leaders and researchers to discuss global energy challenges and the innovations needed to help solve them. The forum, which continued despite the wintry weather conditions that caused the university to close Feb. 4, was organized by graduate students from the McCombs School and their peers in the university’s business, engineering, architecture, public policy, geosciences and law programs.
"We realize that the energy landscape is changing," Josh Stillman told the Austin American-Statesman in a Jan. 29 story previewing the event. Stillman, MBA '11, is head of the steering committee for the forum. "UT is doing a lot of that research, and while its reputation is still in the oil and gas realm, (the forum) shows a major balance in the research done at UT," he said.
The forum featured eight panels addressing topics including alternative energy, transportation, federal policy and the future of America’s reliance on fossil fuels. Keynote speakers included Ethernet pioneer Robert Metcalfe, who was recently named a professor of innovation at the Cockrell School of Engineering, and Arun Majumdar, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).
Majumdar said solving the energy challenge is the “biggest business opportunity” of our time—one that requires innovation to be aligned with policy, education, science and research. “Unfortunately today, these vectors are pointed in different directions and we need to align them to get our nation back on track,” he said.
He also said the biggest challenges to supplying the world with clean and affordable energy are finding low-cost capital to fund new technologies at the pilot-scale level and grappling with the world’s growing population. In a session called “Energy Resources for the Next 20 Years,” panelists made their own cautious predictions about the future of energy consumption and production.
“We’re very bad at predicting the future,” said Tad Patzek, professor and chair of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. “But 20 years from now, we as humans will realize that it is the environment that protects us. We will realize that human economy is embedded into the economy of the earth.”
Scott Tinker, director of the university’s Bureau of Economic Geology, said the federal government is taking steps to invest in new fuel sources, but it is too focused on getting away from importing energy from outside the country. What matters more, he argues, is energy security.
“One thing the federal government needs to get off of, at least for the next several decades, is the concept of energy independence,” Tinker said. “That’s not the same thing as energy security—energy that is available, affordable, reliable and clean—you can do that without being independent. I don’t worry so much about importing energy. We import and export lots of stuff. We’ve been doing it for centuries.”
University President William Powers Jr. spoke at the event, commending panelists and participants for taking a long-term perspective.
“This is people working together on what has to be one of the great challenges and issues for the 21st century. That is, how are we going to deal with our energy needs, and our need to conserve our resources with sustainable energy use, and have the kind of environment that is also sustainable?” Powers said. “If we don’t think now and plan now, there will be an environmental crisis and an energy abyss in the future.”
The early stages of planning have already started for next year's event.
To see more detailed highlights from the event panels, read the full article here.
Also, check out a Texas MBA student blog about this event.
This is member-submitted content.
BusinessBecause does not take responsibility for member-submitted content.
When publishing this story the member accepted responsibility for the content according to the User Generated Content policy in our T&Cs
Post new comment
Login to post new comment or post a quick comment below (your email address will remain private):
Suggestions:
Some do because it's such a big national security issue - the gun-toting south has a lot of boys in the military and is getting more and more uneasy
Michael Swartzberg
Does anyone in Texas really care about solving the energy crisis. Really?? With all those oil wells?
Tian Ng