The UT Energy Forum Panel Discussions bring together leading experts from different sectors to share their expertise and perspectives on the issues and forces shaping today’s energy landscape. Our goal in choosing topics and speakers is to provide a balanced and complete view of each topic, blending expertise in science, business, policy, and other fields to provide attendees with the best information available.
Thursday, February 21, 10:00 a.m.
Figures from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) suggest that supply of American natural gas will exceed demand by the year 2016. As a result of this boom, prices have dropped to record lows and spurred interest in retrofitting or building new facilities to enable liquified natural gas (LNG) exports. The federal government, however, has moved slowly to permit construction of these new export terminals due to concerns regarding the impact of exports on domestic prices and resource security. Similarly, a debate over the future of coal as an export commodity is unclear. This panel will explore the future of each market and discuss the risks and advantages posed by an increasingly interconnected global commodity market.
Panelists:
Richard K. Morse, Managing Partner at SuperCritical Capital, LLC, and Affiliated Researcher at the Stanford Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (through 2012)
Davis Thames, Senior Vice President at Cheniere Energy
Anthony Yuen, Strategist at Citigroup – Global Commodities Research
Sugandha D. Tuladhar, Senior Consultant, NERA Economic Consulting
Thursday, February 21, 1:30 p.m.
In recent years the U.S. military has become an increasingly important driver within the renewable energy sector. Recognizing the integral role that energy plays in military operations and the challenges posed by rising energy costs and supply chain logistics, leaders at the Department of Defense have taken steps to identify opportunities for promoting the use of efficient renewable energy technologies. Panelists will discuss the current opportunities for renewable energy technologies to address challenges facing the military, as well as, the potential for future innovations across a range of applications.
Panelists:
Fred Beach, Research Associate at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy (CIEEP), The University of Texas at Austin
Oliver Fritz, Deputy Director for Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Eugene Gholtz, Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin
Darrell Thornley, Director of Energy Technologies, Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure
Thursday, February 21, 1:30 p.m.
With the United States and other global economies struggling with anemic economic growth and prolonged levels of high unemployment, dissecting the job creation effects of energy technologies carries more importance now than ever. This panel will interpret historical indicators to inform projections on the job creation effects of fossil fuel, renewable energy, and energy efficiency investments. Panelists will discuss the effects of different energy technologies on net job creation and whether certain fuels, technologies, and processes create more jobs on net than others. Panelists will not only explore the direct job effects of energy development, but also indirect effects of cost savings provided by certain sources.
Panelists:
Jose Beceiro, Director of Clean Energy and Economic Development, Austin Chamber of Commerce
Michael Bettersworth, Associate Vice Chancellor and Senior Advisor to the Chancellor, Texas State Technical College
Gürcan Gulen, Research Associate at the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin
Doug Lewin, Executive Director, South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER)
Friday, February 22, 9:45 a.m.
Recent breakthroughs offer renewed promise for harnessing heat from the Earth’s crust to generate electricity. Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), which exploit high temperatures within dry and impermeable rock, may bring geothermal power production to much broader geography. Systems can also leverage the vast network of existing oil and gas wells to generate power. Other developments, such as hydraulic fracturing and liquid carbon dioxide utilization, are also rapidly altering the viability and economics of advanced geothermal energy. EGS alone has an estimated capacity of 20,000 times 2005 U.S. primary energy use. The facilities compare favorably to fossil fuels and nuclear in terms of capital costs, environmental factors, and consistency. This panel’s purpose is to explore the technical and financial challenges associated with this energy source.
Panelists:
Doug Hollett, Program Manager for Geothermal Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy
Doug Blankenship, Manager of Geothermal Research, Sandia National Laboratories
Brian J. Anderson, GE Plastics Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering, West Virginia University
Andrés Ruzo, Geophysics Ph.D. Candidate, Southern Methodist University
Robert Hunt, Chief Technology Officer at RenewableOne
Friday, February 22, 9:45 a.m.
As the natural gas industry in the United States expands production, many small and rural towns have undergone rapid development to sustain drilling activity and booming population growth brought about by increased oil and gas production. While these “boom towns” benefit in many ways from industrial development, they also face a number of economic and social challenges associated with their abrupt expansion. This panel discusses how booming oil and gas development affects small-town American communities. How can local governments plan for economic growth to maximize benefit and minimize harm? How do traditional small-town communities cope with sudden population growth and the resulting transformation of their community? What is the role of the oil and gas industry in confronting these challenges? What is the role of the state and federal government?
Panelists:
John McChesney, Outgoing Director of the Rural West Initiative at the Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University
Thomas Tunstall, Research Director of the Institute for Economic Development, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Mark Boling, President of V+ Development Solutions, Southwestern Energy Company
Leodoro Martinez Jr., Executive Director, Middle Rio Grande Development Council
Friday, February 22, 1:30 p.m.
This panel will examine the future of financial markets for renewable projects. How will new financial instruments, especially ones that tap public capital markets, spur investment in renewable assets? Can these instruments overcome the boom and bust cycle of incentive uncertainty? Has policy uncertainty and the expiration of tax credits changed how developers finance projects? What can developers, policy makers, and investors do to continue the maturation and expansion of renewable asset financing?
Panelists:
Monty Humble, Adjunct Professor at the Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, The University of Texas at Austin
Parag Patel, Director at Prudential Capital Group
Puon Penn, Head of Cleantech Group, Wells Fargo
Ken Alston, Special Assistant for Finance, U.S. Department of Energy
Radu Tutos, Director of Finance, EDP Renewables North America
Michael R. Meyers, Co-Head of the Energy & Infrastructure Group, Orrick
Friday, February 22, 1:30 p.m.
The supply of natural gas from shale exploration has flooded the U.S. market and pushed prices, at times in 2012, below $2 per mmbtu. Stabilizing the market in a way that will continue to incentivize production will require new strategies to increase the demand for natural gas across the U.S. industrial, manufacturing, and refining sectors. This panel will explore how companies are responding to the prospects of sustained natural gas resource abundance and altering their investment strategies to capitalize on this trend. It will also discuss what policies and regulations can help provide macroeconomic stability.
Panelists:
Jorge Piñon, Co-Director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy (CIEEP), The University of Texas at Austin
Rob Jones, Executive in Residence at the McCombs School of Business and former Co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Commodities
Don McClure, Vice President of Government and Stakeholder Relations and Legal, Encana Oil and Gas
Seth Roberts, Director of Energy and Climate Change Policy, The Dow Chemical Company
