3/1 - UTES Lecture: Jay Apt

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What the Characteristics of Wind and Solar Electric Power Production Mean for Their Future

by

Dr. Jay Apt

(Professor of Technology, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University)

Thu, March 1, 5:15-6:15pm

MEZ 1.306 (MEZES HALL)

Open to all. Refreshments served at 5:00pm

Please settle in by 5:10pm

Speaker Bio:

A former American astronaut, Jay Apt is Executive Director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and the CMU Department of Engineering and Public Policy, where he is a Distinguished Service Professor. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1971 and a Ph.D. in experimental atomic physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. His research, teaching and consulting interests are in economics, engineering, and public policy aspects of the electricity industry, economics of technical innovation, management of technical enterprises, risk management in policy and technical decision framing, and engineering systems design. He received the Metcalf Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to engineering in 2002 and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Distinguished Service Medal in 1997.

Next Talk:

8 March, 5:15-6:15pm, MEZES HALL (MEZ) 1.306

“National Oil Companies: Fueling Anxiety”

Speaker: Dr. Mark Thurber, Associate Director for Research, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, Stanford University

Previous Talks:

For slides/videos of previous UTES talks go to this link.

2/23 - UTES Lecture: David Crane, NRG Energy

For more info on the Energy Symposium Lecture Series , email varun.rai@mail.utexas.edu with subject line:“Subscribe to UTES Email List” if you want to be added

Thursday, February 16
5:15 - 6:15pm
MEZES HALL (MEZ) 1.306

Open to all
Refreshments served at 5:00pm
Please settle in by 5:10pm

Speaker: David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy

NRG Energy is a Fortune 250 wholesale power generation company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. We own and operate one of the industry's most diverse generation portfolios (including nuclear, wind and solar power) that provides nearly 26,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, or enough to support nearly 21 million homes. NRG’s retail businesses, Reliant Energy and Green Mountain Energy Company, combined serve more than 1.8 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers.

NRG has taken a leading role on climate change and the power sector’s role in reducing greenhouse gases from the next wave of new power generation while meeting the country’s growing energy needs. NRG supports clean energy resources and technologies critical to our transition to a low carbon society.

2/21 - TEF Hosts Navigant Consulting Reminder

REMINDER: Join us this Tuesday as we host Bob Gibb and Todd Lester of Navigant Consulting. See below for more details about the event.


THE TEXAS ENERGY FORUM HOSTS: NAVIGANT CONSULTING
TUES, FEBRUARY 21ST, 6:30-7:30pm, GSB 3.106


Join us as we host Bob Gibb and Todd Lester, Associate and Managing Directors of Navigant Consulting in a discussion on the Keystone XL Pipeline and Navigant's Energy Consulting Practice. On Tuesday, February 21st, from 6:30-7:30PM in GSB 3.106, Mr. Gibb and Mr. Lester will talk about the impacts and effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal, as well as their energy consulting experiences at Navigant. As a featured speaker at the 2012 University of Texas Energy Forum and the "Natural Gas Use in Texas and Unconventional Production" Conference in 2011, Mr. Gibb has shared his insights on a variety of topics to faculty and students across campus. The presentation on Feb. 21st will be open to all UT students free of charge. Free pizza and drinks will also be provided, but seating will be limited so please arrive early. For more information on the event, visit the Texas Energy Forum website at http://texasenergyforum.blogspot.com/.

Navigant’s Energy Practice is comprised of more than 280 full-time consultants plus dozens of independent advisers providing existing and prospective owners of energy supply and delivery assets the ability to evaluate, plan, develop, and enhance the operating value of their investments within evolving market and regulatory structures. Navigant's energy consultants offer deep industry knowledge and functional expertise in a range of services to public power and investor owned utilities, independent power producers, financial entities, law firms, government energy organizations, and energy equipment providers. Visit http://www.navigant.com/energy for more information.

2/21 - TEF Hosts Navigant Consulting

THE TEXAS ENERGY FORUM HOSTS: NAVIGANT CONSULTING
TUES, FEBRUARY 21ST, 6:30-7:30pm, GSB 3.106


Join us as we host Bob Gibb and Todd Lester, Associate and Managing Directors of Navigant Consulting in a discussion on the Keystone XL Pipeline and Navigant's Energy Consulting Practice. On Tuesday, February 21st, from 6:30-7:30PM in GSB 3.106, Mr. Gibb and Mr. Lester will talk about the impacts and effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal, as well as their energy consulting experiences at Navigant. As a featured speaker at the 2012 University of Texas Energy Forum and the "Natural Gas Use in Texas and Unconventional Production" Conference in 2011, Mr. Gibb has shared his insights on a variety of topics to faculty and students across campus. The presentation on Feb. 21st will be open to all UT students free of charge. Free pizza and drinks will also be provided, but seating will be limited so please arrive early. For more information on the event, visit the Texas Energy Forum website at http://texasenergyforum.blogspot.com/.

Navigant’s Energy Practice is comprised of more than 280 full-time consultants plus dozens of independent advisers providing existing and prospective owners of energy supply and delivery assets the ability to evaluate, plan, develop, and enhance the operating value of their investments within evolving market and regulatory structures. Navigant's energy consultants offer deep industry knowledge and functional expertise in a range of services to public power and investor owned utilities, independent power producers, financial entities, law firms, government energy organizations, and energy equipment providers. Visit http://www.navigant.com/energy for more information.

2/16 - UTES Lecture: Student Research Showcase

For more info on the Energy Symposium Lecture Series , email varun.rai@mail.utexas.edu with subject line:“Subscribe to UTES Email List” if you want to be added

Thursday, February 16
5:15 - 6:15pm
MEZES HALL (MEZ) 1.306

Open to all
Refreshments served at 5:00pm
Please settle in by 5:10pm

Student Research Showcase featuring the following speakers:
-Sudamsh Bai-Reddy, McCombs School of Business
"Project Valuation in the Oil & Gas Industry"
-Benjamin Sigrin, Energy and Earth Resources and LBJ School of Public Affairs
"Going Solar: Economics of Decision-making"
-Dave Tuttle, Electrical and Computer Engineering
"Comparative Performance of Electric Vehicles"
-Dan Weisberg, Pecan Street Inc.
"Granularity Maters--Insights from Pecan Street Inc.'s Demonstration Projects."

Speaker Bios:

Sudamsh Bai-Reddy is a 2nd yr MBA student with a concentration in Energy Finance. He did his undergrad in petroleum engineering from Indian School of Mines. Before coming to business school, Sudamsh worked for 2 years as a Reservoir Engineer at an E&P company in India and 3 years with an oil and gas consulting firm in Middle East.

Ben Sigrin is a masters student pursuing a dual degree in the Energy & Earth Resources/Public Affairs departments and will graduate in May 2013. His research interests include financial modeling of energy systems and understanding consumer energy investment decisions. He has a BA in Physics from Grinnell College and also served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Namibia.

Dave Tuttle is a Research Fellow and PhD student in renewable energy systems, the integration of Plug-In Vehicles and the grid, and the Smartgrid in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Texas at Austin. He is one of the lead researchers in Austin’s Pecan Street 100 Chevrolet Volt Smartgrid research project.

Dan Weisberg is a postgraduate research fellow at Pecan Street Inc., where he assists with analysis of home energy use and utility markets. Before joining Pecan Street Inc., Dan spent time working at Austin Energy. He earned a B.A. in Economics and a Masters of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Next talk:

23 February, 5:15-6:15pm, MEZES HALL (MEZ) 1.306

Speaker: David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy

NRG Energy is a Fortune 250 wholesale power generation company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. We own and operate one of the industry's most diverse generation portfolios (including nuclear, wind and solar power) that provides nearly 26,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, or enough to support nearly 21 million homes. NRG’s retail businesses, Reliant Energy and Green Mountain Energy Company, combined serve more than 1.8 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers.

NRG has taken a leading role on climate change and the power sector’s role in reducing greenhouse gases from the next wave of new power generation while meeting the country’s growing energy needs. NRG supports clean energy resources and technologies critical to our transition to a low carbon society.

(2/8) UTES Lecture Series Geopolitical Implications of Shale Gas

*Note: this week's meeting is on Wednesday, not Thursday!

Geopolitical Implications of Shale Gas

by

Amy Myers Jaffe

(Fellow in Energy Studies and Director of the Energy Forum, Baker Institute, Rice University)

8 February, 5:15-6:15pm

JGB 2.216

Open to all. Refreshments served at 5:00pm

Please settle in by 5:10pm

Speaker Bio:

Amy Myers Jaffe is the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies and director of the Energy Forum at the Baker Institute, as well as associate director of the Rice Energy Program. Jaffe's research focuses on oil geopolitics, strategic energy policy including energy science policy, and energy economics. Jaffe was formerly senior editor and Middle East analyst for Petroleum Intelligence Weekly. She is widely published and served as co-editor of "Energy in the Caspian Region: Present and Future" (Palgrave, 2002) and "Natural Gas and Geopolitics: From 1970 to 2040" (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and as co-author of "Oil, Dollars, Debt and Crises: The Global Curse of Black Gold" with Mahmoud A. El-Gamal (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Jaffe also contributed to Foreign Policy's "21 Solutions to Save the World" (May/June 2007). She served as a member of the reconstruction and economy working group of the Baker/Hamilton Iraq Study Group, as project director for the Baker Institute/Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Strategic Energy Policy, and as a principal adviser to USAID's project on "Options for Developing a Long Term Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry." She currently serves as a strategic adviser to the American Automobile Association (AAA) of the United States and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Jaffe was among the Key Women in Energy-Americas honorees in the Pathfinders/Trailblazers category (2004), the honoree for Esquire's annual 100 Best and Brightest in the contribution to society category (2005), Elle magazine's Women for the Environment (2006), and was named to Who's Who in America (2008). Jaffe is a Princeton University graduate with a degree in Arabic studies.

Next Talk:

16 February, 5:15-6:15pm, MEZES HALL (MEZ) 1.306

 “Student Research Showcase”

    Speakers:

1.    Sudamsh Bai-Reddy, McCombs School of Business

§       Project Valuation in the Oil & Gas Industry

2.    Benjamin Sigrin, Energy and Earth Resources and LBJ School of Public Affairs

§       “Going Solar: Economics of Decision-making”

3.    Dave Tuttle, Electrical and Computer Engineering

§       “Comparative Performance of Electric Vehicles”

4.    Dan Weisberg, Pecan Street Inc.

§  “Granularity Maters--Insights from Pecan Street Inc's Demonstration Projects”

2/7 The Global Warming Hoax Live Lecture: A Lecture on Energy Policy

Tuesday, Feb 7th @ 7pm; MEZ 1.306

At 7pm this Tuesday evening, the UT Objectivism Society is sponsoring a live lecture by Dr. Fred Singer. The thesis of the talk is that recent energy policy has been dominated by concerns about anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming (AGW). But how valid is the evidence for AGW? Dr. Singer will present the surprising results of latest investigations -- together with existing controversies. He will discuss the ongoing popular climate debate as an example of a conflict of cultures rather than of just science.

This event was made possible by The Heartland Institute and CFACT.

We hope to see you all there!

CAMPUS MAP: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/m...

* Dr. S. Fred Singer is Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia and chairman of the Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP). His specialty is atmospheric and  space physics. An expert in remote sensing and satellites, he served as the founding director of the US Weather Satellite Service and, more recently, as vice chair of the US National Advisory Committee on Oceans & Atmosphere. In 2007, he founded the NIPCC (Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change), providing an alternative scientific voice to the UN’s IPCC (intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). He edited the first NIPCC report Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate (2008) and co-authored the full NIPCC report Climate Change Reconsidered (2009)

PARKING: STREET PARKING AND PAID PARKING AVAILABLE ALL AROUND CAMPUS. YOU CAN PARK FOR FREE AT THE BOB BULLOCK MUSEUM on 1800 N. CONGRESS AVENUE AFTER 6:00. IF YOU NEED TO BE A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATE IN ORDER TO PARK FOR FREE, THAT'S FINE.

OR... PARK FOR FREE ON THE STREET AFTER 5:30 PM. THE BEST PLACES TO FIND STREET PARKING ARE ON THE STREETS NEAR THE BOB BULLOCK/IMAX MUSEUM.

2/7 Texas Enterprise Speaker Scott Tinker: What's the Future of Energy?

Who: Open to the public When: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Where: AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center Room 203 1900 University Ave. Austin, TX 78705 512-404-1900 Cost: $20. Includes box lunch. Walk-ups are welcome on a space available basis with a limited number of lunches available for purchase.

Energy.  It's the most important commodity in the world and affects every aspect of our lives.  The energy industry is in vast transition from using oil and coal resources to new alternatives. But not much is known or understood by the public about what the alternative resources are or what it will take to make the transition.  To make smarter decisions about energy, about our global future, we must be better informed. Please join us on Tuesday, February 7, as Dr. Scott Tinker explores the future of energy, showing segments from his not-yet-released documentary, "Switch."  Dr. Tinker goes inside the world’s premiere energy sites for all resources, most of them highly restricted, and talks to leaders in government, industry and academia, exploring the world of energy with a balanced, non-political perspective. He also answers these vital questions: If coal is dirty, why do we keep using it? Can we really clean it up? Will oil get too expensive? Will it run out? How quickly will we adopt alternatives? Which ones? How risky is hydraulic fracturing? How dangerous is nuclear energy? What are the biggest challenges, and best solutions, to our energy transition? What can each of us do? ____________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Scott Tinker, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, Professor of Geosciences, and renowned energy lecturer. Scott Tinker's passion is education. Toward this end, Scott is actively engaged in building bridges between academia, industry, and government. Scott weaves energy, the environment, and the economy into his talks, in which he envisions a very challenging, but positive, global future. In visiting more than 45 countries and numerous cities in the United States, Scott has given more than 400 invited and keynote lectures. His latest educational project is a major documentary film on global energy. It is from these experiences and passions that Dr. Tinker has developed a vision for America's energy future. He concludes that energy security—available, affordable, reliable, and environmentally sustainable—must drive energy policy and that efficiency and diversity are key elements to long-term energy security. Ultimately, energy security requires a reasoned balance among energy, environment, and the economy. Dr. Tinker worked in the oil and gas industry for 17 years in research, exploration and development, prior to coming to The University of Texas at Austin in 2000. Tinker has been a licensed professional geoscientist in Texas since 2003. He is very active in professional organizations and societies and is the past President of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Association of American State Geologists. He will serve as President of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies in 2012. Dr. Tinker also holds appointments to the National Petroleum Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, and he currently serves on several private, university, and professional boards. Dr. Tinker is the Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) and the Director of the Advanced Energy Consortium. He is also the acting Associate Dean for Research, and he holds the Allday Endowed Chair in the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree and majors in Geology and Business Administration from Trinity University. He received his Master of Science degree in geology from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in geosciences from the University of Colorado. Online pre-registration is closed. Walk-ins are welcome to register at the door, but only a limited number of box lunches will be available for purchase.