Ecologue

The Center for Advanced Energy Studies’ Energy Policy Institute held the 5^th Energy Policy Research in Denver, Colorado on 10^th and 11^th September, 2015. I had the opportunity to attend this conference, and it was a great learning experience. This also gave me the chance to increase my knowledge on the subject and update myself on the latest research by leading academicians and practitioners in the field. Further it was also the ideal place to meet people from the industry to understand recent trends and upcoming opportunities in energy policy.

The conference brought together representatives from universities, think-tanks and research institutes, NGOs, national laboratories, industry, and government. Jim Rogers, former chairman of the board and CEO at Duke Energy was the key note speaker at the conference. In an inspiring and interactive session he encouraged practitioners and researchers to delve and solve complex problems of energy access, renewables integration and grid modernization. He emphasized on models and solutions focused on providing sustainable, clean electrical power to the developing world.

The session I enjoyed the most was one on the clean power plan, renewables, and climate targets. Researchers from National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and esteemed universities threw light on impacts of current and pending policies particularly EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan on the evolution of the electricity sector. They also went deeper into understanding the United States’ 2025 Climate Target, and urged policy makers to think beyond the 111(d) regulations. A researcher found that even if the EPA achieved full emission reductions from the clean energy power plan, there would still be a significant gap between projected U.S. emissions and its Copenhagen target for 2020. Also intriguing was research done by my colleagues at Oregon State University, where they explored impacts of public participation on the decision-making process to site a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Astoria and Coos Bay, Oregon.

I found the conference to be different from other conferences due to the interdisciplinary approach of speakers towards energy policy. This was well depicted in the topics covered over two days of this conference which included modeling renewables potential, integrating renewables and analyzing their expansion, the clean power plan, infrastructure accounting, fracking regulations and governance, utilities and adaptive behaviors amongst other key issues addressed. While the conference covered energy topics in general, it had a strong focus on sustainability and renewable energy. Further my recent internship with National Renewable Energy Laboratory made it extremely interesting to see implications of the research on real world policy.