Haiya Zhang: 2011 International Green Energy Economy Conference

Conference Host

Korea Energy Economics Institute

Conference Organizers

Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP) at the University of Delaware, assisted by the National council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), and the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL)

Summery of a few presentations at the IGEEC

1.       “Energy Quality”, by Dr. Cutler Cleveland, Boston University

In his presentation, Dr. Cleveland introduced the concept of ‘Energy Quality’, which implies that units of material are not equal when providing the same amount of energy. In other words, some has high efficiency, and some has lower. According to Dr. Cleveland, substitute energy sources have lower quality, such as ethanol. Since the scale of new energy source transition is large, we need to look for quality resources to transition into.

2.       “Curitiba City, Brazil”, by Mr. Eduardo Pereira Guimaraes, Curitiba City, Brazil

Mr. Guimaraes’s presentation gave a wonderful example of green city planning and its future in sustainability. Most of the planning and programs at Curitiba were initiated in 1970s. Among many programs, low-income families particularly favor the ‘Exchange Program’, where families can bring in 4 kg recycled garbage for 1 kg of food. “Green Line”, along with other transportation plans has always been put on an emphasis in Curitiba. 28m-long buses running on bio-fuel are used throughout the city center. The city government also invests a lot in environmental Education. ‘It’s just one idea until all population accept it’ said Mr Guimaraes, ‘and transparency is very important.’

3.       “Advancement of Steady State Economy”, by Dr. Brian Czech, CASSE

Dr. Czech presented the idea that truly going green equals to macro-economical de-growth. La Decroissance in Europe is an example of economic de-growth.

Therefore, the solution to environmental problems is not more investment in R&D, but to manage it on a sustainable scale. http://www.steadystate.org/ is the official site for CASSE and its projects. They are calling for support to their initiatives at all times.

4.       “Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiatives, the Biogas Opportunity, Lessons from Around the Globe for U.S and State Initiatives”, by Dr. Gary Radloff, Midwest Energy Policy

Dr. Radloff led a team of students to Germany to find out why Germany is the leader of biogas production, and what some of the social, technology, and policy drivers are. After visiting a technology fair and a few farms installed with biogas generating systems, they concluded three main reasons. First of all, the business models in Germany make it easy for farmers to cooperate with utility companies in terms of installing and managing the biogas digesters. Second, the system has a big scale and good design. Last but not least, the Germans are very innovative with inputs and end use of end product.