Panelists speaking at the 2010 Tufts Energy Conference (TEC) arrived at a general consensus that government initiatives should take a central role in combating climate change and shifting the economy toward new sources of energy.
The conference, which took place Friday and Saturday, was organized by the Institute for Global Leadership and Fletcher Energy Consortium and run by Tufts Energy Forum.
Partha Ghosh, visiting professor of strategic and innovation management at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, voiced the conference's conclusions at a panel discussion held Saturday titled "Energy in Emerging Markets."
The governments of India and China, Ghosh said, successfully carry out long−term planning, engaging private entrepreneurship according to the maturity of the market.
Speaking at the same panel, Michael Quah Cheng−Guan, principal fellow and chief scientist at Energy Systems and Technology, said that professional civil services, such as those in Britain and China, enable governments to engage in the kind of long−term planning that is needed to deal with energy issues.
Ghosh further challenged students of political science to determine what the role of government should be in promoting broad change.
Nearly 400 guests attended the conference, with energy professionals paying a $60 admissions fee, according to conference co−chair Daniel Enking, a senior.
The large audience and high admissions fee made TEC one of Tufts' most well attended and highest grossing student−run events ever, Enking said.
The need to take a long−term approach when considering energy issues was also emphasized Friday at a panel on "Evolving Fossil Fuels," which kicked off the conference discussions.
The panel included ExxonMobil Scientific Advisor John Robbins, whose review of biofuels inspired the company to investigate the production of biofuels from algae.
Robbins presented ExxonMobil's report, which showed a dramatic increase in energy usage since 1850 and also an increase in energy sources from just two resources — coal and wood — to six, encompassing oil, gas, hydro and nuclear power.
Robbins said the increase in fuel sources has happened over an extended period of time and has been a slow process.
Howard Herzog, senior research manager in the MIT Energy Initiative, said the size of energy demand and infrastructure was too vast to be changed overnight.
"The scale we're talking about is billions of tons of [carbon dioxide] per year," Herzog said. "Dealing with climate change is going to be extremely difficult, perhaps the most difficult task undertaken by humanity."
Robbins said if a cheap solar energy solution came out tomorrow, chances are it would not be fully embraced for a decade.
"Industries do not change overnight," he said. "There's not enough engineers, not enough steel in the world."
Joseph Stanislaw, co−author of "Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy" (2002) and co−founder of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, urged the imposition of a carbon tax to create an incentive for oil and gas companies to become cleaner.
"This is a technology industry," Stanislaw said. "Put high prices on oil and gas, they will get the [carbon dioxide] out, I promise you."
Stanislaw estimated that imposing a significant carbon tax would only have a slight impact on gas prices.
Moderator of the panel Bruce Everett, adjunct professor of international business at The Fletcher School, said states should be cautious when considering a carbon tax.
"What is being done in Europe, and included in [Sen. John] Kerry's bill, is to set a lot price on carbon that will be enough of a price to put a cost on the economy but not enough to change anybody's behavior," Everett said.
Kerry (D−Mass.) is currently proposing a climate−change bill that could in 2012 potentially impose a cap−and−trade system on electric utilities.
Stanislaw also highlighted government programs that can help increase efficiency. In Massachusetts, Stanislaw said, all residents are entitled to a free energy efficiency audit on their homes.
"Those programs have an impact," Stanislaw said. "Money put in the right place will drive change."
Howard Berke, co−founder and executive chairman of Konarka Technologies, said the proposals being debated in the United States are "peanuts" in comparison to actions that China is taking to reduce its reliance on oil and increase efficiency.
"While the Americans debate it, debate it and debate it, the Chinese are building it, and building it and building it," Berke said.
TEC also included an energy showcase in which participants were invited to exhibit their energy−related projects and technological developments. Other panels at the conference included discussions on "Urban Energy and Green Design," "Renewables to Scale," "Navigating the Public−Private Interface," and "Green Technology and Entrepreneurship."
