Comparative Energy: Policies and Technologies in France and the USA

 

Monday, December 17, 2012

8:30am - 5:30pm

AT&T Conference Center Auditorium

The University of Texas at Austin  

 

 

This conference will bring together representatives from academia, industry, government, and the media from the USA and France for a conversation about a variety of energy policies and technologies. The central thesis is that while France and the USA both share a similar set of concerns related to the abundance, safety, reliability, and cleanliness of energy, the two countries have taken very different approaches to achieving our respective goals (particularly, for instance, regarding how they have each dealt with nuclear and shale gas). Consequently, each country has different positive and negative results to share. This conference would seek to share best practices for solutions to the energy problem while educating participants about the problems and solutions and establishing a collaborative Transatlantic relationship. To this end, this conference will specifically seek to compare and contrast the energy landscape in the USA and France around four core topics: shale gas production; the grid (including nuclear, smart grid, renewables and energy efficiency); public policy; and media coverage.

 

Sponsors: French Embassy, EU Delegation, US Department of Education, UT Center for European Studies, France-UT Institute, UT Cockrell School of Engineering, UT College of Liberal Arts

Partners: French Consulate in Houston, TX; CleanTX Foundation in Austin, TX

Confirmed Speakers:

• Media:

Evan Smith (CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Tribune)

Russell Gold (energy writer for the Wall Street Journal)

Clifford Krauss (energy writer for the New York Times)

David Sassoon (Founder and publisher, InsideClimate News)

Karl De Meyer (correspondent at Les Echos)

•  Academia:

Prof. Ernie Moniz (Director of MIT's Energy Initiative and former Under Secretary of the Department of Energy)

Prof. Richard Newell (Director of Duke University's Energy Initiative and former Director of the Energy Information Administration)

Prof. James Sweeney (Director of Stanford University's Precourt Energy Efficiency Center)

Dr. Patrice Geoffron (Professor of Economics, University Paris Dauphine)

•  Policy and Government:

Hon. Mark Strama, Representative, Texas House of Representatives

Dymphna van der Lans, Energy and Climate Fellow, German Marshall Fund

Dr. Franck Carre, Scientific Director of the Nuclear Energy Division, France

Dr. Paul Lucchese, Advisor to the General Director, New Technologies for Energy (invited)

•  Industry:

Pierre Gauthier, President and CEO, Alstom US

Rod Nelson, VP of Communications and Innovation & Collaboration, Schlumberger

Marc Florette, Director of Research and Innovation, GDF Suez (invited)

Manoelle Lepoutre, VP for Sustainability, Total (invited)

Areva (invited)

Electricite de France (invited)

 

 Click here to visit the conference website and register.  

Euro Challenge Registration is Now Open!

 

2012 Winners from First Baptist Christian Academy

 

The Euro Challenge is now open for team registration!

 

A competition for 9th and 10th graders, the Euro Challenge allows students to compete in teams of 3-5 with presentations about the euro crisis and possible solutions.

 

The Texas regional competition will be held on the UT-Austin campus on March 25th. The winning team will compete nationally at the Federal Reserve in New York on April 12th. Travel to Austin and one night of accommodations will be covered by the University. Travel to New York for the winning team with be covered by the EU Delegation.

 

Also, teachers who oversee a team will receive special consideration for he EUCE Brussels Program, an organized rip in June 2013 to Brussels for high school teachers to learn more about the EU.

 

Click here for more information and registration information.  

 

Applications are due by mid-December. 

Call for Faculty and Graduate Student Research Awards

The Center for European Studies is pleased to offer graduate and faculty research grants thanks to funding by the EU Center of Excellence (EUCE) in the College of Liberal Arts and the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the McCombs School of Business. Currently, applications are open for PhD students focusing whose project focuses on EU Pubic Policy or EU-US Relations and for faculty members with a focus on business in the EU and/or business relations between the US and EU.

PhD Research Grant: Competition for two grants of $2,000 each for research on EU Public Policy or EU-US Relations.The overall aim of this grant is to ensure that EU public policy ideas and best practices are widely understood in the US by both academia and policy makers alike. To this effect, this research grant will award graduate students at UT the funding to conduct field research in Europe and meet with key policy makers at the supranational and Member State national level.

Business Studies Stipend: Competition for three grants of $4,000 each for research with a focus on Business in the EU and/or Business relations between the EU and US.CIBER, a program housed in the McCombs School of Business, will fund two $4,000 faculty stipends for researchwith a focus on Business in the EU and/or Business relations between the EU and US,or to support collaborative research between researchers at our university and their colleagues in the EU in an effort to promote increased dialogue about important topics of common interest related to Business in the EU and/or Business relations between the EU and US.

 

Applications for each award are available at the CES website. Applications opened November 15, 2012 and we will continue to award funds thereafter until all funds and awards are expended.