Previous Fora / 2013
PIERCE, John
Chief Bioscientist, BP
John Pierce,
ABSTRACT
17:30-19:00 26 november
PARALLEL THEMATIC SESSIONS IV. "bioenergy"
Energy, Innovation, and Sustainability
The world has abundant hydrocarbons – and uses them abundantly. Shifts in hydrocarbon use – both in type of hydrocarbons used as well as where they are used – are giving rise to major reorientations of focus in the energy industry. The next 20 years will be very unlike the last 20 years.
As the energy landscape changes, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasingly seen, not only as an environmental issue to deal with directly, but also as a good proxy for a broader set of sustainability issues such as water use and energy efficiency.
Various opportunities exist both to satisfy the changing energy demands of our world as well as to mitigate some of the consequences of increasing energy use. In this talk, I will outline a view of our energy future, discuss the continuing importance of carbon in providing our energy and materials, and provide some examples of progress in meeting our future energy challenges with a focus on sustainable biomass utilization.