Future Seminar Summaries

Energy and Economic Development: What We Know and What We Should Know

Morgan Bazilian, lead energy specialist, World Bank 

Michael Toman, lead economist on climate change, Development Research Group, World Bank

Monday, January 4, 2016 | 04:30 PM - 05:20 PM | NVIDIA Auditorium, Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center | Free and Open to All

While energy sector development is rightly seen as key to broader economic development and poverty reduction, empirical evidence on some important aspects of the energy-development nexus remains surprisingly thin.  After presenting the contours of the energy and development topic broadly, the presentation will review what we know about the connections, conceptually and empirically, and what we need to better understand.  Topics addressed will include: the economic value of increased electricity availability and reliability; barriers to widespread adoption of modern cooking energy sources; links between energy poverty and security; and the political economy of the energy sector in developing countries.

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What are the Prospects for Significant Global Deployment of Nuclear Power?

John Deutch, emeritus institute professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Monday, January 11, 2016 | 04:30 PM - 05:20 PM | NVIDIA Auditorium, Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center | Free and Open to All

The construction of new nuclear plants in the U.S. and OECD countries has slowed substantially due to the low cost of natural gas, incentives for deployment of wind and solar, and especially due to the high cost of nuclear power plant construction and safety concerns after Fukushima. The fleet is aging and significant retirements are expected beginning in 2030. While construction of new plants continues in a few countries notably, China, South Korea, and Russia it seems likely that nuclear will experience a decline in its share of world wide electricity generation. 

Nuclear power is an important source of carbon free electricity. The purpose of this talk is to assess the prospect for future nuclear power deployment at significant scale. What are possibly technologies? What are expected development schedules and costs? Who will pay for the development and initial deployment? What should governments do? Are there prospects for international collaboration?

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American Public Opinion on Climate Change: The Latest Measurements

Jon Krosnick, professor, Humanities and Social Sciences, Communication, Political Science, and (by courtesy) Psychology, Stanford University

Monday, January 25, 2016 | 04:20 PM - 05:30 PM | NVIDIA Auditorium, Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center | Free and Open to All

During the past two decades, headlines on newspapers across the country have proclaimed such things as: "Scientists and the American Public Disagree Sharply over Global Warming." And one U.S. Senator has pronounced that the global warming issue is "dead" in the minds of Americans. Meanwhile, emissions reduction bills, such as Waxman-Markey, have been defeated in the Congress.  Is it really true that Americans reject the opinions of natural scientists on climate change?

In this presentation, Professor Krosnick will describe findings from a series of national surveys that he has designed and conducted since 1996, tracking what Americans do and do not believe on this issue and what they do and do not want to have done about it. Surprising results challenge many widely-held presumptions about public opinion and help set the stage for understanding how future legislation on climate change may fare.

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