Future Energy – Concepts for innovative electricity generation

From December 13 to 15, 2007, scientists from Austria, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U. S. will analyze the consequences of cultural and economic changes in the production and consumption of energy. In the context of the international symposium "Energy in Changing Environments", organized by Jacobs University Bremen and the Bremer Energie Institut, 70 participants will gain an insight into a number of disciplines focused on the cultural ramifications of issues concerning the sources of usable power in Western societies.

[ Dec 12, 2007]  Basis for the economic system in Western industrial societies are limited raw materials like gas, oil and energy. The use of these resources from the outset of civilization has depended to a large extent on social, cultural and political factors; and the disappearance of one resource has necessitated the development of others, always involving large-scale readjustment and negotiation with unforeseen consequences.

The conference will focus on four different fields: Energy efficiency, gas supply and geopolitics, technological advance as well as energy and environment. Starting with an overview about the sustainable energy consumption and the effects of energy efficiency on our daily life, the participants will further explore the variety of influences on the power market. In the course of the three-day conference international experts of different disciplines of the humanities, the natural and the social sciences, will comment on latest trends like the economic rise of China and India with its impact on the demand for primary fuels and the concentration of gas exporting countries.
In addition, issues of energy policy agendas and politics of supply will be broached. Moreover, the scientists will focus on the future of European gas including climate change and strategies concerning the market integration of renewables. Lectures, round table discussions and coffee breaks provide an opportunity to debate about new directions which aim for more energy efficiency and environmental protection