Event: Energy Technology and Policy in France and the EU: Some Implications for the United States.
When: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 29. A complete schedule is online.
Where: ACES Auditorium (2.302). A campus map is online.
Who: The event is open to the public.
Background: Pierre Vimont, ambassador of France to the United States, will join Texas State Representative Mark Strama, Austin Mayor Will Wynn and researchers from The University of Texas at Austin to discuss energy issues of common interest to France and the U.S., including green house gas emissions, carbon mitigation strategies and nuclear energy.
Vimont and Jean-Pierre Favennec, director of the Institut Français du Petrole, will discuss U.S.-French energy relations and France’s vision for energy in the 21st century. Strama will follow with an analysis of the role Texas will play in this century’s energy economy.
A panel of experts, including Alastair Totty, head of the National Climate Change Team for the British Embassy in Washington D.C., and Ian Duncan, associate director for earth and environmental systems at the university’s Bureau of Economic Geology, will discuss international agreements on carbon emissions and their impact on European and American policies.
France is the world’s leader in nuclear energy, generating 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear sources. Christian Nadal, president of the North American Division of Electricite de France, which manages the French nuclear sector, will discuss European views on nuclear security.
In the afternoon, a panel of experts from The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California and the Institut Français du Petrole will discuss clean and renewable energy technologies that could mitigate environmental problems associated with energy consumption.
The event is sponsored by the French Consulate, Houston and the university’s Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, France-UT Institute, European Union Center of Excellence at the Strauss Center and the Center for European Studies.
Editors: Ambassador Vimont requests advance notice for interviews. Contact J.B. Bird at The University of Texas at Austin to get in touch with the ambassador’s press officer.
