Workshop: 10 Big Ideas in Energy – What Everyone Needs to Know

Speaker: Prof. Adonis Yatchew

Date: Sunday 6 June 17:00 - 22:00 (CEST) / 11:00am - 4:00pm (EDT) / 00:00 - 05:00 (Tokyo Time)

Price: 50€ (IAEE member) and 75€ (non-IAEE member)

Description: We are in the midst of an historic global energy transition. How does a layperson begin to develop an understanding of the decisions that continue to shape our economies, the environment and geopolitics? Where does an instructor begin when teaching a basic course on energy? These tasks are even more daunting in today's era of fake news, changing political norms and of course, Covid-19.

This workshop assembles '10 Big Ideas' that are foundational to appreciating the complexities of today's energy issues. Drawing on economics, politics and geopolitics, history and the applied sciences, the workshop outlines a series of simple cross-disciplinary narratives which provide a basis for thinking about these energy challenges.

Learning Outcomes: Participants will consider and evaluate 10 big ideas on energy which form the core of this workshop. The ideas are useful in considering such questions as:

• How do long-term political forces and trends affect energy policy and regulation?
• How does one think about the proper role of government in energy markets?
• What kinds of incentives are effective in driving innovation?
• How can history inform our understanding of energy transitions and their consequences?
• How is Covid-19 likely to affect the transition?

Participants will also have the opportunity to propose and discuss other ideas which they consider to be critical.

Target Audience: The workshop should be of interest to young energy professionals, academics teaching courses in energy economics and related fields, individuals working in regulatory and policy environments, and those who want to refresh their understanding of key energy ideas. Members of the business community who would benefit from a 'big picture' approach might also wish to attend.

Électricité de France (EDF) is the leading French company in the production and supply of electricity. During this virtual tour, Carmen MUNOZ, Downstream R&D Director at EDF, will present the R&D activities of EDF.

R&D is at the heart of EDF Group's major challenges. It covers all business lines and activities of the energy sector, providing day-to-day support to the business lines and subsidiaries in line with the EDF Group's Cap 2030 project. Researchers are driven by two missions: improving performance in all today's activities and preparing for the future by working on breakthrough technologies. Browse through the projects and research work that make EDF R&D a benchmark player, whether it is developing new energy and electricity services, supporting competitive and decarbonated production mixes or supporting the digital and societal transition. The significance of physical contraints on electricity markets will be discussed with Carmen Munoz, Downstream R&D Director at EDF Lab.

The University of Paris-Saclay offers a virtual visit to all conference participants to learn about and discuss its research and innovation activities in the field of decarbonised energy. The Sustainable Energy Institute will be the subject of a special online presentation.
Paris-Saclay is a recent research university, with 65,000 students, 9,000 researchers, 4,600 doctoral students, and administrative and technical teams at the heart of the 14 founding and associated institutions, including the very high-level French general engineering school: CentraleSupélec. The University of Paris-Saclay is ranked first in continental Europe by the Shanghai ranking.