Aired on 9/22/2015
This webinar is the last in a four-part series focusing on what near term actions might accelerate the transition of transportation fuels toward sustainability and a low carbon future, increase the economic efficiency of that transition, and minimize barriers that impede the transition or that make the transition more costly. The emphasis is on conversations and perspectives about innovations that can be commercially ready within 5-20 years. If you missed the first three webinars in the series, go to the LightSpeed Solutions website to watch the recorded videos.
There is likely no disagreement that “objective and grounded” is a hard standard to meet when designing metrics to measure and characterize a complex socio-political-techno-economic enterprise, such as the future of transportation energy and fuels. Still, an objective, grounded approach that integrates diverse stakeholder viewpoints and facilitates coordination and responsiveness, begs for measures, even if at times they are qualitative rankings, such as low, medium, high, which all parties respect and understand, and yet may disagree on. Webinar #4 sounds out the participants on considerations and challenges for developing valuable frameworks and appropriately using metrics.
Sustainable Transportation Fuels – Challenges and Opportunities for Designing Good Metrics from Security & Sustainability Forum on Vimeo.
Meet the Panelists
Dr. Gary Dirks is the Director of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University and of LightWorks, an ASU initiative that capitalizes on ASU’s strengths in solar energy and other light-inspired research. Before joining ASU, Dr. Dirks was the President of BP Asia Pacific and the President of BP China.
Dr. James Hinkley is a Project Leader at CSIRO Energy Technology (CET). Dr Hinkley worked for BHP Research for four years in sintering and mineral processing, six years at Rio Tinto as a process specialist and quality control superintendent in coal preparation plants, and nine years at CSIRO concentrating on solar thermal research. Dr Hinkley’s research interests include hydrogen production from thermochemical water splitting cycles, technoeconomic evaluations of the cost and potential for CSP in Australia, and solar and solar fossil hybrid fuels.
Dr. Cheryl Martin is the founder of Harwich Partners and is currently managing a process to assist private technology companies and investor-owned electric utilities to develop new business models and form partnerships for the New York State Energy Development Agency. Previously, she was the Deputy Director for Commercialization for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), a United States Department of Energy initiative.
Dr. Andrew Maynard is a Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, and Director of the Risk Innovation Lab – a unique center focused on transforming how we think about and act on risk. Maynard’s research and professional activities focus on risk innovation, and the responsible development and use of emerging technologies, including nanotechnology and synthetic biology.
Dr. Eric Miller has worked for over 20 years on alternative energy research. He currently acts as the Hydrogen Production and Delivery Program Manager at the Department of Energy. His career has focused on research in alternative fuels, including work at Bell Laboratories, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the NASA Lewis Research Center.
Louise Vickery is manager of renewable futures at the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. She manages over 170 contracts aimed at improving the competitiveness of renewables through researching, demonstrating and commercializing emerging solar, ocean, geothermal and bio energy and enabling technologies. Louise has represented the Australian Government on IEA working parties and the International Partnership on Energy Efficiency Cooperation, based at the IEA with involvement of China India and Russia.
