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Magne Espedal Lecture 2011 - Energy outlook for the US: Professor Margot G. Gerritsen, Stanford University.

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Energy outlook for the US: why it does not look that great for climate mitigation, and why we are all jealous of Norway

The US is an energy hungry country. It consumes around 20% of the world energy supply, yet constitutes less than 5% of the world population.

 Efficiency in our transport and domestic energy sector is not our strongest point. We are also truly addicted to fossil fuels. More than half of our electricity, for example, is generated using coal-fired power plants and only a small fraction with renewable energy. As in Norway, the renewable contribution to electricity generation comes mostly from hydro, but that is as far as the comparison goes, unfortunately. Although there is great concern amongst the population about global climate change and pollution in general, climate mitigation strategies are not going anywhere very fast.

 The talk will give an overview of US energy production and consumption and discuss political and other hurdles on the road to adoption of renewable energy.

 

Margot G. Gerritsen is professor in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering at Stanford University. She is also the director of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. Gerritsen has a strong scientific record, and among her publications, we find significant contributions within fluid and reservoir mechanics. Besides her scientific achievements, Gerritsen has made an outstanding effort bringing science available to a broader audience.  

Prof. Gerritsen is the first to be appointed as Magne Espedal Professor by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Magne Espedal (1942-2010) a prominent professor at the University of Bergen, and central in building what today is the group for Applied and Computational Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen. As a teacher and supervisor Prof. Espedal was an excellent role model for students in mathematics. The Magne Espedal Professorship is awarded to an internationally recognized researcher within applied mathematics, computational science, mathematical modeling and/or energy research.