Dartmouth Delegation to Attend Major Energy Conference

Dean Abramson is one of three faculty members with some alumni industry leaders who will be among the speakers next week at a major annual energy conference in Houston. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)

Additional representatives from the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, the Tuck School of Business, the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer will also be attending CERAWeek 2023. 

This year's theme is "Navigating a Turbulent World: Energy, Climate and Security."

"CERAWeek organizers are aptly naming it a 'trilemma,' as three interlocking crises—the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the resulting global economic upheaval—make it more important than ever to rebuild an energy system that is equitable, affordable, and secure," says April Salas, executive director of the Irving Institute which is leading the Dartmouth delegation. "I am thrilled that Dartmouth will be so well-represented at a gathering of the best minds in the world, working together to address unprecedented threats to the planet."

Entering its 41st year, CERAWeek is sponsored by S&P Global, a corporation specializing in financial information and analytics. The list of marquee speakers includes former Secretary of State John Kerry, the special presidential envoy for climate; Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm; and S&P Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer-Prize winning authority on the intersection of energy, international politics, and economics who received an honorary degree from Dartmouth in 2016.

Additional speakers include Mukul Sharma, a professor of Earth sciences who will discuss possible ocean-based climate solutions, and alumni: Thad Hill T'95, the CEO of Calpine, America's largest generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources, who will discuss electrification; Abigail Ross Hopper '93, the CEO of the Solar Energy Industry Association, who will talk about renewable energy supply chains; and Lee Taylor T'12, CEO of REsurety Inc, speaking on maximizing and measuring carbon impact.

"I'm honored to participate, and very proud to be joined by colleagues who will each bring a different kind of expertise to CERAWeek," says Abramson, whose area of discussion will be energy efficiency and making the built environment more energy efficient.

The delegation will include some graduate students, including MEM candidate Prutha Atre, an intern in the tech transfer office. Atre and two fellow grad students are building a startup artificial intelligence-backed platform to help businesses decarbonize and hopes to learn more about such initiatives during CERAWeek, along with making connections with attendees as part of the tech transfer team.

Atre says fellow MEM students Filip Nowicki and Vanessa Pinney '21 Th'22 will also be attending the conference. Nowicki is interested in the energy sector and is working on a proposal to offer short-term solar purchasing power agreements to low- and moderate-income households.