Ezra's Round Table / Systems Seminar: Michal Moore (Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability)

Description

Energy, Economic Markets and Systems Thinking

Energy in all forms is a fundamental human and societal need.  However, the path to maintaining efficient and dependable stocks of useful energy is anything but linear, and the market in which energy commodities trade is anything but transparent.  The roles of energy market actors often conflict and the vision of energy “futures” can change or shift, given many often unforeseen external events.  As well, not all energy technologies are clear economic or engineering performance substitutes for each other; hindering development of newer technologies such as renewables to meet increasing demand as we transition to more delivered energy from electricity.

Agricultural byproducts provide a useful example for addressing the potential of meeting new demand while limiting net emissions to conform to policy and regulatory standards.  Dr. Moore will review a recent paper that describes the use of systems engineering concepts to illustrate how policy, regulatory and economic goals can be met using waste agricultural products.  Here, substitute fuels and techniques can establish a new generation of carbon accounting and credits.  The concept is called equivalency and forms the basis of a proposed economic market that can identify the value of carbon emissions.  It provides a basis for future policy standards emphasizing reductions in the use of hydrocarbon fuels.
 

Bio:
Michal C. Moore is a visiting professor of energy economics and systems engineering at Cornell University.  He is emeritus professor of energy economics at the University of Calgary and was Commissioner of the California Energy Commission.  He previously served as Chief Economist for the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado.  His research interests are primarily on the use and oversight of energy markets.