Energy and Climate Cluster Workshop
Energy and Climate WG – Abstracts (Presentations on July 19, 2012)
Title: The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the National Climate Assessment (NCA) and the Global Change Information System
(GCIS)
Speaker: Curt Tilmes, USGCRP
Abstract:
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (globalchange.gov) coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The USGCRP is now coordinating production of a National Climate Assessment
(assessment.globalchange.gov) that analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and analyzes current trends in global change, both human-induced and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years. The Global Change Information System (GCIS) will present the content of the NCA, linking back to their provenance: the scientific papers, models, datasets, etc. supporting their conclusions. After the NCA, the GCIS will extend to link to information related to global change throughout the USGCRP.
Contact:
Curt Tilmes, Ph.D.
U.S. Global Change Research Program
1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 250
Washington, D.C. 20006, USA
+1 202-419-3479 (office)
+1 443-987-6228 (cell)
globalchange.gov
Title: U.S. Energy Security and Water
Speaker: Paul Faeth, CNA Corp
Abstract:
U.S. national security interests can cover a variety of issues, but one that has been enduring over the last forty years has been energy security, which means that there are sufficient supplies of energy at prices that do not disrupt ordinary economic and social activity. The nature of the energy security challenge has morphed over those decades to include carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and more recently, the security of electricity supplies.
Now, as the nature of interdependencies between energy and water are becoming clearer, so too the connections between water and national security are also becoming clearer and adding new challenges. Leading options to respond to the need to increase energy security by increasing the domestic production of oil and oil substitutes, and reducing GHG emissions through carbon capture and sequestration , may be limited because of water quantity or quality constraints. And in the electric power sector, expansion of conventional supplies to meet demand may be constrained because significant parts of the country, water supplies are expected to be insufficient. There are energy options though, that can reduce energy dependence, cut emissions, and conserve water. This presentation will explore these issues.
Contact:
Paul Faeth, Senior Fellow
CNA Corp.
4825 Mark Center Drive
Alexandria, VA 22311-1850
T: 1-703-824-2286
C: 1-202-295-5471
www.cna.org
Title: The energy-water security nexus - a military view
Speaker: Chad Briggs, USAF Minerva
Abstract:
Since 2010 the US Air Force Minerva program has focused on energy and environmental security, with an emphasis on scenario and risk planning for military operations and strategy. Drawing from previous experience with the Dept of Energy’s intelligence office, USAF Minerva is helping to identify potential surprises and ‘wild cards’ in planning, in part by translating scientific data into security risk frameworks. This presentation will give an overview to these goals, give examples of where environmental influences on energy production (particularly related to water) can pose significant security risks to the US military, and suggest how civilian and industry scientists can assist in these efforts.
Contact:
Chad M Briggs, PhD
Minerva Defense Fellow & Chair of Energy and Environmental Security
Spaatz Center, US Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL
[email protected]
TEL +1 (613) 295-6614