This Lunch’n Learn started with welcoming remarks from Consulate General, Dr. Jostein Mykletun. Dr. Mykletun offered a quick background of the Lunch’n Learn concept and explained the purpose of this event series. In introducing Dr. Nummedal, Dr. Mykletun underlined his relationship to Norway and some of the remarkable things he has accomplished.
Dr. Dag Nummedal Dr. Nummedal is the Director of the Colorado Energy Research Institute. Presently, he is most deeply engaged in research related to sustainable use of fossil energy, including unconventional varieties. His presentation, titled "
Making Fossil Energy More Sustainable through Emissions Reductions Pathways” explained how crucial it is to make fossil energy more sustainable, by reducing the amount of CO
2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Nummedal started his presentation by showing a slide (developed by others), which pictured how the average global temperature has changed from the late Middle Ages through the 20
th century and model results on how it may continue to change into the late 21
st century. The changes are dramatic, due to a significant increase in emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. After stating how serious the concerns are, Dr. Nummedal talked about Colorado Energy Research Institute’s role and vision for this area. Their vision in this energy transition is “to conduct discovery-based scientific research and technology development (Dr. Nummedal).” It is the industry’s responsibility to take action to develop technology and strategies to reduce the greenhouse emissions both from transportation and power. Dr. Nummedal pointed out that the trend towards using more natural gas is fast and positive in America, where the use of natural gas for electric power generation now is higher than coal.
A lot of people believe that CO2 is the only dangerous gas, but Dr. Nummedal clearly stated that this is not the case. Soot is another dangerous gas which absorbs sunlight. Soot darkens ice and snow, to absorb more heat. Not all soot is equal, and the worst soot comes from diesel engines and coal burned under “less than optimal conditions”. Dr. Nummedal said that soot and methane are almost equal to CO2 in current warming effect. After a very interesting presentation, Dr. Nummedal concluded by saying it is time for the industry to buckle down and “Just Do It”! We can develop vastly cleaner fossil energy technology, and now is the time to do it.
This was the fourth event in the Lunch’n Learn series, and if you did not make it to this one, we hope to see you at the next. As the series moves forward it has become more and more popular and people that are interested in participating at the next event should therefore indicate their interest as soon as an invitation is received. The Consulate General of Norway thanks the attendees and we hope to see you again at the next Lunch'n Learn.