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News

UH energy conference focuses on technology

by JOHNNY PEÑA
The Daily Cougar

Energy experts and scholars will convene June 29 at UH to discuss new technology that could impact consumer spending on resources such as electricity.

The convention Power Conference: How Will New Power Technologies Transform the Electricity Market Place? is sponsored by UH's Global Energy Management Institute and will be held in the University Hilton. 

The conference will feature presentations from prominent figures in the energy industry.

"A fundamental theme will be that we want to be more efficient energy producers and consumers, and we want to know how new technology will help us do that," GEMI Energy Markets Director Craig Pirrong said.

The topics discussed in the 2006 Power Conference affect humans and their surroundings, Pirrong, who is also a finance professor, said.

"Energy is costly, and we want to produce energy more efficient and beneficial to consumers. A lot of the technologies that will be talked about have a beneficial impact on environmental issues like global warming and greenhouse gases," Pirrong said. "Things like coal gasification or safer nuclear technology may help reduce toxic gases and the amount of dangerous carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere."

Students could gain useful information if they attend the conference, Pirrong said.

"We always encourage students to come. We find that students get a lot out of it, not just in content, but you have the opportunity to rub elbows with prominent people."

Energy use has been in the forefront of many public discussions and the lectures can serve as a starting point to understanding the issues. The technology discourse may lead to solutions and new energy output techniques, Pirrong said.

"Energy is always under a lot of scrutiny in regards to prices and the environment. These new technologies can be an important way of addressing those sorts of questions and challenges," Pirrong said. "If you want to know what the bleeding edge of technology is, this is the place to be"

For more information on the conference, visit www.bauer.uh.edu/uhgemi/Forms/power06.htm.

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