The Future of Energy in the U.S.

---

Co-hosted by the Power & Energy Society Pikes Peak Chapter

Puzzled by all the media hype on U.S. Energy Policy? The IEEE Pikes Peak Section invites you to attend a presentation on The Future of Energy in the U.S., given by Peter O'Neill, treasurer and founder of the High Plains (Fort Collins) Section of the IEEE. If you are even remotely curious about current and future energy sources, energy usage and energy policy this is a must attend presentation.

While some of us are quietly planning for the world to end later this year (in the middle of football season, no less), others are trying to sort out how the U.S. will supply energy for the coming generations.

Yes, energy policy is big news. We are constantly bombarded about the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, Deep Water Horizon off-shore oil drilling, hydraulic fracking for oil and natural gas in Colorado and the recent approval of a groundbreaking nuclear reactor design by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There is indeed lots to talk about.

Yet, while the United States is at a critical juncture in deciding how to use and where to obtain energy, the public discussion often ignores or fails to comprehend fundamental physical, engineering, and economic principals associated with energy production, distribution and use.

Peter O’Neil’s presentation will discuss these principals and give you insight to evaluate energy generation and delivery systems against policy objectives as these technologies evolve and the balance in their use changes. Energy SOURCES include petroleum, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables (solar, wind, hydroelectric). Energy USAGE includes the transportation, industrial, residential and commercial sectors of the economy.

Energy POLICY comes into play as we decide how to balance sources and usage against the goals of energy independence, global warming and resource depletion. Additional topics to be covered include qualities of energy (density, availability, intermittency and emissions), how to best match energy sources to loads, and the importance of evaluating energy pathways from end to end -- instead of as individual pieces of a massive jigsaw puzzle.

And yes, the analysis of what type of automobile to use (gas, hybrid, or electric) probably will surprise you. (Your Grandmother knew all along.)
Don’t miss this one.

Join us on February 1 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM in Room W101 on the lower level of the Main Building at the Rampart Range Campus of Pikes Peak Community College. Attendance is FREE to IEEE members as well as non-members. Pizza and sodas will be available: Free to IEEE members, $5 for non-members.

Registration is limited to the FIRST 100 PEOPLE.

---

---

---

---