News Items, April - June 1998 

Almost 70 people from industry, government, and academia attended the spring workshop of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, which was held on April 30 and May 1. Topics on the first day included electric utility restructuring in Europe and Japan, electricity markets in the western United States, the future of nitrogen oxides emissions trading, and international gas pipelines. The lunchtime speaker was Thomas W. Malone, Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Information Systems, who spoke about the effects of changes in information technology. At dinner Mr. John Mitchell of the Royal Institute of International Affairs discussed the changing geopolitics of energy. Presentations on the second day focused on oil production in the North Sea and post-cold-war perspectives on Asian energy.

The Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, in association with the Royal Institute of International Affairs, held the Thirteenth Global Change Forum in London on June 14-16. The title of the forum was "Climate Assessment and Policy Development After Kyoto." The meeting opened with a keynote address delivered by Mr. Tom Spencer, member of the European Parliament. Subsequent sessions focused on the following topics: detection and attribution of climate change; new developments in the science of climate change; new dimensions in the IPCC assessment process; implementation of Annex I flexibility (bubbles, trading, and joint implementation); implementation and extension of provisions involving non-Annex I parties; and prospects for ratification and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. Meeting participants included about 80 representatives from industry, government, and academia, worldwide.

On June 22-23, the Energy Laboratory hosted a "Stakeholders' Workshop on Carbon Sequestration." The event is part of a broader effort by the Federal Energy Technology Center to foster communication and collaboration among researchers, industry, government, and various other stakeholders who are interested in the sequestration of carbon as a response to climate change concerns. About 120 people attended. Plenary sessions included a series of talks focusing on sequestration technologies, terrestrial sequestration, and the international outlook. The workshop then divided into breakout sessions by industry groups to solicit stakeholder feedback and to explore possible partnerships between industry, government, and universities. The workshop concluded with reports from the breakout sessions and a general discussion. Special presentations included a keynote address by Rita Bajura, director of the Federal Energy Technology Center; "Technology's Role in Carbon Management," by Henry D. Jacoby, William F. Pounds Professor of Management at MIT; and "The Future of Fossil Energy," by Morris A. Adelman, MIT professor of economics, emeritus. The workshop was organized by Howard J. Herzog, principal research engineer in the Energy Laboratory, who has led a series of MIT research projects on various aspects of carbon dioxide mitigation (see e-lab, April-September 1989, October-December 1992, and January-March 1996).

Anne M. Mayes, Class of 1948 Associate Professor of Polymer Physics, has received the 1998 Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the Materials  Research Society. The award was established "to recognize outstanding interdisciplinary materials research by a young scientist or engineer." Professor Mayes was cited for "incisive theoretical and experimental investigations of macromolecules at and near surfaces and interfaces leading to tailorable surface properties, especially novel biocompatible substrates." Professor Mayes leads a team of Energy Laboratory researchers who are developing self-organizing polymer electrolytes and other novel materials for a new lithium solid polymer battery (see e-lab, July-December 1996). The high-performance battery promises to be thin, flexible, long-lasting, and cheap and easy to fabricate. Funding for the research comes from the University Research Consortium of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and from the Furukawa Electric Company.

Marija Ilic, senior research scientist in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has co-authored a new book entitled Power Systems Restructuring: Engineering and Economics. Dr. Ilic's co-authors are Francisco Galiana of McGill University and Lester Fink of KEMA-ECC, Inc. (Charlottesville, Virginia). The book addresses problems inherent in restructuring the electric power industry. Topics include currently evolving market structures, mechanisms for implementing market requests, price incentives and transaction adjustments, and secure and optimal operation of the system under open access. The book addresses technical, economic, and regulatory questions related to making services market-based and analyzes market power problems related to transmission provision. The 576-page book is part of the Power Electronics and Power Systems Series of Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston. The price is $145. For ordering information, call (781) 871-6600 or send e-mail to agreene@wkap.com. Related Energy Laboratory research performed by the authors is described in e-lab, January-March 1998.