European energy policy expert to speak at annual conference

Felix Matthes, Research Coordinator for Energy and Climate Policy, Öko Institute

One of Germany’s foremost experts on energy and climate policy will speak at Carbon Management Canada’s fourth annual conference – May 27 to 29, 2014 at The Banff Centre.

Felix Matthes, Research Coordinator for Energy and Climate Policy at the Öko Institute in Berlin, will appear as a featured speaker on the Carbon Politics panel, Wednesday, May 28. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge about the design, assessment and evaluation of policies and measures in energy and decarbonization strategies for Germany and the European Union.

A new perspective

Dr. James Meadowcroft, moderator of the panel and Canada Research Chair in Governance for Sustainable Development at Carleton University, says Matthes brings a new perspective to a country like Canada, which is a major fossil energy producer.

“Germany is one of the first countries to explicitly embark on an energy transition that aims to move toward a fully renewable energy system. Felix Matthes is an international expert in the German energy transition and he can share ideas with us about the political feasibility of this ambitious project,” says Meadowcroft, adding Matthes also has broad European experience as well.

Advisory roles

In addition to his work with the Öko Institute, Matthes is a member of the European Commission Directorate General for Energy Advisory Group on the Energy Roadmap 2050, was a Member of Gesellschaft für Energiewissenschaft und Energiepolitik (German branch of the International Association for Energy Economics), of Deutsche Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft (DVPW – German Association of Policy Science), and of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE).

He’s the author of numerous publications and studies on decarbonisation strategies for Germany and the European Union, and on energy and emissions projections for the EU GHG Emission Projection Reports. He has also given policy advice about combined heat and power for the preparation and monitoring of the German CHP Act, the regulation of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), and nuclear power.

Low carbon future

Although fossil fuel production is now a mainstay of the Canadian economy, Meadowcroft notes that the world is moving into a low carbon era and that eventually Canada will have to join.

“The main thing this panel will examine is the political alliances necessary to move into a new low carbon economy. How do you build those political alliances in a country like Canada? Perhaps there’s something we can learn from the German and European experiences,” he says.

The Carbon Management Conference is a key networking event for industry and government stakeholders with an interest in greenhouse gas emissions management.

CMC 2014 conference

This year’s event will feature the research results and achievements of close to $22 million of CMC-funded projects. Through fast-paced five-minute presentations and in-depth discussions with researchers during poster sessions, participants will discover the many exciting new ways investigators are tackling the GHG challenge with processes and technologies that are efficient and viable.

For more conference information and to register: www.cmc2014.com