43rd Nobel Conference Explores the Energy Debate

Heating Up: the Energy Debate, the 43rd Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College, Oct. 2 and 3, 2007, will consider global reliance on nonrenewable energy sources and explore a range of cutting-edge energy alternatives.

“The annual Nobel conferences are noted for timely and constructive discussions of important scientific and social issues,” said Nobel Conference Director Tim Robinson. “Literally fueled by rising gasoline prices, the energy debate is a topic about which more of us have become increasingly aware and formed strong opinions.”

For more than four decades, Gustavus has organized and hosted the Nobel Conference, which draws about 6,000 people to the college campus in St. Peter, Minn., and links a general audience, including high school students and teachers, with the world’s foremost scholars and researchers in discussion centered on contemporary issues relating to the natural and social sciences.

The Nobel Conference is the first ongoing education conference in the United States to have the official authorization of The Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.

Executive Director of The Nobel Foundation Michael Sohlman said, “The Nobel Foundation proudly supports Gustavus Adolphus College and this year’s Nobel Conference as it brings together an inquisitive audience and renowned energy and resource experts to examine global warming and energy issues and the resulting conflicts which impact political stability.”

The schedule for this year’s Nobel Conference is as follows:

Tuesday, Oct. 2

10 a.m.: Steven Chu, “The World’s Energy Problem and What We Can Do About It”

1 p.m.: Kenneth Deffeyes, “Peak Oil: Here and Now”

3 p.m.: Lee Rybeck Lynd, “Biofuels: Technology, Challenges, and Their Role in a Sustainable World”

Wednesday, Oct. 3

10 a.m.: James Hansen, “The Threat to the Plant: The Dark and Bright Sides of Global Warming”

1 p.m.: Paul Joskow, “Placing a Price on Greenhouse Gas Emissions”

3 p.m.: Joan Ogden, “Prospects for Hydrogen Energy”

6:30 p.m.: Nobel Banquet and closing lecture; Will Steger, “The Front Lines of Global Warming — Will Steger’s Eyewitness Account”

In addition to the main lectures, several other events will take place during the two-day conference.

The Minnesota Energy Forum will take place at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday evening. This free conference will feature four speakers during two concurrent sessions at Lund Arena and Alumni Hall. Other Tuesday night events include a reception at the Hillstrom Museum of Art from 6 to 8 p.m. and a performance by the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra at 8:15 p.m. in Christ Chapel.

More information about the conference is available online at www.gustavus.edu/nobelconference.