The National Academies Summit on America's Energy Future

There is a growing sense of national urgency about the role of energy in long-term U.S. economic vitality, national security, and climate change. This urgency is the consequence of many factors, including the rising global demand for energy; the need for long-term security of energy supplies, especially oil; growing global concerns about carbon dioxide emissions; and, many other factors affected to a great degree by government policies both here and abroad.



"The National Academies Summit on America's Energy Future: Summary of a Meeting" chronicles that 2-day summit and serves as a current and far-reaching foundation for examining energy policy.

the current and future supply of and demand for energy; new and existing technologies to meet those demands; their associated impacts; and, their projected costs.
"The National Academies Summit on America's Energy Future: Summary of a Meeting" is an essential base for anyone with an interest in strategic, tactical, and policy issues. Federal and state policy makers will find this book invaluable, as will industry leaders, investors, and others willing to convert concern into action to solve the energy problem.

Contents
Part I. The Current Context
1 A Growing Sense Of Urgency
Increasing Demand and Constrained Supplies
Continued U.S. Reliance on Foreign Sources of Oil
Growing International Consequences
A Necessary Urgency?
2 The Challenge Of Global Warming
Scenarios of Future Climate Change
Steps to Be Taken
The Relevant Time Scales
3 The Developing World —the Case Of China
China’s Energy Use in a Global Context
China’s Contribution to Climate Change
Policy Initiatives in China
U.S.-China Cooperation
Part II. Energy Supplies
4 PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
The Hard Truths About Oil and Gas
Confronting the Hard Truths
5 COAL
Taking Carbon Capture and Sequestration to Scale
Moving Forward with Demonstration Projects
6 NUCLEAR POWER
The Economics of Nuclear Power
Reprocessing
The Disposal of Spent Fuel
Fusion Energy
7 BIOFUELS
Ethanol Production in the United States and Brazil
Second-Generation Technologies
Land Use 6
8 OTHER RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGY
Solar Power and Wind Power
Enhanced Geothermal Energy
Advanced Energy R&D
Part III. Energy Uses
9 TRANSPORTATION
Prospects for Improvement
Vehicle Technologies
Initiatives Under Way
Hydrogen as an Energy Source
10 BUILDINGS AND INDUSTRY
Conservation in California
Saving Money by Saving Energy
Transferring Technologies to the Developing World
Part IV. Meeting the Challenge
11 PATHWAYS TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Electricity Technology in a Carbon-Constrained Future
Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
12 THE PUBLIC SECTOR RESPONSE
Actions Taken by the Bush Administration
Actions Taken by Congress
Cap and Trade Versus a Carbon Tax
13 THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR— THE CASE OF GOOGLE
Renewable Energy
Hybrid Electric Vehicles
14 BARRIERS AND POTENTIAL
Reasons for Optimism
Contributions from Scientists and Engineers
Communicating with the Public
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES
A America’s Energy Future Project
B Speakers at the Summit
C Summit Agenda
D Units of Measure and Equivalences