HOUSTON — One of the biggest events for the energy industry is happening in downtown Houston this week, CERAWeek 2024.
The 42nd annual conference kicked off Monday at the George R. Brown Convention Center and will go through Friday.
Thousands of people, including some of the top industry insiders will gather to share new ideas, gain insight, and discuss possible solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing the future of energy.
"The theme this year at CERAWeek is the Multidimensional Energy Transition: Markets, climate, technology, and geopolitics,” said Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of CERAWeek, James Rosenfield.
According to Rosenfield, right now, the energy industry is in the middle of a transformation and there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the challenges that lie ahead.
"And we see that reflected here by the participation, we have folks from Amazon, Microsoft and Google, as well as the automotive industry, as well of course the traditional energy players, and so we're seeing this convergence of brain power, engineering skill, science, and policies behind it,” said Rosenfield.
Some of the key themes that'll be explored at this year's conference include climate and sustainability.
"Power consumption is growing at a much faster rate than expected, so how will the industry meet those demands while at the same time decarbonizing,” said Rosenfield.
Over the next five days, a big chunk of those discussions will unfold at the Innovation Agora installation, which Rosenfield said has grown exponentially over the years, with an entire floor of the GRB dedicated to it this year.
"We have a carbon hub, we have a climate hub, and a hydrogen hub and those all reflect the different approaches to decarbonizing,” he said.
Rosenfield said the sessions will include topics like carbon capture and all the different technologies that are being applied, and several Houston energy companies are playing a big role.
"Those technologies will take time and expertise, a lot of that expertise is based right here in Houston,” said Rosenfield. "And they're all coming together to exchange best practices and ideas.”
Other hot topics include, the role of artificial intelligence, geopolitical tensions, CERAWeek is happening as conflicts continue in both the Middle East and Ukraine and focus on energy security.
Some notable speakers this week include, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who was the key-note speaker on Monday.
Bill Gates is also expected to address a large crowd during a luncheon on Thursday.
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