The 5th Wharton Energy Conference Places Stronger Emphasis On Alternative Energy

The Wharton School, the world's first business school, is planning its fifth energy conference. The school's Energy Club, an independent student organization who has held the school's first four energy conferences in Philadelphia, is going to host its fifth in two weeks (November 21, 2008). What's new this year? One thing I noticed is, compared to the previous years, this year's topics have placed more emphasis on the alternative energy than the traditional energy. You can easily see that trend from the list below: (incomplete)

• Solar Grid Parity
• Project Financing in Energy
• Future of Wind
• Private Equity Investments in Alternative Energy
• Future Prospect for Geothermal
• Carbon Capture and Storage
• Solar: Thin-film
• Nuclear: Resurgence of Civil Nuclear Power in Emerging Markets
• Unconventional Oil (e.g. tar sands, shale)

See the complete list here.

Three keynote speakers Jacob Susman, founder of OwnEnergy, Steve Chazon, president of Occidental Petroleum Corp and Vijay Valtheeswaran, award winning correspondent of The Economist will speak about alternative energy industry from aspects of entrepreneurs, investors to media critics.

Three panel discussions include topics on "Investment in Clean Technology", "Opportunities in the Global Power Industry" and "Dissecting the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) Problem," moderated by well-known figures in each field.

For the first time, this year's Conference will introduce table discussions in order to encourage more interactive and in-depth conversations among those who share the same interest on a particular topic. One professional participant of each table will act as the "table captain" to facilitate.

The one-day conference attracted 200 attendees from students, faculty, to professionals in the industry last year. It has expanded through the years and since last year it had to move to a bigger venue outside the school.

The chairman of the Wharton Energy Club is promoting the event by promising a quality conference as well as an all-you-can-drink cocktail party after the meeting.