A World Without Paks II? - Scenarios for energy transitions in Hungary
Date: March 2, 2016
Location: Faculty Tower Room 609, Central European University
Time: 5:30 PM
Does a sustainable energy future in Hungary require the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant, and if not, what are the realistic alternatives?
CEU’s Environmental Sciences and Policy Department and Sustainable CEU invite you to join us for this seminar which will feature department faculty along with representatives of Energiaklub Hungary. This seminar will focus on the complex nature of energy demand and its relationship with energy infrastructure. As nations seek to provide a secure and affordable supply of energy to citizens, decision makers face the challenge of meeting energy demand requirements while prioritizing domestic production and low-carbon technologies. This discussion will examine the conditions surrounding the decision to expand the Paks II Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary. Speakers will present research which summarizes future energy scenarios for Hungary and greater Central Europe including potential expansion of renewable electricity and increasing energy efficiency. The discussion will focus on the contemporary debates surrounding alternative pathways of production and use of energy.
Seminar Panelists:
Fanni Sáfián, Researcher, Energiaklub Hungary, and PhD candidate within the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences at Eötvös Loránd Science University. Her research focuses on alternative Hungarian future energy system models. Since 2011 she has been utilizing use EnergyPLAN energy modelling software for the first time in Hungary to contribute to her doctoral research.
Zsuzsanna Koritar, Energy Policy Expert, Energiaklub Hungary. Since 2001 Zsuzsanna has served as watchdog of processes in the field of nuclear energy while also campaigning and doing media work for transparency of the industry. In 2009 she became the project manager of the Control Energy Program, since then has been working for fostering greater transparency and publicity in the energy sector in Hungary.
Aleh Cherp, CEU, leads a Political Economy of Energy Transitions (POLET) initiative (www.polet.network) within the CEU Energy and Society Intellectual Themes Initiatives and the International Social Sciences Council Transformations to Sustainability program. In 2008-2012, Prof. Cherp served as the Coordinating Lead Author of the Energy and Security chapter of the Global Energy Assessment (www.globalenergyassessment.org) and published on global long-term energy and climate scenarios.
Sergio Tirado, Sergio Tirado Herrero is research associate at RMIT Europe and a visiting research fellow at the University of Manchester. He is investigating the social and environmental dimensions of the transition to sustainable energy futures. His research looks at issues of social justice, vulnerability and resilience in the domain of residential energy use and the built environment. Sergio holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Central European University (2013).