This browser does not support the Video element.
CERA Week returns to Houston
FOX 26 Business Reporter Tom Zizka has more as thousands of energy leaders from all around the globe are in Houston this week.
HOUSTON - Thousands of energy leaders from around the globe are in Houston this week to discuss the best way to power the future. In the 42 years that CERAWeek, by S&P Global, has come to Houston, ideas about where we get our energy have changed dramatically. Energy-transition continues to be the buzz-term, but getting there is a challenge.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm's opening keynote address acknowledged that despite ambitious goals to wean the nation off fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources, like solar, it is not an easy journey.
"The world will need secure supplies of traditional and new energy for the foreseeable future," she says.
Throughout the expansive gathering, there is widespread discussion about efforts to minimize the damage, and maximize the efficiency of fossil fuel use, along with a host of 'energy transition' ideas that were once unimaginable.
CERAWeek founder James Rosenfield says talk of that transition cannot outpace the need to keep powering the world, "The need to balance energy transition and energy security is one of the critical themes this year."
The challenge of consumer acceptance of electric vehicles is a perfect example, as the marketplace and infrastructure are not quite ready, even if the goals remain. In response, the Biden administration is considering relaxing aggressive emission goals, as EV sales drag.
"What we're finding from policy makers, and others, is that they didn't realize how long it takes to roll-out these programs and how expensive they are, at the same time that the consumer is demanding affordable energy," says Houston energy analyst Andy Lipow.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Affordable and reliable solutions are essential, which is part of why these meetings are happening in Houston, where the expertise of the energy industry will help fuel the innovation of change.
"It's going to take longer; it's going to take more capital; more innovation, and the pace has got to accelerate," says Rosenfield. "It's not going to be a quick and dirty turnover."
There are unlikely to be any major announcements from this week of meetings, as opposed to discussions about projects and programs that are being developed and implemented. Through that, the landscape for finding and using energy continues to evolve.