Fusion featured at Copenhagen Summit
Prominent personalities gathered in Copenhagen on 15 December and conducted a lively discussion on research performed within Europe on low-carbon technologies during the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The event was jointly organized by three Research Directorates of the European Commission: Environment, Energy and Energy-Euratom (which manages the European fusion program including °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ). The objective of the meeting was to inform policy makers, stakeholders, NGOs and media of research advancement in Europe.
The event was introduced by the Director General of DG Research, José Manuel Silva RodrÃguez, who provided an introduction and overview of the broad portfolio of European research on climate change including Euratom (fusion/fission) research. The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Project and fusion were presented in the context of the combat against climate change by Professor Sir David King (Director, Smith School of Enterprise, former Science adviser to UK Government). Professor Ottmar Edenhofer (Co-Chair of Working Group III of the IPCC), Jørgen Kjems (Senior Consultant, and former Director of Risø National Laboratory) completed the distinguished panel which was moderated by Roger Highfield, New Scientist editor who also handled one hour of audience question and answer time. As Silva RodrÃguez highlighted, "... the low carbon future requires the development of a broad portfolio of new energy technologies."
Fusion and °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ were presented by Professor Sir David King as part of the sustainable energy mix for the longer term that could benefit humanity. Quintana Trias, Director of the Euratom Programme who initiated the whole event, commented that °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ is already part of the European Strategic Technology Plan and its success will place it on the road map for a low-carbon society.
The podium discussion was attended by approximately 100 people, and received a few minutes of live satellite coverage. A full recording of the two-hour event will be soon be available in the Euratom website of the European Commission.