NECS updates for April

[Yangbo Du]

Please be sure to upload your energy research papers or any other
content for the NECS website to our group's Files or Pages list. I
believe you still have copies of your papers assuming that you did not
delete them. If you have made edits to the web pages Shengzhi
uploaded last month (as a compressed file), publish your version to
our Pages list so all members could review it and make suggestions. I
have updated the news bulletin again as to help keep you informed
about energy issues, but I recommend that you examine substantive
reports and scientific articles for more comprehensive analyses.

For those of you entering college this fall, where will you be
attending and do you plan to pursue studies and/or research in energy
issues? I will be attending MIT, which conducts extensive public
policy research on global change and energy systems.

Keystone will be hosting youth policy summits on sustainable fuels and
water resources this summer. If anyone in your schools will be
attending any of the two, discuss with them about our policy
recommendations so they can contribute more effectively to our current
efforts.

Yangbo Du

[Yangbo Du]

The news bulletin is now up to date; please send any feedback or
suggestions pertaining to the topics addressed.

How are you presently involved with energy issues? As part of the MIT
Energy Club, I have attended several lecture and discussion sessions
with representatives from industry, government, and NGOs, including
the chairman of FERC as well as analysts at Chatham House. I am also
involved with the Energy Club's wind energy interest group, in
addition to my continuing research for the Fuel Cycle Study. In the
upcoming weeks, I will be completing a working paper updating the
economics section of the 2003 MIT report The Future of Nuclear Power.
Those of you entering college a year from now, consider research at
your university next summer prior to the start of classes. I have
found it to be a helpful experience, all the better when you connect
with students and professors there (I knew a few professors at MIT
through my research at the University of Chicago last spring, so take
advantage of your current research opportunities).

This year, the MIT Energy Initiative in conjunction with the Energy
Club will be hosting two major events; Energy Night this Friday and an
energy conference 6-7 March next year (http://www.mitenergyclub.org/
flagship-events). Both are open to the public, so feel free to attend
if you are in the Boston area on these dates. I will be presenting at
Energy Night on my research on the economics of nuclear energy since
last fall; have any of you presented Keystone-related work or other
energy research projects recently?

Keep in touch with the Sustainable Fuels group, and give them
encouragement as they present their recommendations at the Keystone
Energy Board meeting this month.

Jeremy, please provide an update on recent Keystone Energy Board
activities. We could probably assume that the renewable energy PTC,
now part of the financial bailout package that cleared Congress, will
be renewed for the upcoming year.