Event: Public talk (in English)

Location: NEC conference hall

Professor Richard W. UNGER, University of British Columbia

The carriers of energy have changed much more rapidly in the last 150 years than over the long term. A comparison of the pattern of the move from one mix of sources to another in energy rich countries (Canada, England), moderately endowed countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden) and energy poor countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal) indicates the forces directing shifts from coal to oil to natural gas and primary electricity as well as the effects of choices made for getting power needed to fuel a modern economy. The description suggests what problems countries in Eastern Europe face in making similar choices and the problems of escaping from prevailing energy regimes.