Kate Gordon, Vice Chair of the Paulson Institute’s Climate and Sustainable Urbanization program, participated in the US-China New Energy Economy Forum in San Francisco. The session focused on evaluating the cooperation between China and the US on energy policy and climate goals in the context of larger macro trends in the Chinese economy and advances in clean energy technology. Gordon discussed the challenges China faces with integrating renewables into the power grid and improving industrial efficiency. She also moderated a panel with Prakash Ambegoankar, CEO of the Bridging Nations Foundation, Julio Friedmann, Senior Advisor to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Joshua Margolis, Managing Director of the China Program at the Environmental Defense Fund, Haibing Ma, China Program Manager at Worldwatch Institute, and Peter Marsters, a Research Analyst at Rhodium Group. Given that China is launching what will be the largest carbon market in the world, the panel discussed carbon pricing mechanisms and what China can learn from international experience with carbon markets, among other topics.
The two-day event explored how the US and China can work together on the global transition to clean energy, with sessions specifically focused on electric cars and battery technology. Nobel Prize Laureate and former US Energy Secretary Dr. Stephen Chu delivered the keynote address, and a high-level delegation from the Beijing Electric Vehicle Company and Hefei Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy Co. attended the conference. Find out more about the forum here.
