Please join the Mines Engineering, Design, & Society (EDS) and the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Dr. Cyrus Mody, Professor, History of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Maastricht University, presenting at hybrid seminar titled the There Is No Such Thing as the Oil Industry, and This Is a History of It on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 in Golden, CO.  

Oil companies come in many shapes and sizes, forms of ownership, business models, etc. But a significant number of them, especially the largest firms, have long had large operations in non-oil markets and technologies. The implications of these non-oil operations for current and future energy transitions are ambiguous, since they can be (and have been) used for greenwashing, but could also serve as a real bridge toward a less carbon-intensive economy. As this talk will show, oil firms’ non-oil ventures have a very long history that could be used to help clarify those ambiguities. Oil firms have been important players in nuclear technology for almost a century, for instance; and in solar for more than a half-century. In this talk I will examine oil’s non-oil ties in three periods: before the late 1960s; during the “long 1970s” from around 1968 to 1986, a period characterized by high oil prices, a sluggish world economy, and political challenges to Western oil firms; and the mergers, acquisitions, and hostile takeovers era of the 1980s and ’90s, when the price of oil was relatively low. I argue that oil firms’ attitudes toward technologies such as solar and nuclear power, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence were shaped by the price of oil, the relationship among the oil and finance industries and the state, and changes in the perceived importance of a science or engineering degree as a prerequisite for promotion.

Cyrus Mody is Professor of the History of Science, Technology, and Innovation at Maastricht University and director of the Maastricht University science and technology studies research program. He is the author of three monographs with MIT Press, most recently The Squares: US Physical and Engineering Scientists in the Long 1970s (2022), and is a former editor of the journal Engineering Studies. His talk is based on the Dutch Research Council-funded project Managing Scarcity and Sustainability 2 (https://managingscarcity.com/), of which he is the PI; he is also one of four co-PIs of the European Research Council-funded NanoBubbles project (https://nanobubbles.hypotheses.org/).

Please join the Mines Global Energy Future Initiative and the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Dr. Christina Chang, Partner, Lowercarbon Capital, presenting a hybrid seminar titled Lab to Climate Venture: Solving Problems that Matter on Friday, January 26, 2024 at Colorado School of Mines.  Pizza will be provided.

A chemist, climate tech founder and CEO, Dr. Christina Chang has invented technologies across nanomaterials, catalysis for mining waste remediation, thin-film solar panels, solar water-splitting for H2 production, and sustainable steel.

She is a Partner at Lowercarbon Capital, the multi-billion dollar VC firm backing kickass companies that fix the planet profitably. Previously, Dr. Chang led federal funding for sustainable manufacturing research ARPA-E, including steel, chemicals, cement, rare earths, and carbon-negative building materials. Prior to ARPA-E, Dr. Chang was founder and CEO of the sustainable steel startup Abraze Engineering.

Dr. Chang has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Harvard, an MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures at Imperial College London, an MPhil in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, and an A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton.

Please join the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Pedro Lagrava Burgoa, Bolivian Senator for Potisi, presenting a hybrid seminar titled the Scenario for Bolivian Mining and Lithium on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 in Golden, CO.

Pedro Lagrava Burgoa has represented the Department of Potosi since 2020 as a Senator of Bolivia being a member of the political party Comunidad Ciudadana. He serves in the Senate Committees on “Planning, Economic Policy and Finance,” “Plural Economy, Production, Industry and Industrialization,” and “Social Policy, Education and Health.” Before his election to the Senate, Senator Lagrava served as the Representant from Potosi to the Bolivian Constituent Assembly in charge of writing the new constitution. He was a candidate for Governor, and candidate to the House of Representatives for the Potosi Department. He also served as the president of the Association of Metallurgical Companies in the southern part of Bolivia where he led significant environmental projects eliminating mining pollution to the Pilcomayo River that flows into the Rio de la Plata in Argentina and to the Atlantic Ocean.

In the private sector Senator Lagrava has been the CEO of Grupo Minero Bolivar since 1996, and serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of AguaDeMina, SRL. He advanced his career working for several metallurgical companies. Previously, he was a Professor and Director of the Metallurgy Research Institute at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz; and was the founder of the Journal Bolivian Metallurgy Report.

In his position, Senator Lagrava is recognized for working to address Bolivia’s challenges in the mining, environment, and energy areas even working with the far left in power. He has a reputation of being a pragmatic and independent thinker with vision for Bolivia’s natural resources. Currently he leads the fight in the southern part of Bolivia to create jobs and support the working class.

Pedro Lagrava earned his bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, in Bolivia, and his Master’s degree in Extractive Metallurgy from the Universidad de Concepcion, in Chile. He is a father of a son and a daughter, and lives with his wife in Potosi, Bolivia.

Please join the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Rob Witwer, General Counsel and Senior VP for Regulatory and Governmental Affairs, Onward Energy, presenting a hybrid seminar titled From the Trenches of the Energy Transition: The Challenges and Opportunities Presented by Decarbonization on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Brown Hall or via Zoom.  Free lunch will be provided.

This will be a practical discussion based on the experience of someone who is involved with implementing the Energy Transition on a daily basis. The Energy Transition is the most ambitious industrial undertaking in human history. Policymakers have set clear decarbonization goals as a means of addressing Climate Change. But how do these policies translate into reality? How can we ensure system reliability as we bring on renewables, storage and new technologies? What are the physical and economic obstacles to implementing these goals, and what additional policies may be needed to address any gaps?

Rob Witwer is General Counsel and SVP of Onward Energy, an independent power company with 56 wind, solar and natural gas generating facilities in 22 states. From 2005-2009 he served in the Colorado House of Representatives, and in 2010, co-authored a book entitled “The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado (and Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care),” which has earned praise from reviewers on both sides of the political aisle. He has contributed to National Review and the Weekly Standard, and has been quoted on politics and campaign finance in Atlantic, Bloomberg, Christian Science Monitor, Economist, Mother Jones, National Journal, National Public Radio, Politico, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. Witwer has a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Amherst College. He, his wife Heather and 4 boys live in Golden, Colorado.

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Transportation Information:

We are pleased to offer a free bus from downtown Denver to the Colorado School of Mines.  The bus holds 55 people and reserved seating is on a first come first served basis  Please secure your seat as soon as you can by registering here:  FREE BUS REGISTRATION

Here are the details:

Leaving Denver, Colorado at 11:45am MT –

Please meet the bus at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center, 650 15th Street, Denver, CO 80202 – MAP IT (by the main entrance, under the portico).  The bus will have a sign with this information – Cities Summit Side  Event – Partners in Development – Mining and Cities in the Americas -April 25, 2023 – Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines.

Leaving Colorado School of Mines Earth Science Museum at 6:00pm MT –

The bus will leave the reception at the Colorado School of Mines Earth Science Museum and return riders to the Hyatt Regency Convention Center hotel.

EVENT DETAILS:

Please join the Cities Summit of the Americas and the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines for a Cities Summit Side Event – Partners in Development – Mining and Cities in the Americas on Tuesday, April 25 at the Colorado School of Mines.

In connection with the upcoming Cities Summit of the Americas, Colorado School of Mines, will facilitate mining related site visits and host panel discussions for stakeholders in the mining sector with a thematic focus on development in cities throughout the Americas.

Historically, mining has been a key driver for social and economic development in cities across the Americas. As more minerals will be needed to support the energy transition, efforts to secure and diversify global supply chains of minerals, especially the critical mineral inputs necessary for clean energy technologies, are a top priority for the United States Government. These efforts have important implications for mining companies and cities in the Americas, particularly as it relates to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

This event will provide mining sector stakeholders with visibility on past successes and future challenges for the mining industry and cities in the Americas as partners in development. Overall, this event aligns with the goals of the Minerals Security Partnership, which was announced by U.S. Department of State, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, Jose W. Fernandez in June 2022, and envisions greater cooperation with mining sector partners in the region.

The event will be organized in three panel sessions to highlight experiences presented by major mining companies and cities in the Americas with interventions by panelists from the private sector, government representatives, civil society and other relevant stakeholders.

The event will be sponsored by Freeport-McMoran and Newmont Corporation.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are available through the Biennial of the Americas.