ABOUT THE EQUINOX SUMMIT: ENERGY 2030
Historically, scientific discoveries have been the greatest single factor leading to health, prosperity and the advancement of our civilization. The Waterloo Global Science Initiative (WGSI) seeks to catalyze the long-range thinking that can advance technological ideas and strategies for the future.
From June 5 to 9, 2011, the Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 brought together leading scientists (Quorum), future leaders (Forum), and experienced Advisors to share their insights in a spirit of open collaboration. Their task was to envision a low carbon, electrified future coupled with a growing need to expand the capacity, increase the resilience and security, and improve the efficiency of our energy systems.
QUORUM
The panel of scientific experts shared different approaches to the generation, distribution and storage of electricity. Over three days of working sessions, they presented and debated their visions for viable, low carbon technologies. The information they presented on key technologies and systems helped to inform the work of the Forum and Advisors listed below.
To foster a free and open collaboration process, working sessions were held in private, though select members of the media were invited to observe the process.
Click here for a list of Equinox Summit Quorum members.
FORUM
An international group of future leaders in public policy, industry and civil society interacted with the Quorum during the daily working sessions and observed how scientific process can contribute to policy debate.
Forum members further examined the Quorum's findings and propose their own recommendations and strategies for implementing the technologies proposed. The Forum was mentored by an Advisory team, below.
Click here for a list of Equinox Summit Forum members.
ADVISORS
The panel of Advisors – policy, investment and business experts – worked with the Quorum and Forum on political and economic issues that can impact the pace of research, development and implementation of future technologies.
Click here for a list of Equinox Summit Advisors.
PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
Many of the Summit participants took part in daily public lectures and panel discussion that focused on energy literacy and key issues that are continually rebooting the global energy dialogue.
The Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 featured over a dozen events for the general public, including three daily plenary sessions, three public lectures, live tapings of TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin, the Summit Launch and the presentation of the Equinox Communiqué. All events were streamed online and are available for on-demand viewing here.
EQUINOX COMMUNIQUÉ
Throughout the Equinox Summit: Energy 2030, participants worked towards the immediate creation the Equinox Communiqué, a preliminary report that offers visionary proposals for transformative action on reducing the electricity-related emissions that drive climate change.
The Equinox Communiqué is a brief snapshot of the ideas and visions developed by the Summit participants, who aimed to address the great complexity of transitioning to low-carbon electricity production. It provides a series of immediate, concrete opportunities for action by industry and governments, both locally and internationally, and as such was presented in a collaborative fashion to a small gathering of national and international policy and industry decision makers.
These ideas presented in the Equinox Communiqué will be explored in greater detail in a future document, the Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030.
Click here to download the Equinox Communiqué
EQUINOX BLUEPRINT
All dialogue and insight shared during this first Waterloo Global Science Initiative event was captured in the Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030. This detailed document offers a picture of the challenges faced by society in energy, while detailing forecasts from various global and national agencies for the likely state of affairs in 2030 and providing the Equinox Summit’s recommendations and proposals to address these.
Equinox Blueprint: Energy 2030 is aimed at informing, advising and inspiring science and technology influencers, industry leaders and governments globally. It focuses on how science and technology can contribute to the challenges faced. It offers practical, real-world solutions – based on the latest scientific thinking – and offers recommendations for investment and focus, and for the coordination of national and international scientific and engineering efforts which may, over the next 20 years, help address energy challenges in a meaningful way.
