The senior leadership of the EFI Foundation (EFIF) participated in a range of activities at CERAWeek, the annual energy showcase in Houston, Texas, that took place between March 18 and March 22, 2024. Many of these speaking engagements focused on the newly announced Hydrogen Demand Initiative (H2DI), which the EFI Foundation is leading. With the help of partner organizations S&P Global, Intercontinental Exchange, MIT Energy Initiative, Dentons, and Rocky Mountain Institute, the EFI Foundation aims to use H2DI to stimulate domestic demand to accelerate the adoption of clean hydrogen. However, EFI Foundation leadership also spoke on panels on nuclear energy and natural gas.
H2DI Panels
EFI Foundation CEO Ernest Moniz and Managing Director H2DI Alex Kizer spoke about H2DI at several events. Moniz drew a packed house for his breakfast panel on how H2DI will expedite the purchase of clean hydrogen, with Eleonor Kramarz, global head of Energy Transition Consulting at S&P Global, and David Crane, Under Secretary for Infrastructure at U.S. Department of Energy. Kizer spoke on a panel about demand-side support mechanisms for hydrogen, along with Kramarz, H2Global Stiftung’s Executive Director Susana Moreira, and Leslie Biddle (senior advisor to the Undersecretary for Infrastructure at the U.S. Department of Energy).
Nuclear Energy Panels
It was standing room only for Moniz’s Voices of Innovation speech, in which he spoke on many topics, including nuclear energy development. Moniz also spoke on a panel about the COP28 pledge to triple nuclear energy with Marcia Burkey (executive vice president & chief financial officer at TerraPower), Jigar Shah (director of the Loan Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy), and the World Nuclear Association’s Director General Dr. Sama Bilbao y Leon. He also spoke on another panel about small modular reactors, along with Mohamed Al Braiki (CEO of consulting and vice president of strategy at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation), Sandra Dykxhoorn (OPG’s Vice President of New Nuclear Growth), and Sylvain Cognet Dauphin (S&P Global’s Research & Analysis Executive Director).
Natural Gas Panel
Kenderdine was a panelist for an event, hosted by Natural Allies for Clean Energy about the role of U.S. natural gas in global energy security. Kim Dang (CEO of Kinder Morgan, Inc.), Tina Faraca (Executive Vice President and President of U.S. Natural Gas at TC Energy), Jason Grumet (CEO of American Clean Power Association), and Dr. Scott Tinker (CEO of Tinker Energy Associates, LLC) also joined Kenderdine on this panel.
CERAWeek News Coverage
Moniz was quoted in an article by the Wall Street Journal about how utilities will need to use natural gas, coal, and nuclear power to meet the anticipated energy demand surge from AI data centers. He was also quoted in an S&P Global Commodity Insights article about making clean hydrogen investments more bankable and an E&E News article about how H2DI would help take the economy toward a low-carbon future. He was mentioned in a Semafor article about H2DI. To learn more about this coverage, visit the In the News page of our website.
– Georgia Lyon, Communications Associate
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