Synfuels Americas attended the 2016 U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Energy Conference in Washington, DC on July 11-12, 2016. More than 1,000 leaders from industry, government, and academia turned out. The conference focused on promoting discussion of current and future challenges facing domestic and international energy markets and policymakers. The sessions focused on issues ranging from perspectives on the U.S. Clean Power Plan, international climate perspectives, and measuring energy efficiency to topics covering oil demand and supply, industrial energy demand, LNG markets, renewable electricity, natural gas perspectives and world coal markets. Keynote speakers included:

• John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Gregory Goff, Chairman, President and CEO, Tesoro Corporation
• Dan Gardner, Co-author of Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction and Advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada
• Steve Kean, President and CEO, Kinder Morgan, Inc.
• Jeff Flake, U.S. Senator of Arizona, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Synfuels Americas gained an improved understanding of current policies and resources relevant to the energy sector. Of particular importance to all participants was using analytical tools and methods to develop a map of the future of energy that balances scientific, economic and social impact considerations. Part of our company strategy is to work with coal-based states to assess potential energy development paths that could include coal conversion to liquids and/or chemicals, improve the region’s economic resilience and mitigate environmental pollution. A key question for all stakeholders in the energy sector is: “Where should technological investment take place?”