Media alert
10 November 2008
Affording our Future: Energy & Water Roundtable
Leading academics and policy makers from Australia and France will gather on Wednesday to consider ways for the two countries to work together to develop more affordable low emission water and energy technologies.
The French-Australian Bilateral Dialogue Roundtable one day conference Affordable Low Emission Energy and Water has been organised by the Embassy of France and the Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology cooperation (FEAST). FEAST is hosted by The Australian National University on behalf of the entire Australian research and innovation community and is jointly funded by the European Commission and the Australian Government to oil the wheels of Australian-European research and innovation collaboration.
The forum will bring together industrialists, policy-makers and academics from both countries to explore how best to achieve affordability in the areas of low emission energy and water. Executive Director of FEAST Dr Mark Matthews said the forum comes at a crucial and challenging time.
“Securing supplies of low emission energy and water represent two major global challenges,” he said. “The problems faced are legion, and have been exacerbated by the turmoil in global financial markets. A global recession will result in difficulties in funding the private sector energy and water research and development critical to advancing low emission energy and water systems,” said Dr Matthews.
“An additional problem is that of affordability. Unless the price of new systems can be significantly reduced promising lower emission technologies will have a limited uptake with consumers,” said Mr Eric Noitakis, the Economic Counsellor at the Embassy of France.
The conference, which has been organised as part of the French Presidency of the European Union, aims to explore the ways in which intensified bilateral cooperation between European countries and Australia can be of mutual assistance in achieving affordable low emission energy and water supplies.
Journalists are welcome to attend the conference. A full program is available here: http://www.feast.org/roundtable2008/
For more information or to arrange interviews:
Martyn Pearce, ANU Media Office – (02) 6125 5575 / 0416 249 245
What: French-Australian roundtable – Affordable Low Emission Energy and Water
When: Wednesday 12 November, 9am – 5pm
Where: The Shine Dome, Gordon Street, Acton
