On Wednesday, January 17, at 5:30 p.m., in UCSB’s Engineering
Science Building, Room 1001, national energy strategist Matthew
Simmons will share his perspective on key energy issues. 
entitled “Technology; Change, and Challenge,” and he’ll discuss the
concept of “Peak
Oil” and the challenges and options Californians need to
consider for their future supplies of energy. That series is
presented by UCSB’s Technology
Management Program.
Simmons is the chairman of Simmons & Company
International, the only independent investment bank that
specializes in all aspects of the energy industry. One of the world
leaders in the field of energy who’s been involved in more than $77
billion dollars of transactions since 1974, Simmons is involved
with the Brown-Forman Corporation, The Atlantic Council of the
United States, the National Petroleum Council, and the Council of
Foreign Relations. He became a best-selling author with
his book Twilight
in the Desert, in which he used personal observation and
200-plus technical essays to argue that the Saudi oil well
production will soon reach an apex and then rapidly decline,
leaving the world in a potentially catastrophic oil shortage.
Simmons will also be the keynote speaker in the second annual
Emerging
Energy Technologies Summit, February 9-10 at UCSB. The summit
aims to bring together experts in the energy field to determine the
obstacles and incentives involved in adopting new energy
technologies. The featured speakers will discuss the technical,
environmental, socio-economic, and political issues behind new
technologies and analyze possible solutions. They will focus on how
the United States can make a smooth transition from dependency on
carbon-based fuels into alternative forms of energy, and how to
develop carbon independence in a profitable and practical
manner.
For more information, contact Bill Grant at 893-8107.