Expert Alert: Clean fossil fuels are no myth, but a requirement

EXPERT ALERT

David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327

Clean fossil fuels are no myth, but a requirement

HOUSTON – (Nov. 10, 2014) – A clear understanding of the facts drives the reality requiring global deployment of transformative technology for clean fossil fuels, according to Charles McConnell, executive director of Rice University’s Energy and Environment Initiative.

In an opinion column in last week’s The Hill, McConnell said, “The concept of clean fossil technology is not a myth, and if we are serious as a society about our global environmental footprint, then we must confront reality and accept the challenge.”

In the Hill column, “Clean fossil fuels are no myth, but a requirement,” McConnell explains that the world’s energy demand will double by 2050, with 90 percent of the growth coming from developing countries, and that fossil fuels will continue to provide 80 percent of the energy consumed through them.

“Our global energy story must include transformative fossil fuel technology globally for a sustainable future over the next 50 to 100 years,” McConnell said. “If one really ‘cares’ about the environment, then accepting the challenge is the only option.”

McConnell, who is also a former assistant secretary of energy at the Department of Energy (2011-2013), is available for news media interviews on the strategy and policies the United States must take moving forward.

For more information or to schedule an interview with McConnell, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at 713-348-6327 or david@rice.edu.

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7.

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