Energy & Climate Policy, Markets, Investment and Entrepreneurship
Date: Feb 23rd
Venue: Filoli, Woodside, CA
Overview
China and the United States are the world's largest producers of greenhouse gas emissions. It is paramount for both countries to have more dialogues around the climate change challenges, to forge a better understanding of each other’s climate and energy agenda, and to collaborate on solving these challenges and investing in innovative solutions.
The US-China Energy & Climate Summit on Feb 23rd, to be held at Filoli, a prominent California historical landmark, will bring together executive policy makers, company leaders, technology experts, investors and entrepreneurs from both China and the U.S. to discuss the climate progress and the presence and future of our clean energy industry. The full-day agenda will feature a high-level keynote opening followed by several panel discussions on climate policies, energy market designs/landscapes, corporate strategies in clean-tech and sustainability, and opportunities for investment and entrepreneurship for a sustainable future.
Hosted by SCEA, assistant hosted by CSEE North American Chapter
Agenda
AM
9:00-10:00
Registration with breakfast
10:00-10:20
Opening Remarks
· Summer Jiakun Zhao, Conference Chair of SCEA
Introduction to SCEA
· Yang Hu & Jing Ge, Co-Presidents of SCEA
10:25-10:50
China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change and Renewable Energy Development
· Junfeng Li, First Director and Chairman of Academic Committee of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation - National Development and Reform Commission of China; President of Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association
10:50-11:15
Achieving Shared Climate Goals through the California-China Clean Technology Partnership
· Drew Bohan, the Executive Director of the California Energy Commission
11:15-12:30
Energy Market Structure Comparison Between U.S. & China, and Opportunities for Innovation
· Dian Grueneich, Commissioner Emeritus, California Public Utilities Commission,
Precourt Energy Scholar at Precourt Institute of Energy, Stanford University
· Guangyi Liu, CTO of GEIRI North America, State Grid Corporation
· Karin Corfee, Managing Director at Navigant Consulting’s Energy Practice
· David Vance Wagner (moderator), VP of Strategic Partners, China, at Energy Foundation
PM
12:30-1:45
Lunch & Networking
Sustainability in the Food Business
· Bob Santana, President of Crystal Springs Catering, Inc.
1:45-3:00
U.S. and China Corporate Strategies in Renewable Energy
Development & Sustainability
· David Phillips, Associate VP of Energy and Sustainability at the University of California Office of the President (UCOP)
· Huifeng Chang, Senior VP and CFO of Canadian Solar
· Rebecca Jaffe, Head of Sales Engineering Americas at Tesla
· James Hu, CEO of GCL System Integration Technology Americas
· Stephen Comello (moderator), Director of Stanford’s Sustainable Energy Initiative
3:00-3:15
Tea, Coffee & Networking
3:15-4:15
Opportunities and Challenges of Cross-border Sustainability Investment Under the New Norm of US-China Relations
· Andrew Byrnes, Investment Director of Comet Labs
· Lei Qi, Principal of Alliance Ventures
· Douglas Cameron, Managing Director at US-China Green Fund
· Yi Liu, Deputy Director of Energy Internet Research Institute, Tsinghua University
· Leo Zhang (moderator), Manager of Business Development and Strategy at Byton
4:15-5:00
Innovations and Entrepreneurship in the Clean-tech Industry
· Mark Chung, Cofounder and CEO of Verdigris
· Xinjian Zhou, VP of the Beijing Institute of Collaborative Innovation (BICI) and President of BICI USA
· Sean Patrick Murphy, Co-founder and co-CEO of PingThings
· Wade Bitaraf (moderator), Director of Energy at Plug and Play
5:00-6:00
Networking
6:00-8:00
VIP Dinner
· Nan Zhou, Leader of the China Energy Group at the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory
Speakers
Junfeng Li (First Director and Chairman of Academic Committee of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation - National Development and Reform Commission of China; President of Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association)
First Director and Chairman of Academic Committee of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC), President of Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA), Ninth Annual Zayed Future Energy Prize Lifetime Achievement Award Winner.
Mr. Li Junfeng is the First Director of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation and he currently serving as the Chairman of academic committee of NCSC. He wins Ninth Annual Zayed Future Energy Prize Lifetime Achievement Award in January of the year 2017. He also is a member of National Energy Advisory Council, a member of Expert-committee of National High-tech Program, a member of National Environmental Scientific Committee, a member of Expert-committee of National Energy Administration Energy Internet, etc. And, he also serves as a consultant of low carbon development for Beijing, Shanghai and Shanxi Provincial People’s Government. Meanwhile, he is invited to be the professor and doctoral supervisor by Renmin University of China and other colleges and universities of China.
Currently, Mr. Li is also the President of both Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) and Renewable Energy Professional Committee of China Energy Research Society. From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Li used to serve as the Director General of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC). From 1982 to 2011, Mr. Li has dedicated his nearly three decades career life worked in Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and used to serve as the Deputy Director General of ERI and the Chairman of Academic Committee of ERI for more than 10 years.
The major publications of Mr. Li are China’s Low Carbon Energy Strategy Study, Strategic Research on Climate Change, Ecological Civilization Construction and Energy Revolution, Study on the Control of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in China, China Renewable Energy Technology Evaluation, Wind power 12, Interpretation of the People's Republic of China Renewable Energy Law, China PV Power Technology Market Analysis, Study on the Development Strategy of Renewable Energy in China, etc. Besides, as one of the main authors, Mr. Li also participated in the preparation of the IPCC second to fourth evaluation reports.
Drew Bohan (Executive Director of the California Energy Commission)
Drew Bohan is the Executive Director of the California Energy Commission, the state’s primary energy policy and planning agency. The Energy Commission’s responsibilities are: advancing state energy policy, achieving energy efficiency, certifying thermal power plants, investing in energy innovation, transforming transportation, developing renewable energy and preparing for energy emergencies.
Bohan has served Californians for more than 20 years. His public service includes leadership roles with the Energy Commission, California Environmental Protection Agency, the Ocean Protection Council, and the California Department of Conservation. Bohan also served as the executive director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, chief counsel to the House of Delegates in the Republic of Palau, and a litigation attorney at Heller Ehrman in San Francisco.
Bohan lives in Carmichael with his wife, Angela, and their two children, Linnea and Landon. He is an avid bike rider.
Nan Zhou (Leader of the China Energy Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Nan Zhou is a Staff Scientist, Department Head of the International Energy Analysis Department, and the Group Leader of the China Energy Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In addition, since 2010 Dr. Zhou served as the Deputy Director of the U.S.-China Clean Energy Center-Building Energy Efficiency (CERC-BEE). In October 2012 she assumed the Director position for CERC-BEE. She has driven this program to meet challenging milestones while engaging with a complex joint US-China stakeholder matrix and facilitated creation of a research program portfolio to focus on breakthrough energy efficiency building technologies, produced a list of new IP, technologies, and codes and standards. Nan is also selected to be the Co-Chair of 2016 Buildings Summer Study of American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and Committee Member of China Green Building Council (China GBC) from 2015, and the Member of the Balaton Group from 2014. She is one of the two U.S. government designated Advisory Board Member of Asia Pacific Research Centre under APEC since 2015, as well as an Advisory Board Member for the APEC Sustainable Energy Center since 2017. Also noteworthy, Nan Zhou received recognition at the 2016 C3E Awards, as a finalist for mid-career women’s leadership and achievement.
Dian M. Grueneich (Commissioner Emeritus, California Public Utilities Commission, Precourt Energy Scholar at Precourt Institute of Energy, Stanford University)
Dian Grueneich is a nationally and internationally recognized energy and regulatory policy expert. Dian began her career in the late 1970’s at the California Energy Commission in the first Jerry Brown administration and help developed the first-ever clean energy policies and programs. Dian served as a Commissioner on the California Public Utilities Commission from 2005-2010, leading its efforts on energy efficiency, demand response, transmission planning and permitting, and Western energy issues. She has also had her own consulting practice both before and after her appointment, advising clients in California, throughout the United States, at the federal level, and internationally.
Between May 2014-September 2018, Dian worked at Stanford University, with its Precourt Institute for Energy, the Hoover Institution’s Shultz-Stephenson Energy Policy Task Force, the Graduate School of Business, and the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center. She helped found and oversaw the Stanford Energy Internships in California and the West (SEICW) program, which places graduate and undergraduate students in California and Western energy agencies. Dian also taught courses on energy efficiency and California and Western agencies and energy policy. Dian remains affiliated with Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy as a Precourt Energy Scholar, is a Fellow with the Bill Lane Center for the West, and is a member of Hoover Institution’s Shultz-Stephenson Energy Policy Task Force. Dian is a graduate of Stanford University (Human Biology) and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University.
Guangyi Liu (CTO of GEIRI North America, State Grid Corporation)
Dr. Guangyi Liu (SM 2012) is Chief Technology Officer of Global Energy Interconnection Research Institute, North America. He received his bachelor, master and Ph.D degrees from Harbin Institute of Technology and China Electric Power Research Institute in 1984, 1987 and 1990, respectively. His research interests include Energy Management System (EMS) and Distribution Management System (DMS), electricity market, smart grid, autonomic power system, active distribution network and application of big data in power system.
Karin Corfee (Managing Director at Navigant Consulting’s Energy Practice)
Karin Corfee is a Managing Director in Navigant’s Energy Practice and is based in San Francisco, California. Key areas of expertise include strategic planning, renewable energy, distributed generation and energy efficiency. Ms. Corfee currently serves as the global leader of Navigant’s Clean Energy Programs team. The team is comprised of engineers, economists, and social scientists focused on a wide range of clean energy services. Over her 30-year career, Ms. Corfee has helped develop policies and programs to facilitate increased deployment and optimization of energy efficiency and distributed energy resources (DER). Strategic planning engagements include the California Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, CAISO Five-Year Strategic Plan and the New Jersey Renewable Energy Plan. Ms. Corfee has recently focused on examining new business models, including financing initiatives, third-party ownership structures and community solar.
David Phillips (Associate VP of Energy and Sustainability at the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) )
David Phillips provides strategic leadership for energy and sustainability initiatives across the University of California, which includes ten campuses, five medical centers, and three national labs. David and his team help connect researchers, students and operations staff to integrate sustainable energy practices in support the University’s mission. One key focus is developing plans and taking action to reach systemwide carbon neutrality by 2025.
David provides executive oversight for UC’s participation in the Statewide Energy Partnership program, which has implemented more than 1,000 energy efficiency projects in collaboration with the campuses and utilities, resulting in cumulative energy savings totaling over $224M. David’s operational responsibilities also include managing the UC Wholesale Power Program, which supplies low-carbon electricity to all or part of seven campuses, and implementing the UC Biomethane Program, which has developed biogas projects to supplant 10 percent of UC’s natural gas use. He is a Founding Partner and Vice Chair for La Casa de la Universidad de California en Mexico, helping to guide UC’s activities and relationships in Mexico.
David was formerly Director of Utilities at UC Davis, where he managed their city-scale water, waste and energy systems. While at Davis, he led teams that developed a 63-acre behind-the-meter solar power plant, constructed an on-site waste treatment system to reduce campus landfill disposal by 25 percent, and implemented several massive wastewater recycling projects.
David has a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from UC Davis and is a California registered professional engineer.
James Hu (CEO of GCL System Integration Technology Americas)
Born in 1972 Aug, currently the CEO of GCL System Integration Technology Americas, and the Chief Representative for GCL Solar Business International Americas.
Mr. Hu Joined GCL in July 2015 as the Vice President of GCL System Integration Technology Co., Ltd, General Manager of Sales & Marketing Center, and late in end of 2016 was appointed as the President of Overseas Business Unit. Mr. Hu has many years experiences on sales and business management in multinational companies of renewable energy and telecommunication industry, including:
Solution Sales Director for Siemens Ltd China;
Vice President for Suntech Power Holding;
Senior Vice President for Sky Solar Holding
Vice President for ReneSola Co., Ltd
Mr. Hu got his master and bachelor degree in China Shandong University, and EMBA in China Europe International Business School.
Stephen Comello (Director of Stanford’s Sustainable Energy Initiative)
Stephen is the director of the Sustainable Energy Initiative at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a senior fellow at the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. His work examines the organization of innovation and how technology and policy coevolve to influence the economic attractiveness of advanced energy solutions. He advises academic, industry, government and nongovernmental organizations on strategies for clean technology deployment. Within his current portfolio, he explores policy and business model innovation within the electricity sector, with one set of projects focusing on how digital platform technology diffusion intersects with structural changes in the industry. Stephen holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a PhD Minor in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
Leo Zhang (Manager of Business Development and Strategy at Byton)
At Cleantech Group, Leo’s work revolves around the company’s core mission in accelerating sustainable innovation. Leo supports a broad range of clients across the entire cleantech innovation ecosystem on technology scouting, market research, and advisory services. In addition, he also supports the company’s activities in China, including the company’s annual Cleantech China Tour, which convenes a select group of leading Western investors and start-ups in China for a week of meetings and network-building.
Leo earned a B.S. in Biotechnology with a minor in Technology Management from the University of California, Davis and a M.S. in Bioprocessing & Bioenergy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His graduate work focused on the interdisciplinary challenges in implementing and commercializing bioenergy solutions.
Andrew Byrnes (Investment Director of Comet Labs)
Andy (Andrew) is the Investment Director at Comet Labs and enjoys working with visionary founders whose focus is creating real world value based on leading edge Ai, machine learning, and robotics technologies.
Before Comet, Andy was the founder and CEO of Stower Energy, a startup creating machine learning solutions for customer-specific energy demands. Stower was a hardware-first company that made it into international retail and developed early machine learning technology for distributed energy assets. He also worked with the California Clean Energy Fund as an investment associate, and was a project manager and financial analyst for utility scale wind and solar developments with the Martifer Group.
Andy holds an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and multiple degrees from the University of Arizona. Fun facts: Andy has written three novels, spent time in jail, and at one point was a licensed EMT.
Lei Qi (Principal of Alliance Ventures)
Lei Qi has extensive background in venture capital, corporate strategy and management consulting. She has advised fortune 500 senior executives and management team, and evaluated multiple private and venture deals and serves as the strategic thought partner for several China and US based companies/organizations. Lei Qi is currently the Investment Principal at Alliance Ventures, an 1 Billion USD strategic fund backed by Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, world’s largest automotive alliance. She is primarily covering China investment for the fund and spend good amount of time in both China and US.
Prior to Alliance Ventures, Lei Qi was an investor at SAIC Capital, the strategic fund backed by Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp., the largest automotive OEM in China. Prior to that, Lei worked at Bain & Company, advising Fortune 500 senior executives and management team on China market entry, business development, corporate strategy as well as operational improvement. Lei has also advised leading private equity funds and corporate M&A activities in China.
In 2017, Lei co-founded Hertale.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to promote female leadership in both China and US. The organization has worked with NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center to produce a series of video talk shows that present 15 China and US female leaders in the field of Technology, Investment, Art, Education, etc.
Lei has co- authored 2013 China Wealth Management Report and a key contributor to China E-commerce Report. Lei is also an advisor to Bian Ge Technology, a China based new material production and manufacturing company. She is also an advisor to Emergent Art Space, a SF based nonprofit art and culture organization.
Lei received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Dartmouth College. She is a member of Bay Area Council and Silicon Valley Associate of Chinese Entrepreneurs.
Dr. Douglas Cameron (Managing Director at US-China Green Fund)
Since 2011, Dr. Douglas Cameron has been a co-founder of First Green Partners, an investment firm focused on companies with sustainable technologies for renewable and fossil carbon. Previously, he was a Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer at Khosla Ventures, and a Managing Director in the cleantech investment banking group at Piper Jaffray. Before becoming an investor, Dr. Cameron was director of biotechnology and Chief Scientist at Cargill, Inc. and a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His corporate board experience includes Gevo, LS9, Segetis, Lanzatech, Mascoma, Sirrus Chemistry, Renmatix, Monolith Materials, Trelys, and Rivertop Renewables. Dr. Cameron holds a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT.
Dr. Huifeng Chang (Senior VP and CFO of Canadian Solar)
Dr. Huifeng Chang has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Canadian Solar Inc. since May 2016. Dr. Chang has 17 years of experience in capital markets, financial investment and risk management. Prior to joining Canadian Solar Inc., Dr. Chang was the co-Head of Sales & Trading at the U.S. subsidiary of China International Capital Corp (CICC) from 2010 to 2015. Prior to that, he was the CEO of CSOP Asset Management based in Hong Kong from early 2008 to 2010, investing funds from China in the international markets. From 2000 to 2008, Dr. Chang was Vice President and an equity proprietary trader at Citigroup Equity Proprietary Investments in New York. Before going to New York, Dr. Chang worked at Kamakura Corp in Hawaii as a risk consultant to banks in Asia. He received a Ph.D. in soil physics and MBA from University of Hawaii in the early 1990s, M.S. degree from Academia Sinica in 1987 and B.S. degree from Nanjing Agricultural University in 1984.
David Vance (VP of Strategic Partners, China, at Energy Foundation)
David Vance Wagner directs development for Energy Foundation China, and serves on Energy Foundation China’s management team for overall strategy and international engagement.
Vance has worked on U.S.-China energy and environmental cooperation for over a decade. Before joining the Energy Foundation staff, he served as the China Counsellor in the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State, where he led U.S.-China dialogue and collaboration on climate change and clean energy. Prior to joining the State Department, Vance co-led the China program at the International Council on Clean Transportation and served as the first and only foreigner at China’s national vehicle emission policy research center under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Vance earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Yi Liu (Deputy Director, Energy Internet Research Institute, Tsinghua University)
Yi Liu received the Bachelor of Eng and the master’s degree in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University in 2003 and 2006, respectively, and Dual Bachelor’s Degree of Economics from Peking University in 2006. From 2006 to 2008, he worked with Lenovo as Executive assistant to CIO. Since 2008, he has been working on Smart Grid, and he has been with Energy Internet Research Institute since 2015. His research interests are in Energy Internet Planning, and Flexible Energy Resource Planning, Control and Optimization. He participated in several smart grid projects of State Grid. Since 2015, he led and participated several projects of energy internet approved by National Energy Administration. Now He is working at EIRI as the deputy director for business development, investment and technology commercialization. In addition, Yi is the Secretary-General of Sichuan Clean Energy Alliance.
Xinjian Zhou (Vice President of Beijing Institute of Collaborative Innovation (BICI) and President of BICI USA)
Dr. Zhou received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from Peking University and Cornell University, respectively. Before joining BICI, Dr. Zhou has worked in product development and system engineering as Senior/Staff Engineer at ASML, technology scouting and investment as Venture Manager at Technology-To-Business (TTB) center of Siemens, and technology transfer as BD director at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center(PARC).
Dr. Zhou is the recipient of Lockheed Martin’s “Excellent in Research” award and Sandia National Laboratory’s LDRD Award. He has more than 10 peer-reviewed papers and patents.
Mark Chung (Cofounder and CEO of Verdigris)
Mark is one of 3 cofounders of Verdigris and its CEO. He was recognized as one the 40 under 40 in 2017 by Silicon Valley Business Journal. He leads business strategy at Verdigris and sits on the advisory board of a number of Startups. Mark held previous roles as principal engineer at a number of famed Silicon Valley technology start-ups. These include NexGen (acq. AMD), Pasemi (acq. Apple), and RMI and NetLogic (acq. Broadcom). Together with his cofounders he's developed some of the most successful silicon in the last 20 years, Opteron, XLP, and A7 to name a few. His last company was acquired by Broadcom in 2011 for $3.7B. Mark studied Electrical Engineering at Stanford University."
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Wade (Head of Energy & Sustainability practice at Plug and Play)
Wade is the head of Energy & Sustainability practice at Plug and Play, an active early stage investor and global corporate innovation center. Wade holds master degrees in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum and Natural Gas engineering. His mission at Plug and Play is to bring innovation into the energy industry by bridging large corporations to the startup ecosystem. In the past 3 years, Wade worked closely with the entrepreneurs that are building innovative products and solutions for the electric Utilities and Oil and Gas companies.
Rebecca Jaffe(Head of Sales Engineering Americas, Tesla)
Rebecca Jaffe currently leads Tesla’s Americas Sales Engineering team that is responsible for conducting project techno-economic analysis and technical diligence and design to right-size utility, microgrid and commercial energy storage and solar deployments. Since joining the Tesla Energy team in early 2016, Rebecca has supported various Tesla Energy initiatives and projects including the 100 MW / 129 MWh Hornsdale project, 20 MW / 80 MWh PG&E Llagas project, amongst others. Prior to joining Tesla, Rebecca served as a Project Development Engineer at First Solar based in San Francisco. At First Solar, she led technical project development for utility scale solar projects ranging from 10 MW to >300 MW.
Venue
Filoli, Woodside, CA
(86 Canada Road, Woodside, Ca 94062).
Parking Directions: Enter through the main visitor gate on Canada Road and proceed to the visitor parking lot.
Parking is free.
Filoli is a country house set in 16 acres of formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre estate, located in Woodside, California, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, at the southern end of Crystal Springs Reservoir, on the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
