The NHH Energy Day

–Your chance to glance into the future of Norway´s largest industry.

What would happen to Norway’s economy if petroleum resources suddenly ran out, or if oil suddenly lost its worth?

Along with shipping and fishing, there is no question that the energy sector – and more specifically, oil – is the locomotive of the Norwegian economy. Many top economists, including Norges Bank chairman Øystein Olsen, have recently pointed out that the country is relying too heavily on oil, a scarce resource that we are bound to run out of at some point, and whose extraction costs are rising sharply.

Can the solution be found in the Arctic, as some suggest? Or is natural gas a better answer? What role will renewable energy sources play in the future? Is thorium nuclear power a feasible solution to the problem, given the relative abundance of the element in Norway?

These are just some of the questions that will be discussed during the Energy Day, a conference organized by the students of NHHS Energi that will take place on March 5th from 4 to 8 PM in the Aula, and whose theme is, as you might have guessed, “The future of energy”.

The event, which is free of charge, will bring together speakers from very different fields of the energy sector, such as Egil Lillestøl from CERN, who will discuss the potential of thorium nuclear power, and Morten Karlsen from Statoil, who will talk about Arctic Technology R&D.

The conference is not limited to its speakers, as four companies – Nordea, Shell, FMC Technologies, and BKK – will be on stand for general information and career opportunities from 10 AM to 4 PM.

The Energy Day conference is, therefore, a unique opportunity not only to learn more about Norway’s largest industry, but also to get in touch with companies that work in the field.

NHHS Energi leader Andreea Dolnicianu states that through this conference, the group “hopes to motivate students to pursue education in the energy field (such as the ENE program here at NHH), as well as to get participants excited about the possibilities that technology offers in the future”. A more long-term goal is help attendees learn more about which sectors they can get involved in after completing their studies.

She points out that the group actively sought to gather speakers from a wide variety of sectors and with a wide variety of points of view regarding energy, from further fossil fuel exploration to renewables to nuclear power, in order to cover a broad spectrum of possibilities.

According to Dolnicianu, the conference “is an absolute must for any current ENE student, and highly relevant for all other students as well – if not for career opportunities, for one’s own general knowledge, given how pervasive energy is”.

You can find out more about the Energy Day, and NHHS Energi in general, through Facebook (NHHS Energi), Twitter (@NHHSEnergi) or on the group’s website (www.nhhsenergi.no).attended by student groups from eight different schools, and will give NHHS a chance to learn and strategize with a focus on the new agenda.

The aforementioned events and agendas suggest that NHHS is trying to offer a vibrant social life to students who come to Norway with an expectation of exploring a new culture and being accepted as a newcomer.

The current state of affairs signals that the forthcoming semesters will be offering a lot more to meet these expectations!