Energy expert to speak on Canada's pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Mar 14th, 2023

Kelly Foss

A Canadian expert in issues relating to energy and natural resources will present the 2023 Dr. and Mrs. Satti Paddi and Parvati Reddy Public Lecture.

Dr. Normand Mousseau of the Université de Montréal is being hosted by the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Faculty of Science, on Tuesday, March 21.

“Following the Paris Agreement, rich countries have announced net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets for 2050,” he said. “While this number might seem to be simply a step up from previous reduction targets, it profoundly changes the nature of the expected energy transition.”

Energy transition challenges

Building on the Canadian Energy Outlook 2021, published by the Institut de l’énergie Trottier, Dr. Mousseau’s talk will discuss some of the challenges Canada faces when planning and executing this energy transition.

Formerly an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio University, Dr. Mousseau is currently a professor of physics at Université de Montréal and is scientific director of the Institut de l’énergie Trottier at Polytechnique Montréal.

Working in the fields of complex materials and biophysics, he has been closely monitoring issues relating to energy and natural resources for more than a decade.

Dr. Mousseau is the author of several books on the subject, including Au bout du pétrole, tout ce que vous devez savoir sur la crise énergétique and Gagner la guerre du climat. Douze mythes à déboulonner.

His most recent book is Pandémie, quand la raison tombe maladie.

In 2013 Dr. Mousseau co-chaired the Commission on Energy Issues in Quebec. He is co-author of the IÉT Canada Energy Outlook series, as well as a founding member of the Transition Accelerator and the Canadian Institute for Climate Choice.

From 2019–21, he co-led the Energy Modelling Initiative.

Dr. Mousseau will present Reaching Our Climate Goals: How Net Zero Changes Everything, on Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. in the Bruneau Centre for Research and Innovation, room IIC-2001.

Admission is free, and all are welcome.

Limited free parking is available in lot 17. A reception will follow.

He will also give a research talk titled, Understanding How Atoms Move in Materials in room C-2045 at 1 p.m. on March 22.