PROGRAM

We hope that you will join us in Porto to share your experiences, concerns, and ideas about the IAIA12 theme and other important topics. Papers, Posters, and workshops are welcome on all aspects of the conference theme and within the scope of all IAIA Section topics.

In addition to conference sessions, workshops, and training courses, you will also be able to choose technical visits, sightseeing tours, networking opportunities, and more.

Potential technical visits include:

• The Porto Refinery
• Production Facilities of Wind Energy Turbines
• Waste Management System of the Metropolitan Area of Porto
• Foz Tua Dam
• Walking Tour in the Historic Centre of Porto
• Stock Exchange Palace
• Port Wine Cellars

The preliminary program and registration materials will be available on the IAIA website in October 2011. We encourage you to sign up now at www.iaia.org to receive updates about this conference.

The conference will be structured around 4 thematic streams

RENEWABLE ENERGY

During the last decade, the research and development of renewable energy sources has been intense, encompassing a large set of technological solutions: onshore and offshore wind farms, geothermal, passive solar, photo-voltaic, biofuels, hydropower, tidal energy, etc.

• What are the future impacts of expanding the development and utilization of these sources of energy?
• What long-term impacts may evolve from massive adoption of these technologies?
• How can we cope with the competition between agriculture/forest and biofuel production?
• Which technologies will emerge as the “next big things” in our global future?

ELECTRIC POWERED TRANSPORTATION

The next decades will be shaped by an ever increasing penetration of electrical mobility in public and individual transport. This emerging trend will be followed by challenges not yet identified.

• How should we plan our cities for rapid transition and expansion of electrified transportation systems (both public transit and electric vehicles)?
• How can we adapt growing megacities to these challenges, especially in less developed nations?
• How will logistic supply chains react?
• What kind of resources will be needed to support these new technologies?

FOSSIL FUELS

Available data indicates that global oil and gas supplies are peaking. This challenges oil companies to look for new areas of exploration and also require the development of new technologies and new environmental practices.

• Which challenges will impact assessment community face with these new developments?
• How can we handle environmental risks of deep sea drilling and tar sands exploitation?
• How can we prepare society for a daily life more independent of fossil fuels?

ELECTRIC POWER LEAP

Society will require a growing dependence on electricity in the future. The simultaneous presence of multiple and different power sources will impose great challenges, including a rapid transition to expanded electrical grid systems.

• What are the land and societal limits to the coexistence between human society and the basic infrastructures on which we depend?
• How will we mitigate impacts of increased electricity production?
• How can we develop decision-making processes that smooth out conflicts with the population?
• How can we promote the involvement of these same people in the decisions that affect them?