Sep 5, 2014 3 min read

W&J Energy Lecture Series patrons got an appealing whiff of Cologne Thursday night.

Kirk Junker of the University of Cologne kicked off the series for the academic year with the topic “Is European Energy Policy Looking Forward or Looking Backward?” He is a professor of law and chair of the International Master of Environmental Science program at the German institution.

A mix of over-30 adults and Washington & Jefferson College students filled Yost Auditorium in the Burnett Center to near capacity. They followed Junker for slightly more than an hour before responding with articulate questions.

Junker, previously director of international programs and a law professor at Duquesne University, spoke about European energy in general and, frequently, Germany in particular.

He opened with the query that doubled as the program topic – Is the policy looking forward or backward? “That question does not necessarily have an answer,” Junker said.

Europe, he posited, is moving ahead on renewables and efficiency of distribution, but may be behind on other energy matters. It imports about three-fourths of its natural gas from Russia. Colombia and the United States, in that order.

Junker, who has been on both sides of the Atlantic, said the United States should care about energy matters in Europe for three reasons: trade, security and common culture – the latter highlighted by the tight U.S.-United Kingdom relationship, including common language.

He underscored the importance of trade between the United States and the European Union, an economic and political partnership among 28 European countries, the largest being Germany.

“Our No. 1 trading partner is the EU and their No. 1 is us,” said Junker, whose extensive academic portfolio includes being on the advisory board of the University of Pittsburgh’s European Union Center for Excellence.

Junker frequently referred to the energy picture in Germany, one that is framed by coal – still the No. 1 source there – but lauded by many environmentalists. The first half of this year, Germany generated 31 percent of its electricity from renewables.

“Germany is cloudier than Pittsburgh, but it is a world leader in solar,” said Junker of a nation that has boosted its solar battery storage the past few years. Germany gets a combined 17 percent of its power from solar and wind.

Also, over the first half of 2014, solar power plants increased by 28 percent over the same period of 2013.

The key, Junker said, is efficiency. “German energy production has gone down, but it is more efficient.”

International Energy Trends is the series theme this academic year. The second installment will be “Global Gas Markets in transition” at 7 p.m. Oct. 22. Kenneth Medlock III, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University, will be the lecturer.

“Switch,” a documentary film about factors forcing energy transitions, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18. W&J professor Mark Swift will oversee a discussion afterward.

All lectures are free inside Yost Auditorium.