Robert Bryce

Robert Bryce speaker is an author, speaker, and film producer. He has been writing about energy, power, politics, and innovation for more than three decades. He’s also the acclaimed author of six books, including most recently, A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations. Robert Bryce speaker has given more than 500 invited or keynote lectures to groups ranging from the Marines Corps War College to the Sydney Institute, as well as to a wide variety of associations, universities, and corporations.

He is a former staff writer at the Austin Chronicle and former managing editor of Energy Tribune. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, and Guardian. Bryce has also appeared on a panoply of media outlets ranging from Fox News to Al Jazeera. Bryce is the executive producer of the 2019 feature-length documentary, Juice: How Electricity Explains the World. He’s also the co- producer of the five-part docuseries, Juice: Power, Politics & The Grid, which has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube. Bryce has testified before the U.S. Congress seven times, and his books and articles have been translated into six languages.

A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations

In this talk, based on his forthcoming book of the same title, Robert Bryce will explain why electricity has transformed humanity like no other form of energy. Despite its transformative power, some 3 billion people are still living in places where per-capita electricity use is less than what’s used by an average American refrigerator. Closing the enormous gap between the electricity rich and the electricity poor will affect everything from women’s rights and health care to warfare and climate change. Bryce will discuss the fastest-growing sources of new electricity demand – Big Tech and Big Cannabis – and explain the factors that are needed to supply reliable and affordable electricity. He will also spotlight the fuels that will power the electric grids of the future and explain why, in the 21st century, power equals power. (A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations will be published in March 2020 by PublicAffairs).

Renewable Dreams, Hydrocarbon Realities, and the Fuels of the Future

Whether it’s the Green New Deal or the dozens of cities that have pledged to get all of their electricity from renewables, there’s no doubt that solar and wind energy are enormously popular. In this talk, Robert Bryce will explain why renewables alone cannot meet burgeoning global energy demand. He will provide a clear-eyed look at the vast scale of our energy and power systems and explain why, despite concerns about climate change, oil, coal, and natural gas are likely to continue dominating global energy markets for years to come. In addition, Bryce will examine the macro trends in the energy sector, including the surge in solar, the booming global trade in LNG, electric vehicles, the relentless growth in electricity demand, and why we should be optimistic about our energy future.

Economic Growth, Climate Change, and the Innovation Imperative

Economic growth and energy consumption are inextricable. Energy use fuels economic growth and economic growth turbocharges energy demand. That’s particularly true for global electricity demand which is now doubling every 20 years. Oil demand keeps growing, too: It’s up by 15 percent over the past decade alone. In this talk, Robert Bryce will discuss the world’s insatiable demand for energy and how that demand is complicating efforts to address climate change. He will also look at the future and examine the technologies and fuels – including nuclear energy – that will be needed to meet the world’s insatiable energy demand. Finally, he will explain why ongoing innovation in every aspect of the energy and power sectors – from batteries and solar panels to internal combustion engines and fission reactors – will be needed to address climate change and improve living standards.

Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong

For decades, even centuries, we have been repeatedly warned that we are headed for disaster. Indeed, since the days of Thomas Malthus, we’ve been told that we are using too much of everything and that catastrophe looms. But the prophets of doom continually overlook an obvious fact: More people are now living longer, freer, healthier lives than at any time in human history. In this talk, Robert Bryce will show how ongoing innovation in everything from energy extraction and mobile phones to agriculture and engines is raising living standards all over the world. No one told inventors or entrepreneurs to make things smaller, faster, lighter, denser, and cheaper. Instead, they have been doing that on their own. The result of this continuing innovation: poverty and disease are on the run all over the world. If you need a dose of optimism, one that will inoculate you against the endless doom and pessimism that dominates the daily news, this talk is the one for you