 Well good morning and thank you all for joining us here today. My name is Mark Tessie Levine And I have the privilege of serving as Stanford's president And it's my very great pleasure to welcome you all to Stanford for the 2018 global energy forum Today we face Pressing energy concerns that continue to threaten society's future ever more affordable accessible and diversified energy sources are vital for continued economic growth and Also to improve the lives of the many millions of people who still live in poverty today But doing so in an environmentally sustainable manner remains a major challenge That will require continued breakthroughs in our knowledge and our systems for energy generation energy storage and decarbonization and Our existing energy infrastructure remains highly vulnerable to both natural disasters and to man-made threats The global energy forum brings together leaders from industry government the non-profit sector and the academic sector To tackle these problems head-on Over the next two days you will hear from policy makers technology entrepreneurs Scientists and global thought leaders and decision-makers About the forces that are shaping the global energy ecosystem and the implication of these changes for the decades to come Cross-sector global dialogue of this kind is essential to address our energy challenges to make progress towards diversifying our energy sources Reducing carbon emissions and encouraging economic growth as we transform our energy sources In tackling these challenges universities like Stanford have special roles to play first as one of the key engines that spark new knowledge that can lead to transformative breakthroughs and second as an impartial convener able to bring together experts from diverse sectors and disciplines to work collectively towards essential solutions At Stanford we've embraced both roles the Stanford pre-court Institute for energy brings together thought leaders from across our university and around the world to harness the collective knowledge of experts to foster new discoveries in energy As well in our university's long-range vision announced last May We committed to redoubling our efforts through a university-wide sustainability initiative that has the goal of accelerating the development of transportable sustainability solutions for our region nation and world and Building on progress made in the past decade in reconfiguring our own campus energy systems We've set aggressive goals for Stanford itself to become 80% carbon-free by 2025 just a few short years away and Zero waste by 2030 Global energy transformation and the reduction of carbon emissions are central challenges of the 21st century and as such They will be major areas of focus in our efforts to advance knowledge for the benefit of humanity And in that context we're delighted to be able to host this global energy forum by bringing together leading stakeholders and experts I hope and trust that over the next two days This forum will help accelerate the transformation of our global energy system in a sustainable and responsible way Which is key to creating a habitable and prosperous future for humanity So I want to thank you all again for joining Stanford energy for this inaugural forum I also want to thank the many people involved in making today's conference possible First our hosts Secretaries George Schultz William Perry Condoleezza Rice and Steven Chu for bringing together such a remarkable group of leaders and innovators Special thanks go to Jay Precourt who had the wonderful idea to convene this forum here at Stanford. I Also want to thank our sponsors who are listed in the program There are too many to name now, but please know that we are very grateful for your support Again, I want to thank you all for being here all of you as leaders in the global energy ecosystem For these essential conversations. Thank you very much