Montréal se prépare à accueillir le Congrès mondial de l'énergie en 2010 (3500 inv.)

[mtlurb]

Montréal se prépare à accueillir le Congrès mondial de l'énergie en 2010

 

 

 

ROME, Italie, le 15 nov. /CNW Telbec/ - Lors de la cérémonie de clôture

du Congrès mondial de l'énergie à Rome, le flambeau a été remis au pays hôte

du 21e Congrès. C'est le Canada qui aura le privilège de tenir cette

manifestation d'envergure à Montréal, du 12 au 16 septembre 2010. C'est la

deuxième fois que Montréal accueille cet événement, le 14e Congrès mondial de

l'énergie s'y étant déroulé en 1989.

 

 

 

Le Conseil mondial de l'énergie organise un Congrès mondial de l'énergie

tous les trois ans. C'est le principal forum international sur les questions

énergétiques avec exposition, et il vise à mieux faire comprendre les enjeux

et les solutions énergétiques à l'échelle planétaire. Il s'intéresse à la

production et à l'utilisation de l'énergie sous toutes ses formes : pétrole,

charbon, gaz naturel, énergie nucléaire, hydroélectricité et énergies

renouvelables. Il rassemble des leaders mondiaux du domaine de l'énergie

représentant autant des entreprises, des gouvernements et des organismes

internationaux que des milieux universitaires et des associations.

 

"Le Canada est un acteur de premier plan sur la scène énergétique

mondiale. Le comité organisateur du 21e Congrès mondial de l'énergie est déjà

à l'oeuvre et il mobilise tous ses partenaires pour assurer la réussite de

l'événement", a déclaré Richard Drouin, président du comité organisateur de

MONTREAL 2010.

 

Au-delà de 3500 délégués des quatre coins du monde devraient être au

rendez-vous. C'est à Kiev, en 2003, dans le cadre de l'assemblée annuelle du

Conseil mondial de l'énergie, que le Canada été désigné pays hôte du 21e

Congrès. Les efforts soutenus du Conseil de l'énergie du Canada et

d'Hydro-Québec ont certes largement influencé la décision du CME d'attribuer

au Canada et plus précisément à Montréal, l'organisation de ce forum triennal

pour 2010.

 

"Dans un contexte où l'environnement, le développement durable et les

questions stratégiques liées à l'énergie occupent une place prépondérante dans

l'ensemble des pays, les organisateurs du 21e Congrès mondial de l'énergie -

MONTREAL 2010 ont un défi important à relever. Ils doivent réunir les leaders

et les experts du secteur énergétique du monde entier pour qu'ils puissent

poursuivre dans les meilleures conditions possibles un dialogue ouvert sur les

questions énergétiques. Le compte à rebours est commencé", a indiqué Stéphane

Bertrand, directeur exécutif du 21e Congrès mondial de l'énergie - Montréal

2010.

 

Stéphane Bertrand souligne également l'apport important du commanditaire

hôte, Hydro-Québec, et des autres commanditaires principaux, dont

Petro-Canada, Hatch, Gaz Métro et KPMG pour leur précieux appui.

 

 

Fondé en 1923, le Conseil mondial de l'énergie est un organisme non

gouvernemental agréé par l'Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU). Il est

constitué de comités membres représentant près de cent pays, dont la plupart

des grands pays producteurs et consommateurs d'énergie. Sa mission consiste à

rendre accessible au plus grand nombre de personnes l'énergie sous toutes ses

formes dans le cadre d'un développement économique pacifique et durable. Au

Congrès de Rome, monsieur Pierre Gadonneix, président-directeur général

d'Electricité de France (EDF), a été nommé président du Conseil mondial de

l'énergie; il succède à monsieur André Caillé.

 

 

 

Renseignements: Stéphane Bertrand, directeur exécutif, Congrès mondial

de l'énergie - MONTREAL 2010, (514) 237-4319

[Habsfan]

C'est bien, Un autre convention en ville. 3500 délégués, c'est beaucoup, non?

[mtlurb]

Oui c'est beaucoup!

[Gbx]

Ca prendra au moins un agrandissement du palais ca!

[Malek]

Finalement en ville: http://www.siemens.com/entry/cc/en/wec.htm?stc=wwccc010167

 

Siemens à préparé quelques vidéos pour l'occasion.

[GDS]

Ils ont construit un gros dome de la terre en face du PdC

[jesseps]

As North America's electricity distribution moves toward a "smart grid" system, the cyberspies, thieves or terrorists determined to attack that grid are sure to become smarter themselves, industry experts warn.

 

That message was highlighted this summer with the discovery of a new family of malicious computer code -a program dubbed the Stuxnet worm -that attacked widely used software designed to control such infrastructure as power grids.

 

The Stuxnet attack "is a threat that is representative of what we can come to expect in the future," said Larry Castro of the United States-based Chertoff Group during a recent Web-based panel discussion on grid security.

 

Managing director of a company co-founded by former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Castro noted that the attack target was Siemens, a multinational company whose products are sold throughout the world.

 

A spokesman for Munich-based Siemens AG told The Gazette last month that the firm is still analyzing the malware. The goal of the renegade program -whether it was trying to wrest control of Siemens's application or steal information -remains unknown, as does the origin of the malware.

 

What is crystal clear to investigators is that "to develop such a software, you need a lot of experts," Siemens spokesman Wieland Simon said in an email.

 

As of late August, there were 14 known cases of virus infections worldwide in different industrial sectors, most of them in Germany. There were no known attacks in Canada, Simon said.

 

"In no case did the virus cause any damage," he added.

 

Stuxnet was spread via a USB stick and used a security breach in certain Microsoft Windows operating systems. Siemens has since supplied customers with software tools to detect and remove the virus while Microsoft has offered upgrades that close the breach in, Simon said.

 

The Stuxnet attack is particularly noteworthy because it represents a "new approach" by hackers, Francis Bradley, vice-president of the Canadian Electricity Association, said in an interview.

 

"It's not going to be the last one ... and it's probably not the most significant cyber-security challenge Canadian utilities will see this year," he said.

 

Energy sector executives rarely speak publicly about specific security challenges or cyber attacks. But whenever utility experts get together, formally or informally, cyber-security is almost certain to be discussed, Bradley said.

 

"It is one of the top priorities of the industry at large," he said.

 

While cyber-security is not specifically listed on the agenda of the World Energy Congress in Montreal, the topic will surface as the larger issues of energy-supply security, infrastructure and smart grids are discussed at various sessions.

 

Many major energy organizations with an interest in the subject, including the Canadian Association of Members of Public Utility Tribunals, which includes Quebec's Regie de l'energie and the Ontario Energy Board, are also holding meetings in Montreal at the same time as the congress.

 

Cyber-security started making its way to the top of the priority list in 1999, amid preparations for the new millennium, Bradley said.

 

"For most people Y2K was a huge yawn, but within the industry it was the beginning of significant focus by companies on cyber-security."

 

By 2006, the U.S. Energy Department was warning in public reports that a successful cyber attack against a crucial control system "may result in catastrophic physical or property damage and loss."

 

That same year, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) adopted regulations that required utilities to remove from the Internet their crucial control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, Bradley said.

 

NERC sets security standards that deal with cyber-security for Canadian and U.S. utilities, as the grids for the two countries are highly integrated.

 

Hydro-Quebec must comply with NERC's reliability standards, including those that pertain to cyber-security, a spokeswoman for the utility said.

 

SCADA systems, which are used in many industrial facilities, including water filtration plants, tend to operate remote sensors and controls. A typical example of SCADA use by utilities would be for remote hydro generation stations, Bradley said.

 

Over the last decade, power grids have become increasingly automated. Automation is one characteristic of the so-called smart grid. Another is its networking abilities, via two-way communications.

 

A smart grid also makes use of smart meters in homes and businesses that can communicate with the utility about things like energy consumption and power outages.

 

"I don't think anybody disputes that smart grids are essential, needed and will deliver great benefits," said Bill Moroney, CEO of Utilities Telecom Council, a U.S. trade association for infrastructure companies.

 

"But from a security point of view, the design of a smart grid essentially turns upside down all the security (work) we have been doing. If we open up millions of unsecured end points (via smart meters, etc.) have we put the entire grid under threat?"

 

Moroney, a board member of UTC Canada, raised the question during a recent panel discussion on grid security organized by EnergyBiz.

 

Castro, also part of the panel, said criminal gangs, hackers and nation-states pose the greatest threat to grid security.

 

The People's Republic of China is a "well-documented cyber adversary" and its army has published doctrine "that established information warfare and cyber exploration as a fundamental aspect of its military strategy," the former National Security Agency official said.

 

China's interest in North America's grid may be related to its interest in understanding energy development in the West, Castro said. Or it may be military.

 

"At least 90 per cent of our Department of Defence's critical assets with the United States are solely dependent on the bulk power grid for their electrical power," he said.

 

Efforts to improve North America's grid against the evolving threat of cyberspies, crooks and hackers are ongoing, industry officials like Bradley and Moroney say.

 

In October, U.S. President Barack Obama's administration announced $3.4 billion would be invested in smart-grid efforts in the U.S.

 

Significant amounts of that money will be used for security, including efforts to protect consumer data, Garry Brown, New York state's Public Service Commissioner, told the Web-based panel.

 

Regulators are going to have to be alert because many companies will claim they can supply security solutions.

 

"Right now, cyber-security is at a place where it is difficult for (regulators and anyone other than cyber-security experts) to really get a handle on how serious the threats are or are not," Brown said.

 

"We don't know what becomes gold-plating and what is necessary."

 

Regulators, utilities and other principals are looking for federal guidance in the form of comprehensive standards and regulations, Brown and Moroney said.

 

"Generally, there is frustration among utilities in terms of trying to get direction on what to do," Moroney said.

 

Bradley said "world class" work on cyber-security is being done in Canada and by agencies like NERC. It is an ongoing process.

 

"The way the industry has been able to keep the lights on as these threats become more sophisticated is (because) the defences and mitigation put in place evolve at the same or a faster pace. So far we have been able to do that," Bradley said.

 

(Courtesy of © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette)

[acpnc]

Une belle démonstration de l'évolution des technologies et des dangers qui évoluent avec elle. Une seule chose semble ne pas vraiment changer dans tout cela et c'est la menace malveillante qui perdure en se sophistiquant davantage pour suivre le mouvement.

 

Le monde est en train de devenir totalement vulnérable à lui-même, l'humain étant devenu son pire ennemi. Ce phénomène met nettement en évidence le "génie" de la folie, qui n'a cesse de nuire par son fanatisme, sa cupidité, son envie, sa méfiance et son désir d'hégémonie pour devenir le maitre des hommes et du monde. Du James Bond hightech qui grandit en dangereusité avec le temps.

 

Pas du tout "reposant" ...

[jesseps]

Environmental activists are expected to try and muddy the start of a major energy conference Sunday, staging a beach party with participants tarred up as would-be victims of an environmental disaster.

 

Members of Greenpeace and 30 other green groups are expected to stage the fake beach party to draw attention to what they say is the “dirty energy that accelerates climate change and contaminates our environment.”

 

They are protesting the 21st World Energy Congress, which starts Sunday and goes until Thursday. The meeting brings together more than 3,500 global leaders in the energy sector, including from private industry, governments, and international organizations.

 

Quebec Premier Jean Charest is scheduled to address the opening ceremony of the conference between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

 

The conference’s website states that energy executives need to show “an unprecedented level of cooperation between the energy industry and government, allowance for the realities of emerging economies, and an understanding of the diversity and complexity of the challenges and the evolving needs of the human community.”

 

Discussions will revolve around such issues as improving access to energy for the energy-poor, regulatory frameworks and the role of new energy sources and technologies in a sustainable energy future.

 

The beach party protest gets underway at 2 p.m. at Place Riopelle next to the Palais des Congrès.

 

 

More details to come

 

(Courtesy of © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette)