Climate change and national security are immediate challenges for U.S. energy policymakers, but they are also long-term problems that need durable solutions, William Hogan said Wednesday in his keynote speech at the National Energy Policy Institute's inaugural conference.

Hogan, the research director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group, recounted the folly of such well-intended but ultimately futile experiments such as coal-to-liquids technology and the Energy Independence and Security Act. Stricter fuel standards for cars simply drove people to buy more trucks, he noted.

"We didn't think through the unintended consequences," Hogan said during his speech at the University of Tulsa, the institute's home. "We have lots of evidence to suggest we can go off in wrong directions."

Hogan's warnings echo a theme of the year-old NEPI, which intends to deliver a comprehensive report on alternative fuel options early next year. NEPI President Tony Knowles said the organization wants to find options that work, that are affordable and that will hold up over time.

The institute, seeded with $8 million from the George Kaiser Family Foundation, started with this conference, titled "Power for the 21st Century: Reinventing America's Energy Grid." NEPI's goal is to spur policy changes that decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil and also help clean up the environment.

"We're at the deep end of the policy pool," Knowles said in between panel discussions. "The intellectual capital sitting in this room is pretty impressive."

In addition to Hogan and Knowles, who is a former oilfield worker and former governor of oil-rich Alaska, participants included state and private officials who seem committed to alternative-energy solutions. Colorado Public Utilities Commissioner Matt Baker, OGE Energy Corp. CEO Pete Delaney, Regulatory Assistance Project Director Richard Sedano and Elizabeth Salerno, an American Wind Energy Association director, were among the panelists.

Salerno's PowerPoint presentation showed that U.S. investment in wind projects totaled $17 billion last year, exceeding Germany, a longtime leader in the field. Wind now accounts for less than 10 percent of U.S. electricity generation, but the U.S. Department of Energy hopes to increase that to 20 percent by 2030.

To reach that goal, 305,000 megawatts of potential wind energy would need to be installed, Salerno said.

"Yes, this is a heavy lift," she admitted.