180-Minute Symposium

180-007

Basic Research for Global Energy Security: A Call to Action

Session Start/End Time:

Friday, Feb 13, 2009, 8:30 AM -11:30 AM

HRC Grand F

The United States consumes about 3.5 terawatts of energy on a continual basis -- think 35 billion 100-watt light bulbs burning constantly, or the output of 3,500 coal-burning power plants. Right now, we derive the bulk of that energy from oil, gasoline, coal, and natural gas — nonrenewable fossil fuels that, when burned, add carbon to Earth’s atmosphere. Levels of manmade carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere are currently at an all-time high, and demand for energy is only expected to grow -- upwards of 50 percent for electricity alone by the year 2030. Basic research conducted at universities, in national labs, and in industry is leading to game-changing breakthroughs that transcend the limitations of current technologies and may enable completely new and vastly more efficient energy systems. Scientists are also working to design and engineer technological improvements to optimize efficiency and performance across the energy spectrum to meet this crucial challenge. This symposium will bring together leaders in the field to present new findings on identifying and advancing renewable, sustainable sources of energy such as solar, wind, hydro, and biofuels/biomass. Speakers will discuss innovations in producing, converting, transmitting, storing, and using energy and explain how basic research -- particularly in the emerging field of nanoscience -- is enabling advances in catalysis, superconductivity, artificial photosynthesis, and other areas.

Organized by:

James Misewich, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY;Peter A Genzer, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY

Presentations:

  Symposium Organizer--James Misewich, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY

  Symposium Co-Organizer--Peter A. Genzer, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY

  Moderator--James Misewich, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY

  Basic Energy Research Opportunities in Solar Energy Utilization--Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

  Nanoscale Materials for Solar Fuel Generation--Paul Alivisatos, University of California, Berkeley, CA

  Needs and Opportunities in Basic Research for Electrical Energy Storage--Yet-Ming Chiang, MIT, Cambridge, MA

  Superconductivity: Challenges and Opportunities for Our Energy Future--John Sarrao, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

  Addressing the Global Energy Challenge: Energy Conversion Using Nanoscale Materials--George Crabtree, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

  Nuclear Breeder Reactors and Sustainability--Anshu Bharadwaj, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, Bangalore, Bangladesh

  Discussant--Michelle Buchanan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN