C2ST, WISER present 'Sustainable Energy' lecture on new, attainable resources
The Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST) in association with Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) at IIT hosted a mind-boggling lecture on “Sustainable Energy: Fact or Fiction”. Researchers, technologists, and students gathered at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s McCloska Auditorium in the MTCC to discuss best practices, new technologies, and ideas that are making “Sustainable Energy” a reality. The lecture was presented by George W. Crabtree, Senior Scientist and Distinguished Fellow in the Materials Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory, and Distinguished Professor of Physics, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago.
The lecture started with current challenges to sustainable energy, i.e., oil, economy, and carbon dioxide. Explaining the real meaning of sustainability; various alternatives and roadblocks of sustainable energy formed the epicenter of lecture. The dependence on oil and other fossil fuels for over 80% of our energy and the continued emission of carbon dioxide threatening our stable climate are captured in a single term: sustainability. Although we generally agree that sustainability is valuable, there is less agreement on how much sustainability is necessary or desirable. In this talk, three criteria describing increasingly strict features of sustainability were presented and applied to evaluate the alternatives to oil and carbon dioxide emission. These included tapping unused energy flows in sunlight and wind, producing electricity without carbon emissions from clean coal and high efficiency nuclear power plants, and replacing oil with bio-fuel or electricity. The implementation of these sustainable alternatives will require new cost effective nanoscale materials. The successful development of such materials will have a marked impact on the production of energy in a sustainable and environmentally benign fashion.
Dr. Crabtree emphasized educating the next generation for energy literacy. This includes scientists and engineers, regulators, government officials, businessmen, urban planners and finally, private citizens, who are the ultimate decision makers. Extensive research is required for the development of more sustainable technologies in the form of materials of greater complexity and functionality. There should be a unified view which incorporates renewable energy, fossil fuels, nuclear science, electricity, transportation, economics, sociology, policy and urban planning. Finally, the lecture concluded with exchange of ideas between Dr. Crabtree and researchers.
