GCEP Energy Seminar: Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in Renewable Energy Technology Development

Dr. Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology, will describe and evaluate the challenges involved with widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies. These include: the degree to which supply/demand forces stimulate a transition to renewable energy technologies in the next 20-50 years; the greenhouse gas buildup limitations on carbon-based power consumption as an unpriced externality to fossil-fuel consumption; the level and timescale of R&D investment that is needed to produce the required quantity of carbon-free power by the 2050 timeframe; and the challenges to the chemical sciences to enable the cost-effective production of carbon-free power on the needed scale by the 2050 timeframe. Finally, we will discuss the effects of a change in primary power technology on the energy supply infrastructure, the impact of such a change on the modes of energy consumption by the energy consumer, and additional demands on the chemical sciences to support such a transition in energy supply.

Reception to follow on patio of Mitchell Building.