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UW Energy Future
An Interdisciplinary Lecture Series at the University of Washington
The Energy Future lecture series at the University of Washington investigates present and future issues in energy production, consumption, policy and their social and environmental impact. The lectures listed below are intended for a general academic or commercial-sector audience. We are also planning to have a series of public, evening lectures on these issues in the Spring of 2010. Contact Jerry Seidler (seidler@uw.edu) for more information.
Live Webcasts and Recorded Lectures
All lectures will be webcast live. To receive the webcast, around the start time of the lecture you may log in as a guest at http://tinyurl.com/uwenergy-live . The webcast will give audio together with a split visual of the speaker and their slides. Also, within a day after each lecture, a combined video/slides/voice recording will be posted. Look for the Lecture Recording indicator at the bottom of the lecture description.
Autumn 2009 Lectures and Seminars
Oct 1: Environmental Innovation Challenge 2010 : Energy
Emer Dooley, UW Foster School of Business
Thursday, 1 Oct 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
The inaugural UW Environmental Innovation Challenge was launched in Fall 2008. The goal is to have students build working prototypes of solutions to environmental problems. The challenge was launched with an “Environmental Innovation Practicum,” and culminated on April 1, 2009 with 16 interdisciplinary teams pitching their solutions to environmental problems and demonstrating their prototypes to an audience of 75+ judges. The theme this year is Energy. There will be a $25,000 fund available for prototype development. The Fall Practicum features a stellar group of speakers from McKinstry, Microsoft, Seattle Clean-Tech startups and Venture Capitalists. This talk will cover the goals of the Challenge, the cross-campus nature of the collaboration and resources available to teams wishing to compete.
Lecture Recording: Emer Dooley Oct 1 2009
Related Reading:
- University Week 9 Apr 2009 Student teams win cash for finding solutions to real-world environmental problems
- Reuters 30 Sept 2009 Clean technology top US venture investment
- L.A. Times 30 Sept 2009 Green technology tops venture capital funding
Oct 8: Energy and Global Security
Carol Kessler, Director, Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security
Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
As part of their efforts to sustain national security is a post-September 11 world, countries are finding that access to reliable, affordable and timely energy supplies is a fundamental aspect of their national security. In our globalized world, achieving energy security requires that countries work together due to the nature of the international energy markets, especially for oil. But does this interdependence means that suppliers of energy and consumers of energy also have interdependent relationships or are they only opponents in a highly competitive industry? Carol Kessler will discuss these issues from the point of view of the US, Europe and Russia.
Related Reading:
- New York Times 12 Oct 2009: Gas Pipeline Drives Political Wedge Between Europe
- New York Times 13 Oct 2009: China and Russia Reaffirm Gas Deal Plans
Oct 15: A Primer on Commercialization for Energy Researchers
Sean O'Connor, Chair of Law, Technology & Arts Group, UW School of Law
Thursday, 15 Oct 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
While basic science research is challenging just by itself, once a breakthrough is achieved in the lab a whole new set of challenges emerge. How can the breakthrough be translated into applications — products or services that can be deployed to address energy issues? Along the way, there are at least two phases. The first is getting a sense of what a product or service based on the breakthrough might look like (sometimes called “translational research”). The second is how to actually get the product or service manufactured or made available, while determining whether someone will actually pay for it (usually called “commercialization”). Much of translational and commercialization efforts are technology and business based. But behind all of them are a set of business, IP, tech transfer, tax, regulatory, and even employment law issues that are a “must have” for those who are serious about translating and commercializing basic science energy research. Professor O’Connor is an expert in these manifold areas of law as they apply to translation and commercialization activities and will guide the audience through them. While the material is broad, plenty of time will be left for Q&A. The goal is not to transform the audience members into lawyers, but rather to help them understand the legal issues so they can effectively interact with lawyers going forward. Discussion of policy questions related to how current law helps or hinders commercialization of energy research is also welcome.
Lecture Recording: Sean O'Connor 15 Oct 2009
Oct 22: Messing with Mother Nature: The Natural Energy Cycle, Greenhouse Gases and Geoengineering
Thomas Ackerman, UW Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Thursday, 22 Oct 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
The fundamental driver of climate is the absorption of solar energy and the emission of infrared (heat) energy. While these two quantities balance globally, regional imbalances fuel both atmospheric and oceanic circulations. On earth, the radiant energy cycle is tightly coupled with the cycling of water among its three phases due to the high heat of vaporization of water. The balance between the energy and water cycles on both global and regional scales in an ongoing research focus of climate scientists. Humans have inadvertently altered the natural energy cycle by changing greenhouse gas concentrations and land surface properties. Now, in response to impending global warming, some are proposing geoengineering activities that would cool the planet by reflecting solar radiation back to space. Insight into the scale of greenhouse gas warming and geoengineering activities can be gained by considering the magnitude of the terms in the global energy balance and the uncertainty in our knowledge of these terms.
Related Reading:
Oct 29: Plastic Solar Cells? Challenges and Opportunities for Photovoltaics
David Ginger,
UW Chemistry Department
Thursday, 29 Oct 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
Meeting the energy needs of the world’s growing population in an environmentally and geopolitically sustainable fashion is the single most important technological challenge facing society today. It seems certain that solar energy must play a critical role in any long-term renewable energy solution. Photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, have may intrinsic advantages and seem a compelling long-term technology. However, because our civilization’s appetite for energy is enormous, any renewable energy solution must also be enormous—able to provide power on the scale of many trillions of watts (or terawatts, TW). I will discuss the challenges of deploying renewable energy technologies, particularly solar power on the TW scale, and will focus on the potential of next generation technologies. I will place emphasis on the challenges and opportunities that face scientists who are trying to use alternative new materials based on conjugated polymers—plastic semiconductors!—as low-cost materials in future photovoltaic cells.
Related Reading:
Nov 5: Wood to Energy in Washington: Imperatives, Opportunities, and Obstacles
Larry Mason, Rural Technology Initiative and UW School of Forest Resources
Report Co- Authors: Richard Gustafson, John Calhoun, Bruce Lippke, and Natalia Raffaeli
Thursday, 5 Nov 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
At the request of the Washington State Legislature, a thorough investigation into the barriers to increasing utilization of woody biomass for energy production in Washington has been conducted by University of Washington scientists. Identification of barriers to wood for energy development and recommendations for progress are discussed in the context of the broader energy policies of the state and nation. Energy policy must be examined in the context of three over-arching imperatives that compel immediate attention: Climate Change Mitigation, Energy Independence, and Sustainability. Wood is second only to water as a source of renewable energy for Washington. Consequently, conversions to liquid transportation fuels emerge as the highest priority for maximizing integrated achievement of the imperative objectives. This will require large biorefinery capacity designed to utilize dispersed biomass resources for maximized bioenergy outputs. Co-location with State pulp and paper mills represents the greatest opportunity for success. While a paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy will be difficult and expensive, the environmental and economic costs of inaction outweigh needed investment for change. However, the lack of a cohesive approach to state and national energy policies represents a significant barrier to progress.
Related Reading:
- University Week, 20 Aug 2009: Washington forests may be solution to state's green-energy quest
- Summary Brief of Findings and Recommendations of 2009 Report: Wood to Energy in Washington: Imperatives, Opportunities, and Obstacles to Progress
Nov 12: A View of Energy Issues from the US Department of Agriculture
Dr. Maura O'Neill, the Senior Advisor for Energy and Climate, USDA Office of Research, Education and Economics
Thursday, 12 Nov 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
Dr. O'Neill will address energy and climate issues from the perspective of the US Department of Agriculture. She is presently the senior Advisor for Energy and Climate, USDA Office of Research, Education and Economics, and served most recently as chief of staff for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. She has spent over 25 years in the public, private, and academic sectors focused on two areas: sustainable energy development and entrepreneurship/innovation. She has founded four companies, is on the faculty of UC Berkeley, served on local, state, utility and non-profit policy committees. In 2008, she built a broad coalition of industry and advocacy groups to forge bipartisan and bicameral support for passage of wide-ranging federal clean energy tax incentives. In 1987 she was one of the North American Representatives to the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Energy Efficiency and Utility Industry. O'Neill has also served on the National Panel on Energy and Employment Policy. O'Neill graduated with a BA from the University of Washington. She received MBAs from both Columbia University and the University of California at Berkeley and was awarded the Distinguished Student Award. She completed her PhD at the University of Washington.
Nov 19: Perspectives on Intellectual Property Rights and Global Access to Emerging Energy Technologies
Bill Snyder, UW School of Law and Sustainable Business Development, LLC
Thursday, 19 Nov 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
Many developing countries will bear the brunt of climate change impacts if clean energy technologies are not broadly adopted over the next two decades. Several developing countries are poised to overtake even the largest developed countries in terms of greenhouse gas emissions if they continue to pursue their economic objectives using legacy energy technologies. This lecture will examine the tension between the right of intellectual property holders to exclude access to technology, and the global implications of limited access to existing and emerging clean energy technologies. The goal of the session will be to help non-lawyers understand how governance and trade policy could either help or hinder the global impact of advances in clean energy technology.
Related Reading:
- Scientific American: Impacts of Climate Change Interactive Map
- 17 Sept 2009 The Economist, September 17, 2009 Developing countries and global warming, a bad climate for development
- WIPO Magazine, March 2009, Patenting and Access to Clean Energy Technologies in Developing Countries
- Scott London Book Review: Governing the Commons, by Elinor Olstrom
Dec 3: Harnessing the Tides: siting and monitoring a new technology
James Thomson, UW Applied Physics Lab and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Thursday, 3 Dec 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
The currents that result from the daily rise and fall of the tides are a potential source of clean, renewable energy for coastal communities. Tidal In-Stream Energy Conversion, or TISEC, uses submerged turbines, with no surface expression and minimal effects on the marine environment. Work is ongoing at the UW branch of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center to establish best-practices for choosing TISEC locations and monitoring this technology. Two pilot projects in Puget Sound are proposed as the first applications of this research.
Related Reading and Information:
- North America Tidal In-Stream Energy Conversion Technology Feasibility Study
- Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center
Dec 10: Peak Oil, Peak Coal and Energy Availability
James W. Murray, UW School of Oceanography
Thursday, 12 Nov 2009 (12:30PM PAA 118)
The argument of Peak Oil is that production of oil, a finite non-renewable geological resource, will ultimately reach a maximum and then decline. There is no debate that this will happen, but there is disagreement about when it will occur. Peak Oil does not mean “running out of oil” but when the peak has been reached, about 50% of the oil that will be ultimately extracted will have been used. The production and resources of coal can be assessed with similar tools and David Rutledge (Cal Tech) has recently assessed the ultimate resources of coal available both regionally and globally. There are both short term and long range issues. We see the manifestation of the imbalance between supply and demand in the steady increase in the price of oil since 1999. The most significant long term impacts relate to the IPCC scenarios predicting CO2 production from now to 2100. Energy is passing climate change as the “hot button” issue. Can we have economic growth without growth in energy supply? We need to solve the energy issue as we move forward on solutions to climate change. The solutions are the same – burn less oil and coal: make less CO2. CO2 sequestration has serious issues of scale. The issues of Peak Oil and resource limitation have not been given serious consideration by the climate change community and the impacts could be profound. For this reason it is important to have an open discussion of the data and the issues.
Our Sponsors
We are pleased to be sponsored by the UW Department of Physics, the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Graduate School, the Applied Physics Lab, the College of the Environment, the Evans School of Public Affairs, the Center for Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research, and the Institute of Advanced Materials and Technology.
