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Energy for a Rapidly Evolving World

Henry D. Jacoby Ronald G. Prinn SCD '71 John B. Heywood SM '62, PhD '65 Karen R. Polenske Amy Smith '84, SM '95, ENG '95 Leon R. Glicksman '59, PhD '64: May 3, 2006; Running Time: 2:01:23

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

“The numbers are overwhelming,” Henry Jacoby tells us in his overview of the final forum panel. The U.S. consumes one-quarter of the world’s energy and emits one-quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide. The combined population of India and China is nine times that of the U.S., so what will happen as they approach our level of energy consumption? Responses to this challenge, which must be on an enormous scale, should be weighed with great care.

As large-scale energy solutions emerge, Ronald Prinn insists that we carefully examine impacts on the environment. Using the tool of integrated global system modelling, it will be more possible to assess both the environmental and economic viability of solutions, individually and in aggregate. One area that must be improved, Prinn says, is climate forecasting, with a particular focus on the ocean’s role in global warming. This will be “vital to choosing among energy options and adapting to inevitable future climate change.”

Buildings play a surprisingly large role in energy consumption, Leon Glicksman reports. In the U.S., the amount of energy used in buildings is 40% greater than in the transportation sector. “It’s the biggest gorilla in the room,” says Glicksman. Since the lifetimes of buildings can approach the century mark, it pays to find ways of improving their energy use. Key to bringing down the costs of heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation, says Glicksman, is opening buildings up to fresh air, light, and sun. Conserving energy and finding efficiencies require “integrating design functions into buildings from day one,” he concludes.

John Heywood wants to be “realistic AND positive” about energy savings in transportation. As the number of vehicles in the world rises from around 800 million to 2 billion in 2050, the amount of petroleum consumed will go up as well. Heywood has some ideas for reducing gas consumption to offset this dizzying increase in vehicle numbers, including: increased vehicle occupancy and public transportation use; more efficient transportation systems; and increased use of alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles. If we can make small dents in a variety of areas, we might well make an impact on transportation energy use overall. While it may appear “simple-minded, it should give us hope,” says Heywood.

In her study of coal production in China, Karen Polenske has discovered that changes in coke oven technology have led to reductions in energy use. The Chinese continue to look for new energy technologies to reduce energy use and pollution, including putting hoods on plants, and closing some and relocating other facilities as part of a plan to create energy efficient zones. They also try to make the plants pleasant for workers with park- like settings, says Polenske. While “we can’t do it for them,” says Polenske, “we need to work with them.”

What kind of energy concerns have the billions of people in the world who live on less than two dollars a day, and survive by using cow dung, wood and charcoal for cooking? Amy Smith says that indoor cooking fires cause one million deaths a year in children and that harvesting firewood has led to massive deforestation in some regions. To address this persistent problem, Smith has invented a clean burning charcoal, made from inexpensive materials readily available in many developing countries, like 55- gallon oil drums, sugar cane residue and cassava root. “This is probably one of the simplest technologies you’ve heard about,” says Smith, “but it can have an immediate and significant impact on the lives of millions.”

Q&A session participants
Robert C. Armstrong (Moderator)
Susan Hockfield
Vladimir Bulovic
Jefferson W. Tester
David T. Danielson

Lecture Details

Location: Kresge Auditorium

About the Speakers

Henry D. Jacoby

Professor of Management, MIT Sloan

Ronald G. Prinn SCD '71

TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Director, Center for Global Change Science; Co-Director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Ronald Prinn's research interests incorporate the chemistry, dynamics, and physics of the atmospheres of the Earth and other planets, and the chemical evolution of atmospheres. He is currently involved in a wide range of projects in atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemistry, planetary science, climate science, and integrated assessment of science and policy regarding climate change.

He leads the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE), in which the rates of change of the concentrations of the trace gases involved in the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion have been measured continuously over the globe for the past two decades. He is pioneering the use of inverse methods, which use such measurements and three-dimensional models to determine trace gas emissions and understand atmospheric chemical processes, especially those processes involving the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere. Prinn is also working extensively with social scientists to link the science and policy aspects of global change. He has made significant contributions to the development of national and international scientific research programs in global change.

Prinn is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a recipient of AGU's Macelwane Medal, and a Fellow of the AAAS. He co-authored Planets and their Atmospheres: Origin and Evolution, and edited Global Atmospheric-Biospheric Chemistry. Prinn received his Sc.D. in 1971 from MIT; and his M.S. and B.S. from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

John B. Heywood SM '62, PhD '65

Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering Director, Sloan Automotive Laboratory Co-Director, Lab for 21st Century Energy

Heywood has authored or co-authored 171 publications in journals and conference proceedings, in such areas as automotive technology; energy and transportation, air pollution and combustion.

He started at MIT in 1968 and became director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory in 1972. He was co-director of the Leaders for Manufacturing Program from 1991-1993. He was appointed co-director of the Ford-MIT Alliance in 2003. He received a B.A. from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from MIT. He is a member of the National Academy of engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Karen R. Polenske

Professor of Regional Political Economy and Planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning Head, International Development and Regional Planning group

Amy Smith '84, SM '95, ENG '95

Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering
2004 MacArthur Fellow; Founder, MIT IDEAS Competition, Edgerton Center

The first female Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winner, Amy Smith received a B.S. (1984) and an S.M. (1995) in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and is currently working toward a M.S. in Technology and Policy. She also won the National Inventor's Hall of Fame Collegiate Inventors Competition (1999). In 2001 Smith helped start the MIT IDEAS Competition to promote student innovation and inventiveness for community needs, which she currently directs.