Global warming and the need for sustainable, CO2 - neutral sources

energy

In the last 100 years, the Earth warmed up by ~1° C

100 years is nothing by geological time scales!

Richard Muller

Climate in the last 12,000 years

The beginning of agriculture and civilization!

Pre

sent

tem

pera

ture

Temperature over the last 420,000 yearsSource: Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Shouldn’t we be worried about a new ice age?

Forget about Global warming!

Previous ice ages are

thought to be caused by

changes in the orbit and

inclination of the Earth.

…but there is something new happening!

Climate change due to natural causes (solar variations, volcanoes, etc.)

Climate change due to natural causes and greenhouse

gases.

The likelihood of global

warming is disturbing …

… but there is a bigger problem!

The consumption of energy increased by 95% between 1970 – 2001.

By 2025, consumption will triple.

141.7

86.195.4

8.9

44.227.6

2.00

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Quad

Oil Coal Biomass/Renew Other

Total Primary Energy Supply (2002)

Total: 406 Quads U.S.: 91 Quads

International Energy Agency, Key World Energy Statistics 2004

Gas Hydro Nuclear

Hubbert predicted in 1959 that US domestic production would peak in 1970.

A Hubbert curve for the world production of oil and gas

Nuclear fusion

Potential sources of energy when fossil fuels run out:

Nuclear fission

Solar Energy is the Largest Practical Sustainable Energy Source and is CO2

neutral

Potential practical energy recovery:

600 TW

Solar energy

Light

Photosynthesis

Fuels Electricity

Photovoltaics

H O

O H

2

22

sc M

e

sc

e

M

CO

Sugar

H O

O

2

2

2

Solar Energy Conversion Strategies

Semiconductor/Liquid junctions

The Architecture Of Photosynthesisis Optimized to:

•Cover the solar spectrum and protect against photochemical damage.

•Regulate the efficiency of light harvesting.

•Transmit excitation to the reaction center with efficiency.

Problems that require scientific advances to point the way for technology development:

1) Defense and homeland security

2) Health and cures for cancer, heart disease, stroke, …

3) Sustainable, CO2 neutral energy

4) Others?

Engineering microbes to produce drugs

• Malaria is caused by a single-cell protozoan–Transmitted by Anopheles

mosquito–Destroys red blood cells

• 1.5-2.7 million people die of malaria every year–90% of the victims are children–40% of the world’s population

is at risk

Production of artemisinin in bacteriaJay Keasling

Identify the biosynthesis pathways in

A. annua

Can synthetic organisms be engineered to produce

methane (natural gas) from

sunlight, CO2, and water?