Description:

Synopsis: This talk will take a physicist's perspective on some of the energy and sustainability challenges faced by the planet, stressing the need for thinking using robust principles to guide the investigation. These include: to realise that global sum rules are much more reliable than addition of small scale phenomena; to understand thermodynamic and other equilibria in the large; to be aware as a scientist that economic, geographical, and social forces set boundaries; to understand that a "kiloWatt hour" is actually a unit of reserve currency.

To the extent that technology rather than conservation can play a role, efficient and low-cost materials technologies for energy capture, storage, transmission, and use will be key. Can we rely on iterative improvements in what we have now, or do we need breakthroughs? If we are to have such breakthroughs, what is possible within the constraints of fundamental physical laws? How much headroom is there for new technologies?

About the speaker: Peter Littlewood is Laboratory Director of Argonne National Laboratory, whose mission includes inventing new energy technologies for the nation. He is a physicist who formerly directed the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, is a fellow of the Royal Society of London, and a Professor at the University of Chicago.