The Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) hosted a lecture by Nobel laureate and former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu titled “Climate Change and a Low-Cost Path to Clean Energy,” Tuesday afternoon in Shriver Hall. Chu’s address, which was the 2016 Carolyn and Edward Wenk, Jr. Lecture in Technology and Public Policy, addressed the effects of and solutions for global climate change, as well as its future impact on society.
Julian Krolik, a professor of physics and astronomy at Hopkins, introduced Chu at the event.
“Steve has had a long and distinguished career, putting his mark on diverse fields and endeavors, from basic research in atomic physics to quantum electronics and polymer behavior in biological systems, to the highest level in the intersection between science, technology and government,” Krolik said.
Chu was the 12th U.S. Secretary of Energy, a post that he held from January 2009 until April 2013. In 1997, Chu was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering methods of cooling and trapping atoms with laser light. Currently, Chu is both a professor of physics and a professor of molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford University.
In his lecture, Chu used recent data to argue for the serious risks of human-induced climate change and suggest how science and technology could provide future solutions.
“I’m here to update you on what we now know is mostly not good news,” Chu said. “However, I am also going to try to show you that there is a path forward.”
Chu called upon a wide range of evidence to illustrate the effects of climate change, including rising ocean temperatures, the rising temperature of the earth’s overall climate, geological records of rising sea levels and records of melting Antarctic ice caps. He predicted the ways in which climate change would affect Americans in the coming years.
“The most import issue would be the temperature-rainfall patterns that will change.” Chu said. “For example, the Rockies near California will have spring rains instead of spring snows. In California much of our water supply comes from the Sierras and the hydroelectric dams which store that water. If there are spring rains, the water simply goes over the dam. You can’t contain it; the reservoirs are not big enough.”
Chu argued that low-cost solutions to climate change are essential, because few of the world’s countries could be convinced to abandon their dependence on fossil fuels without a real economic incentive.
“Here’s a favorite quote of mine: ‘The stone age came to an end, but not for lack of stones. And the oil age will end, but not for lack of oil,’” Chu said. “What this means is that when you transition from something that’s widely used to something new, you do so because you found something better. If you haven’t found something better, you are left with stranded assets. So this transition to better solutions must include the economics intimately. Oil, gas and coal will continue to be used because no country is really willing to say, ‘We’re going to leave billions of dollars in the ground, just because something better may come along fifty years from today.’”
Chu suggested that these new solutions could begin with a simple step. States could mandate, for example, that all household appliances must meet a certain level of energy efficiency. Requirements for energy efficiency could then be implemented on a larger scale, branching out to include buildings, cities, transportation systems and industrial complexes.
“China is building very high voltage transmission lines, some of highest voltage lines in the world. By far, they’re the world leader,” Chu said. “They can move electricity between two thousand to three hundred kilometers and lose only five percent of the energy. There’s no line in the United States that even comes close. Our last HVDC line was made in 1989; We do not ship electricity across the country.”
At the conclusion of his lecture, Chu suggested that hydrocarbon fuels may be an important component for future energy sustainability.
“The final challenge to get to full energy sustainability around the world is achieving liquid hydrocarbon means of storage, which means you can make cheap, clean electricity by using carbon dioxide and water to assemble hydrocarbon fuel,” Chu said. “Once you have hydrocarbon fuels that store at room temperature, you can ship it all around the world. This means that all developed countries would have energy security.”
Students responded positively to Chu’s lecture.
Freshman Connie Xiao appreciated the specific proof that Chu provided for human-induced climate change.
“I come from a place where people don’t really believe in climate change. For example, my parents don’t really believe in it,” Xiao said. “For me, it was interesting how he used the decline in carbon isotopes to explain how we can find that it’s actually human contribution that’s causing climate change. That was something I’d never heard of before, and I thought it was compelling evidence. It was fascinating to hear such a distinguished person talk about these issues.”
Freshman Ariel Swett echoed Xiao’s reaction.
“I’m not very educated on climate change, so gaining perspective and gathering this information, concrete information, makes it a lot more tangible,” Swett said. “The evidence he provided helped me get a better perspective on climate change overall.”
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