At last Friday's Energy for the Future Symposium at UC Davis, ten young faculty members presented a snapshot of their investigations into basic chemical, biological, physical mechanisms that may someday yield breakthroughs in rapidly developing fields of biofuels, higher efficiency solar panels, fuel cells, batteries.
Straight Answers from Smart People
How young? All were hired since 2005 under the Energy for the Future Initiative and none appeared to need coffee to function. Their talks were focused, precise, driven by careful questions about the science and data. They were genuinely excited about peering over the edge in their fields, and unafraid to probe and then give honest, mature assessments, an increasing rarity in our world.
They run "labs", which means people: postdocs, graduate students and undergraduates. They are must seek collaborators; find funding; publish. And they teach, worry about tenure, get their lives in order.
Difficult science
And they must think.
Nature does not yield secrets easily. For example, the actual chemical and biological steps in Photosynthesis are quite a bit more than what I learned long ago ( sunlight + nutrients + CO2 = plants and O2). They are asking clear questions about the underlying subtle, complicated processes, i.e. they are trying to convince nature to give a hint or two about each ingredient of a very 'secret sauce'. (Here is an excellent paper Professor Jeoh gave me to read.)
But understanding nature's 'secret sauce' isn't good enough. Nature didn't have automobile fuel or solar fluids in mind. The nature of their work appears to be, to this layperson, to understand the basic processes and then use modern tools and knowledge (catalysts, DNA, enzymes, bacteria, modern materials) to improve: make processes work faster, more efficiently, cheaper; or substitute new a new process.
Only Part of the Equation
As difficult as this is , basic research is only part of the whole problem. Quantum mechanics was understood by the 1920s and 1930s, but lasers, computers and twitter took took decades longer to emerge.
We don't have this kind of time with energy. Just some of hurdles:
We don't have this kind of time with energy. Just some of hurdles:
First, these researchers are doing this in the lab, someone else will then need to figure out how to make billions of gallons of the stuff at price or enough batteries to hold ample energy when the 'sun doesn't sunshine' at price we are willing to pay.
Second, I am not sure how well legislators or regulators really understand the state-of-the-art. But they must make many of the funding decisions, set GHG targets now. It is not just what "stakeholders" wish.
And ultimately, there is the public, who must accept the conclusions of these scientists.
Why Not ...?
I am sure UC Davis and every other university would like to have hired 20, not just 10 for an Energy Initiative. And whatever each new faculty costs, it is a bargin. The US is lucky that we can pick the best from almost anywhere in the world. So Why Not?
I also thought each young faculty member should be allowed to add one question to California's written driving test.
But Davis is quite close to Sacramento. I am hesitant to take people away from important work - the researchers, I mean. Perhaps UC Davis could offer seminars to legislators and regulators. But this would be with one condition: "attendees" would be allowed only to ask sharp, science or data-driven questions (i.e. end with a question mark).
The young researchers would tell them the truth; or clarify what is known from what is not yet known.
The young researchers would tell them the truth; or clarify what is known from what is not yet known.
UC Davis - Energy Institute
http://ei.ucdavis.edu/
Symposium May 14 - link
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://ei.ucdavis.edu/local_resources/Symposium%2520Notice.pdf
Biomass Overview
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6bttjROtnvNMmU5ZTExMDktNmJlMy00NmZhLWJiN2EtNmU5NDIwZWU1ZjA5&hl=en
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