printable versionTools for battling climate change
Look to current rather than ideal technologies, expert says
BY CHELSEA ANNE YOUNG
Nick Jenkins
The world must look to currently available technologies to combat climate change rather than wait for the ideal solution, urged visiting professor and energy expert Nick Jenkins in a Stanford forum titled "Clean Technologies for a Sustainable Energy Future."
"Things in a laboratory are jolly interesting and absolutely deserve support," said Jenkins, but are unlikely to provide the immediate solution that the world needs to combat global warming.
The director of the Centre for Integrated Renewable Energy Generation and Supply at Cardiff University in Wales, Jenkins pointed to wind, solar photovoltaic, biomass and possibly tidal stream systems as several available or nearly available alternatives to fossil fuel. Tidal stream technology, which uses the force from the ocean's tidal flows to turn underwater rotors that generate power, is currently emerging and may be a significant contributor to world energy by 2030, according to Jenkins.
"We must deal with technologies which are within our time horizon," he said. "In order to make a material difference, we need to be able to buy this in bulk from a competitive market."
Jenkins' presentation was part of the speaker series, "The Second Long March: China's Road to Greener Growth," organized by the student groups Forum for American/Chinese Exchange at Stanford (FACES) and Students for a Sustainable Stanford. The event attracted 80 people.
Specifically addressing China, Jenkins again emphasized the need for realistic thinking. "There is a massive amount of coal-burn in their power sector," he said. While most experts agree that clean coal technology, including carbon capture and sequestration, is less than ideal, Jenkins asserted that in China's case it should not be ignored.
Jenkins also said that interactions between energy policy and industrial policy may play a large role in determining China's energy future.
Above all, he stressed the need to face the facts. "Without effective demand reduction we are probably wasting our time. I think there is no doubt about that," he said.
Also speaking was Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford. Jacobson asserted that combining a variety of alternative energy technologies is the best solution to combat global warming, air pollution and energy security concerns.
In response, Jenkins pointed to the problems of the intermittency and storage of wind and solar power. "I am most interested in the cost effectiveness," said Jenkins.
The forum was the fourth and final installment of the FACES speaker series, which began in late January.
Past speakers have included Leonard Ortolano, a professor of civil and environmental engineering; David Victor, the director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at the Stanford Law School; and Stephen Schneider, a professor of biology.
While the speakers all addressed slightly different topics, energy use was the unifying theme, said Kevin Hsu, the event coordinator.
"The United States and China are the world's largest users of energy and the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases," said Hsu. "Without the two countries getting on the same page, it will be difficult to address the climate crisis."
The Woods Institute for the Environment sponsored the series.
Chelsea Anne Young is a science-writing intern at the Stanford News Service.