Rice
Webcast
Archive
Richard Smalley on Energy
RealAudio/RealVideo Help
|
Rice Webcast Archive |
Richard Smalley on Energy |
RealAudio/RealVideo Help |
| Speakers: | Kathleen Matthews, Richard E. Smalley |
| Location: | Duncan Hall, Rice University |
| Date: | January 23, 2003 |
| Topic: | Energy |
| Format: | Speech |
| Length: | 84 minutes |
| Abstract: |
"As we gear up for war in the Middle East and watch oil prices soar, it
is easy to understand that energy is a big issue. We have to somehow
wean ourselves off our dependence on oil--and the sooner, the better.
What is less well known is the incredible magnitude of the worldwide
energy challenge that is before us. The problem is not just oil.
Somehow, within the next few decades we must find a new energy source
that can provide a minimum of 10 terawatts (TW) of clean power on a
sustainable basis and do this cheaply. To do this with nuclear fission
would require no less than 10,000 breeder reactors. Assuming we don't
get it all from nuclear fission, where is that 10 TW of new power going
to come from? Who will make the necessary scientific and engineering
breakthroughs? Can it be cheap enough to bring 10 billion people to a
reasonable standard of living? Can it be done soon enough to avoid the
hard economic times, terrorism, war and human suffering that will
otherwise occur as we fight over the dwindling oil and gas reserves on
the planet? Energy may very well be the single most critical challenge
facing humanity in this century."
Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley is University Professor, Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry, and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. This lecture was presented as part of the University Professor Lecture Series. |
| Links: | Rice University announcement, Rick Smalley, PowerPoint slides for this presentation |
|
Rice Webcast Team
(webcast@rice.edu),
Copyright 1998-2003 Rice University |
|