BARRY BROOK

Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change and Director of the Environment Institute, University of Adelaide
Dr. Barry W. Brook, a leading environmental scientist and modeler, is a Professor in ecology and conservation biology at the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute.

He has published three books, over 200 refereed scientific papers, is a highly-cited researcher, and regularly writes popular articles for the media. He has many awards for his research excellence and public outreach, including the Australian Academy of Science Fenner Medal and the 2010 Community Science Educator of the Year. His research interests are climate change impacts, species extinctions, simulation and statistical modeling, energy systems analysis (with a focus on modeling future nuclear and large-scale renewable energy scenarios such as the use of solar panels, solar farms and wind farms), and synergistic human impacts on the biosphere. He runs a popular climate science and energy options blog at bravenewclimate.com, has written a popular book on sustainable nuclear energy, is 2012 Senior Fellow at The Breakthrough Institute, and is an International Award Committee member for the Global Energy Prize. He is well known across the world for his lively blog Brave New Climate.

Some quotes from Barry Brook:

On Solar energy, Dr. Brook says “It’s no good just saying just saying ‘There’s enough sunlight reaching the Earth every hour to power all of human civilization- We’ve got to work out how to use it” — Dr. Barry Brook, Equinox Summit 2013

“Our buildings and infrastructure in cities need to be smart enough to incorporate renewable energy solutions such as innovative quantum-based solar technology, smart metering, superconducting conduits and systems for intelligent data collection about building performance and behavior.” From Dr. Brook’s blog, bravenewclimate.com.

“The transformative aspects of small-scale PV+batteries were built around the requirements of organic solar (cheap, rugged, flexible, install anywhere) and more advanced batteries (cost of lead-acid but supporting at least 5,000 cycles). So what we need for this type of deployment isn’t yet on the market, though it seems to be getting closer…. organic solar tech is definitely not there yet, I agree. Efficiency has gone from about 1% to 9% over the last 10 years, and the aim is to get it to 15% and a 10 year lifetime within 10 years. Similar deal for new batteries like Lithium-air. We’ll see. I respect your skepticism on this, I will add, but I am an admitted technophile, I remain cautiously optimistic that some of these things will reach fruition.” From Dr. Brook’s blog, bravenewclimate.com.

“a few key ideas that emerged — well, at least those which I found particularly exciting and thought provoking. This includes first electrification for 2.5 billion people using new technologies like organic solar, ultimate potential (and limits) of chemical storage batteries, lower-temperature thermochemical hydrogen production, and integrated plans for future urban and rural low-carbon communities.” From Dr. Brook’s blog, bravenewclimate.com.