EQUINOX SUMMIT STORY IDEAS
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Looking for ideas and quotes for your next story about how cutting edge science and technology can change the global energy dialogue?
The following are story ideas from the on-going Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 in Waterloo, Canada (June 5-9). Each idea is focused around a particular participant, and their research, passion and potential for transforming our future energy scenario. Ideas, quotes, and each participant's vision statement are all at your fingertips.
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Paint-On Solar Cells
Painting our way to energy sustainability
“We simply have not yet developed the technology that will make adoption of solar power inevitable. My research is focused on solving that problem. We believe that we have a strategy that will allow us to make a semiconductor that is essentially a paint, and by using that paint, make a solar cell in much the same way as you might print a newspaper or paint part of a car. I could imagine spray-coating Nevada or a tenth of Saudi Arabia with solar cells to meet the world’s entire energy needs."
- Ted Sargent, Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology, and Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering University of Toronto
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Building World’s Biggest Batteries
Mega-batteries will make renewables more reliable
“The ability to store energy has been the missing link in efforts to incorporate renewables into our grid. No longer,” says Maria Skyllas Kazacos, Professor Emeritus School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering University of New South Wales. “Storage systems with the capacity to extend the usefulness of intermittent energy sources (such as solar and wind) are now becoming a reality. Storage systems can ensure that the electricity generated when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining can be stored and used later, when the air is still or the sun behind clouds."
- Maria Skyllas Kazacos, Professor Emeritus School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering University of New South Wales
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Building World’s Biggest Batteries: Part II
Starting really small
“My group, for example, has recently developed highly ordered interwoven composites that allow lithium-sulfur batteries to approach their theoretical energy density of about 2,500 Wh/kg. This is ten times that of the most energy dense battery cells today. If the energy density of batteries could be increased substantially, it could be a boon to the adoption of electric vehicles."
- Linda Nazar, Canada Research Chair in Solid State Materials; and Professor in the Department of Chemistry/Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo
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Your laptop could find the solar energy killer molecule
Search for ET and help solve world electricity demand
“How can we identify which molecules will efficiently absorb light and convert it into energy? Our answer to this question is computing power. In the Clean Energy Project we are asking individuals to let us use some of the “spare” processing power of their home computers to help search among thousands of potential molecular systems for photovoltaics (PV)."
- Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Associate Professor Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
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Thinking Outside the Grid
Is “grid thinking” part of the energy problem?
"{The solution is what is being termed ‘personalized energy’. This concept helps us overcome multiple problems: the cost of solar power and the issues with the need to store its energy. In addition, it could be a source of clean water.”
- Jillian Buriak, Canada Research Chair in Nanomaterials; and Professor, Department of Chemistry University of Alberta
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Goodbye Copper Wires?
The future of electricity might depend on replacing the iconic copper wire
"I believe superconductors can deliver the solution. Having a superconducting transport wire system would allow you to have significant amounts of current going through much narrower wires. We are already seeing in the embryonic stages, new methods of cooling that can achieve cryogenic (ultra-cold) temperatures in a compact form. Trials of superconducting technologies are already underway in several sites in the United States. I think we’ll see superconducting power applications becoming the norm.”
- Cathy Foley, Deputy Chief, Science, Material Science and Engineering Division, CSIRO, Australia
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A Nuclear Reactor That Can’t Meltdown
Thorium reactors work - why aren’t we using them?
"At CERN, we have looked at a new concept that could efficiently burn thorium without major technological hurdles. The idea is to design what we call accelerator-driven subcritical reactors. In our design, the reactor cannot become critical. This reactor is coupled to a particle accelerator that produces the neutrons needed to fuel the fission reaction. As soon as you stop the accelerator, your reactor stops. You cannot reproduce a Chernobyl accident with these systems. We need governments to step up and fund the development of thorium reactors.”
- Yacine Kadi, Project Leader the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and Professor, Department of Energy Science Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea
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The Sun Below
An energy solution under our feet
“The temperature of our planet’s core is about the same temperature as the surface of the sun,” notes Craig Dunn, Chief Operating Officer Borealis GeoPower. “So we have an endless supply of geothermal (ground heat) energy. How much energy do we have? How much do you need?"
- Craig Dunn, Chief Geologist, Borealis GeoPower, and a leader in geothermal energy exploration and development initiatives in Canada
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Fill’er Up with Hydrogen
A Mix of Sun and Water Could Have You On the Road
“The energy content of one kilogram of hydrogen is approximately equivalent to one gallon of gasoline, but the cost of producing hydrogen is notably higher. Our team aims to change this in the future,” says Greg Naterer, Canada Research Chair in Advanced Energy Systems at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology."
- Greg Naterer, Canada Research Chair in Advanced Energy Systems; and Associate Dean Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science University of Ontario Institute of Technology
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