Energy experts to discuss nanotech in electricity

Energy experts to discuss nanotech in electricity

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

Innovative visions for a new electricity system that incorporates nanotechnology will be explored Nov. 15-16 during a conference at Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Titled “Nanotechnology and Energy: Storage and the Grid,” the conference will merge the brain power of scientists from academia and leaders of the energy industry as they investigate opportunities for nanoscience to contribute to revolutionary changes to the current system of providing electricity in the U.S., said conference organizer Amy Myers Jaffe, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the Baker Institute and associate director of the Rice Energy Program. She will present welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 15.

The topic is particularly timely, given rising energy prices, because innovation in the electricity system is seen as a key stepping stone to facilitating a transition to alternative sources of energy, small-scale, decentralized distributed energy systems and eventually plug-in hybrid vehicles, Jaffe said.

A session on innovative visions for a new electricity system will begin with a video tribute to the late Nobel laureate Richard Smalley, who was scheduled to speak at the conference. Smalley, who died Oct. 28, was the founder of Rice’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. Excerpts from a talk he gave on the grid-electricity concept will be included in the presentation.

Greg Yurek, president of American Superconductor, will also speak during this session.

He will be followed by Jesse Berst from the Center for Smart Energy, who will explain when and why the smart grid will reach the tipping point.

Arthur Kressner, director of research and development for Con Edison Company in New York, will discuss the “3G System of the Future.”

Roger Anderson from Columbia University will then lend his insight on grid capacity and nanocomputers.

The morning session will then focus on economics and public policy, featuring a panel discussion of the right policy to propel creative solutions. Panelists will include Peter Hartley, chair and professor of economics at Rice; Jimmy Glotfelty from ICF Consulting and Michelle Foss from The University of Texas at Austin.

Pat Wood, former chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will be the keynote speaker during lunch.

The afternoon session will shift focus to the science and technology needed to increase grid capacity and efficiency. Scheduled to speak are John Stringer from EPRI, Robin Rush from SANDIA, Paul Chu from the University of Houston, Howard Schmidt from Rice University’s Carbon Nanotechnology Lab, Alan Windle from the University of Cambridge and Ray Baughman from The University of Texas at Dallas.

The Nov. 16 portion of the conference will spotlight issues related to nanoscience and storage. Following welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m. by Walter Chapman, director of Rice’s Environmental and Energy Systems Institute (EESI), the program will devote a session to “Economics and Public Policy: Time-Sensitive Pricing and Other Market Promoting Mechanisms.” Frank Wolak from Stanford University and Roger Levy from Levy Associates will speak.

The next session, “Science and Technology: Innovation to Increase Grid Capacity and Efficiency,” will feature Greg Bothum from the University of Oregon, David Aust-gen from Shell Hydrogen, Karl Rabago from HARC, Jacob Karni from the Wiezmann Institute, Ian Bryden from Robert Gordon University UK, Arnold Stux from NRL, Amit Singhal from NEI Corporation and Raymond Beach from NASAGlenn Flywheels.

A mid-afternoon session on “Technology Innovations and the Implications for Distributed Energy” will feature Jasna Tomic from the University of Delaware and Gal Luft from the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.

Closing keynote speaker Stephen Pacala from Princeton University will present “Solving the Climate and Energy Problem: Available Technologies and Policy Frameworks” at 3:30 p.m. in Shell Auditorium in Robert and Janice McNair Hall. CNST Director Wade Adams will follow with closing remarks.

The conference is being sponsored by the Baker Institute, CNST, EESI and Rice.

For a complete agenda, visit <http://cohesion.rice.edu/centersandinst/cnst/conference_baker.cfm>.