Innovating A Sustainable Energy Future-The Role of Universities

Satish V. Kulkarni

Presented at First National Conference on Energy and Environment

University of PuneFebruary 20, 2014

This presentation will discuss:World energy sceneUS perspectiveRole of universitiesPartnerships and collaborations, energy educationFracking and the Energy/Water tensionsCritical materials and energyUS-India Joint Clean Energy R&D CenterSummary

Globally, sustainability* is our greatest challenge

Per capita fossil fuel Carbon emissions (2007, in tons) are increasing

(Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, ORNL)

Per capita availability of resources is decreasing

*Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. (UN, 1987)

U.S. energy flow-2009Supply EfficiencyDemandTransmission/Distribution/Storage

Energy efficiencyis the low hanging fruit

US energy security goalsAn ‘All-of-the-Above’ strategy that translates into:

continued use of coal (with carbon capture and storage) and natural gas nuclear power for clean energy with a focus on lowering capital costs

and proliferation risks biofuels with the caveat of food security wind and solar power with lower costs and without subsidies with

adequate storage capacity modernization of the energy transmission/distribution infrastructureenhancing energy efficiency in the stationary, transportation and

manufacturing sectors through appropriate policies and incentives inculcating an energy conservation culture, and educating the next generation energy workforce

US energy security goals (cont.)

By 2020, make non-residential buildings 20% more energy efficient

By 2022, Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) biofuels blending mandate to 36 billion gallons

By 2025, reduce oil imports by 1/3By 2025, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ)

Standards @ 54.5 mpgBy 2035, 80% of electricity will come from

clean energy sourcesBy 2050, reduce GHG emissions to 50% of 2000

emissions, i.e., to 12.8 Gt/yr

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

9

25.7 Gt/yr

50.6 Gt/yr

+97%(24.9 Gt/yr)

-75%(-37.7 Gt/yr)

1 Includes fossil and other industrial CO2.Source: Climate Change Science Program. 2007. Scenarios of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Atmospheric Concentrations (Estimates based on MINICAM model results and other data).

2000 Emissions2050 Reference

Emissions2050 Global

Emissions at 50% of2000 Emissions

CO

2 Em

issi

ons

(Gt

CO

2/yr

)

12.8 Gt/yr

In order meet G-8 leader goal to cut global CO2 emissions 50% by 2050, projected annual emissions must be cut by 40 gigatons

50 % Global Goal Requires ~40 Gigaton Reduction

10

Install 1,000 sequestration sites like Norway’s Sleipner project (1 MtCO2/year) Only 3 sequestration projects of this scale exist today

Geologic Sequestration

Build 273 “zero-emission” 500 MW coal-fired power plants*

Equivalent to about 7% of current global coal-fired capacity of 2 million MW

Coal-Fired Power Plants

Convert a barren area about 2 times the size of the UK (over 480,000 km2), using existing production technologies Biofuels

Install about 750 GW of solar PVRoughly 125 times current global installed capacity of 6 GW*

Solar Photovoltaics

Actions that Provide One Gigaton CO2/ Year of Mitigation or Offsets

Technology

Convert a barren area greater than the combined size of Germany and France (over 900,000 km2)

CO2 Storage in New Forest

Install about 270,000 1 MW wind turbines Roughly 3 times the global total installed wind capacity at end of 2007.

Wind Energy

Deploy 273 million new cars at 40 miles per gallon (mpg) instead of 20 mpg New “CAFÉ” rules would accomplish about half that

Efficiency

Build 136 new nuclear 1 GW power plants instead of coal-fired without CCSEquivalent to about one third of existing worldwide nuclear capacity of 375 GW

Nuclear

Gigatons = 109 Metric tons (1000 Kilograms)*Instead of coal-fired power plants Source: Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan, September 2006.

How Big is One Gigaton of CO2?

Role of universities

Typically, a research university’s mission is knowledge creation, educating the next generation and dissemination of knowledge for the public good Thus innovation, which is translating ideas for societal benefit, is the genetic

code of the university The energy enterprise is a complex one requiring the application of every

conceivable discipline, and interdisciplinary research is essential for success Universities can create the environment to foster interdisciplinary teams

without unnecessary barriers and develop partnerships (including international) among research centers, national labs and industry, thus providing an intellectual and operational framework

• Universities can provide a neutral ground for dialog among stakeholders with competing agendas

Public and Land-Grant Universities in the US In 2012, the US celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the Morrill Act establishing

the Land-Grant University System under President Lincoln on July 3, 1862 The three-fold mission of land grant universities remains:

education research and practical innovations to address societal problems

These universities are part of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU)

They have made remarkable progress in the dissemination of knowledge to practitioners for widespread adoption within the states they serve The focus has been on agriculture production, farm and home safety and consumer

issues Today, emphasis has to be also placed on energy, sustainability and urban issuesAPLU launched the Energy Initiative in 2012

13

Univ of California-National Labs* Partnership Model

* Berkeley, Los Alamos and Livermore

Two entities can coexist without loss of identity

14

UniversitiesNational Laboratories

Corporate, university and local govt. partnerships

Charlotte, North Carolina, aims to become the ‘energy capital’ of the US (WPost, Sep 11, 2011) Since 2007, Charlotte has added ~5,600 new energy-related jobs, taking the total to roughly

27,000 at 250 energy-oriented firms Duke Power and Cisco are teaming up to upgrade 12m sqft of office space with smart grid

technology that will reduce energy use by 20% over 5 years Univ of North Carolina at Charlotte has completed the $57 million, 200,000 sqft Energy

Production and Infrastructure Center, which aims to pool academic and industry research in partnerships with companies such as Duke Energy and Areva

Austin, Texas, is defying conservative, fossil-fueled Texas to become the country’s clean-tech hub (Time, Feb 12, 2012) Austin has long been a science-and-technology hub, with the presence of the University of

Texas and Sematech; this has been leveraged effectively for clean-tech ~15,000 Austin residents are employed in the broader green economy, and Austin Energy has

pledged to get 35% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020Pune can replicate this model!

National Energy Technology Laboratory—Regional University Alliance (NETL-RUA)

A research collaboration that combines NETL's expertise in technology development and demonstration with the diverse capabilities of industry and university partners

NETL (Morgantown, W. Virginia and Pittsburgh, PA) is a Government Owned Government Operated (GOGO) DOE national lab with a focus on

CoalOil and Gas

The Marcellus shale formation covers the states of PA, WVA , VA, Ohio and NYNon-fossil energy researchEnergy analysis

The 5 partner universities are part of an Appalachian AllianceThey have also established the University Energy Partnership (UEP) and collaborated on several major energy initiatives

Energy education-Energy 101

US DOE recently developed the curricular framework for Energy 101 in collaboration with APLU First taught at University of Maryland

Energy 101 Fundamentals and Concepts(Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,

US DOE)

Virginia Tech has also developed a broad, interdisciplinary energy education curriculum

Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Global Society ESM/ME undergraduate/graduate course (Dave Dillard/Mike Ellis) It has four parts: energy fundamentals, transitional energy sources,

renewable energy sources, and energy consumption and conservation Presented in the context of global political, economic and environmental

impacts Green Engineering Program and Minor

MSE undergraduate course (Sean McGinnis) Environmental impacts of the design, manufacture and use of engineered

products, processes and systems Energy issues across the life cycle of products are a fundamental theme in

the course“An exemplar of an institution with an unusually comprehensive approach to

undergraduate education in sustainable engineering is Virginia Tech.”2008 EPA Benchmarking Sustainable Engineering Education Report

Shale’s growing thrust for water

Financial Times, Feb 6, 2014

The No 1 issue in fracking is the tension among the various uses of waterIt takes 407 million gallons to irrigate 640 acres to grow

about $200,000 worth of corn on an arid land*The same amount of water can be used to frack enough wells

to generate $2.5 billion worth of oil and create employment for thousands

The recent drought in the US has exacerbated the tension between food and energy (fracking as well as biofuels)

Several states are enacting laws to regulate unprecedented uses of enormous amount of water that has the potential for chaos and conflicts

This issue will be magnified in India *Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6, 2011

In our quest for renewable energy, potential critical materials shortages* will have to be factored in

• Market, economics and politics will play a role• Alternative materials/approaches will have to be developed * A Path to Sustainable Energy, Jacobson and Delucci, Scientific American, Nov 2009

Critical Materials Energy Innovation Hub-a partnership among universities, national labs and industry

•The NETL-RUA Team, led by Virginia Tech, responded to this DOE call•Virginia Tech is now supporting Ames Laboratory in Iowa

The US-India Joint Clean Energy R&D Center

In 2012, US and India launched the Center with the selection of three consortia with a total funding of $125M

These consortia are a partnership among universities, national labs and industry in both countries. They are:Solar Energy – NREL and IISc2nd Generation Biofuels - Univ of Florida and IICT, HyderabadEnergy Efficiency of Buildings - LBNL and CEPT Univ,

AhmedabadUS Energy Secy Moniz will be India In March to further

expand the US-India partnership in clean energy

SummaryUniversities have a central role to play in the energy enterprise

The energy/water/climate change nexus coupled with education is uniquely a university grand challenge

• Need better understanding of

• Impact of natural events, policies and politics

• Sustainability

Wells to wheels, front-end to back-end, cradle to grave

Education of the next generation and public is critical to energy security

25

THANK YOU