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Frontiers of Engineering Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering from the 2005 Symposium (2006) / Chapter Skim
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DINNER SPEECH: Engineering for a New World
Pages 153-166

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From page 155...
... The disruption of key energy systems in the Gulf region rippled throughout the nation and the economy. The oil industry strained to recover oil rigs and refineries.
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From page 156...
... If these trends continue, global energy consumption will double again by mid-century. Fossil fuels will continue to dominate, and the share of nuclear power and renewable energy sources -- wind, solar, and geothermal energy -- will remain limited (IEA, 2004)
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From page 157...
... . The real paradox is that something to be celebrated -- the continuing progress of developing nations and the human progress it represents -- has yet to command the attention of the global community, which must deal with the issues of global resources and energy distribution and the need for alternatives to fossil fuels.
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From page 158...
... I will not attempt to review the full spectrum of energy technologies currently under consideration, some of which you are discussing at this symposium, but I will examine a few -- nuclear power, hydrogen and fuel cells, and fusion. NUCLEAR POWER I will start with an old/new technology -- nuclear power, which currently generates 16 percent of global electricity -- about 20 percent in the United States; 17 percent in Russia; 3.3 percent in India; 2.2 percent in China; and about 30 percent in Western Europe (provided by about 150 nuclear power plants)
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From page 159...
... Support for nuclear power and specific plans and actions to expand nuclear capacity in a number of countries are influencing global projections among nuclear insiders. The near-term projections released in 2004 by the International Energy Administration and the International Atomic Energy Agency were markedly higher than they were just four years ago.
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From page 160...
... Among gas-cooled reactors, the South African pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) , which features billiard-ball-sized self-contained fuel units and uses liquid sodium to transfer heat, is well under way.
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From page 161...
... With no moving parts or external tanks, the cell operates at room temperature and is simple to construct from readily available materials. The new zinc-air battery could be easily renewed at service stations and thus give electric vehicles the same driving range as gas-fueled vehicles, while eliminating exhaust pollution (Zyn Systems, 2005)
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From page 162...
... Careful measurements show that deuterium atoms located there have fused, releasing additional neutrons into the liquid and creating tritium. When the research team first announced successful sonofusion in 2002 in the journal Science, their paper was met with skepticism (Taleyarkhan et al., 2002)
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From page 163...
... THE "QUIET CRISIS" The reality is that we can no longer just drill our way to global energy security. We must innovate our way to energy security -- we must find new technologies that uncover new fossil energy sources, that conserve energy, that protect the environment, and that provide multiple, sustainable sources of energy.
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From page 164...
... It should be clear that a sustainable global energy framework capable of meeting the energy needs of citizens without causing irreparable environmental damage will require continuing technological advances that modify our current production and uses of energy. The challenges of energy security and the challenges of other threats without borders that beset our young century and are disrupting global security require new strategies, new alternatives, new approaches, and new ways of thinking.
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From page 165...
... Hudson. Storm Leaves Gulf Coast Devastated.
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Key Terms

  • fuel cells
  • fossil fuels
  • global energy
  • energy security
  • energy consumption

  • nuclear capacity
  • international energy
  • energy sources
  • nuclear emissions
  • energy outlook

  • developing nations
  • zinc oxide
  • global nuclear
  • major energy
  • energy agency

  • international atomic
  • available online
  • chinese electricity
  • rensselaer polytechnic
  • acoustic cavitation

  • innovative reactor
  • western europe
  • create nuclear
  • fossil energy
  • international nuclear

  • energy source
  • nuclear fusion
  • energy crisis
  • energy availability
  • current energy


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