Research uncovers new materials and systems to make energy production more efficient
“If you think back to the energy crises of the 1970s, there were lots of guesses about what the situation was going to be like right now, and they were all pretty much wrong,” says Orr, director of the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), launched in 2002 as an unprecedented long-term partnership between Stanford and major international corporations. “Instead of trying to guess what the winners on the technology front will be, it’s better to do research across a spectrum so we have options from which the marketplace will eventually choose.”
Research, for example, into renewable energy supplies such as solar and wind energy, and into the production, distribution, and use of clean-burning hydrogen. Research that uncovers new materials and systems to make energy production more efficient. Research, in short, that does nothing less than accelerate the development and use of technologies to dramatically reduce emissions of greenhouse gases while providing for an increasingly energy-hungry world.
Orr, a chemical engineer by training who stepped down as dean of the School of Earth Sciences to lead GCEP, says it is clear that humans have modified the geochemistry of the planet. Evidence is in the concentrations of carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere, which have increased by a third from pre-industrial levels. The challenge for this century, he believes, is understanding how the planet works, how human activities fit into its workings, and how we can live on Earth in a way that sustains the planetary systems we depend on.
That is an almost overwhelming challenge, admits Chris Edwards, GCEP’s deputy director and an associate professor of mechanical engineering whose own research focuses on advanced combustion engines. But it is a challenge he is confident scientists and engineers can tackle. “I’m a typical engineer,”he says. “That means I’m skeptical of everything. But the historical track record is, given a real motivation to change, the system changes.”
Many of the changes ahead will come in how we transform, supply, and use energy in our daily lives, says Orr. And that’s where research universities working with the private sector can make a difference. While the companies bring expertise in commercial research, the universities are able to look at technologies with applications that may be anywhere from five to 50 years down the road.
ExxonMobil, General Electric, Schlumberger, and Toyota have pledged up to $225 million to fund GCEP research. In the future, GCEP plans to add more research institutions as well as private companies to its unique university-industry partnership.
“It’s the kind of area where technology advances that are based on fundamental science can really make a difference,” Orr explains. “This project gives us an opportunity to work on problems that matter on a global scale, but that can be attacked with engineering science on the research group level.”
GCEP involves scores of Stanford faculty members and hundreds of PhD students conducting research in nearly a dozen broad fields of inquiry. Work in four critical areas: hydrogen production and use; combustion systems; geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide; and the integrated assessment of technology options, is moving forward.
For example, Alfred Spormann (CEE) and Jim Swartz (ChemE) are studying methods of engineering microbes to make molecular hydrogen. Fritz Prinz (ME) is developing advanced thin film fabrication methods for building high-performance fuel cells. Chris Edwards’ group (ME) is studying the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition engine, which has the potential to be more efficient than today’s gasoline engines while producing 100 to 1,000 times less nitric oxide. Faculty in the School of Earth Sciences, including Orr, are investigating methods of storing carbon dioxide from power plants and other producers in porous rock underground perhaps for thousands of years. Finally, Jim Sweeney and John Weyant (MS&E) are leading the effort to develop a set of tools that will allow GCEP to assess research opportunities for the future.
Looking ahead, Orr says the project will assess the feasibility of sponsoring research in carbon dioxide capture and storage; renewable energies such as solar, wind, and biomass energy; and advanced materials development.
It’s a big job, Orr admits. But the combination of Stanford’s talented students and faculty and the corporations’ global reach and experience makes GCEP uniquely qualified to take a leadership role in solving one of the world’s most pressing problems.
“It’s a little terrifying at times,” Orr says. “ut the way you make progress on big problems is you just get to work. You try lots of avenues and you get lots of smart people engaged. That’s exactly what we can do in this project.”
