Audio / Video

Segré lecture "Fossil fuels in a greenhouse-constrained world"

Description

Prof. Robert H. Socolow, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University asks whether the global energy system can continue to be dominated by fossil fuels throughout the 21st century without leading to an unacceptable rise in atmospheric CO2. Perhaps, if carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is deployed that permits a substantial fraction of the carbon in fossil fuel to be captured and stored elsewhere than in the atmosphere. Re Capture: Today, six billion metric tons of carbon are brought out of the ground each year in fossil fuels. About half is emitted to the atmosphere from large point sources (power plants, refineries, other large industrial facilities) and half from small point sources (vehicles, buildings, small industrial facilities). On-site capture should be more feasible for large point sources. For small point sources, one can expect a three-way competition among secondary energy carriers: electricity, hydrogen, and carbon fuels. Hydrogen is new to the list--and interesting. For example a hydrogen economy is not necessarily climate friendly: if hydrogen is produced mostly from fossil fuels without CCS technology, atmospheric CO2 may rise unabated. Re storage: Carbon might be stored in several chemical forms and at several destinations. Ground rules for storage are beginning to be discussed. At issue here is more than technology. We have barely begun to discuss the deeper implications.

Details

Title

Segré lecture "Fossil fuels in a greenhouse-constrained world"

Creator

Socolow, Robert H.

Creator

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics.

Variant Title

Fossil fuels in a greenhouse-constrained world

Published

2003.

Full Collection Name

UCB Physics Department Lectures

Subject (Topic)

Fossil fuels Environmental aspects--Congresses.

Carbon compounds Environmental aspects--Congresses.

Type

Video

Extent

1 streaming video file

Other Physical Details

digital, sd., col.

Archive

Physics Library

Note

Originally produced as a VHS in 2003.

Usage Statement

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Collection

Physics Lectures

Tracks

lectures/phys040.mp4

Linked Resources

View record in Digital Collections.