Professor discusses ways to reduce carbon emissions through new technologies

Carbon-free electricity and increased efficiency in building and transport technologies are the keys to reducing carbon emissions in an accelerated fashion, a professor said Wednesday at the Photonics Center.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Ernest Moniz presented a lecture titled, “Energy Technology and Policy: A Post-Copenhagen View,” to about 140 people as part of Boston University’s Clean Energy and Environmental Stability Initiative.

Moniz discussed the effects of carbon dioxide emissions and the need to reduce them, concerns with the recently signed Copenhagen Accord that addressed global climate change and his own thoughts on the best way to reduce emissions.

He said that based off of its gross domestic product and per capita carbon emissions, the United States is currently the second highest carbon emitter in the world.

Three things essential to curbing the U.S.’ carbon emissions are technology innovation with cost reductions, a business model in which entrepreneurs and large scale energy incumbents can work together and policy innovations that continue forward from the Copenhagen Accord, he said.

In the accord signed last December by Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the United States, the U.S. pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020, he said.

“We must accelerate energy transformation,” he said. “We’ve got to make this change in 10 to 20 years.”

Moniz said the U.S. should spearhead this transformation by demanding reductions that will increase efficiency and by replacing older, small-scale coal plants with natural gas.

He outlined a “three-star plan” that he said would be the most effective way to reduceemissions, produce and store carbon-free electricity and increase efficiency in building and transportation.

Batteries could also provide a link between the utility and transportation industries, he said.
He added that one of the biggest problems the U.S. faces today is its need to reconcile a rapid energy revolution in carbon emissions with bringing lesser-developed countries greater access to energy and electricity.

“Lesser-developed countries should not be asked to do anything heroic right now,” he said.

Moniz’s “high profile” was one of the reasons he was asked to speak at the Presidential Lecture series, said Clean Energy and Sustainability Initiative administrator Denise Joseph.

“We try to bring in leaders in the field to inform and be a catalyst for the community,” said Administrative Director of the Clean Energy Initiative Linda Grosser. “We attract a diverse audience.”

Attendees agreed that carbon emission is a pertinent subject worth addressing and that Moniz clearly conveyed its importance.

Grosser said that energy and environmental sustainability is a “grand challenge.”

“It’s important to everyone,” she said.

“[Moniz] is really practical in the sense of what’s going on today,” said College of Engineering freshman Nasim Zehdar. “It’s really interesting to hear about the current issues in the energy sector. These guys are the head haunchos, the leaders in their departments. It’s a great perspective for students.”