Patricia Dehmer

1
U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Science
Fundamental Research Our Energy Future
National Volunteer Leadership Summit American
Ceramic Society

• Patricia Dehmer
• Deputy for Science Programs
• Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
• 24 April 2008

2
The First Basic Research Needs WorkshopBasic
Research Needs to Assure a Secure Energy Future
(October 2002)

• Identified basic research directions required for
  major technological changes in energy production
  and use.
• Highlighted the remarkable scientific journey
  that has taken place during the past few decades.
  
• The resulting scientific challenges describe a
  new era of science an era in which materials
  functionalities are designed to specifications
  and chemical transformations are manipulated at
  will.
• The findings inspired 10 additional workshops
  over the next five years, which together
  attracted more than 1,500 participants.

3
Technology, Infrastructure, and Fuels Mix Have
Evolved Together over 100 Years Todays energy
technologies, infrastructures, and fuels are
firmly rooted in 20th century ST
U.S. Energy Consumption by Source
Wind, water, wood, animals, (Mayflower,1620)
3
4
U.S. and World Energy Consumption Today
446 Quads
World
United States
100 Quads
China
Russia
Some equivalent ways of referring to the energy
used by the U.S. in 1 year (approx. 100
Quads) 100.0 quadrillion British Thermal Units
(Quads) U.S. British unit of energy 105.5 exa
Joules (EJ) Metric unit of energy 3.346
terawatt-years (TW-yr) Metric unit of power
(energy/sec)x(seconds in a year)
4
5
World Energy Needs will Grow Significantly in the
21st Century
Projections to 2030 are from the Energy
Information Administration, International Energy
Outlook, 2007.
World Primary Energy Consumption (Quads)
5
6
U.S. Energy Flow, 2006 (Quads Quadrillion BTU
1015 BTU) About 1/3 of U.S. primary energy is
imported.
Exports 5
Domestic Production 71 Quads
Consumption 100 Quads
Energy Consumption
Energy Supply (Quads)
Imports 34 Quads
Adjustments 1
7
U.S. Energy Flow, 2006 (Quads) 85 of primary
energy is from fossil fuels
Residential
Commerical
Industrial
Transportation
7
8
U.S. Energy Flow, 2006 (Quads) gt70 of primary
energy for the transportation sectorand gt60 of
primary energy for electricity generation/use is
lost

8
Source LLNL 2008 data are based on
DOE/EIA-0384(2006). Credit should be given to
LLNL and DOE.
9
Overall Efficiency of an Incandescent Bulb ? 2
Example of energy lost during conversion and
transmission. Imagine that the coal needed to
illuminate an incandescent light bulb contains
100 units of energy when it enters the power
plant. Only two units of energy eventually light
the bulb. The remaining 98 units are lost along
the way, primarily as heat.
10
Nuclear and Renewable Energies are 15 of Energy
SupplyHydroelectric and wood still dominate the
renewable energies
8.21 quads of Nuclear Electric Power are produced
by 104 operable nuclear power plants in the U.S.
(i.e., average nuclear power plant 0.08 quads)
Coal 23
Nuclear 8
Renewables 7
Petroleum 40
Natural Gas 22
11
Critical Elements of a Decades-to-Century Energy
Strategy FInding another 100 Quads by
2100Focus on supply, distribution, end use, and
efficiency in the electric power sector and the
transportation sector.
Low-Emission Fossil
BuildingTechnologies
Supply
Advanced Nuclear
Distribution Storage
The Grid and Electrical Energy Storage
Use
IndustrialTechnologies
Renewables
Alternative Liquid/Gas Fuels
VehicleTechnologies
Fuel Distributionand Storage
Bio Bio-inspired Fuels
Increased Efficiency
To move the needle 100 Quads requires multiple
strategies. There is no single silver bullet.
12
How do the Earth's land, water, air, and life
interact to affect the environment?
12
13
Modern CO2 Concentrations in the Atmosphere are
Increasing The current concentration is the
highest in 600,000 years, as determined by ice
core data
13
14
CO2 Concentrations, Temperature, and Sea
LevelRise Long after Emissions are Reduced
15
The Workshop Set Forth 37 Research Directions
Topics covered energy supply, conversion,
storage, distribution, efficiency , and end use

• Fossil Energy
• Reaction pathways of inorganic solid materials
  synthesis, reactivity, stability
• Advanced subsurface imaging and alteration of
  fluid-rock interactions
• Development of an atomistic understanding of
  high-temperature hydrogen conductors
• Fundamental combustion science towards predictive
  modeling of combustion technologies
• Renewable and Solar Energy
• Displace imported petroleum by increasing the
  cost-competitive production of fuels and
  chemicals from renewable biomass by a hundred
  fold
• Develop methods for solar energy conversion that
  result in a ten-to-fifty fold decrease in the
  cost-to-efficiency ratio for the production of
  fuels and electricity
• Develop the knowledge base to enable widespread
  creation of geothermal reservoirs
• Conversion of solar, wind, or geothermal energy
  into stored chemical fuels
• Advanced materials for renewable energy
  applications
• Bioenergy
• Energy biotechnology metabolic engineering of
  plants and microbes for renewable production of
  fuels and chemicals
• Genomic tools for the development of designer
  energy and chemical crops
• Nanoscale hybrid assemblies for the photo-induced
  generation of fuels and chemicals
• Nuclear Fission Energy
• Materials degradation
• Advanced actinide and fission product separations
  and extraction
• Fuels research

www.science.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html
16
The 37 Research Directions Formed 10 Science
Groupings 10 science groupings set the direction
for 10 specialty workshops over the next 5 years

• Six of these groupings were the basis for
  follow-on Basic Research Needs workshops
  sponsored by BES, while four groupings were
  addressed by two or more workshops.
• Basic research for the hydrogen economy
• Energy storage
• Actinide chemistry and nuclear fuel cycles
• Materials sciences
• Catalysis
• Geosciences
• Biosciences and conversion of sunlight to fuels
• Novel membrane assemblies
• Energy conversion mechanisms
• Basic research for energy efficiency

Major workshops held in each of these six areas.
Two or more workshops addressed these four areas.
17
The 10 Basic Research Needs Workshops 10
workshops 5 years more than 1,500 participants
from academia, industry, and DOE labs

• Basic Research Needs to Assure a Secure Energy
  Future (BESAC)
• Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy
• Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization
• Basic Research Needs for Superconductivity
• Basic Research Needs for Solid State Lighting
• Basic Research Needs for Advanced Nuclear Energy
  Systems
• Basic Research Needs for the Clean and Efficient
  Combustion of 21st Century Transportation Fuels
• Basic Research Needs for Geosciences
  Facilitating 21st Century Energy Systems
• Basic Research Needs for Electrical Energy
  Storage
• Basic Research Needs for Catalysis for Energy
  Applications
• Basic Research Needs for Materials under Extreme
  Environments

www.science.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html
18
Important Recurring Themes from the Workshops
Control of materials properties and
functionalities through electronic and atomic
design

• New materials discovery, design, development, and
  fabrication, especially materials that perform
  well under extreme conditions
• Control of photon, electron, spin, phonon, and
  ion transport in materials
• Science at the nanoscale, especially
  low-dimensional systems
• Designer catalysts
• Designer interfaces and membranes
• Structure-function relationships
• Bio-materials and bio-interfaces, especially at
  the nanoscale
• New tools for spatial characterization, temporal
  characterization, and for theory/modeling/computat
  ion

www.science.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html
19
Science Transforming Energy TechnologiesExamples
in energy supply, conversion, storage,
distribution, and end use

• Solar energy utilization
• Biofuels production
• Advanced nuclear energy systems
• Combustion of transportation fuels
• Fusion
• Electrical energy storage
• Hydrogen production, storage, and use
• Superconductivity
• Solid state lighting
• Catalysis for energy applications
• Materials under extreme environments
• Geosciences

Numerical simulation of a turbulent methane-air
flame, flowing bottom to top
Bio-inspired assemblies self-repairing,
defect-tolerant materials for selective and
specific chemical reactivity.
20
The Essential Role of Basic ScienceIncremental
changes in current technologies will not suffice
transformational changes are needed.

• Todays energy technologies and infrastructure
  are rooted in 20th Century technologies and 19th
  Century discoveriesinternal combustion engine,
  electric lighting, alternating current.
• Current fossil energy sources, current energy
  production methods, and current technologies
  cannot meet the energy challenges we now face.
• Incremental changes in technology will not
  suffice. We need transformational discoveries and
  disruptive technologies.
• 21st Century technologies will require the
  ability to direct and control matter at the
  molecular, atomic, and quantum levels.

photosystem II
Bio-inspired nanoscale assemblies
self-repairing and defect-tolerant materials and
selective and specific chemical reactivity.
Separating electrons by their spin for
spintronics and other applications of electron
control.
Computer simulation of plasma turbulence in a
tokamak
21
Directing Matter and Energy Five Challenges for
Science and the Imagination

• Synthesize, atom by atom, new forms of matter
  with tailored propertiesImagine Create and
  manipulate natural and synthetic systems that
  will enable catalysts that are 100 specific and
  produce no unwanted byproducts, or materials that
  operate at the theoretical limits of strength and
  fracture resistance, or that respond to their
  environment and repair themselves like those in
  living systems
• Synthesize man-made nanoscale objects with
  capabilities rivaling those of living
  thingsImagine Master energy and information on
  the nanoscale, leading to the development of new
  metabolic and self-replicating pathways in living
  and non-living systems, self-repairing artificial
  photosynthetic machinery, precision measurement
  tools as in molecular rulers, and defect-tolerant
  electronic circuits
• Control the quantum behavior of electrons in
  materialsImagine Direct manipulation of the
  charge, spin and dynamics of electrons to control
  and imitate the behavior of physical, chemical
  and biological systems, such as digital memory
  and logic using a single electron spin, the
  pathways of chemical reactions and the strength
  of chemical bonds, and efficient conversion of
  the Suns energy into fuel through artificial
  photosynthesis.
• Control emergent properties that arise from the
  complex correlations of atomic and electronic
  constituentsImagine Orchestrate the behavior of
  billions of electrons and atoms to create new
  phenomena, like superconductivity at room
  temperature, or new states of matter, like
  quantum spin liquids, or new functionality
  combining contradictory properties like
  super-strong yet highly flexible polymers, or
  optically transparent yet highly electrically
  conducting glasses, or membranes that separate
  CO2 from atmospheric gases yet maintain high
  throughput.
• Control matter very far away from
  equilibriumImagine Discover the general
  principles describing and controlling systems far
  from equilibrium, enabling efficient and robust
  biologically-inspired molecular machines,
  long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel through
  adaptive earth chemistry, and achieving
  environmental sustainability by understanding and
  utilizing the chemistry and fluid dynamics of the
  atmosphere.

22
Energy Frontier Research CentersEngaging the
talents of the nations researchers for the broad
energy agenda
The DOE Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy
Sciences, announced the Energy Frontier Research
Centers (EFRCs) program. EFRC awards are 25
million/year for an initial 5-year period.
Universities, labs, and other institutions are
eligible to apply. See http//www.sc.doe.gov/bes/E
FRC.html.

• Energy Frontier Research Centers will pursue
  fundamental research that addresses both energy
  challenges and science grand challenges in areas
  such as
• ? Solar Energy Utilization ? Geosciences for
  Nuclear Waste and CO2 Storage
• ? Catalysis for Energy ? Advanced Nuclear Energy
  Systems
• ? Electrical Energy Storage ? Combustion of 21st
  Century Transportation Fuels
• ? Solid State Lighting ? Hydrogen Production,
  Storage, and Use
• ? Superconductivity ? Materials Under Extreme
  Environments
• Bioenergy and biofuels

23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
Jeff Kupfer, Acting Deputy Secretary
EFRCs are here
27
http//www.sc.doe.gov/bes/
28
(No Transcript)