Former Us Energy Secretary Steven Chu Would Rather Clean Up Our Planet Than Move To The Moon

BARACK OBAMA'S FORMER ENERGY SECRETARY STEVEN CHU HAS MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE IS VERY MUCH AWARE THAT THE WORLD IS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.

During the Richard R. Ernst Lecture 2015 at ETH Zurich last week (11 March), he used one of his favourite photos - a 1968 snapshot taken from Apollo 8 - to drive home his point.

"I want you to notice [the moon] is not a good place to live," Nobel laureate Chu told a packed audience who had gathered to hear him deliver the lecture on "Energy, Climate Change and Sustainability".

"The destiny of the earth is changing - a large part of it due to humans," Chu said. "We have to do more than what we're doing today."

Climate-KIC cosponsored the Richard R. Ernst 2015 Lecture at ETH Zurich as part of this year's Climate-KIC Spark! Lecture series.

"I want you to notice [the moon] is not a good place to live"

- Steven Chu

THE MORAL DILEMMA OF OUR AGE

Reflecting the state of the debate across the Atlantic, Chu stressed that 'despite what sceptics believe' evidence shows that climate change is impacting the Earth. He pointed out that 14 of the 15 warmest years in the past 150 years have occurred in the 21st century.

Data from the joint US-German GRACE project, in which a pair of satellites have been mapping changes in the earth's gravity field since 2002, show that glaciers across the world are shrinking. And residents of Beijing and other highly industrialised cities in the developing world know all too well about the effects of pollution as haze fills their air.

"I think this is a great moral dilemma," Chu said. "Never have we had science telling us what we're doing may affect a thousand years of the earth in a potentially very, very serious way."

"It takes great leadership to say, what do we do in the next several decades?" Chu said. "Part of leadership is to publicly try to describe the long-term issue, not the next election issue."

He added that it is crucial for governments to "have the drumbeat of helping educate the public. In the end in democracies, it's the public that will say, what do we want and what do we expect of our leaders?"

THE EARTH'S ADVOCATE

Chu makes a good spokesman for the climate change cause. His scientific credentials are impeccable: he is currently a professor at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, and he is the 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics for his work in cooling and trapping atoms.

But he also has important experience outside the scientific community, having served as the US Secretary of Energy from 2009 to 2013. And the St. Louis, Missouri, native is able to engage with the general public on this complex topic, using interesting examples, humour and arguments that are easy to follow.

Chu was in Zurich to receive the Richard R. Ernst medal, presented in honour of the 1991 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. The prize is awarded to those individuals who make valuable contributions to society and science. The supporters of the lecture included Climate-KIC, the European Union's main climate innovation initiative.

Video: Former US Energy Secretary delivers @ClimateKIC Spark! lecture in Zurich http://t.co/fnl8ueCnzI

- Climate-KIC (@ClimateKIC) March 13, 2015

SOLAR, WIND POWER RACING AHEAD

Chu believes that new renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power are a "good news story".

Wind turbines, for example, have become much more reliable, efficient and larger, according to Chu. Prices for turbines are coming down and the number of installations is steadily increasing in the US.

As for solar power, he said much of the world has enough sun for it to be a viable alternative. In the US, the cost of solar power has declined significantly in recent years, while the number of installations has increased.

"I did not think solar power would be that cheap for another ten years," Chu admitted. "It too is racing ahead."

Nevertheless, these new technologies account for just a fraction of the total electricity generated in the US. Solar, for example, accounts for just one quarter of one per cent, while wind generates another four per cent.

The challenge now is finding a way of storing that energy as well as transmitting it over larger areas, according to Chu. For example, renewable energy sources are sometimes located in an area with few people. One method of storage is batteries. Costs are coming down and they are getting better, Chu said.

LESSONS FROM THE PAST

Chu reminded the audience that science has solved other significant crises facing humanity in the past. In the 1940s and 1950s, there were concerns about whether there would be enough food to support the world's growing population. The answer - the green revolution of the 1960s - increased food output.

Panel discussion, from left to right: chair Alexander Wokaun, Emiliana Fabbri, Richard R. Ernst, Steven Chu, Adam West, Nicolas Gruber (copyright Heidi Hostettler)

ETH Zurich professor Nicolas Gruber, who took part in a panel discussion following Chu's speech, says that climate change is a much more complex issue that the world will be working on for the next 60 to 100 years. Nevertheless, he said the comparison Chu made between the green revolution and today's climate change issues is a "positive message."

"In the past, we had concerns about feeding the world's population, and we were able to solve it through multiple means," said Gruber, a member of Climate-KIC's Governing Board. "It gives us hope that by working together we actually have a chance to cope with climate change."

CLIMATE-KIC SPARK! LECTURE

Climate-KIC's SPARK! lecture series with inspirational climate innovators and invited thought-leaders is hosted by Climate-KIC partner universities. The talks and topics are always thought provoking.

Come and catch the SPARK!

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