The third annual ANSER Solar Energy Symposium ended Friday afternoon after two days of lectures and discussions on solar fuels for the future.
Hosted by the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research Center (ANSER) and co-sponsored by the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern and One Book One Northwestern, the symposium was open to students, faculty and research scientists from around the country.
The symposium began Thursday night at the Pancoe-ENH Abbott Auditorium with a keynote address by Fraser Armstrong, a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University. On Friday, at the McCormick Tribune Forum, eight other experts from universities and laboratories such as Yale University, Rutgers University and the Brookhaven National Laboratory presented research on topics such as solar fuel generation, carbon dioxide reduction and artificial photosynthesis.
“Solar energy is really one of the cleanest, most abundant energies that one can produce,” said Michael Wasielewski, Director of ANSER. “It really is the only long term solution we have to renewable energy.”
Last April, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded a five-year grant of $19 million to ANSER, which includes 13 Northwestern faculty members among its team of 24 researchers. According to Wasielewski, the center’s mission is to research new ways to use solar energy to solve future problems.
“By 2050, we’re going to need twice as much energy, and by 2100, we’re going to need three times as much,” he said. “Right now, none of the technology we have, whether it be fossil or nuclear, has the capacity to do that, and there are potential issues with climate change and other environmental issues we find very hard to address. Solar energy is a very attractive solution in that regard.”
In fact, Wasielewski explained that solar energy solutions could become prevalent within the next ten to fifteen years, before 2050. That way, solar energy can prevent impending issues and decrease the world’s dependency on coal, oil and natural gas.
Though the bulk of the audience included faculty and research scientists, students were invited to attend as well. Between lectures, students and faculty mingled outside the forum to discuss the topics presented before reentering the room for more. To Wasielewski, having students turn out for the symposium is important for the future of solar energy.
“We need to have a well educated, well informed student body that can carry the ball into the future,” Wasielewski said. “The students of today are going to be the leaders of tomorrow in terms of solving these problems.”