Chautauqua Course DAY-19
Energy
and Sustainability: What Every Faculty Member Should Know
ROBERT J. BRECHA, Department of Physics,
May
20-22, 2013 in
Note: This course has course fee of $195 (in
addition to the $100 application fee), which covers course-related
expenses. Optional reduced rate lodging
will be available to early applicants. See also course DAY-20 on climate change which immediately follows this course.
We believe that the topic of Energy and
Sustainability is of vital importance to everyone in our country. An
effective way to ensure a well-informed citizenry is through a knowledgeable
faculty presenting material in appropriate courses.
One definition of sustainability is that we learn to
meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. Given that economic growth and technical progress in our society is based to a large extent on
the use of finite supplies of fossil fuels, a natural question arises as to how
standards of living can be maintained in the face of future scarcity of those resources. In this course we will examine theories of fossil fuel
depletion, look at both geological and economic indicators of fossil-fuel
scarcity, and discuss non-conventional fossil-fuel resources and the concept of
net energy.
An important part of the course will be to
investigate the potential for renewable and non-fossil energy sources. What might be required of our energy system
in the future if concerns about climate change result in a shift to non-carbon
energy sources? Are electric or plug-in
hybrid vehicles really a solution to our energy problems? Where is most of our
energy used, and what are the most effective ways of reducing carbon emissions
and fossil-fuel consumption? How much
can the capacity of renewable energy realistically be expanded? These and other questions will lead to lively
discussions and new insights.
For college
teachers of:
all disciplines. Prerequisites: none.
Presentations will assume basic science, and will not assume specific
topic information.
Costs for 2013
Application fee: $100
Course fee: $195 [Due in April
2013]
Optional campus lodging: $58 per
person per night in a single
Dr. Brecha is Professor in the Physics Department and the Renewable and Clean Energy Program at the University of Dayton. His research training was in experimental and theoretical quantum optics; after joining the UD faculty in 1993, he focused on diode laser spectroscopy of molecular oxygen and, through visiting scientist appointments, on ultracold atom physics. Over the past several years, his growing interest in the issues of peak oil, climate change, and their broader societal and economic implications have led to a switch in research activity. Starting in 2006 he has been a visiting scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany working with economists and natural scientists on models of the coupled energy, climate and economic systems. During the 2010-2011 academic year his work at PIK was partly supported by a Fulbright Fellowship. Dr Brecha has lectured widely on the subject of peak oil and climate change, and has been a co-presenter in several previous Chautauqua courses on these topics. He also
coordinates and helped develop the new Sustainability, Energy and Environment Minor at the