News and analysis on materials solutions to energy challenges
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EDITORIAL
Materials fuel sustainable development ENERGY SECTOR ANALYSIS
Thinking small for solar INTERVIEW
The shift to advanced materials: GM’s Alan Taub surveys future of the auto industry REGIONAL INITIATIVE
China and South Africa pursue coal liquefaction ENERGY FOCUS ENERGY QUARTERLY ORGANIZERS CHAIR Steve M. Yalisove, University of Michigan, USA V.S. Arunachalam, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, India Anshu Bharadwaj, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, India David Cahen, Weizmann Institute, Israel George Crabtree, Argonne National Laboratory, USA Russell R. Chianelli, University of Texas, El Paso, USA Robin W. Grimes, Imperial College London, UK Abdelilah Slaoui, InESS, France Guillermo Solórzano, PUC-Rio, Brazil M. Stanley Whittingham, State University of New York at Binghamton, USA
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Images incorporated to create the energy puzzle concept used under license from Shutterstock.com. Energy Sector Analysis solar cell image courtesy of Heliatek.
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Materials fuel sustainable development Every human endeavor is informed by the ramifications of sustainable development because there are only a few sustainable sources of energy (solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal), and none of the earth’s materials resources are infinite. Sustainable development captures under one tent the concepts of environmental stewardship, materials management, green manufacturing, renewable and clean energy technologies, and water and air management. The most popular definition of sustainable development comes from the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report of the United Nations: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” More specifically, it can be thought of as the process by which policies for continual improvements of the economy, environment, and society (the “triple bottom line”) are guided by scientific analysis. Materials have always been technology enablers; there would be no direct conversion of solar power to electricity if efficient and manufacturable photovoltaic materials did not exist, no information age without silicon, no commercial aviation industry without high-strength aluminum alloys, and no skyscrapers without steel girders. At the 2012 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, a special issue of MRS Bulletin entitled “Materials for sustainable development” will be released. The issue will explore the intersection of sustainable development and materials science. This event contributes toward the Society’s efforts to regularly feature sustainable development programming at meetings and in publications. Energy production enjoys an extremely important position and large footprint under the sustainable development tent. However, numerous critical materials issues regarding sustainable energy arise
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