TUESDAY: January 13, 2009 2:00 P.M. in the H.J.E. Reid Auditorium
Human activities are blamed for global climate change. The culprits are the ever increasing greenhouse gas emissions from land use changes and primarily from the burning of fossil fuels for energy production and use. The human interference in the climate system is now unequivocal and the most recent studies show an accelerating pace in the various manifestations of climate change. There is also some concern that some of these changes may be so abrupt so as to have catastrophic effects on human systems and the natural world.
Energy can be blamed for climate change and therefore how we should produce and use energy in the future will yield the solution to our problem. There will be no "silver bullet" to the energy challenge; instead we envision a "silver buckshot" solution that draws on innovations and breakthroughs across the energy technology spectrum. We need not give up on fossil fuels if we can figure out ways to capture and sequester carbon dioxide away from the atmosphere. Nuclear energy may still have a role in the future energy landscape. Certainly, we benefit from enhanced energy conservation and can expand the many applications of renewable energy. Biotechnology powered by modern genomics promises to be a disruptive technology for both energy production and carbon sequestration.
The world needs enlightened leadership and serious action across all sectors. The challenge is huge but the solutions are within the human reach.
Aristides A.N. Patrinos, Ph.D., is president of Synthetic Genomics, Inc., a privately held company founded in 2005 dedicated to developing and commercializing synthetic genomic processes and naturally occurring processes for clean, renewable alternative energy solutions that mitigate global climate change.
Dr. Patrinos was instrumental in advancing the scientific and policy framework underpinning key governmental energy and environmental initiatives while serving as associate director of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. He oversaw the department's research activities in human and microbial genome research, structural biology, nuclear medicine and climate change. Dr. Patrinos played a historic role in the Human Genome Project, the founding of the DOE Joint Genome Institute and the design and launch of the DOE's Genomes to Life Program, a research program dedicated to developing technologies to use microbes for innovative solutions to energy and environmental challenges.
Dr. Patrinos is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Meteorological Society, and a member of the American Geophysical Union, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Greek Technical Society. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, including three Presidential Rank Awards and two Secretary of Energy Gold Medals, as well as an honorary doctorate from the National Technical University of Athens. A native of Greece, Dr. Patrinos received his undergraduate degree from the National Technical University of Athens, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and astronautical sciences from Northwestern University.
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Last Updated: December 17, 2008 10:00 AM EDT.
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