Last week, at the university where I work as an instructor, I attended a research rumble on the topic of sustainable energy. Put on by Boston University's Institute for Sustainable Energy, it came with this balky title: "Accelerating the Energy Transition: Transformative Pathways to Decarbonization and Sustainability." For academics, actually, that's pretty jazzy. So the room was packed with about 150 folks -- roughly half bore that "Where's the free pizza?" expression common to grad students -- and the event proceeded with nary a tech-glitch. Ten researchers got 3.5 minutes each to slap up a couple of slides and yak about their work, and then everyone shuffled to the lobby for wine, beer and an impressive buffet from which I scarfed orange cantaloupe and mini egg rolls. This method of rapid-fire presentation, followed by a leisurely graze and gulp, is called "Research on Tap."
Prototype of metal-air battery One researcher was hell-bent on getting the feds to measure methane leaks with sensors on low-flying aircraft rather than making some poor sod walk around the fracking works with a wand and gauge. Another said we need more public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, and boy did he have the graphs to prove it. A researcher named Emily Ryan -- three of the ten presenters were women -- spoke very quickly about the interfacial stability in high-energy-density batteries. Upshot: we're maxing out the capabilities of lithium-ion batteries and may need to transition to metal-air varieties. Cutler J. Cleveland, who goes as Cleveland J. Cutler in his side-career as a hip-hop DJ, told us how he's sort of in charge of decarbonizing all 86,000 thousand buildings in Boston by 2050. Good luck with that, CJC, and, yes, I'm kidding about the DJ thing. "The usual complaint," said a fellow researcher, "is that if we close the coal plant we'll destroy the community." But it doesn't have to go down that way, and he put up a chart delineating the complex interactions between a couple dozen stakeholders. It was shaped like my living-room ceiling fan.
And so on, and so forth. Fun, in a nerdy way.
And so on, and so forth. Fun, in a nerdy way.
I was intrigued, especially, by Jon Levy's research on the public health consequences of the transition to green energy. One of his slides noted that the incidence of SIDS -- sudden infant death syndrome -- can be higher within urban heat islands. These are "hot spots" in cities, generally paved over and unshaded by tree cover, typically in low-income areas. Urban heat islands, of course, are exacerbated by the scorching temperatures resulting from climate change And low-income areas are often left behind as cities green-up in response. So, do we actually have a meaningful link between climate change and babies mysteriously dying in their cribs? I can see one of my writing students going to town on that premise and, in her activist ardor, exaggerating the dynamic.
After the last presentation, not far from the mini egg rolls, I asked John Levy about the SIDS-climate change connection. Is it causation or correlation? And isn't SIDS mostly about infants that tragically incur blocked airways when they sleep on their stomachs? Levy acknowledged that public health epidemiology is hard, but insisted that studies have teased out variables such as sleeping position and found a link between the adverse conditions of urban heat islands and SIDS. A key contributing factor: people living in urban heat islands often have inadequate air conditioning to beat the heat. So, I wonder, perhaps more AC could reduce the incidence of SIDS. And, ironically, contribute to climate change if those AC units are powered by fossil fuels. Oh my, it's never easy.
Way to go, BU, for tackling these crucial issues. And pouring out your research, on tap.
After the last presentation, not far from the mini egg rolls, I asked John Levy about the SIDS-climate change connection. Is it causation or correlation? And isn't SIDS mostly about infants that tragically incur blocked airways when they sleep on their stomachs? Levy acknowledged that public health epidemiology is hard, but insisted that studies have teased out variables such as sleeping position and found a link between the adverse conditions of urban heat islands and SIDS. A key contributing factor: people living in urban heat islands often have inadequate air conditioning to beat the heat. So, I wonder, perhaps more AC could reduce the incidence of SIDS. And, ironically, contribute to climate change if those AC units are powered by fossil fuels. Oh my, it's never easy.
Way to go, BU, for tackling these crucial issues. And pouring out your research, on tap.
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