Published: September 21, 2007 10:15 pm         

Nobel conference to focus on energy

ST PETER — As fascinating as past Nobel conferences about genetics, globalization and Einstein may have been, here’s a topic to which almost everyone can relate, every time they pump gas.

The energy debate — how to deal with problems caused by our oil dependence and the search for alternatives — will be the conference’s 43rd subject when it begins Oct. 2 at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Global warming and oil depletion are the twin specters of fossil fuels, said Timothy Robinson, psychology professor and conference director.

A longtime voice on global warming, NASA climatologist James Hansen developed the scientific basis for the argument that rising carbon dioxide levels are stimulating the greenhouse effect. He’s one of seven speakers at the conference.

Jeff Jeremiason, assistant chemistry professor and conference chairman, said Hansen will discuss his model, which he described as simple yet elegant.

Basically, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat in earth’s atmosphere that would otherwise escape into space.

Hansen predicted a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide from pre-industrial levels would cause a temperature increase of 3 degrees Celsius, or 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

So far, carbon-dioxide levels have risen by 26 percent from the pre-industrial baseline and temperatures have risen by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, Jeremiason said.

And he said scientists believe more and more that human activities, not normal cycles, are warming the climate.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is 90 percent sure human activities are to blame, he said, and scientists tend to be conservative.

Oil depletion — more commonly known as peak oil — will be tackled by Kenneth Deffeyes, professor emeritus of geosciences at Princeton University. The hypothesis gets it name from the belief that oil extraction will eventually “peak” at a certain date and decline thereafter.

Deffeyes predicted early in 2006 that oil had “peaked” in December 2005.

Deffeyes is a former colleague of Marion King Hubbert, a Shell Oil geologist and the first to argue that oil supplies would soon peak.

But it doesn’t take a professor to reason that petroleum, for all practical purposes a nonrenewable resource, will eventually run out.

As is typical with the nobel conference, leaders from several fields will offer different perspectives.

Paul Joskow, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research director, will discuss using economic incentives — and disincentives — to spur cuts in carbon dioxide emissions. One method is to simply put a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.

Joan Ogden, co-director of a California program exploring hydrogen power, will discuss hydrogen’s growth as fuel.

While creating hydrogen fuel cells is an energy-intensive process now, Ogden believes that over the long term, hydrogen could be the most feasible way to power vehicles with zero emissions.

Lee Rybeck Lynd, a Dartmouth College engineering professor, will discuss the emerging use of biomass, including ethanol, as fuel.

Jeremiason and his students, are a bit ahead of the curve on biomass.

His class conducts chemical reactions on vegetable oil by adding methanol and lye, transforming it into biodiesel that runs in Jeremiason’s old Mercedes.

Jeremiason said another possible way to use biomass would be to use enzymes from the guts of termites to break down wood.



On the Web: For a complete list of presenters, a schedule and a chance to register online, visit gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2007.