The energy puzzle
Physics is just the start
Physics World
Dirac House, Temple Back, Bristol BS1 6BE, UK
Tel: + 44 (0)117 929 7481
Fax: + 44 (0)117 925 1942
E-mail: pwld@iop.org
Web: physicsworld.com
Editor Matin Durrani
Associate Editor Dens Milne
News Editor Michael Banks
Features Editor João Medeiros
Reviews and Careers Editor Margaret Harris
Web Editor Hamish Johnston
Web Reporter James Dacey
Advisory Panel John Ellis CERN, Peter Knight
Imperial College London, Martin Rees University
of Cambridge
Publisher Jo Allen
Marketing and circulation Angela Gage
Display Advertisement Sales Edward Jost
Recruitment Advertisement Sales Chris Thomas
Advertisement Production Mark Trimnell
Art Director Andrew Giaquinto
Diagram Artist Alison Tovey
Subscription information 2009 volume
The subscription rates for institutions are
£295/7435/$555 per annum. Single issues are
£ 24.00/734.00/$45.00. Orders to: IOP Circulation
Centre, WDIS Ltd, Units 12 & 13 Cranleigh Gardens
Industrial Estate, Southall, Middlesex UB1 2DB, UK
(tel: + 44 (0)845 4561511; fax: + 44 (0) 20 8606 7303;
e-mail: iop@optimabiz.co.uk). Physics World is available
on an individual basis, worldwide, through membership of
the Institute of Physics
Copyright © 2009 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual
contributors. All rights reserved. IOP Publishing Ltd permits
single photocopying of single articles for private study or
research, irrespective of where the copying is done. Multiple
copying of contents or parts thereof without permission is in
breach of copyright, except in the UK under the terms of the
agreement between the CVCP and the CLA. Authorization of
photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or
personal use of specific clients, is granted by IOP Publishing Ltd
for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright
Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service,
provided that the base fee of $2.50 per copy is paid directly to
CCC, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970, USA
Bibliographic codes ISSN: 0953-8585
CODEN: PHWOE W
Printed in the UK by Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings,
West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH
The Institute of Physics
76 Portland Place, London W1B 1N T, UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7470 4800
Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7470 4848
E-mail: physics@iop.org
Web: iop.org
Physics World has an ABC audited
circulation for 2008 of 35 183
Dealing with climate change requires more than just scientific and technical solutions
There is sure to be plenty of discussion over the next few months about climate
change as politicians and policymakers prepare to meet in Copenhagen in Decem-
ber, where a successor to the Kyoto protocol is due to be hammered out. No doubt
there will be lots of big promises, horse-trading and behind-the-scenes deals struck
at the eleventh hour, culminating in a protocol or communiqué stating that, yes,
the world really must cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
But the issue will, as always, be how to put words into
action. After all, carbon-dioxide emissions have kept
on rising since the Kyoto deal was agreed in 1997.
The main message of this special issue of Physics
World is that tackling climate change, while meeting
the world’s current and future energy demands, is not
just a scientific and technical challenge but a matter of
politics and communication too. That theme is under-
lined by the physicist and former BP chief executive
Photolibrary
Lord Browne, who offers four messages for politicians of whichever persuasion
(p20). In addition to rethinking the state’s role in the energy market and seeking a
worldwide solution to global warming, Browne warns that governments should not
compartmentalize climate change and must encourage action in areas where “
economic prosperity, national security and environmental integrity come together”.
Whether politicians take any real action to reverse emission trends, depends in
part on scientists like Browne voicing their concerns about climate change more
strongly to the public, opinion-makers and political leaders. As Joseph Romm, a
physicist at the US think tank Center for American Progress, points out (p22),
unless scientists – and physicists in particular – do more to warn the world of the
dangers of climate change, we could end up being blamed by future generations
for “the havoc our ignorance and myopia has brought them”.
Climate modellers will no doubt argue that they have done their best to shed light
on global warming, but, elsewhere in the issue (p33), Gavin Schmidt of NASA’s
Goddard Institute for Space Studies argues that such models need to be made more
useful to politicians. As Schmidt explains, climate scientists have typically studied
the impact of carbon dioxide separately from, say, aerosols or the emissions that
cause ozone. What we need now, says Schmidt, is an increasing focus on models
that can take into account all of these factors – and the interactions between them
– at the same time. That should give better answers to policymakers’ questions, such
as how to supply power to the growing populations in China and India.
None of this is to say that we should ignore scientific solutions. Elsewhere in this
issue, two US scientists, George Crabtree and John Sarrao, describe the materials-science challenges that we need to overcome in the quest for clean, long-lasting
and sustainable energy (p24). Meanwhile, Alan Smith and David Tolfree from the
UK outline how nanotechnology could transform the energy industry (p40).
Finally, US energy consultant Paul Michael Grant (p37) offers an even more ambitious solution to solving the world’s energy needs – a network of underground
pipes carrying nuclear-power-produced hydrogen that serves both as a fuel and as
a coolant for superconducting electricity-carrying cables. It is the most ambitious
of all the technologies presented in this issue, but typical of the bold vision that
physicists can bring to solving the energy puzzle.
The contents of this magazine, including the views expressed above, are the responsibility of the Editor.
They do not represent the views or policies of the Institute of Physics, except where explicitly stated.
