Center for Reactor Information

The Engineer's Stake in Providing the World with a Sustainable Energy Technology

Speech at the 2005 Engineering Week Banquet in Idaho Falls
Dr. John I. Sackett, Deputy Associate Director (Retired)
Argonne National Laboratory

A discussion of the stake of engineers in meeting the world's need for entirely new sustainable technology to save essential resources and improve living standards. The energy density of nuclear power underlies meeting Dr. Smalley's top world challenges–water, food, environment, poverty, terrorism, war, disease, democracy, population.

It is a real pleasure to be with you tonight, especially to talk to you about something that is important to us all, namel y how to be an effective engineer in today's world. Most of us chose this field because we like to create things and because we are intrigued with discovery. As engineers and scientist we have the power to change the world; indeed we already have. If I have one important message for you tonight, it is that to be an engineer in today's world demands that we be more than engineers. We are increasingly called to become involved in those things that we would otherwise like to avoid– politics and social change.

How have engineers and scientists changed the world? First, we would all agree that our quality of life is vastly better than it was only a few centuries ago. Indeed, life is better by any measure. Length of life has dramatically improved. We are healthier, more active and more aware of things around the globe. We are more comfortable and have the opportunity to explore places and ideas as never before. We are reaching out beyond our world into space and have seen amazing things. And it is the result of what engineers and scientists have done.

But there is a problem. Most of the world has not participated in this revolution, until now. Much of the developing world is pursuing the same dream that technology has brought to us. Notable among the most rapidly developing countries are China and India, containing much of the world's population. And therein lies the problem. For other peoples of the world to gain what we have will require entirely new technology. There is simply not enough resource to go around. If China and India were to consume as much oil per capita as we do in the United States, they would consume all of the world's current production with nothing left for anyone else. And we are told that increases in oil production rates are slowing and will likely peak in a few years.

I am reminded of an Earth-Day presentation that I participated in at the University of Idaho several years ago. Ted Turner was the featured speaker and I was to follow him to talk about the promise of nuclear power. Not an enviable position. His presentation was about growth, technology and the environment, with an emphasis on his intent to fund a major effort to eliminate the risk of nuclear weapons. One of the students in the audience asked him that since technology has created so many problems for us, isn't it time to abandon technology and return to a simpler way of living. Turner's response was quick, to the point that the only sustainable solutions lie in new technology. His point was that it is important that we develop and use technology wisely to address the many problems we face. I think that we would agree with his point. And, by the way, it made my presentation on nuclear power much easier.

So what are those problems? A person who has thought a lot about these things is Dr. Richard Smalley, a Nobel Laureate scientist at Rice University. He started thinking about the challenges facing all of us this century and developed a top-ten prioritized list that I would like to share with you. But first a word, these are challenges that are daunting and there is a tendency to shrink from them as if there are no solutions. But there are and it is up to us to find them.

Smalley identifies the number one challenge as Energy. As we all understand, our industrial revolution has been built on abundant, affordable energy. But increasingly, energy is in short supply and many of the sources of energy that we now have are increasingly unacceptable. Global climate change is driven by our use of hydro-carbons as our primary energy source. We need new solutions.

The number two challenge for the world is Water. We are beginning to see this even in southeastern Idaho, with much discussion about water rights and priorities for water use in agriculture, cities and recreation. Increasingly, there is simply not enough to go around. The critical problem for developing countries is available fresh, clean water. Producing it in the future will require lots of energy.

The number three challenge is Food. Genetically engineered crops will help, as will increased emphasis on improved farming practices and aquaculture. All of the solutions however require water, land, and lots of energy.

The number four challenge is the Environment. Global climate change looms large and the modelers now agree that the changes we are seeing are outside natural forcing functions. Human activity is causing much of the global warming. Problem is, there is a 50 year lag time so what we do today to change the course of climate change is for our grandchildren. Here, energy technology choices are the most important decisions we can make.

Smalley identifies Poverty as the number five challenge. Most of the people of the world live in poverty. Many are increasingly desperate and are turning to violence. Most nations are looking for ways to improve economies and standards of living. Our standard of living has been driven by abundant, affordable energy, and so it must be for other nations.

The number six challenge is Terrorism. This is a complicated issue for which there are many causes and few solutions. We do know that hopelessness breeds desperate acts. We also know that technology will be a key to protecting our nation from the many threats of terrorism. However, energy again plays a part because it holds us hostage to the Middle East. We also understand that desperate, poverty stricken people need affordable energy to improve their standards of living.

The number seven challenge is War. Here, technology is changing the face of war. I have read a number of recent articles about the trend to mechanizing war with increased use of robots, remotely controlled aircraft, improved methods of surveillance and so on. The reasons for war are many but conflict over oil and other energy sources looms as a major threat.

Number eight is Disease. Good health depends upon adequate food and shelter and good medical care. Here the technology revolution is in full swing and we are benefiting as a nation. There are many advances on the horizon with such exotic ideas as nano-machines that can circulate in the blood stream to repair damaged vessels. But even we are having a difficult time affording health care and a growing fraction of our population can not afford what technology has to offer. Meanwhile, new diseases are emerging as the world becomes more crowded.

Smalley defines the number nine challenge as Democracy. Of all of the challenges that Smalley has identified, this is the challenge that our nation has committed most strongly to addressing.

And, finally, the number ten challenge is Population. The world's population is expected to nearly double by the middle of this century, to about 10 billion people. What will stabilize the global population? Will it be disease and war? Or will it be improvements in the world-wide standard of living? One thing that has been proven is that population growth decreases as standards of living improve. Most of the highly developed nations have stabilized their population growth. Italy is losing population and so would the U.S. were it not for immigration. But improvements in standard of living require abundant and affordable energy.

So there you have it, Smalley's top ten challenges for this century. I think that you can see why energy was number one. It underlies almost all of the major challenges we and our children face this century. And Ted Turner's comment is absolutely true, to resolve our problems with energy production and use will require the best technology that the world can produce.

Let me comment a little about energy technology, perhaps giving you a slightly different picture than you have seen before. Energy density is the key. As the density of our energy sources has increased, so has our standard of living. Mankind started with only the least dense energy sources, wind and solar. The next step up in concentration of energy was fire, releasing the solar energy that had been concentrated in wood. Then came hydro-power, extracting energy from water that had been lifted by the energy of the sun. Then came coal, with another step up in energy density, used to power steam engines that sparked our industrial revolution. Oil and natural gas are another step up in energy density, making them suitable for powering our cars, planes and trains. All of these sources have concentrated the energy from the sun over periods of time. The greatest leap of all in energy density has been to nuclear power, with the energy to power a submarine over its lifetime without refueling. Eventually we may achieve nuclear fusion, which gets to the source of energy from the sun. The fundamental difference between solar, wind at one extreme and nuclear power at the other is energy density. We cannot support 10 billion people in the world, especially with the challenges that we are now facing, without using the highest density energy source we know, nuclear. It is imperative that we overcome the barriers to using nuclear energy, namely economics, safety, waste and proliferation-risk. It is the core mission of the Idaho National Laboratory. And from the work we have done, we know that there are solutions to each and nuclear can reach its promise of affordable, abundant energy.

But let me get back to my main point. Our greatest opportunities as engineers and scientists this century will be to develop the technologies to address the greatest needs of the peoples of the world. To do so will require that we understand what those needs are and become much more involved in the political and social processes by which technology choices are made.

I have been struck by the lack of understanding by those in our political process of technology choices and it is getting worse as technology advances. It is understandable; there are very few engineers and scientists in position of leadership in our government. Even our corporations are increasingly led by people without technical training. I was struck some years ago by a good lawyer friend of mine who commented that on the matter of energy technology choices, he was essentially paralyzed by the fact that people from the technical community were coming to him promoting their own energy-technology solutions, dismissing the ideas of others. His comment was “what is a poor country lawyer to do. I must depend upon the technical community for policy decision but they do not speak coherently.” It is this fact that allows people who are not technically honest or qualified to have such influence on our political leadership.

We will always be promoting our own ideas as engineers and competing with each other to ensure that the best ideas survive. I consider it especially important, however, that we as a technical community take the other point of view. We must become part of the decision-making process. Get involved in your community through service groups and government offices. Accept leadership positions within your company by involving yourselves in policy development and marketing. Seek out and join interdisciplinary teams of researchers and developers. Consider entering politics. Run for office. Your participation in decision making is increasingly necessary if we are going to meet the many challenges before us.

We in Eastern Idaho have a unique opportunity because dealing with the coming energy crisis is what the new Idaho National Laboratory is all about. The nation has not yet come to grips with our coming energy crisis, and I see a lot of wishful thinking about technology options, but the time will come when our nation will respond. Our nation has always been good at responding to crises. Unfortunately, we are not always good in avoiding them. The Idaho National Laboratory and those of you working within it can prepare for a very active future. In time the nation will look to southeastern Idaho for solutions.

Richard Smalley has an interesting perspective on this, one that I agree with. The key to developing solutions to the challenges of this century is to attract the best young minds to the effort. They have the greatest stake in success. It is less important that we promote our own solutions than to present the challenge in ways that inspire others. I was part of the Sputnik generation and I know how the challenge of the space race inspired me to pursue technology. It is likely that many of our children will think of themselves as the energy generation. Abundant, affordable energy to make everything else possible.

It has been a rare privilege to share these thoughts with you tonight and to know that this is a community of engineers and scientists who are up to the challenge.

Thank you.