MISTI MIT-Israel, in partnership with the Industrial Performance Center and MIT's Undergraduate Energy Club presents Introducing Renewables Globally: Challenges and Possible Solutions with Prof. David Faiman, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Former Director of Israel’s National Solar Energy Center. Moderated by Prof. Richard K. Lester, Head, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Chair, Industrial Performance Center, MIT
 
Friday, March 7th, 2014
2:30-4:30pm
 
Location: MIT Bldg E40-496, Pye Room, 4th floor
1 Amherst Street (corner of Hayward and Amherst)http://web.mit.edu/cis/directions.html
 
Free and Open to the Public – Please RSVP
 
Agenda:
2:30-3 Networking and refreshments
3-4 Program
4-4:30 Networking

 
Approximately one third of the world’s current CO2 emissions are ending up in the atmosphere and hence enhancing the natural greenhouse effect. Moreover, an appreciable amount of fossil fuel consumption goes into electricity generation and this quantity is rising. Therefore, in order to try and reduce the present rising trend in atmospheric CO2, one should at least stop building new fossil-fuelled plants. If photovoltaic and/or wind plants were to be built instead, it would be necessary to construct them at a rate of hundreds of GW each year. This would require an annual spending of order half-a trillion US$. Prof. Faiman will discuss some of the challenges associated with these rates of construction and scales of fund-raising, and their possible solutions.
 
David Faiman (PhD Univ. of Illinois 1969), a former theoretical physicist (Oxford, CERN, Weizmann Institute), joined Ben-Gurion University in 1976 and established its department of Solar Energy & Environmental Physics at the university’s Sede Boqer campus. In 1993 he was appointed director of Israel’s National Solar Energy Center, which the government established at Sede Boqer. His solar research activities have spanned a range from solar radiation measurements to device and system testing, with particular emphasis on concentrator photovoltaics. His most recent research has been on problems associated with matching very large-scale solar and wind plants to the electricity grid and on the required properties of their associated storage systems. He retired from administrative duties in 2012.