Is nanotechnology the answer to the looming energy crisis?
Join visiting professor Dr. Federico Rosei at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) Melville Centre for Dialogue on Feb. 6 for his talk on advanced materials and nanotechnology for energy saving, energy storage and energy conversion.
“Our dependence on fossil fuels, their consequences on the environment and the major challenges we face in transitioning to renewables grows with each passing day,” said Rosei. “We must discuss the numerous political, scientific, and technological challenges that need to be addressed to achieve the goal of 100 per cent renewables.”
As the age of cheap oil and fossil fuels is coming to an end, humanity will face an energy crisis. Many alternative energy sources have already been identified. However, there is no optimal solution to replace fossil fuels on a short-time scale with new sources that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable in the long term. History reports disastrous consequences for societies that exploited their resources in a non-sustainable way, and arguably this is exactly what is happening today on a global scale.
Rosei is professor and director of the Energy Materials Telecommunications Research Centre of INRS, where he investigates surface phenomena on an atomistic scale and studies the exceptional properties of nanostructured materials and their use as building blocks in emerging technologies. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Nanostructured Materials and the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage.
This talk is presented jointly by KPU’s Department of Physics and the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP), and is part of the CAP lecture tour, which runs from January to April at universities across the country. The lecture tour is designed to promote and celebrate the study of physics in Canada, and share the excitement of current developments in physics.
“We’re delighted to welcome Professor Rosei to KPU as a guest lecturer, and to offer our students and the community the opportunity to hear from an internationally recognized physicist specializing in nanoscience,” said KPU physics instructor Dr. Fergal Callaghan. “In addition to our innovative and groundbreaking educational offerings in physics, engineering, and astronomy, our physics department prides itself on the many exciting outreach events we run and participate in, such as the CAP lecture tour.”
Energy Sources for a Sustainable Future
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Melville Centre for Dialogue, KPU Richmond campus (8771 Lansdowne Rd, Richmond)
SPEAKER: Federico Rosei, Professor at the University of Quebec, and Director of the Energy Materials Telecommunications Research Centre at the National Institute of Scientific Research.
RSVP: This event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested at kpu.ca/caplecture.
Story by Tatiana Tomljanovic