Lecture Summary

The first speaker for the lecture was Prof. Andrew Palmer. In his speech, he shared with us the actions to be taken in response to climate change. Some of the actions mentioned by him were to move from coal to gas/nuclear, release of particles in the atmosphere and carbon dioxide capture and storage as a response to combat climate change. Ocean storage option is done by capturing CO2 and storing them in a bag at the seabed. I found this very interesting as it is one of the most advanced methods of CO2 capture and something that would not be detrimental to the environment.

The second speaker was Dr.Benjamin K.Sovacool who shared with us the traditional analysis of technology (STS). He shared with us that everything is not only about technology but also social interest. For example, we have the renewable power such as solar panel, hydroelectric and turbines but they are all not successful. This is due to the market failure, information failure, the low return of investment and many more factors. The political and regulatory obstacle such as unfunded research and development, cultural and behavioral challenge such as public misunderstanding are some of the factors mentioned. He used the case study of Electric Vehicles to show the challenges that were faced. I find the view shared was very interesting as there are many good inventions around the world but not all are successful. As engineers we should look at the various challenges that we will face and understand that why things succeed or fail is not mainly due to technology.

The third speaker was Assoc Prof Rajsekar Bala who shared with us the assessment and mitigation of global warming. He showed the evidence of global warming such as the increase in greenhouse gases, the change in the rainfall and the recent warming due to human activities. These would lead to temperature change, extinctions, intense storms and even economic and social disruption. He shared some measure to eliminate global warming such increasing energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emission and involving the government to impose tax on carbon use. Nevertheless the problem is global, long lasting, a long term political issue and the impacts are not spread evenly. I found this point highlighted very important as everyone needs to understand that global warming is a global problem.