Securing our Energy Future
Among America’s most serious concerns today are national security, long-term economic competitiveness, and the dangers of global warming. At the center of all of these concerns is energy. Leading the way on finding solutions, the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are pooling their vast expertise in energy technology, policy, and transportation to help achieve an affordable, sustainable and clean supply of global energy.
Two major energy initiatives were launched in 2007: the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a partnership of UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab, and the University of Illinois, funded by BP with $500 million over ten years; and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), a partnership of three national labs and three research universities in the San Francisco Bay Area, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy with $125 million over five years.
The targets for potential investigation are broad – carbon sequestration, fusion, nuclear, solar, each with its limitations, its challenges, its promise. The research approach must be multi-disciplinary, using the sharpest scientific and entrepreneurial minds, the most sophisticated facilities and instruments, the most advanced techniques. Collected here are some of the most promising UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab efforts to secure our energy future.