The Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment and the Provost Lecture Series present the 2024 Public Lecture with Harriet Kung

"Science for Energy"

The 21st century brings with it staggering challenges for more advanced energy technologies that are abundant, clean, and sustainable. Transforming the ways we generate, supply, transmit, store, and use energy are the paramount opportunities for the world in the coming decades. To convert sunlight to fuel, store energy efficiently or enable a new generation of energy production and utilization technologies requires the development of new materials and processes with unprecedented functionality and performance. This talk will provide an overview of DOE’s Office of Science, which has a mission of delivering scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States. The DOE Office of Science is the nation’s largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and for decades has been a major supporter of research in such key scientific fields as physics, materials science, and chemistry. Along with the DOE National Laboratory System, the Office of Science is working to ensure U.S. leadership in science and innovations. This talk will also cover a key aspect of our portfolio in critical and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, microelectronics, and fusion. These technologies will be a major source of new discoveries and breakthroughs, strengthen our economic prosperity, and increase access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy.