What is sciences role in addressing energy problems?
There have to be some breakthroughs. Our current solar technology is silicon photocells. I think it will go down in price by a factor of two, maybe more, within the next decade. However, if you step back and ask, “What would it take for a utility company to start putting hundreds and hundreds of megawatts of solar energy in a desert where the land is cheap? What’s preventing this from happening?” it’s the cost of installment—capital costs. So we do need a breakthrough. We need a breakthrough of a factor of five in the overall cost of the system. We need a breakthrough in energy storage technology. We need the next-generation photovoltaics. The stimulus includes $400 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. What’s its mission? What I’d like to see it do is make investments in very high-risk efforts, very much in a venture capital mode, where you sprinkle money on various projects, give each one a three-year leash, and say, “Is this going to work or not?” If it looks l
