Global electricity demand is projected to nearly double by 2050, driven by the rapid electrification of buildings, transportation, and manufacturing. Compounding this pressure is the exponential growth of AI. While AI offers transformative potential across industries, it is also emerging as a significant energy consumer. Data centers, the digital engines powering AI, have more than doubled their electricity consumption since 2018 and now account for 4.4% of global demand. In the U.S., they are expected to consume up to 12% of total electricity by 2028.
This track will explore how the world can meet rising energy needs through the rapid expansion of sustainable energy production. From fusion and next-generation nuclear to renewables, grid-scale storage, decentralized systems, and forward-looking policies, we will examine the innovations and frameworks critical to building a resilient, low-carbon energy future. Addressing this challenge will require a bold vision, accelerated technological advancement, and unprecedented global collaboration.
Building on Principal Research Scientist Charles Forsberg’s research in advanced reactors and high-temperature energy systems, this talk highlights base-load nuclear reactors replacing the gas turbine to provide dispatchable electricity and heat to industry. There are two strategies. The first strategy stores heat from the reactor when low demand for dispatchable heat to industry or dispatchable electricity. Heat storage may exceed 200 hours. The second strategy converts low-price electricity into high-temperature (1700 °C) heat stored in firebrick. Air flows through the firebrick to provide hot air to industry or thermodynamic topping cycles for nuclear reactors, so that peak power is more than twice the base-load electricity output. Both options are enabled by recent inventions and developments.
Sergey Paltsev will explore the future of sustainable energy in a “power-hungry” world, focusing on the interplay between global energy systems, economic forces, and climate policy. Drawing on integrated global economic modeling, his talk will examine pathways for decarbonization, technology deployment, and policy interventions that can balance energy demand, environmental constraints, and economic growth. Attendees will gain insights into how strategic decisions at the intersection of technology, policy, and economics can shape a sustainable energy future.
Engineering principles and biological insights can open up new capabilities for biotechnology. This talk will highlight two solutions to challenges faced in improving patient care. First, applying basic principles in chemical engineering to the limitations in blood-based cancer diagnostics today led to new approaches to enhance the amounts of cell-free DNA recovered using a novel 'enhancing agent' similar to contrast agents used in other diagnostics. Second, leveraging biological insights to recast the engineering operations required to enable small biomanufacturing systems for distributed and lower capital-intensive production.
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