Landscape

Introduction

The Global Energy Landscape and Materials Innovation

V.S. Arunachalam^a1 and E.L. Fleischer^a2

^a1 Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy, India

^a2 Materials Research Society, USA

Abstract

Availability of affordable energy has enabled spectacular growth of industrialization and human development in all parts of the world. With growth now accelerating in developing countries, demands on energy sources and infrastructure are being stretched to new limits. Additional energy issues include the push for renewable resources with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and energy security affected by the uneven distribution of energy resources around the globe. Together, these issues present a field of opportunity for innovations to address energy challenges throughout the world and all along the energy flow. These energy challenges form the backdrop for this special expanded issue of MRS Bulletin on Harnessing Materials for Energy. This article introduces the global landscape of materials issues associated with energy. It examines the complex web of energy availability, production, storage, transmission, distribution, use, and efficiency. It focuses on the materials challenges that lie at the core of these areas and discusses how revolutionary concepts can address them. Cross-cutting topics are introduced and interrelationships between topics explored. Article topics are set in the context of the grand energy challenges that face the world into the middle of this century.

V.S. Arunachalam, chair of the organizing committee for this issue of MRS Bulletin, can be reached at 547, 9th Cross, JP Nagar III Phase, Bangalore 560078, India; tel. +91–80–2649–1399, and e-mail vsa@cmu.edu.

Arunachalam is chair of the Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP), a Bangalore-based non-proft research corporation that studies technology and policy issues. He was the scientifc advisor to the Defense Minister of India for more than a decade and head of India's largest research and development institution—Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Arunachalam initiated and headed India's major defense projects, including light combat aircraft and integrated guided missiles programs. He also advised the government on large and innovative human development and infrastructure building programs. He continues to hold a distinguished service professorship at Carnegie Mellon University and is an honorary professor of engineering at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Arunachalam is a recipient of numerous honors and awards including Padma Vibhushan, the highest civilian award for that year from the president of India. He was the past president and fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian Institute of Metals, and a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and Indian Academy of Sciences. Arunachalam also is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK).

Elizabeth L. Fleischer, project leader for the organizing committee in this issue of MRS Bulletin, can be reached at the Materials Research Society, 506 Keystone Dr., Warrendale, PA 15086–7573, USA; tel. 724–779–3004, ext. 521, fax 724–779–8313, and e-mail feischer@mrs.org.

Fleischer has been employed by the Materials Research Society (MRS) since 1991 as technical editor and then editor of MRS Bulletin. She received her BSE degree in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania, her MS degree in 1988 from Cornell University, and her PhD degree in 1991 from Cornell-all in materials science and engineering. Fleischer was a research associate at the Tandem Accelerator Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania in 1983 and a technical associate in the III-V Semiconductor Processing Group at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1984. Fleischer is a member of the publications commission of the International Union of Materials Research Societies; was a principal investigator for MRS's traveling science exhibit, Strange Matter; and served as an advisor to Cornell University's 2004 “Too Small To See” science exhibition. From 2003 to 2004, she was a part of the Institute for Community Leadership in Education. Fleischer was an AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering fellow in 1989, and is a scientifc member of the Böhmische Physical Society, and is a column editor for the Council of Science Editors' Publication Science Editor. Fleischer also is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, and Council of Science Editors.