Applied Energy Symposium 2020

The IPCC report “Global Warming of 1.5°C” (Oct. 2018) issued a dire warning that unless CO2 emissions are halved by 2030, devastating changes, which will be sooner than expected and irreversible, will occur in ocean and on land. Time is running out for transitioning to new energy systems globally. Logic and numbers show that the world must take a two-step approach: (A) deploy existing, industrially proven technologies, namely solar, wind and nuclear base load at an unprecedented scale and pace, from now to 2050 -- when a house catches fire, firemen must run to the closest hydrants and stop disputing which water stream would be purer; and (B) develop new concepts and technologies that may replace the dirtier parts of (A) post-2050, at terawatt scale.

The Applied Energy Symposium: MIT “A+B” (MITAB) is dedicated to the accelerated deployment of (A), and new concepts and emerging technologies for (B). For (A), reducing capital and operating costs, managing social dynamics, and minimizing environmental impact while maintaining extreme productivity are key; automation, artificial intelligence, social mobilization, governmental actions and international coordination will provide essential boosts. For (B), we seek new concepts and emerging technologies (e.g. fusion power engineering, superconducting transmission, etc.) that stand a chance to scale to terawatts after 30 years, i.e. “baby technologies” can grow to adulthood in 20-30 years.

MITAB 2020 consists of a three-day symposium on Aug 12-14, 2020, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. All presentations (with the author’s permission) will be video recorded and posted on YouTube or other open sources for public dissemination. Outstanding presentations will be recommended by the session chair and scientific committee to be further considered for publication in a special issue of Applied Energy (journal Impact Factor 8.4, please find more information at. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-energy).