Encore: Hydrogen Cars, Ethanol, Wind Farms, and other Silly Ideas

Our Open Seating Policy (https://www.meetup.com/AtlantaScienceTavern/messages/boards/thread/14871501) will be in effect for this meetup.

Venue capacity = 80 / Estimated day-of RSVP turnout = 50%

Hydrogen Cars, Ethanol, Wind Farms, and other Silly Ideas

Stephen Fleming, Vice President
Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/1/d/4/event_118257812.jpegStephen's talk was originally inspired by an ad that BMW ran in 2006 (http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/may2006/bw20060505_260847.htm) promising a hydrogen engine that “produces near zero emissions. Which means the exhaust produces water vapor, not carbon dioxide. So it reduces pollution and greenhouse gases and lessens our dependence on imported oil.”

This struck him as silly, and he decided that he wanted to explain why. As it turned out, it was not the only silly idea bouncing around out there, most of them referenced in a Scientific American cover article (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-path-to-sustainable-energy-by-2030) from September 2011, “How to Get All Energy from Wind, Water, and Solar Power by 2030.”

Please join us to hear Stephen explore what he sees as a deeply flawed (and dangerous) vision for sustainability, one which, although attractive to some environmentalists, simply won't work.

Stephen Fleming is Vice President of the Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech, responsible for economic development and entrepreneurial support. He’s a Georgia Tech graduate who was a Bell Labs physicist, a telecommunications executive, and successful venture capitalist before returning to Georgia Tech in 2005. You read more about Stephen has to say on this and other matters on his blog Academic VC (http://academicvc.com/).