The Tuesday, July 31, 2012 talk for the local (Vancouver, Canada) Café Scientifique will be given by Dr. Michael O. Wolf, a chemist at the University of British Columbia. The talk is schedule for  7:30 pm at the Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir St., 2nd floor andWolf’s topic is,

How nanomaterials can be used to change the way we collect and store energy in the future.
Growing global energy demands and the potential for environmental catastrophe require a dramatic shift in how we obtain and utilize energy. The vast majority of energy currently used by humans is produced by combustion of fossil fuels.  Fossil fuel consumption is driving significant increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, threatening the planet with mass extinctions, starvation, and rising sea levels. With global energy demands projected to increase by 50% in the next 25 years, the rapid development of renewable “clean” energy sources, as well as methods to store this energy and harness it, are needed.  This talk will explore how a special class of substances called nanomaterials offer the potential of breakthroughs in solar energy harvesing and energy storage.

Wolf’s research page is here and the Wolf Research Group page is here.