Power to Choose: How the energy choices people make will change their lives.

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• Dr Saul Griffith, Makani Power
• Wednesday 03 December 2008, 16:15-17:15
• Pippard Lecture Theatre, Cavendish Laboratory.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact David MacKay.

The average American uses 11400 Watts of power continuously. This is the equivalent of burning 114×100 Watt light bulbs, all the time. The average person globally uses 2255 Watts of power, or a little less than 23×100 Watt light bulbs.

What are the consequences of us all using this much power?

What is the implied challenge of global warming in terms of how we produce power?

What are the things we do as individuals in terms of using power that we might change?

Saul Griffith gives us a realistic, data-driven to do list on how we might change our behaviors as individuals as well as our collective behavior as societies and global citizens, if we are to meet the great challenge of the 21st century – how to live in a world where we increasingly understand the resources to be finite, and the consequences of our actions complex & inter-twined.

What temperature do we set climate change at? What CO2 concentration does this imply we need to aim at? How much power can we get from fossil fuels while still meeting this goal? How much power do we need to install and produce from non-carbon technologies? What does this mean for countries, corporations, and individuals?

Dr. Griffith’s Biography

Dr. Saul Griffith has multiple degrees in materials science and mechanical engineering and completed his PhD in Programmable Assembly and Self Replicating machines at MIT . He is the co-founder of numerous companies including: Optiopia, Squid Labs, Potenco, Instructables.com, HowToons and Makani Power. Saul has been awarded numerous awards for invention including the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Collegiate Inventor’s award, and the Lemelson-MIT Student prize. In 2007, Saul was named a MacArthur Fellow. A large focus of Saul’s research efforts are in minimum and constrained energy surfaces for novel manufacturing techniques and other applications. Saul holds multiple patents and patents pending in textiles, optics, nanotechnology, and energy production. Saul co-authors children’s comic books called HowToons about building your own science and engineering gadgets with Nick Dragotta and Joost Bonsen. Saul is a technical advisor to Make magazine and Popular Mechanics. Saul is a columnist and regular contributor to Make and Craft magazines.

http://www.wattzon.org

http://www.saulgriffith.com

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