At MIT, energy research tends to be industry friendly, and a talk on Monday promises to be no exception Prof. Richard Lester, Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, will be promoting his new book on energy innovation. Lester is a strong advocate of nuclear power as one of the answers to the declining stores of fossil fuel.
But then on Tuesday, a groups of activists artists from Maine will come to campus with" the collaboratively designed large-scale posters which weave together narratives and sharply examined social consequences of technological change." Their target – coal and mountaintop mining
RIchard Lester will discuss key ideas from his forthcoming book titled “Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System,” co-authored by Prof. David M. Hart of George Mason University. Energy innovation offers the best chance to solve the three urgent and interrelated problems of climate change, worldwide insecurity over energy supplies, and rapidly growing energy demand. But if we are to achieve a timely transition to reliable, low-cost, low-carbon energy, the U.S. energy innovation system must be radically overhauled. Lester and Hart map three waves of energy innovation to show how we can speed up the introduction of new technologies and business models and accelerate their deployment on a massive scale.
5 pm, 25 Ames St. Open to: the general public
For more information, contact: MIT Energy Club energyclub@mit.edu
Then, the next day:
The True Cost of Coal: The Beehive Design Collective ’s Depiction of a Complex Socio-Technical Issue
Stata Center 32 Vassar Street, room 141
The Beehive Design Collective, based in Machais, Maine, are presenting their collaboratively designed large-scale posters which weave together narratives and sharply examined social consequences of technological change. This exciting event will be interactive with discussion of the process of creating such a work followed with an interactive workshop. The True Cost of Coal is dense with metaphors drawn from the natural world. It is rooted in history, grounded in the grinding urgency of Mountain Top Removal, fueled by the looming threat of climate change, and guided by the robust, grassroots resistance of everyday Appalachians. touring the country It is about communities envisioning, building, and defending a better world every day, in a million ways. Art supplies will be provided, as will refreshments.