Roger Aines, Chief Scientist, Energy and Homeland Security Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Speaker Biography: Roger Aines is the Chief Scientist of the Energy and Homeland Security Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Aines leads the Carbon Initiative at LLNL, which aims to understand, develop, and implement technologies for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere—so-called negative emissions technologies.

Aines has been at LLNL since 1984 working on nuclear waste disposal, environmental remediation, application of stochastic methods to inversion and data fusion, management of carbon emissions including separation technology, and monitoring and verification methods for sequestration. With Amy Aines, he authored the recently released Championing Science, a book that helps scientists communicate more effectively with decision makers.

Abstract: We will need to remove enormous amounts of CO2 from the air if we are to come close to our desired temperature targets. The science and engineering behind the removal methods is incredibly varied. This is an opportunity for incredible advances, and a responsibility for technologists to consider not just energy efficiency, or cost, or other technical parameters, but also to consider how cleaning up the atmosphere will affect people’s lives. Aines will address the major options for negative emissions, highlight some of the engineering challenges, and discuss the opportunities for UT engineers to change the world.

About the UT Energy Symposium:

The UT Energy Symposium is a weekly guest lecture series that is both free and open to the public and available for course credit.

In an effort to provide a multi-disciplinary platform for UT faculty and students to interact on the most pressing energy issues facing our world, the Energy Institute sponsors the UT Energy Symposium (UTES), which will enter its 24th semester in spring 2023. 

The UTES serves as a “convener” for the campus community, uniting students interested in energy issues with faculty and others working on sustainable energy security. Students who register for the symposium receive one credit hour for the 15-week seminar course, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Ongoing themes for UTES include climate change policy, innovation and diffusion of energy technologies, low-carbon technology options and status, and behavioral aspects of energy consumption.

Each UTES talk will be recorded and posted on this page and on the Energy Institute YouTube channel following the event.