Responding to the Challenges of Climate Change:
Exploiting, Harnessing and Enhancing the Opportunities of Clean Energy
The 2017-Forum Math-For-Industry is returning to Hawaii, and its theme is inspired by thealarming trend of climate change and its effect on the life on Earth along with the associatedgrowing world-wide initiatives in renewable energy, as well as the priority for the State ofHawaii to eliminate its dependence on fossil fuel.
There is almost a unanimous agreement among climate scientists that man-made climatechange is a reality. In 2015, for the first time, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reacheda symbolic threshold when they were at 400 parts per million (ppm) on average across theyear as a whole, and experts suggest it will not dip below the 400ppm mark again for many
generations. Renewable energy technologies are vital to reduce the environmental impact andthey are sustainable. The last decades have seen a rise in human conscience regarding thenegative impact of using fossil oils on the environment as well as the fact that they are finiteand will some day be depleted.
It is the harnessing and exploitation of energy that drives the dynamics of human evolution
and existence. Either directly or indirectly, the energy that is used comes or has come fromthe sun. Historically, for example, because of its abundance and energy efficiency, coal wasand continues to be burnt to make the steam which drive the turbines which generate theelectricity which exploits the ground breaking experimental work of Faraday. Similar
scenarios hold for the utilisation of petroleum. Climate change has been and is a continuing
negative reaction to such actions.
To ameliorate the consequences, new protocols for generating the required energy are being
developed which build on the clean energy opportunities including wind, solar, hydro andstorage. The expansion of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel is one of the grand scientificchallenges of the 21st century.
Success will depend heavily on the ingenuity of the science, technology, engineering andmathematics utilised. These challenges are inherently complex and require interdisciplinary
approaches to and truly innovative solutions. Consequently, the goal of the Forum is tofacilitate a discussion about the role that mathematics-for-industry can play in exploiting,harnessing and enhancing clean energy opportunities and strategies. Bringing mathematicians
together with scientists and engineers working on clean energy offers great opportunities toadvance the frontiers of mathematical sciences and provide novel mathematical solutions tocurrent challenges, such as the development and management of smart grids.
At the Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego in January 2008 Gerald North of theDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M said: “The influence of climate change
on mathematical research in the twenty-first century could be comparable to physics' acentury ago". The final speaker of the symposium was Congressman Jerry McNerney (firstmember of the US Congress to hold a Ph.D. in mathematics), and he urged mathematicians tobecome active both professionally and politically in climate change issues. Nine years later
this still holds true, and more than ever mathematicians need to play a key role in developing
alternative sources of energy and other technological innovations to mitigate and adapt toclimate change.