In this hour of Science Friday, Ira and guests talk about a variety of energy technologies being proposed as potential ways to reduce global climate change. First, we'll hear about a new study looking at the environmental and health effects of increased use of ethanol-based fuels. Although fuels such as E85 reduce the use of oil, and decrease CO2 emissions, new health models have found that increased use of E85 could lead to more cases of ozone-related deaths, hospitalization, and asthma.

Then, we'll talk about new approaches to solar technology. One company, Nanosolar, says it has a way to make solar panels at a much lower cost than conventional methods. Finally, we'll look at the improvements in battery technology that will be needed to make electric cars and other environmentally-friendly products more feasible.
More Solar

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Want to know more about solar power? Listen to highlights from a previous Science Friday discussion on solar energy.

 

 

Guests:
Mark Z. Jacobson
Cofounder and Director, Atmosphere/Energy Program
Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Stanford University
Stanford, California

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Chris Eberspacher
Chief Scientist
Nanosolar, Inc.
Palo Alto, California

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Tom Fuller
Principal research engineer at Georgia Tech Research Institute
Director, Center for Innovative Fuel-cell and Battery Technologies
Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia

Books/Articles Discussed:

Effects of Ethanol (E85) versus Gasoline Vehicles on Cancer and Mortality in the United States

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)

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This segment produced by Charles Bergquist