Summary of lecture 3

This blog is a report on the series of lectures by Professor David Palmer, Dr. Benjamin Sovacool and Associate professor Bala on the 30^th of January.

Professor David Palmer gave a brief lecture on carbon capture and storage. He set off by giving a brief insight into the increasing levels of carbon dioxide and its possible remedies. He then illustrated the two types of carbon capture storage methods namely – oil field dumping and ocean storage. He went on to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both the techniques. He concluded by talking on the feasibility and the barriers involved in implementing carbon capture and storage.

The next speaker Dr. Benjamin Sovacool’s lecture was primarily on science and technology studies. He initiated his lecture by giving a brief introduction to STS and continued to talk about the traditional approach to new technology. He explained the hitches involved in traditional approach to technology. He went on to epitomize this with the help of two case studies on renewable energy and electric cars. He described the political, behavioral, economic, technological and cultural challenges concerned to renewable energy and electric cars. He concluded by emphasizing that STS is a unique and efficient approach to technology.

The last speaker Professor Bala based his talk on global warming and its alleviation. He explained the various effects of green house gases and highlighted ways to regulate the emission of green house gases particularly through Carbon capture and Sequestration. He concluded by briefing on what the government and every individual can do to help mitigate climate change.

I personally liked Dr. Sovalcool’s talk mainly because STS is a very different approach and involves social and cultural factors unlike the traditional approaches. The two case studies were very insightful and the cultural challenges for each of them were something I had never known before.