The Open Forum is an on-going lecture series aimed at broadening the understanding of important topics related to energy and the environment among a diverse, multidisciplinary audience. Faculty, students, and research fellows from all schools and disciplines are encouraged to attend. Presentations will provide introductory material to motivate a discussion of critical scientific, engineering, and economic challenges in the field. The overarching goal is to educate a significant cross-section of the campus community and motivate the research necessary to address energy challenges. The inaugural Open Forum lecture series in 2009 covered topics related to carbon dioxide, its impact on the earth's climate, and technological approaches to mitigate its emission. This semester turns to the discussion of solar energy conversion.

The sun provides the earth with approximately 120,000 TW of energy averaged annually. Said another way, more sunlight energy strikes the earth in 1 hour than all the energy consumed worldwide in an entire year. This suggests that a significant impact would result from the efficient and scalable collection, conversion, and storage of solar radiation. A number of approaches currently exist to harness sunlight energy and the major challenges to their widespread deployment will be emphasized during this semester's lecture series.

Remaining Lecture Schedule:

• April 29: Direct Sunlight to Fuels - Jake Soper, Georgia Tech School of Chemistry