July 20: Energy Critical Elements

Wednesday, July 20, 3-4pm
Physics Building 416

Legislative Updates:
From the American Institute of Physics at http://www.aip.org/fyi

Energy Critical Elements: Securing Materials for Emerging Technologies
From the American Physical Society's Panel on Public Affairs
Executive Summary: The twin pressures of increasing demand for energy and concern about climate change have stimulated research into new sources of energy and novel ways to store, transmit, transform and conserve it. Scientific advances have enabled researcher to identify chemical elements with properties that meet their specific needs and to employ these elements in energy-related technologies. Elements, such as gallium, indium, lanthanum, neodymium, and tellurium, that were once laboratory curiosities, now prominently figure in discussions of novel energy systems. Many of these elements are not presently mined, refined, or traded in large quantities.

Table of contents:

1. Introduction - What is an "energy critical element"?
2. Constraints on Availability of Energy-Critical Elements, including crustal abundance, concentration and distribution; geopolitical risks; the risks of joint production; environmental and social concerns; response times in production and utilization
   
3. Responses: Findings and Recommendations, including coordination; information; research, development and workforce issues; the role of material efficiency; and possible market interventions
4. Appendices
   

July 13: Science Policy Bootcamp!!!

Wednesday, July 13, 3-4pm
Physics 416

Legislative Updates (from the AIP)

• July 7, Obama Administration Responds to House FY 2012 Defense and DOE Funding Bills
• July 7, American Astronomical Society Urges Continuation of Funding for James Webb Space Telescope
• July 11, GAO Faults DOE in Helium-3 Shortage
• July 13, House Rejects Amendment to Allocate $10 Million in DOE Funding Bill for Pu-238 Production
• July 13, House Rejects Amendments to Increase FY 2012 ARPA-E Funding, Cut DOE Funding

Science Policy Bootcamp - Day 1
Presented by Joe
Source: MIT's open-courseware, Science Policy Bootcamp

July 6: Wildfire Policy

Wednesday, July 6, 2011
3-4pm
Phy 416

Legislative Updates:

• June 30, Coalition Supports FY 2012 Budget Request for the National Science Foundation
• June 30, House Science Committee Grills NOAA Administrator about Climate Service
• July 5, AIP Supports Resumption of Pu-238 Production
• July 6, First Information on House FY 2012 Appropriations for NASA, NIST, NSF, OSTP, USGS

Wildfires: How we fight them vs. the science of how they spread
Presented by Mark
Source: Forest-fire model with natural fire resistance

Welcome!

Welcome to the Physics/Science Policy Journal Club, a group of graduates and faculty at the University of California - Davis devoted to learning more about the intersection of science and policy.

Meetings - We meet each Wednesday, 3-4pm, in the Physics Building, rm 416.

Format - Each meeting includes

1. Legislative updates from the past week, from the American Institute of Physics.
2. In-depth study of a particular topic/paper.

We'll post future topics here as well as to our listserv. Subscribe to sci-policy@physics.ucdavis.edu.