$100 Million Precourt Institute for Energy
Lynn Orr, a professor in energy resources engineering and the director of Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), where researchers are involved in more than forty research projects to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy, has been named head of the Institute. Speaking to the institute's focus, Orr claims that the "biggest renewable resource is the sun." Despite this abundant source of energy, there are still drawbacks, namely costs. Orr went on to say:
"[W]e need to lower the cost of converting sunlight into electricity and supplying it through a much improved electric grid. The new center will allow us to expand significantly our effort to develop new nanostructured materials for solar energy and energy storage and to work on the host of social, market and policy issues involved in the needed transition to energy systems with significant fractions of renewables."
Stanford's initiative will generate seven or eight new faculty positions as well as make available upwards of twenty fellowships for graduate and doctoral students. Stanford's President, John Hennessy, noted that the institute is helping to create a "future where renewable energy is both economically competitive and environmentally friendly and becomes the energy source of choice...Our success will impact millions if not billions of lives across our planet."
