This year’s Selby Fellow, Professor Federico Rosei, will deliver a lunchtime lecture at Flinders on Monday 14 November.

He will speak on “Renewable energy and climate change: grand challenges in the 21st century”, from 12pm in the Alere Function Centre.

Professor Rosei is the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage.

The Selby Fellowship is an annual award given by the Australian Academy of Science to distinguished overseas scientists to fund visits and public lectures throughout Australia.

Professor Rosei will also give a public lecture on humanity’s ‘energy crisis, and what to do next’ at the University of Adelaide on Tuesday 15 November.

About Professor Rosei’s lecture:

As the age of fossil fuels is coming to an end, humanity is experiencing an energy crisis. Many alternative energy sources have already been identified. However, there is no optimal solution to replace fossil fuels on a short time scale with new sources that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable in the long term. History reports disastrous consequences for human societies that exploited their resources in a non-sustainable way, with a striking resemblance to our current situation. This public lecture aims at promoting awareness about the energy challenge, which is arguably humanity’s greatest challenge in the 21st century. The discussion also extends to climate change, for which there is overwhelming evidence and which is causing frequent extreme weather events with often catastrophic consequences. Some possible solutions are discussed, involving the use of advanced materials and nanotechnology for energy saving, energy storage and energy conversion. These activities fall under the umbrella of the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage.

Professor Federico Rosei is the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage at the INRS Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications.