The First Secretary of Climate Change

Turning Berkeley Lab into a mecca for climate-change research might have been overreaching, but former director Steve Chu had a lot to offer the scientists he sought to attract, including the facilities of one of the nation's largest research labs and freedom from the academic infighting often found in smaller university physics departments. At Lawrence Berkeley, Chu succeeded in starting many of the blue-sky programs he hopes will lead to genuine breakthroughs. One Lawrence Berkeley team is working on automated demand response, a feature of a new, "smart" electric grid that will help lower energy use at peak hours. Another wants to genetically alter plant species like switchgrass and miscanthus for use as biofuels. Yet another is bioengineering synthetic microbes to break down cellulose in wild grasses or poplar trees, to make a gasoline substitute that's greener than corn-based ethanols. More>