The future is low-carbon energy

发展可持续、低碳能源未来的最大挑战不再是技术，而是公众的接受程度。作为科学家和工程师，我们经常在向媒体和公众传达向低碳经济转型的必要性以及低碳能源选择背后的科学和工程发展方面做得很差。我们与公众沟通的失败导致了对低碳能源重要性的误解、不信任和普遍困惑。这个项目的目的是展示科学家和公众之间一种新型的直接接触。主题将是对低碳能源的迫切需求以及低碳能源选择背后的科学。这种参与完全是在线的，面向的是年轻人，他们通常在互联网上很活跃，但阅读印刷媒体的可能性要小得多。订婚将分为两部分。第一部分是五个系列研讨会，主题包括：碳捕获、碳储存、石油峰值、燃料电池和建设低碳经济。每次研讨会的目标出席人数为50人。研讨会将在虚拟世界“第二人生”中举行，并同时在网页上播放。第二部分是在社交网站Facebook上开发网页和网络。该网页将用于事先宣传活动，并在活动结束后存档研讨会的播客。该社交网络将用于宣传研讨会，也将成为一个论坛，来自世界各地的公众成员可以在其中讨论与能源相关的话题。会员也可以发布他们自己的能源和气候相关事件。作为该项目的一部分，社交网络和网页将维持至少一年。一年后，该社交网站将转交给其他网络成员无限期维护。随着时间的推移，这将使你能够接触到更多的观众，而不是那些参加最初活动的人。

The greatest challenge in development of a sustainable, low-carbon energy future is no longer technological, but rather public acceptance. As scientist and engineers, we often do a poor job of communicating to the press and the public the necessity of transitioning to a low-carbon economy and the scientific and engineering developments behind lower-carbon energy options. Our failure to communicate with the public results in misunderstanding, mistrust and general confusion as to why low-carbon energy is important.The purpose of this project is to demonstrate a new type of direct engagement between scientists and the public. The topic will be the immediate need for low-carbon energy and the science behind lower-carbon energy options. This engagement is entirely online and is geared towards young adults who are typically active on the internet but much less likely to read print media. The engagement will have two parts. The first part is a series of five seminars on the topics: carbon capture, carbon storage, peak oil, fuel cells, and building a low-carbon economy. The target attendance is 50 attendees at each seminar. The seminars will be held in the virtual world Second Life and simultaneously streamed on a webpage. The second part is the development of a webpage and a network on the social networking site Facebook. The webpage will serve to advertise the event beforehand and archive podcasts of the seminars after the event takes place. The social network will be used to advertise the seminars and will also be a forum in which members of the public from anywhere in the world can discuss energy-related topics with each other. Members will also be able to post their own energy- and climate-related events. As a part of this project the social network and webpage will be maintained for a minimum of one year. After one year the social network site will be turned over to other network members to be maintained indefinitely. This will enable contact with a much larger audience over time than those who attend the original engagement.