Perhaps the greatest challenge facing humankind in the 21st century is to provide sustainable energy sources to meet the demands for quality of life and economic growth in both the developed and developing world. The need for addressing this energy challenge is greater than at any time in the recent past. This is driven by several factors that together constitute a “perfect storm” requiring our response. These drivers include supply and demand, security, and environmental concerns. Consider that over the next half century global energy use is expected to double and global electricity demand is expected to triple. These increases will call for a significant increase in fossil fuel supplies; alternatively enormous changes in global energy infrastructure will be required. Security concerns are highlighted by the geographical and geopolitical realities of the locations of energy supplies and of the primary users of these resources, principally oil and natural gas. Finally, carbon dioxide emissions associated with combustion of fossil fuels are increasingly of central concern in global climate change. This concern will drive decisions about the evolution of the global energy system, namely whether it will evolve in a business-as-usual path or whether we will turn to less carbon intensive or carbon-neutral energy sources. I will discuss these factors and why they make a compelling case for devoting significant effort to energy now.

MIT has developed a broad response to this energy challenge that (1) provides the enabling basic science and technology that may underpin major transformation of the global energy system in several decades, (2) develops the technology and policy needed to make today’s energy systems more effective, secure, and environmentally responsible, and (3) creates the energy technology and systems design needed for a rapidly developing world. By design we cut across different time scales as well as across many technologies. An underlying consideration in the design of the MIT Energy Initiative is the goal of providing options for the future, rather than betting on specific technologies at this point in time. The MIT Energy Initiative builds on extraordinary and broad disciplinary strength, on a long standing institutional commitment to bringing science and technology to bear on addressing important societal challenges, and on a culture that fosters cross disciplinary research, technology transfer, and close cooperation with industry and government.