30 Scientific American, May 2011 ScientificAmerican.com/may2011Comment at

AdvAnces

ScientiSt in the Field

“let’s Go for it”The leader of the government’s push into alternative energy talks about fuel-making microbes, the next industrial revolution and how soon his high-risk projects will reach the market

What is ARPA–e’s mandate?The wise thought leaders who created ARPA-e felt that a place to go and try out a new, high-risk idea did not exist. [That is] what ARPA-e was created for.

We are saying that if energy is the next industrial revolution and if we are going to be competi-tive in this globally competitive world, and we are falling behind right now, gosh, let’s go for it. You need ARPA-e to look for short-term translation of science into technology.

What kinds of projects is ARPA-e funding? Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are making progress on electro fuels [using microbes to turn carbon dioxide back into liquid fuels similar to gasoline]. They have got a new catalyst that is cheaper, and they are taking that catalyst and attaching it to a microbe, and that’s supposed to produce the hydrogen that the bug will consume to produce electrofuels. I don’t think they have any idea whether the catalyst will actually work when at-tached to the bug, but you’ve got to just try it out. Now that’s risky. But there are slightly less risky projects as well.

This high-risk research also includes developing better batteries for electric cars, cheaper photovoltaics and power electronics (superefficient electrical converters). When will these projects start to deliver?My most optimistic estimate is 10 years for when these products will actually be in the hands of consumers or placed in the energy infrastructure. But frankly, look at how long the Internet took, from 1968, and ARPAnet to the late 1980s.

That’s 20 years. That’s the sort of time scale we should be looking at.

Which programs can deliver fastest?Electrofuels are really in an early stage. I don’t think we should expect that

any time soon. Maybe power electronics.

How do you decide when something’s a failure?Usually if a project does not meet its milestones [after an extension of] two or three months. We give them a little window instead of just cutting them off.

Still, our primary goal is to help re-searchers reach their milestones and move forward. We tell our folks, look, if something’s not working and we terminate a project, don’t take it person-ally. Come back again, and we will try to support you. —Interview by David Biello

name� Arun Majumdartitle� Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energylocation Washington, D.C.

p r o f i l e

“And Houston, Discovery, for the

final time, wheels stopped.”

—Steven W. Lindsey of the U.S. Air Force guiding the shuttle Discovery

back from its final flight.

Q u o t a b l e

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Scientific AmericAnmArketplAce

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contact beth boyle914.461.3269 or

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Untitled-2 1 3/25/11 2:03:04 PM

May 2011, Scientifi cAmerican.com 31

COUR

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JEAN

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The FDA approved biotech drug

Benlysta to treat lupus, the fi rst new

treatment for the autoimmune

disease in 50 years. It is also the fi rst

drug ever developed specifi cally to

target the debilita-ting affl iction.

Call your broker.

A study in rats showed that poor nutrition during preg nancy caused a higher risk of disease for off spring in later life. An apple a day could keep the doctor away 50 years from now.

Genius

The last fl ight of shuttle Discovery

marked the begin-ning of the end of

the 30-year-old “space bus”

program. After June’s fi nal Atlantis

mission, the U.S. will have to depend

on Russia to get astronauts to the

International Space Station. Holy Sputnik.

Gamblers beware: sleep deprivation may increase a sense of optimism, causing people to take bigger risks. No wonder casinos hand out free cigarettes and hide the clocks.

Self-proclaimed tiger-blooded,

Adonis-DNAed warlock Charlie

Sheen was labeled bipolar by “experts”

who have never met him.

—George Hackett

N E WS S CA N

Folly

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