论文标题
太阳能电池材料中博士学位的碳成本
The carbon cost of a PhD in solar cell materials
论文作者
论文摘要
科学研究可以在开发可再生能源技术（例如太阳能电池）方面带来重要进展。但是，除了积极的影响外，研究还付出了代价，其中一种成本是与进行研究和生产技术相关的CO $ _2 $足迹。在这里，作为这种成本的一个例子，我估计了与我的博士学位相关的相关温室气体（GHG）排放，其中我研究了用于光伏的薄膜材料的计算和实验设计。我认为超级计算机功率，同步束时间，实验室合成和表征，与研究相关的旅行以及在我的博士学位过程中的个人排放。该分析表明，进行科学将我的碳足迹提高到比普通美国人高得多的。由于我们的消费如此之高，因此科学家有道德上的必要性，可以减少我们在实验室和创造技术中的排放。
Scientific research can bring about important progress in developing renewable energy technology such as solar cells. However, in addition to positive impact, research also comes at a cost, and one such cost is the CO$_2$ footprint associated with doing research and producing technologies. Here, as an example of such a cost, I estimate the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with my PhD, in which I researched computational and experimental design of thin film materials for photovoltaics. I consider supercomputer power, synchrotron beam time, laboratory synthesis and characterization, travel associated with research, and personal emissions over the course of my PhD. This analysis demonstrates that doing science increases my carbon footprint to much higher than an average American. Because our consumption is so high, scientists have a moral imperative to reduce our own emissions in our laboratories and in the technologies we create.
