A member of Sen. Richard Lugar's advisory board for renewable energy spoke on campus Thursday night.
Bob Galyen talked about big dreams for the automotive industry and a possible impending doom for the world's ability to access energy in the future.
Galyen has been a part of electric and hybrid car programs at General Motors, Delphi, Ford, Honda and Toyota for more than a decade. He said if automobile manufacturers can't find alternative ways of fueling their cars soon, energy shortages would be a certainty.
"There is an enormous concern over the accelerated rate at which petroleum is being consumed worldwide," Galyen said to a group of Ball State students and faculty. "If some new technology doesn't slow it down, we will run out of fuel so to speak sometime this century."
He cited China and India becoming industrialized nations as one of the biggest issues facing the world's ability to supply energy to all those who need it.
Galyen also presented a slideshow outlining the benefits and future challenges that electric cars could have.
Senior environmental management major Andrea Rode said she enjoyed Galyen's presentation, but it made her outlook on the world's energy consumption bleaker.
"I'm kind of disappointed in the electric car after seeing the presentation," Rode said. "For lithium [for car batteries] you have to go drill off shore or in other countries, which is what we're doing for oil. It feels like we're just getting something that may last a little longer, but it's basically the same principle."
Galyen said he wouldn't be surprised to see changes in science departments at universities in the next 10 to 20 years that would cater to a higher demand for research in battery efficiency technologies and materials that would better conduct electricity.
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