In the face of climate change, a Nobel Prize winner says, the nation's energy supply should be 50 percent renewables in the next 20 years.

"People say the amount of wind energy has gone up," said Dr. Steve Chu, director of Berkeley Lab and co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. "But it's still only about 1 percent of electricity generation in the U.S."

Chu is the keynote speaker for the state Renewable Fuels Action Summit; the opening remarks begin today at 8:30 a.m. at Bismarck State College and the keynote speech by Chu is at 9 a.m.

Chu, who began his career in laboratory research as a postdoctoral fellow in physics at the University of California's Berkeley campus, will discuss climate and energy problems and costs in the United States, challenges and potential solutions - both on the energy efficiency side and on new supplies of energy - and future technology.

The problems? Climate change and pollution are among them, Chu said in an interview with the Tribune.

"The western U.S. is facing permanent drought," Chu said."There won't be enough water. It will kill the agriculture industry."

He also said that per person, Americans puts out two to three times more carbon than Europeans, for example. But it's possible to increase energy efficiency and decrease that number by a factor of two without significantly changing individual lifestyles, Chu said.

But there are hurdles; currently, only 1 to 2 percent of energy use in the United States is renewable wind energy, Chu said. Other nations range from 10 percent to 20 percent; Denmark now gets 20 percent of its electricity from wind, Chu said. England is heading in the same direction.

Nationally, challenges in the United States include distribution, transportation and storage.

"We desperately need energy storage, if renewables are going to get past 10 percent,"Chu said.

North Dakota has strength in its excellent wind resources, but lacks opportunities in getting wind on the grid. In fact, this topic is up for a panel discussion at 1:30 p.m.

"We have to think about how to modernize the energy distribution methods,"Chu said.

Interest groups and critics of climate change counter that aggressive benchmarks and standards on renewables places an undue cost on the consumer and the companies producing the energy.

"The problem is very, very serious," Chu said. "Most Americans don't realize that in this century, there could be huge economic upheaval."

He said the disaster scenario is that policy makers bow to intense lobby pressure; not making great strides in renewables would "make Kevorkian look like the angel of mercy, as this looks like self-inflicted suicide."

As for the states whose industries are dependent on producing coal and oil, Chu said he agreed that change would affect jobs. The question, he said, is whether they could be replaced by the renewables industry.

"In the end, does it really serve people that well, to try to cling to something that's dying?" he said. "In the end, you're doing yourself a disservice."

The Renewable Fuels Action Summit begins today at 9 a.m. with Chu's keynote speech; several panels throughout the day will discuss topics such as wind energy, biofuels and feedstock.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or at crystal.reid@bismarcktribune.com.)