BERC Energy Summit: ENERGY PRIMER HOW DO WE GET UNDER 2˚C?

For the event registration, click here.   This session will familiarize participants with the tools and challenges to limiting climate change on a global scale. We will use the en-ROADs Climate Action simulation game, a role-play exercise that provides a unique opportunity to explore real world energy challenges by mimicking the UN climate change negotiations. Participants will be divided into different energy interest groups and have hands-on experience negotiating and presenting their platforms. This session will use the en-ROADs climate simulator to measure the corresponding climate effects and spark discussion guided by energy and climate experts.

Join Dan Kammen at the MIT Club of Northern California talk, “Has the clean energy revolution finally begun?”

Event website: click here. PCC’s October 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ˚C (IPCC 2018) is a stark reminder of the global climate-change threat and a strongly motivating call to abate it. While the challenges keep growing, our tools to green the economy have never been greater.  What is critical today is to rapidly scale up the ‘solutions science’ of technical, economic, social, and equitable social and policy approaches that are in keeping with the IPCC 1.5 guideline. To accomplish this seemingly impossible set of objectives, an aggressive innovation-to-action pipeline is needed, not just in resource-rich economies like California, but in some of the poorest places on the planet.  This push of use-inspired, mission-driven research and scale-up will depend on California like never before.  Testing and implementing new technologies that benefit the disadvantaged, not just the affluent, building carbon-smart infrastructure, and preserving and repairing degraded and under-protected natural areas all must rise rapidly to local and global agendas.  

Mining Plastic: Harvesting Stored Energy in a Re-​​use Revolution

To spur action, the perception of discarded plastics must change from burdensome waste to a physical store of non-renewable resources. Major investment in developing catalysts, processes, and infrastructure for energetically efficient chemical recycling is critical. It is time for governments to commit to “mining” plastics.

November 21, 2019 — Special RAEL Workshop with the Reiner Lemoine Institute — The role of micro-​​grids in energy systems of the future

  For more on the Reiner Lemoine Institute, click here.

November 13, 2019 — RAEL Lunch: Energy and environmental assessments in California and Mexico

(L to R) Patricio Villarreal  - Josue Maldonado - Uriel Derrant

Students from Tec de Monterrey (Industrial Physics and Mech. Eng.), sponsored by CITRIS to do a research internship this Fall at UC Berkeley.

Under the guidance of Dr. Sergio Castellanos, the students will present on their research progress to date regarding assessment of energy and environmental opportunities in California.

November 6, 2019 — RAEL Lunch: “RAEL energy modeling efforts in East Africa”

November 6th @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Barrows 310)

Abstract:

Access to 'affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all' is both a UN Sustainable Development Goal, and a key enabler for nearly all of the other sustainable development goals. In Sub-Saharan Africa in 2014, nearly 610 million individuals lacked access to energy as reported by the World Bank. Therefore, these economies face dual challenges of sustainably expanding and improving their energy supply and reliability while at the same time reducing poverty.

The RAEL lab has engaged in many research efforts over the years with the goal of sustainably improving energy access. Today, we will present a sample of RAEL's recent energy modeling efforts in East Africa such as SWITCH Kenya, SWITCH Uganda, and the Grid and Access Planning Model (GAP). We look forward to your insight and comments.

Figure: Isa Ferrall participating in a solar training course at the Solar Energy Research Center at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya.

Figure: Serena Patel in Lamu, with Save Lamu and deCOALonize campaigners to talk to fishermen

Lecture, The MIT Club of Northern California, “Has the Green Energy Revolution Finally Begun”

Addressing Conflict and Inequity through Energy Access in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

September 25, 2019: RAEL Lunch with Kenji Shiraishi, “A new geospatial modeling approach to clean energy deployment in Japan”.

RAEL and GSPP PhD student Kenji Shiraishi - who was involved in the Fukushima-Daiichi cleanup while employed in the Japanese Ministry the Environment -- will present his work on a new geospatial multi-criteria decision analysis method with spatial regression to identify Japan’s high-quality onshore wind energy potential. After identifying the economic potential of grid-connected onshore wind with a GIS-based multicriteria method, logistic regression and Bayesian Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) regression was used to create a predictive model of overall quality of 4,458 project areas. Other than economic costs, the model showed other physical, environmental, social factors, and spatial heterogeneity are incorporated to rank the overall quality of potential. The results also showed far more high-quality onshore wind potential exists in Japan than the 18 TWh targets in 2030 and necessary policy measurements to utilize the vast potential. This presentation is an excellent introduction to geospatial and economic energy planning and modeling efforts.  Kenji is also developing SWITCH-Japan, and may have openings in the design team for students with strong programming and spatial skills.  Kenji has also worked on issues of nuclear energy in Japan and Asia, and on energy options for Bangladesh, among other projects. (Pizza and salad will be provided)

September 23, 2019: The Green Energy Revolution (Beijing, China)