The global transition to clean energy is both well underway and well behind schedule if we are to achieve a sustainable climate, let alone use this moment of change to build a more equitable, inclusive society for the 21st century. What are the scientific and technical must-have innovations and technologies for this process, and where must we develop a dramatically different social compact within and between communities to achieve this challenging but necessary goal? We will examine the science and innovation base that exists today, and what is needed for this grand challenge. The critical role of information systems and social change will be featured as greatest challenge to this process.
Daniel M. Kammen is professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, with parallel appointments in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy and the department of Nuclear Engineering. He was appointed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in April 2010 as the first energy fellow of the new Environment and Climate Partnership for the Americas initiative.
In 2016, he began service as the Science Envoy for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kammen is the founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory and was director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center from 2007–2015. He has served the State of California and U.S. federal government in expert and advisory capacities, including time at the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, the Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.