Projects

Meet the Laos Energy Mod­el­ing and Pol­icy Analy­sis (Under­grad­u­ate!) Team: The focus of this inter-​​disciplinary and inter-​​university research group is to develop sus­tain­able energy, water, and land-​​use sce­nar­ios for Laos, and to work with local stake-​​holders on the costs and ben­e­fits for com­mu­ni­ties, the nation, and the regional com­merce in energy, water, food, tim­ber and other […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
RAEL has part­nered with both the Pon­tif­i­cal Acad­emy of Sci­ences and a num­ber of other groups world­wide that are engag­ing the Vat­i­can and inter­ested part­ners to uti­lize the dia­log around The Encycli­cal to pro­mote equity, sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and cli­mate protection. Events in this ini­tia­tive include: RAEL and Vat­i­can pub­li­ca­tions such as: Novem­ber 2, 2016 roundtable: Actu­al­iz­ing […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
Energy stor­age deploy­ment and inno­va­tion for the clean energy transition Noah Kit­tnera,b, Felix Lillb,c and Daniel M. Kam­men*a,b,d a Energy and Resources Group, UC Berke­ley, Berke­ley, CA, USA b Renew­able and Appro­pri­ate Energy Lab­o­ra­tory, UC Berke­ley, Berke­ley, CA, USA c Cen­ter for Dig­i­tal Tech­nol­ogy and Man­age­ment, TU Munich, Munich, Germany d Gold­man School of Pub­lic Pol­icy, UC […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Kittner, Noah
The Plat­form for Energy Access Knowl­edge (PEAK) is a project part­ner­ship between RAEL and Power for All,  a global cam­paign to accel­er­ate the market-​​​​based growth of decen­tral­ized renew­ables as the key to achiev­ing uni­ver­sal energy access. The cam­paign, estab­lished in 2014, serves as a col­lec­tive voice for busi­nesses and civil soci­ety focused on off-​​​​grid renew­able […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Shirley, Rebekah
Our lat­est Prop­erty Assessed Clean Energy project fea­tures in Sci­ence: http://​sci​ence​.sci​encemag​.org/​c​o​n​t​e​n​t​/​3​5​5​/​6​3​2​8​/​9​2​1.3
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Project Members:
  • Ameli, Nadia
  • Kammen, Daniel
Chapter 1: The climate crisis reinvented Or, why life may well always be interesting, but it is arguably now more interesting and imperative to understand the relationship of energy to society now than ever before. And, if we don’t develop such an understanding at now, then the future truly will be ugly, brutish, and short. Chapter 2 “Our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past” Or, why our inattention and misunderstanding of how our actions today impact the future, where we all, after all, plan to live, that we miss opportunity after opportunity to create the future we want instead of simply inheriting what accidents of history have delivered to us. Chapter 3: We don’t tenure Mother Teresa Or, how the compartments into which we categorize so much of both our lives and of the natural world prevent us from seizing many of the opportunities that otherwise are well within reach. Chapter 4: What are the barriers to action? Or, how the mindset of a livable past manifests itself in practical and philosophical impediments to action that otherwise make a world of sense. Chapter 5: A new economics of the planet Or, how the language of energy can and must change to empower us to create and energy system we can be proud of. Chapter 6: Pasteur’s Quadrant Or, why an illusive engagement with innovation is a critical tool in the creation of future we can live in, and live with.
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Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
The Sus­tain­able Islands group at RAEL is involved in under­stand­ing the scope for renew­able energy and energy effi­ciency in the Small Island Devel­op­ing State (SIDS) con­text. We are involved in a num­ber of projects that involve fea­si­bil­ity analy­sis, resource opti­miza­tion and energy sys­tem mod­el­ling. We con­duct assess­ments and build deci­sion sup­port tools for pol­icy mak­ers […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Shirley, Rebekah
Emerg­ing economies will account for more than 90 per­cent of new energy-​​generation capac­ity by 2035, and Latin Amer­ica is no excep­tion to this trend. In the last 40 years, the region’s pri­mary energy demand has more than dou­bled. In a global envi­ron­ment of increas­ingly volatile fuel prices, emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies, and climate-​​change impacts, the con­tin­ued increase in […]
Project Members:
  • Carvallo Bodelon, Juan Pablo
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Ponce de Leon, Diego
  • Shirley, Rebekah
For the Human Needs Project full web­site, click on: http://​www​.human​need​spro​ject​.org   Pro­fes­sor Kam­men, serves as the CTO of the Human Needs Project, high­lighted how the Kib­era Town Cen­ter Project pro­vides basic ser­vices (water, toi­lets, show­ers, laun­dry) and empow­er­ment ser­vices (busi­ness skills train­ing, micro-​​credit, WiFi cafe, health kiosk, green mar­ket­place) to over 800 peo­ple per day. These […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
Stake­hold­ers in cli­mate sci­ence: beyond lip service? As part of an ongo­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion, the team of Nicole L. Klenk, Katie Mee­han, San­dra Lee Pinel, Fabian Mendez, Pablo Tor­res Lima, and Daniel M. Kam­men  have pro­duced a paper that appeared in Sci­ence on Novem­ber 13, 2015.  You can down­load the: Sum­mary here for free (open access, by spe­cial permission), Reprint here for […]
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Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
Rapid eco­nomic growth sus­tained in South­east Asia through­out the new mil­len­nium has led to a surge in large-​​scale infra­struc­ture projects to facil­i­tate indus­trial pro­duc­tiv­ity and con­sump­tion. The state of Sarawak, located along the north­ern coast of the island of Bor­neo, is the poor­est and most rural state in Malaysia but has long been a focal […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Shirley, Rebekah
Tiny House Competition This event is open to all col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties in Cal­i­for­nia. Par­tic­i­pa­tion pro­motes an inter­est in energy con­ser­va­tion, energy effi­ciency and green build­ing and solar tech­nolo­gies. The Energy & Tech­nol­ogy Cen­ter and Com­mu­nity Solar are proud to spon­sor this event. “The Tiny House Com­pe­ti­tion – Build Small and Win Big” is a new […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Siegner, Alana (Laney)
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Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Kunkel, Cathy
The impacts of climate change are already being felt across Africa, leading to greater natural resource scarcity, which has contributed to violent conflict in Darfur (Sudan), Mali, and Somalia, among others. This trend is likely to continue, as Africa is projected to be among geographies most severely impacted by climate change. Though the pathway from climate change to greater natural resource scarcity to violence is not a direct one, the risks of conflict will increase as livelihoods are threatened due to greater scarcity of food, water or arable land. With lower government capacities and limited funding to adapt to climate change impacts, and a relatively weak conflict prevention/resolution architecture in place, climate change is likely to have an increasingly important impact on future conflicts in Africa. This assessment necessitates new policy planning and development thinking. Despite the threats, the broader global interest in climate change also presents significant opportunities to mobilize new interest and momentum for promoting green development in Africa. This can contribute to an effective conflict prevention strategy, and can also drive increased investment and more diversified economies, improved governance and development outcomes, and greater political stability. This project aims to build the theoretical and practical case for a new model for green development, which can provide both political and economic returns, while delivering both climate sensitive and conflict sensitive development. Our 3-5 year goal is to seed and support a successful “green” pilot in a still to be selected geography in Africa. A successful pilot will require political buy-in and local political champions, as well as new external investment to support green development projects. This can serve as a model that helps demonstrate the political and economic potential of a green approach, the economic potential of a green framework to external investors, as well as effective conflict prevention. It is our hope that the model, once proven, will be scalable in other geographies.
Project Members:
  • Kittner, Noah
  • Mozersky, Dave
  • Ponce de Leon, Diego
Man­age­ment team: Har­ri­son Fraker (Co-​​PI), Daniel Kam­men (PI), Anthony Nahas (Project Consultant) Research Moti­va­tion How to make mil­lions of old, inef­fi­cient homes part of a clean-​​air, low-​​carbon & low resource-​​use future? How can block-​​scale solu­tions enable bet­ter climate-​​change adap­ta­tion & response strate­gies than indi­vid­ual, home solutions? How do you get block-​​scale inhab­i­tant buy-​​in, and sup­port […]
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
Many U.S. cities are taking steps to grow urban centers in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But a challenge is the significant carbon footprint of spacious suburban living, which in many areas, may be cancelling out these efforts. The report, appearing in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that about half of the country’s household carbon footprint come from people living in the suburbs, essentially cancelling out the benefits of low carbon footprint central cities. Christopher Jones and Daniel Kammen point out that U.S. households though they only comprise 4.3 percent of the global population, are responsible for about 20 percent of annual worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, which are driving climate change. In response, many governors and mayors across the country have pledged to reduce their states' and cities' emissions. But more information on the size and composition of household carbon footprint is needed to inform policies to make these reductions happen. A few studies have helped fill in some gaps, but they're mostly small in scale and not broadly applicable. Kammen and Jones set out to paint a bigger picture. The authors built an analytic model using national survey data to estimate average household carbon footprints for over 30,000 zip codes and 10,000 cities and towns in all fifty U.S. states. Their technique integrates a wide range of sectors, including transportation, household energy use and consumption of food, goods and services. The researchers found a number of surprising nuances in their analysis. For example, some studies have shown that more population-dense areas have lower emissions. But Jones and Kammen found that population-dense suburbs have significantly higher carbon footprints on average than lower density suburbs, and there is a huge range across cities. As a result of large spatial differences in household carbon footprints they conclude that “an entirely new approach of highly tailored, community-scale carbon management is urgently needed.” One approach is to develop communication and estimation tools for widespread use, which the authors have developed and implemented for public use at http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/maps and http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/carbon calculator The authors acknowledge funding from the California Air Resources Board and the National Science Foundation (grants to D. Kammen). Professor Kammen founded and directs the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory where this work was conducted. Christopher Jones is a doctoral student advised by Professor Kammen.
Project Members:
  • Jones, Christopher M.
  • Kammen, Daniel
Biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, dung, and agricultural residues) are vital to basic welfare and economic activity in developing nations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where they meet more than 90% of household energy needs in many nations. Combustion of biofuels emit pollutants that currently cause over 1.6 million annual deaths globally (400,000 in SSA). Because most of these deaths are among children and women, biomass use is directly or indirectly related to multiple Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including environmental sustainability, reducing child mortality, and gender equity.
Project Members:
  • Bailis, Robert
  • Ezzati, Majid
  • Kammen, Daniel
Abstract: With 1.4 billion people lacking electricity to light their homes or conduct business, and all of humanity (but particularly the poor) vulnerable to climate change, decarbonizing the global energy system while closing the energy access gap demands global focus and effort. Motivated by addressing the needs of the underserved, we present an analytical framework informed by historical trends and contemporary technological, social, and institutional conditions that clarifies the heterogeneous continuum of centralized on-grid electricity, autonomous mini- or community grids, and distributed, individual energy services. We find the current day is a unique moment for decentralized energy networks based on super-efficient end-use technology and low-cost photovoltaics, supported by rapidly spreading information technology, particularly mobile phones. Collectively these disruptive technology systems could rapidly increase energy access, contributing to meeting the Millennium Development Goals for quality of life, while simultaneously driving action towards low-carbon, Earth-sustaining, energy systems.
Project Members:
  • Alstone, Peter
  • Casillas, Christian
  • Gershenson, Dimitry
  • Kittner, Noah
  • Shirley, Rebekah
  • Szinai, Julia
SWITCH (Solar and wind energy inte­grated with trans­mis­sion and con­ven­tional sources) is a lin­ear pro­gram­ming mod­el­ing plat­form used to exam­ine least cost energy sys­tems designed to meet spe­cific reli­a­bil­ity, per­for­mance and envi­ron­men­tal qual­ity standards.   SWITCH is a capac­ity expan­sion model that invests in new gen­er­a­tion and trans­mis­sion assets as well as in end-​​use and […]
Project Members:
  • Avrin, Anne-​​Perrine
  • Carvallo Bodelon, Juan Pablo
  • Hildalgo-​​Gonzalez, Patricia
  • Johnston, Josiah
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Mileva, Ana
  • Nelson, James H.
  • Ponce de Leon, Diego
  • Sanchez, Daniel L.
  • Shiraishi, Kenji
In 2009 President Obama established the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) as a forum for collaboration between U. S. institutions and organizations in Latin America focused on energy and climate issues. In April, 2010 then Secretary of State Hilary R. Clinton appointed Dan Kammen as the first Energy Fellow of this program. For a transcript and video of Secretary Clinton's announcement, see: http://www.state.gov/secretary/20092013clinton/rm/2010/04/140286.htm
Project Members:
  • Hildalgo-​​Gonzalez, Patricia
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Ponce de Leon, Diego
The US green jobs project mod­els the job cre­ation capac­ity of the energy indus­try across the United States in the next decades. This model is based on an empir­i­cal approach, bas­ing esti­mates of job cre­ation on sur­veys of actual hir­ing and direct job cre­ation in dif­fer­ent sub-​​sectors of the energy indus­try. Rely­ing on these data, we are then […]
Project Members:
  • El Alami, Karim
  • Kammen, Daniel
From our most recent report on energy options for Kosovo (Kittner, et. al., 2015): We have developed an analytic platform to analyze the energy options, costs, and impacts for Kosovo, a nation at the forefront of the global debates over energy access and the role of fossil fuels versus cleaner energy options to meet growing demands for power. We find that a range of alternatives exists to meet present supply constraints all at a lower cost than constructing a proposed 600 MW coal plant. The options include energy efficiency measures, combinations of solar PV, wind, hydropower, and biomass, and the introduction of natural gas. A $30/ton carbon price increases costs of coal generation by at least $330 million USD. The results indicate that financing a 600 MW coal plant is the most expensive pathway to meet future electricity demand.
Project Members:
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Kittner, Noah
The need to mit­i­gate cli­mate change, safe­guard energy secu­rity, and increase the sus­tain­abil­ity of human activ­i­ties is prompt­ing a rapid and global tran­si­tion from carbon-​​intensive fuels to renew­able energy (IPCC 2014). Among renew­able energy sys­tems, solar energy has one of the great­est cli­mate change mit­i­ga­tion poten­tials with life cycle emis­sions as low as 14 g CO2–eq […]
Topics:
Project Members:
  • Hernandez, Rebecca
  • Hoffacker, Madison
  • Kammen, Daniel
  • Kittner, Noah
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