May 19, 2021 - 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern Time (ET)

Scaling Infrastructure
for the Energy Transition

Event Description:

Credible scenarios to achieve decarbonization assume significant deployment of infrastructure in key sectors, including the power sector. This need for new – and resilient – infrastructure has been accompanied by mounting challenges, however. Public opposition and regulatory obstacles against large renewable energy projects and new transmission infrastructure have contributed to delays and project cancellations, which in turn result in the misallocation of investment and increase overall cost. Two experts on the topic – Dr. Patrick R. Brown, MIT alumnus and now with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Dr. Stephen Jarvis of the University of Mannheim – will draw on recent research to highlight the importance of infrastructure and obstacles to its rollout in decarbonization of the electricity system.

Participants

Speaker:
Patrick Brown
NREL

Patrick Brown was recently a postdoctoral researcher at the MIT Energy Initiative, exploring technical and regulatory strategies for integrating high levels of renewable energy and energy storage onto the electric grid. He completed his Ph.D. in physics at MIT with Professor Vladimir Bulović, where his thesis research explored the use of colloidal nanocrystals as light-absorbing active materials in thin film solar cells. Patrick received his B.S. in physics and chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and interned at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Patrick received a Graduate Certificate in Science, Technology, and Policy for his work with the Trancik lab, which has focused on the implications of the rates of technological advancement in solar and wind technologies for international climate policy.
Speaker:
Stephen Jarvis
University of Mannheim

Stephen Jarvis is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Economics in the Department of Geography & Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research is mainly in the fields of economics and public policy. He studies various energy and environmental topics, including electricity markets, climate change, air pollution and the political economy of clean energy. He earned his PhD at UC Berkeley’s Energy & Resources Group where he was also a Researcher at the Energy Institute at Haas. His postdoc was at the University of Mannheim. His job market paper examined the economic costs of NIMBYism in the context of renewable energy projects.
Moderator:
Michael Mehling
MIT

Dr. Michael Mehling is Deputy Director of MIT CEEPR and a Professor at the University of Strathclyde Law School. He is also a non-executive director with Ecologic Institute in Berlin, a Manager of the Konrad-von-Moltke Fund in Berlin, and a founding board member of Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, the Blockchain & Climate Institute (BCI) in London, and the European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST) in Brussels. In his work, Dr. Mehling focuses on comparative and international climate policy design and implementation, including its intersections with environmental, energy, and trade policy.