2019-2020 MIT Climate Action Symposia Series

The third of MIT's six Climate Action Symposia, Decarbonizing the Electricity Sector, will be held on Wednesday, December 4, 2019. Topics will include:

• developments in solar energy, energy storage, and nuclear energy;
• electrification in the building and transportation sectors; and
• innovation opportunities for zero-carbon electricity technologies in the coming decades.

The Climate Action Symposia series aims to advance our community’s understanding and expand our capacity to generate solutions for the urgent global challenge of climate change. Over the 2019-2020 academic year, the six symposia examine the current state of climate science and policy, as well as pathways for decarbonization of the global economy. We will also look at how universities can and should contribute solutions, including MIT’s efforts under our Plan for Action on Climate Change.

Schedule, speaker bios, livestream, and more will be available at climatesymposia.mit.edu.

Can't attend in person? Watch the livestream.

Schedule

Introduction and overview

Variable renewable energy (VRE) developments and challenges
Moderator: Jessika Trancik, MIT
Speakers:

• Solar energy:
  • Moungi Bawendi, MIT
  • Vladimir Bulović, MIT
• Energy storage:
  • Fikile R. Brushett, MIT
  • Yet-Ming Chiang, MIT
  • David Danielson, Breakthrough Energy Ventures
  • Yang Shao-Horn, MIT 

Advances in fission and fusion
Moderator: Paul Joskow, MIT
Speakers:

• Harlan Bowers, President, X-energy
• Jacopo Buongiorno, MIT
• Earl Marmar, MIT
• Anne White, MIT

Electric vehicles: Market analysis with VRE at scale
Moderator: Jessika Trancik, MIT
Speakers:

• David R. Keith, MIT
• Christopher Knittel, MIT
• Chelsea Sexton, EV industry consultant

Expanding access to electricity in a carbon-constrained world
Moderator: Robert Stoner, MIT
Speakers:

• Kate Steel, COO, Nithio
• Ignacio Pérez-Arriaga, MIT and Comillas University

Conclusion