Note: This seminar is being co-organized and cohosted by the JHU Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE).

Title: Energy and Data Science & Policy for the Just Energy Transition

Abstract: The climate emergency we face has prompted some nations, corporations, and many civil society organizations to greatly expand their decarbonization and climate protection actions. The paths to deeply decarbonizing local, national and regional economies requires innovations in a wide range of areas where new, sustainable, materials design, discovery, and implementation, and most notably highly interdisciplinary social justice work across diverse fields is critically needed, but are all at early stages. The demand for critical, rare-Earth materials, as just one example, is forecast to grow by 1000% by 2050, demanding new approaches to shifting to sustainable materials, recycling and reduce usage strategies that are far beyond what is seen as possible today. The recognition that social injustice is tied to our existing, fossil-fuel intensive economy has led to important calls for a ‘climate-justice’ nexus to protect the planet, people, and nature. The challenge is to turn that vision into clear science-based initiatives programs, and social movements. We will highlight examples and challenges in materials discovery and deployment, and advance modeling techniques to work within and beyond sectors as examples of challenges where new thinking, entrepreneurs, and approaches to social justice are all needed.

Bio: Daniel Kammen is the James and Katherine Lau Distinguished Professor of Sustainability 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. His work is focused on decarbonization, energy access, and climate justice. He has served as Senior Advisor for Energy Innovation at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Kammenis a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC.

Kammen was appointed the first Environment and Climate Partnership for the Americas (ECPA) Fellow by Secretary of State Hilary R. Clinton in April 2010 and served as Science Envoy for Secretary of State John Kerry (2016- 2017).

His research is focused on the science and policy of decarbonized energy systems, energy access, and environmental justice. He has published more than 450 papers, which are available on his laboratory website, the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL). Twitter: @dan_kammen

Kammen has founded or is on the board of over 10 companies, and has served the State of California and US federal government in expert and advisory capacities. Kammen was the First Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the World Bank (2010 – 2011).

Kammen was educated in physics at Cornell and Harvard, and held postdoctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology and Harvard. Before moving to the University of California, Berkeley, he was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Program at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Dr. Kammen has served as a contributing or coordinating lead author on various reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1999. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He serves on the Advisory Committee for Energy & Environment for the X-Prize Foundation.

Kammen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.