How does the U.S. electricity grid work? Where are we headed in our effort to decarbonize the grid? Join NC State energy researchers Aditya Keskar and Lucas Ford for this webinar!

EXTREME WEATHER AND THE GRID

From winter black outs in Texas and wildfires on the West Coast to heat waves, flooding and severe hurricanes, today’s U.S. electrical grid faces many extreme weather conditions that it wasn’t designed to endure. This can result in major electrical interruptions with potentially catastrophic outcomes, particularly among vulnerable populations. The electricity powering our communities is only as reliable and resilient as the infrastructure that makes it possible. This panel discussion will explore the electrical grid and the forward-thinking needed to strengthen the grid for future extreme weather.

Watch the panel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hk21JRzqpc

North Carolina State University has diverse and innovative energy-related research across the campus. Listen to 3 minute lightning talks highlighting energy-related research by NC State graduate and undergraduate students and Postdocs!

Understanding Trade-offs Between Sustainability and Equality with Dr. Destenie Nock

Dr. Destenie Nock is an assistant professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. In this seminar, Dr. Nock speaks to the Student Energy Club about methods she uses to understand energy transitions in terms of sustainability and equality objectives.

Transforming the Southeast Power Grid: Can We Meet the US 2030 Emissions Target? with Tyler Norris

The Southeast remains one of the highest GHG-emitting electricity grids in the US, making it a lynchpin for meeting the nation’s 2030 emissions target. What will it take for states like NC to achieve deep decarbonization of electricity, and what are the biggest obstacles to progress? Learn more about the state of play from one of the region’s leading clean energy developers and policy experts.

Tyler H. Norris was appointed by the Obama White House in 2012 to serve as a Special Advisor to the US Secretary of Energy and served as a co-lead of the 2020 Biden campaign’s electricity policy committee. He now heads Southeast development for Cypress Creek Renewables (CCR), previously named the top US utility-scale solar developer by Solar Power World Magazine. Before CCR, he was a director at S&P Global Platts, an energy market intelligence consultancy.

Communicating Your Science with the Public with Dr. Meagan Kittle Autry

As we face a critical point in global climate change and our window for enacting change narrows, it is essential for scientists and energy scholars to communicate clearly and effectively with the public to gain traction in policy and behavioral change. In this talk, Dr. Kittle Autry explains best practices for reaching non-expert audiences and adapting your message. We will discuss examples of scientists who do this well and also brainstorm ideas for attendees' energy research topics. At the end of this presentation, you will be able to describe key strategies for adapting your research for non-expert audiences and apply them to your own work.

"How Should We Talk about the 'Cost' of Climate Action?" a talk by Dr. Genevieve Guenther

The word "cost" has a remarkable power to suppress voter support for climate policy. With advertising campaigns that highlight this word, oil and gas interests have managed to turn majorities against most State and Federal climate legislation proposed since 2009 and to justify the Senate's opposition to ratifying international climate treaties. Examining the work of William Nordhaus, the Nobel-prize winning economist who created climate economics, I will show that this fossil-fuel strategy has been enabled by Nordhaus' spurious estimate of the costs of climate policy—an estimate that leads him to recommend allowing the planet to heat up to catastrophic levels before we decarbonize. Nordhaus' model, I will show, is not an objective calculation of the costs and benefits of climate action, but a manufactured production of the ideological assumptions underpinning neoliberal economics, including the scientifically unjustified assumption that GDP will continue to grow even if we destroy the climate system on which our civilization depends. With an accessible synthesis of the latest research, I will show we can say with confidence that the amount of warming allowed by Nordhaus would destroy the entire world's current wealth and that, far from increasing our cost of living, decarbonization is an investment whose payoff will make the majority of American much more prosperous.

Rebecca Diederich, an energy project engineer on the NC State University Energy Management Team

We talk about her role as part of the Energy Management team, as well as NC State's energy and water conservation initiatives and the overall energy landscape on the NC State campus.

Steve Kalland, the executive director of the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center

We discuss his journey in the clean energy field, talk about the state of solar power and offshore wind in North Carolina, and explore some energy policies that we'd like to see come to the Old North State.

Ken Delaney, the director of industry and innovation at FREEDM Systems Center

FREEDM is a green energy and smart grid-focused engineering research center at NC State University. Ken talks through his role at FREEDM and his journey in the energy field, as well as exciting projects going on at FREEDM and wider trends in clean energy.