In this China Energy Dialogue, Denise Mauzerall, the William S. Tod Professor of Environmental Engineering and International Affairs at Princeton University, will introduce China’s remarkable progress on energy and air quality.
Reducing the emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, via both supply and demand side approaches, have synergies and co-benefits for air quality, public health, climate, and food security. At Princeton, Mauzerall's group examines the supply and demand sides of the power, residential, industry, and transport sectors and, where possible, identifies opportunities and synergies between sectors that enhance mitigation of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. Their work involves rigorous technical analyses of mitigation strategies, including energy, air pollution, and economic modeling, and provides useful insights to inform decarbonization, air quality, and health policy. Recent research has focused on opportunities in China, India, and the United States.
This seminar will focus on China and will start with an overview of China’s dramatic scale-up of clean energy. The second part of the talk will focus on Mauzerall's group’s published work on China including:
- Residential sector:
- how diversifying heat sources in China’s urban district heating systems will reduce the risk of carbon lock-in from continuing operation of coal power plants used to supply urban heating;
- the environmental co-benefits and household costs of various clean heating options in rural northern China;
- how improving building envelope efficiency lowers costs and emissions from rural residential heating in China.
- Transport/Power: how alternative energy vehicle deployment delivers climate, air quality and health co-benefits only when coupled with decarbonizing power generation.
- Hydrogen: how subsidizing grid-based electrolytic hydrogen will increase GHG emissions in coal dominated power systems.
- Industry:
- how co-production of steel and chemicals can mitigate hard-to abate carbon emissions;
- how deploying green hydrogen can help decarbonize China’s coal chemical sector.
This seminar is part of the China Energy Dialogues (中国能源对话), a new monthly seminar series sponsored by the Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program that brings together experts and Harvard community members to discuss energy, climate, and environmental issues in China.
RSVP required. A Harvard University ID is required to attend. Please note that this seminar is in-person only and will not be recorded.
