17 Items

ethanol refinery with corn field in foreground

AP Photo/Stephen Groves, File

Analysis & Opinions - The Wall Street Journal

Will Using More Biofuels Be Good for the Environment? Two Experts Square Off.

| Jan. 21, 2023

In its push for greener energy, Washington is giving biofuels a boost. But just how green are they? Daniel Schrag, Co-Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, argued the case for biofuels, opposite Carlisle Ford Runge, who argued against them.

An array of mirrors at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating site in Primm, Nevada on Aug. 13, 2014

AP Photo/John Locher, File

Paper - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Financing the Energy Transition through Cross-Border Investment

| November 2022

Ely Sandler and Daniel Schrag propose a new approach to Article 6 of the Paris agreement, arguing that states must use cross-border investment to finance the energy transition. By linking additionality to an investment’s impact on cost of capital, Sandler and Schrag demonstrate how Article 6 can leverage blended finance to de-risk private investment, creating a new model of public private partnership. The paper uses case studies from the Middle East and North Africa region to demonstrate the potential economic, environmental and political benefits of cooperation on Article 6.  

Two men install solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Hongqiao Passenger Rail Terminal

Flickr/Jiri Rezac

Analysis & Opinions - The National Interest

China’s Climate Commitments Face Major Challenges

| Feb. 13, 2022

In recent years, the relationship between China and the United States has been characterized by rising geopolitical tensions, and cooperation and coordination between the two countries has become something of a pipe dream. Yet there is one issue where the interests of both clearly overlap: climate change. A global temperature increase of 3°C will damage the economies and social fabric of both the United States and China—an outcome that both countries want to avoid. 

Book - Cambridge University Press

Foundations for a Low-Carbon Energy System in China

How can China make good on its pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060? In Foundations for a Low-Carbon Energy System in China, a team of experts from China and the United States explains how China's near-term climate and energy policies can affect long-term decarbonization pathways beyond 2030, building the foundations for a smoother and less costly national energy transformation.

Isle de Jean Charles

DeSmog/Julie Dermansky

Analysis & Opinions - The Boston Globe

Managing the Climate Crisis May Require a Managed Retreat

| May 31, 2021

Richard Murray and Daniel Schrag write that President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan offers a generational opportunity to hit the reset button and invest in a more resilient and economically sustainable future. It can cover the costs of some of the critical investments needed to protect coastal communities.  Policymakers need to make difficult decisions — and now, based on the knowledge of how and why the seas are rising — to encourage people and communities to adapt to the new, future coast, without promises of a perfect safety net that the country cannot afford.

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Press Release - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Belfer Center Convenes Council on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence

| Jan. 22, 2019

CAMBRIDGE MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has convened the inaugural meeting of The Council on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new effort to address critical questions about this far-reaching and rapidly evolving application for data and technology.  

newer design of a nuclear reactor

DOE/Advanced Reactor Technology

Journal Article - Nature Energy

A Tortoise Approach for US Nuclear Research and Development

| July 30, 2018

In Aesop's fable, a swift hare races with a deliberate tortoise. In the end, the tortoise wins by taking a slow and steady approach. The authors argue that, given the economic constraints on US deployment of nuclear power, a "tortoise strategy" is more prudent for US government nuclear R&D efforts.

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- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Ensuring Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence

| Summer 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to reshape not only the interface between people and machines but also fundamental questions of privacy and equality in all areas of society—from finance and healthcare to retail and manufacturing. To ensure that ethical and policy issues keep pace with AI and machine learning and that this game-changing technology serves people—not the other way around—the Belfer Center is creating The Council on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence.