Science, Technology, and Public Policy

A Harvard-China Project Research Seminar with Cecilia Han Springer, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Environment and Natural Resources and Science, Technology and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School. This event will be held in Pierce Hall, Room #100F.

Sponsored by the Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy, and Environment; Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS); and the Environment and Natural Resources Program (ENRP) at Harvard Kennedy School.

Speaker: Michael Ford, French Environmental Fellow, Harvard University Center for the Environment.

In this seminar, we will briefly examine the history of the U.S. Department of Energy in advanced nuclear research and development and propose an alternative path that is better suited to the market and technical realities of advanced nuclear concepts. We will also examine broader issues of institutional capacity that may impact the wider deployment of nuclear power to meet carbon mitigation goals.

Speaker: AMB Laura S. H. Holgate

Advanced nuclear reactors offer enormous promise as carbon-free solutions for a range of energy and development challenges due to their potentially lower cost, flexibility, and enhanced safety. To meaningfully influence climate change, these reactors will need to be widely deployed, including in countries without extensive nuclear experience and in designs using novel fuel cycles. And policymakers, regulators, and civil society will need to have confidence that these reactors are designed not only with safety and cost in mind but also with due consideration to whether terrorists, insiders, or even governments can sabotage a facility or acquire or divert nuclear material that could be used for weapons. Meeting these challenges requires more than a slogan of “proliferation resistance” and relates to security- and safeguards-by-design as well as fuel cycle characteristics. Reactors that incorporate security- and safeguards-by-design could become more attractive exports, maximizing economic and national security benefits for the United States.

Memduh Karakullukçu is the Vice-Chairman and President of the Global Relations Forum and the Founding Partner of the online legal informatics enterprise, kanunum.com. He will present a joint MTA/ENRP seminar titled "Turkey’s Energy Future: What Role for Nuclear Power?"

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Lunch will be served.

RSVP not required, but please sign in when you arrive.

Lunch will be served.

Please note this seminar will be off-the-record.  RSVP not required, but please sign in when you arrive.

U.S. transportation policy is changing rapidly, motivated by concerns over climate change and energy security. Not only are economy-wide CO2 prices expected to soon be in place, but increasingly stringent performance-based standards are being proposed. Using the National Energy Modeling System, the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group has analyzed the impact of economy-wide CO2 prices in combination with transportation sector specific policy options including transportation (fuel) taxes, extended fuel economy standards, and performance-based tax credits. The results suggest that the policy options currently considered will fail to meet the "17% of 2005" GHG emissions reduction target in the Waxman-Markey Bill, or even the Obama administration's "14% of 2005" GHG emissions target. Economy-wide CO2 prices motivate large reductions in CO2 emissions from the electrical power sector but do not, on their own, result in significant reductions in CO2 emissions from transportation. Transportation taxes appear to be the most effective option for reducing GHG emissions, largely because they reduce vehicle use in addition to improving vehicle technology. On the other hand, tax credits for alternative-fuel vehicles appear to be an expensive and ineffective path to reducing CO2 emissions from transportation.

Beverages will be provided. Please come ready to discuss...

Conventional U.S. energy planning presumes a ready supply of cheap coal and assumes that mining will continue as it has in the past - in shallow and thick seams.  However, as these accessible resources are depleted, thin and deep seams will comprise our remaining resource.  It will become more expensive and environmentally damaging to extract coal.  This talk discusses future U.S. coal availability, resource estimate reliability, potential environmental damage and technologies to extract it in a more responsible manner.

Al-Juaied will review the economics of CCS, based on recent cost studies and actual project data.

Xiaowei Xuan will present his research on the impact of carbon emission constraints on Chinese coal-based power technologies. Using a dynamic equilibrium (CGE) model, Xuan identified technologies the Chinese coal sector should adopt in order to meet its GHG reduction target, and at what carbon price these technologies will become cost-effective.