Energy

A sampling of Belfer Center members who have been featured in the news

The international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change to be determined in Paris in December 2015 is “the greatest opportunity the world has had in 20 years to make meaningful progress on this exceptionally challenging issue,” Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) Director Robert Stavins said in a Boston Globe op-ed in September. Stavins was in New York City during the week of the United Nations Climate Summit, which included numerous side events and a march that attracted several hundred thousand Americans calling for serious climate actions.

Robert Stavins and the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements research the best architecture for an agreement that will help prevent catastrophic climate change, a new book by Laura Diaz Anadon, Matthew Bunn, and Venkatesh (Venky) Narayanamurti takes on the challenge of transforming energy innovation in the United States—the world’s largest economy—to help provide secure, affordable energy without causing major damage to the environment and the climate.

"Laura Diaz Anadon is Associate Director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, and a member of the Belfer Center Board of Directors. In May, she was named Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School."

Organized by Environment and Natural Resources Assistant Director Amanda Sardonis and senior fellow Cristine Russell, ENRP kicked off its 2012 Environmental Film Series with screenings of three widely heralded documentaries: “The Last Mountain,” directed by Bill Haney focuses on citizens fighting to prevent large coal companies from practicing mountain top removal in their town.... “A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet,” directed by Mark Kitchell, highlights the major environmental movements from the last 50 years, while "The Grand Energy Transition: Natural Gas - The Bridge To Our Sustainable Future," directed by Belfer Center International Council Member Robert A. Hefner III argues that natural gas is the future of U.S. energy.

Laura Diaz Anadon is the associate director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, director of the Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, and adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She investigates the patterns and processes of technology innovation, especially the role of government policy in the development and deployment of advanced and cleaner energy technologies.

The U.S. government could save the economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year by 2050 by spending a few billion dollars more a year to spur innovations in energy technology, according to a new report by the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group.

The Winter 2010/11 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This issue highlights a major Belfer Center conference on technology and governance, the Center's involvement in the nuclear threat documentary Countdown to Zero, and a celebration of Belfer Center founder Paul Doty.

The biofuels industry has become big policy, big business, and increasingly controversial. While countries like the United States and Brazil use biofuels to support farmers, increase energy security (reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil), improve the environment, and increase economic independence by reducing the need for foreign oil, environmentalists challenge the assertion that biofuels, particularly corn ethanol, offer a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

As the U.S. debates an economy-wide CO2 cap-and-trade policy, the transportation sector remains a significant oil security and climate change concern. A new Belfer Center study-"Analysis of Policies to Reduce Oil Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector"-concludes that significant reductions in these areas will require much stronger policy initiatives than are currently under  consideration. Two of the authors answer questions about their report. Henry Lee is director of the Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program and Kelly Sims Gallagher is senior associate of the  Belfer Center and associate professor of energy and environmental policy at Fletcher School, Tufts University's graduate school of international affairs.