2022 Student Blog Series: Undergraduate Seminar Fellows
As a part of the Undergraduate Climate and Energy Policy Seminar, seminar fellows write a thoughtful insight publication on an energy or climate issue of their choosing. This year’s insights tackled topics from energy security and the crisis in Ukraine to the grid issues in Puerto Rico and everything in between. Explore our student insight series.
International Climate Policy and the Collective Action Problem
Sophia Bagg
The delayed time horizon and the fact that our climate is a public good make international collective action on climate difficult to muster. What can policy experts do to combat the problem?
Microgrid Regulation Challenges and Opportunities
Sabine Chavin
Microgrids have the potential to improve the resiliency and efficiency of our electrical grid. But the lack of clear regulations can be a barrier to developing projects.
A Bearish Outlook for California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Aditi Chintapalli
As California looks to lower its carbon emissions, it has turned to a policy program called the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. But reforms are needed to decrease the existing surplus, increase the price of credits, and create a competitive market.
Traveling Across the United States the Old-Fashioned Way
Andrés Eskenazi
Why developing and expanding passenger rail in the United States is critical in the fight against climate change.
Puerto Rico’s Path Toward Renewable Energy Development
Sean Deresh
After decades of mismanagement, underinvestment, and natural disasters, Puerto Rico is taking steps to provide reliable and clean electricity for its residents.
Lithium: The Link Between the Ukraine War and the Clean Energy Transition
Gabriela Garity
Lithium is a critical element to the clean energy transition. The crisis in Ukraine is limiting access to a large global source of lithium but could also be the catalyst to spur innovative solutions at home.
Russia-Belarus Energy Relations: Rivalry Attenuated by the West
Alisa Reiner
As the conflict in Ukraine continues, Belarus’ entangled energy interests make it one of Russia’s only allies in the region.
Driving the Circular Economy with Extended Producer Responsibility
Emma Schultz
Extended Producer Responsibility is a policy solution that will help keep plastics out of our environment and place the economic burden of negative externalities back on manufacturers.
Revisiting Molten Salt Reactors
Eitan Weinstein
Molten-salt reactors could potentially provide carbon-free nuclear power with less radioactive waste and for a more affordable price. But the technology is not without its complications.
From Farm to Cloud: Precision Agriculture
Linda Wu
Big data is helping farming become more efficient and waste less with specific crop management recommendations. But with little to no regulation, farmers are concerned that their data could be used against them.
Germany Must Recalibrate Its Energy Transition
Michal Wyrebkowski
The German energy transition has relied on Russian natural gas as a bridge fuel, but now geopolitical instability has put Germany on a longer and riskier road to climate neutrality.
Closing Loopholes in Carbon Offset Regulation
Ha-Nam Yoon
International law and voluntary compliance systems have struggled to regulate carbon offsets. A new addition to the Paris Agreement– Article 6–might change that.