Explore our expert insights and analysis in leading energy and climate news stories.
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is thrilled to announce the selection of the second cohort of...
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Long before crowdsourcing became a worldwide phenomenon, “Harambee” (“pulling together”) was the Kenyan national motto. In postcolonial Kenya, fundraising became a way to build schools and hospitals and...
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Geopolitics looms large over the global economy. A recent client survey by Goldman Sachs found geopolitics is the top investment risk of this year, overtaking inflation and the...
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students. If you are no longer a student and would like to be removed from this mailing list, please...
Past Event
March 27, 2018
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Solar energy, once a niche application for a limited market, has become the cheapest and fastest-growing power source on earth. What’s more, its potential is nearly limitless—every hour the sun beams down more energy than the world uses in a year. But in his new book, Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Save the Planet (MIT Press, 2018), Dr. Varun Sivaram, Philip D. Reed Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations and CGEP Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, warns that the world is not yet equipped to harness erratic sunshine to meet most of its energy needs. And if solar’s current surge peters out, prospects for replacing fossil fuels and averting catastrophic climate change will dim. Innovation can brighten those prospects, Dr. Sivaram argues. Financial innovation is already enticing deep-pocketed investors to fund solar projects around the world, from the sunniest deserts to the poorest villages. Technological innovation could replace today’s solar panels with coatings as cheap as paint and employ artificial photosynthesis to store intermittent sunshine as convenient fuels. Systemic innovation could add flexibility to the world’s power grids and other energy systems so they can dependably channel the sun’s unreliable energy. Unleashing all this innovation will require visionary public policy: funding researchers developing next-generation solar technologies, refashioning energy systems and economic markets, and putting together a diverse clean energy portfolio. To discuss the state of solar energy and his new book, which Bloomberg has called “the first important policy book of 2018,” the Center on Global Energy Policy is hosting a talk with Dr. Sivaram. Following Dr. Sivaram’s presentation, CGEP Founding Director, Jason Bordoff will moderate the discussion. There will be a book signing immediately following the discussion. A limited number of books will be sold at this event. — Registration is required. Guests unable to attend can view a livestream of the event at energypolicy.columbia.edu/livestream. This event is open to press. Please direct media inquiries to Jamie Shellenberger-Bessmann ([email protected]) It will be livestreamed at energypolicy.columbia.edu/livestream. A podcast of this event (in addition to other past Center events) will be available ~12 days after the date of the event through iTunes or via our website. For more information contact: [email protected]
This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students. If you are no longer a student and would like to be removed from this mailing list, please...
https://www.youtube.com/live/aggYsTUpBKM?feature=shared Register Please join the Ambedkar Initiative at the Institute for Comparative Literature & Society, the India Program at the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia...
This roundtable is open only to currently enrolled Columbia University students. Japan is a country with substantial energy demand but limited energy resources. After the March 2011 tsunami...
The Columbia Global Energy Summit 2024 is an annual event dedicated to thought-provoking discussions around the critical energy and climate challenges facing the global community.
Three CGEP scholars weigh in on the consequences of the Biden administration’s decision to pause pending approvals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the US to non-free...
How COP28 Demonstrated What’s Missing From Climate Diplomacy
