Fusion Power: Is it Needed?

Dr. Steven "Steve" Cowley *85

Sir Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, became the seventh Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on July 1, 2018 and will be Princeton professor of astrophysical sciences on September 1, 2018. Most recently president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom since 2016, Cowley previously was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. He earned his doctorate at Princeton University in astrophysical sciences in 1985 and was a staff scientist at PPPL from 1987 to 1993. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and was knighted by the Queen of England in June 2018 for his role in fusion science.


February 5, 2019, 5:30-7 p.m.

Maeder Hall, Room 103

Entrepreneurial Thinking in the Energy Sector: Dinner with Cecily Kovatch ‘94

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Dinner with Cecily Kovatch ‘94
Date: December 11th, 6:00-7:00 pm
Location: Andlinger Center Room 102
Topic: Entrepreneurial Thinking in the Energy Sector

Cecily Kovatch is the founder of Fueled for Growth, a consulting firm focused on innovation in the energy sector and finding creative ways to help organizations grow sustainably.  She also teaches Entrepreneurial Thinking at Stevens Institute of Technology and is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Stevens Venture Center advising startups.  Cecily’s unique career spans many aspects of the energy industry, from oil & gas to utilities and renewable energy as well as construction materials and waste.  She enjoys building and leading teams and business units and thrives at solving complex problems. She created and led the innovation and knowledge sharing program for Covanta, the world’s largest waste-to-energy (WTE) company, to evaluate emerging  technology and find organic growth opportunities. She also built their marketing department and directed all marketing activities, including a strategic rebranding of the company to reflect their broader mission and vision.

Cecily also has experience in financial services where she was Vertical Head of the Energy & Industrials research team as well as the Retail/Consumer research team at an independent research firm helping institutional clients better understand and value the sectors.  She began her career in the oilfield as a field engineer for Schlumberger Oilfield Services and where she received a Wildcatter Award for discovering oil & gas in Brazoria County, Texas.

Cecily holds a bachelor’s degree in Geology and Environmental Studies from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

U.S. Energy Independence and Geopolitical Risk Lunch with Amy Myers Jaffe '80 12/4/18

U.S. Energy Independence and Geopolitical Risk Lunch with Amy Myers Jaffe '80 12/4/18

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Enjoy lunch with Amy Myers Jaffe ‘80, who will be discussing U.S. energy independence and geopolitical risk.

Date: December 4th, 12-1 p.m.
Location: Andlinger Center (Room #103)

Chipotle will be served for those who RSVP! RSVP limited to first 20 students.

Google Form for RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexjfbLAG70pUZjtc1FNTXkaPYLfeou6kQDkaZwWu7Lc7by3Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

Amy Myers Jaffe is the David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment and director of the program on Energy Security and Climate Change at the Council on Foreign Relations. A leading expert on global energy policy, geopolitical risk and energy and sustainability, Jaffe previously served as executive director for energy and sustainability at the University of California, Davis and senior advisor for energy and sustainability at Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the University of California, Regents. She was also formerly a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Prior to joining the University of California, Davis, Jaffe served as founding director of the Energy Forum at Rice University's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and its Wallace S. Wilson fellow for energy studies. She has taught energy policy, business, and sustainability courses at Rice University, University of California, Davis, and Yale University.

Driving the Future: Electric Autonomous Vehicles 12/12/17

Driving the Future: Electric Autonomous Vehicles 12/12/17

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Thank you so much to our speakers Professor Daniel Steingart, Dr. Robert Chen GS '01, and Eric Materniak '14 for coming out for a fascinating talk, and thank you all for attending!

For those of you who couldn't make it - some key points from the night:

  • "Autonomous Electric" is not required, but has some major benefits 
  • Adjusting the grid won't be a problem 
  • The "Trolley Problem" won't be a problem either... simply because robots >>> humans at driving

Get the full rundown of the night HERE, and please comment on what you might have found interesting (or correct my notes)!

 12/12/17 Driving the Future: Autonomous EVs - E...

Facebook Photos HERE, please tag yourselves!

Energy Solutions: Easy as Pie? 11/20/17

Energy Solutions: Easy as Pie? 11/20/17

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What will make up our energy future???

Autonomous electric vehicles? 🚘🚘🚘
🌿🌿🌿A world run on biofuels?
An endless supply of clean energy from nuclear fusion?✴✴✴

🍁Discuss the latest energy solutions while getting into the Thanksgiving sprit by coming to the Princeton University Energy Association's next study break! 🍁

Carbon Pricing Event 5/4/17

Carbon Pricing Event 5/4/17

Last week’s Carbon Pricing Discussion was a great success; thank you everyone who came out!

Here is the link to the notes from the discussion and the event page for the lecture by James Baker III this Wednesday 4:30-5:30, which Prof. Pacala mentioned.

If you have any questions about PUEA, feel free to email me (nr7@princeton.edu). For any questions about PSCL, contact Jonathan Lu (jhlu@princeton.edu).

For those who were unable to attend the discussion, here is a description of the event for reference:

A discussion on carbon pricing with Professor Stephen Pacala and Professor Emeritus Robert Socolow, held in the Butler Spcial Dining Room. This event is cohosted by Princeton Student Climate Lobby. Bios below:

Stephen Pacala is the Director of the Princeton Environmental Institute and The Frederick D. Petrie Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. He also co-directs the Carbon Mitigation Initiative, an effort to develop solutions to the greenhouse warming problem, and is a founder and Chairman of the Board of Climate Central, a nonprofit media organization focusing on climate change. Professor Pacala has researched a wide variety of ecological and mathematical topics. At Princeton, his work focuses on problems of global change with an emphasis on interactions among the biosphere, greenhouse gases and climate.

Robert Socolow is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. His current research focuses on global carbon management and fossil-carbon sequestration. He is the co-principal investigator (with ecologist, Stephen Pacala) of Princeton University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI), a twenty-year (2000-2020) research project supported by BP (and formerly by Ford). Under CMI, Princeton has launched new, coordinated research in environmental science, energy technology, geological engineering, and public policy.

Pacala and Socolow are the authors of “Stabilization wedges: Solving the climate problem for the next 50 years with current technologies” (Science, August 13, 2004). Read more about it here: http://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/

Energy Storage Panel 3/9/17

Energy Storage Panel 3/9/17

For our first event of the spring semester, PUEA hosted a dinner discussion with three experts in the field of batteries and energy… Darren Hammell ’01, CEO and President of Princeton Power Systems, Michael Oster, CEO of Eos Energy Storage, and Dan Steingart, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering professor here at Princeton with expertise in battery research. Read more about the speakers below and check out our Facebook page for pictures from the event!

DARREN HAMMELL
Darren Hammell is President and CEO of Princeton Power Systems, a leading global designer and manufacturer of technology and software for energy storage, microgrid operations and electric vehicle charging. Darren graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Computer Science. Darren took home top honors in the Princeton University Business Plan Contest and co-founded Princeton Power Systems in 2001.

MICHAEL OSTER
Michael Oster is CEO of Eos Energy Storage. Michael’s experience includes real estate, emerging markets, technology and renewable energy. Prior to Eos, Michael launched Clean Energy Holdings as a vehicle to develop solar power and invest in energy technologies. He had developed several of the larger commercial solar power systems in New Jersey in partnership with a major European utility. Michael co-founded Eos with Steve Amendola and was the first investor in the company.

DAN STEINGART
Dan Steingart is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. His group, the Princeton Lab for Electrochemical Engineering Systems Research, studies the interactions between materials and systems in electrochemical reactors with a focus on energy storage systems. His efforts in this area over the last decade have been adopted by various industries and have led directly or indirectly to five startup companies.

Energy Tour with Pennington School 1/31/17

Energy Tour with Pennington School 1/31/17

PUEA took 31 high school students from the Pennington School on tours of Princeton’s solar field and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on the Tuesday afternoon of Intersession. It was a chance for the high school students and Princeton students to engage in an interactive learning experience about exciting energy facilities just a couple miles from campus! Caroline Savage, Campus as Lab Manager, and Gina Talt, Campus as Lab Fellow, of the Office of Sustainability led the tour of the solar field, explaining the history of the field and the technology and economics involved. Arturo Dominguez, Science Education Program Leader, and Atiba Brereton, Diagnostic Engineer, led the tour of PPPL, giving students a background on nuclear fusion energy and showing them the tokomak fusion reactor. Thank you to all of our tour guides, and thank you to members Natasha Turkmani ‘17 and Olivia Zhang ‘20, and PUEA Board members Todd Baldwin ‘20 and Amber Lin ‘19 for participating!

Wintersession 2017

Wintersession 2017

PUEA hosted its first Wintersession course this year, giving students an overview of various energy topics and diving into discussions about each. Topics included everything from debating photovoltaics and solar thermal collectors to the future of energy in Trump’s America. Thank you to executive board officers Will Atkinson ‘18, Amber Lin ‘19, and Nicholas Ritter ‘20, and PUEA member, Josh Burd ‘17 for leading the course! Attached are slides from the presentations; check out our Facebook for pictures from the event.

PUEA Wintersession Course_ Let’s Talk Energy

Wind Energy: A Breath Away? 12/8/16

Wind Energy: A Breath Away? 12/8/16

Thank you to everyone who attended our panel on Thursday!

Facebook Event.
Feedback form.
Discussion notes.

Speaker Information:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         [Kyle Andrucyk]
http://www.unitedwind.com/team/
Email: kandrucyk@unitedwind.com

[Marcus Hultmark]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     http://fluids.princeton.edu/
Email: hultmark@princeton.edu

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Environmental Tech Start-Up Panel 11/10/17

Environmental Tech Start-Up Panel 11/10/17

Thank you to everyone who attended our panel on Thursday!

If you have any questions about this event or about either PUEA or E-Club, email Amber Lin (amberl@princeton.edu) for PUEA and Aana Bansal (aanab@princeton.edu) for E-Club.

Facebook Event.
Feedback form.
Discussion notes.

“Energy in Sustainable Development" Panel 4/21/16

“Energy in Sustainable Development" Panel 4/21/16

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Thank you to everyone who attended our “Energy in Sustainable Development” Panel, and to our incredible panelists Mark Castellano GS ’90, Wei Peng GS ’16,  and Douglas Bastidas ’17! The discussion took us to energy development projects all over the world – building solar farms in New Jersey, why wind turbines are being built, but not used, in China, and how LEDs can replace kerosene for millions of people in India. While all the panelists had very different stories to tell, we found overarching themes in how dealing with national and local politics and bureaucracy is key in inciting change in energy development.

More information on the panelists…
Panelist Biographies
Mark Castellano ’90 | mcastellano@renewtricity.net
Wei Peng GS ’16 | weipeng@princeton.edu
Douglas Bastidas ’17 | bastidas@princeton.edu

FB Event Link

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Whig-Clio Fossil Fuel Divestment Debate 3/30/16

Whig-Clio Fossil Fuel Divestment Debate 3/30/16

PUEA was a cosponsor for Whig-Clio’s monthly debate on March 30, 2016, featuring PUEA President ’15 Owen Smitherman on the negative. The rousing debate engaged many audience members, and explored a number of angles on the topic – Princeton’s financial and political interests, “moral responsibility,” and various technicalities on divestment and its potential effects on the Princeton community. Pro-divestment won the debate by a slim margin.

The American Whig-Cliosophic Society
Princeton Sustainable Investment Initiative

https://whigclio.princeton.edu/2016/03/wednesday-330-fossil-fuel-divestment/

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PUEA Presents “Let's Talk Energy” 3/24/2016

PUEA Presents “Let's Talk Energy” 3/24/2016

PUEA’s first event of the spring semester was held on March 24th! This introduction to energy event was hosted by Professors Fabian Wagner and Eric Larson, research scholars at the Andlinger Center for Energy & the Environment. Student presentations on the various energy topics were followed by a Q&A with our two guest scholars. Dinner was catered by Olives.

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  • Program of Events:
    • Introduction [Amber Lin]
    • Oil/Gas [Ryan Baldwin]
    • Alternative Energy
      • Solar [Lydon Kersting]
      • Wind [Jason Muldering]
      • Nuclear [Anid Laoui]
      • Biofuels [Frank Nyugen]
    • Energy Storage [David Wu]
    • Energy Policy [Stephanie Cook]
    • Additional Q&A with Professor Fabian Wagner and Dr. Eric Larson

Energy Table -- Spring 2016

Energy Table -- Spring 2016

We promote the activities of the Princeton University Energy Table. This group organizes a dinner with a Princeton professor on various Wednesday nights in Rocky. During the dinner, the professor discusses their energy-related research and answers questions from the group. For more information, visit the group’s website or contact Julio Herrera at  jherrera@princeton.edu.

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