Faculty and Students of the Environmental and Energy Management Program were involved in a period of important educational activities during the Spring 2014 semester. Here's a quick summary of some of them.
Symposium on Energy Technology Change. EEM Assistant Prof. Ekundayo Shittu presented at a symposium entitled "Energy Technological Change: Policy Uncertainty, Competition and Incumbent Inertia" on March 17, 2014 Professor Shittu’s symposium was conducted in the Geography Departments conference room and attracted environmental and sustainability faculty and students from throughout the university.
Solar Institute Director Provides Guest Lecture. On March 26, 2014, Dr. Amit Ronen, Director of the Solar Institute, provided a guest lecture in the EMSE 6260 Energy Management course. Dr. Ronen gave an exciting overview of the latest developments and trends relating to solar energy technologies. Some key points that Mr. Ronen highlighted during his speech included:
• The cost of solar systems has dropped significantly in the past several years (80% since 2008).
• U.S. solar capacity is growing fast, and solar capacity is growing even faster outside of the U.S. Last year--for the first time ever--more solar power was installed than wind.
• Although PV panel costs continue to decline significantly, other “soft” or “balance of systems” costs (e.g., permitting, regulatory costs, installation labor, etc.) have proven much more difficult to reduce. A lot of work at the GW Solar Institute focuses on finding practical solutions to these challenges.
• There are strong counteracting trends that will determine future growth rates:
o Battles between utilities and distributed solar likely to continue.
o Solar public policies and incentives remain uncertain.
o Solar trade case (accusing China of dumping cheap PV panels into the U.S. market) and the Chinese tariffs are harming growth.
o Solar continues to compete on an uneven playing field, facing powerful competitors that do not need to account for the full costs of their generation.
The GW Solar Institute is a research facility focused on the economic, technical, and public policy issues associated with the development and deployment of solar energy to meet global energy needs and environmental challenges. Mr. Ronen most recently served as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, advising Sen. Cantwell on energy and natural resource issues. He brings extensive knowledge and expertise in energy and environmental policy to the Solar Institute.
Prof. Jonassen Publishes Paper. Prof. Rachael Jonassen (visiting scholar and part-time faculty, EMSE) and a colleague from the NOAA’s Climate Services Division (Dr. Marina Timofeyeva) have published a new paper, “A different kind of guidance for climate adaptation planning,” in NOAA’s Climate Prediction Science and Technology Digest Special Issue, February 2014, p. 88-89. The paper further develops ideas presented at the 38th Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop and is available online. In addition, Prof. Rachael Jonassen and two colleagues from NOAA (Marina Timofeyeva and Fiona Horsfall) presented a paper on February 6 as part of the Ninth Symposium on Policy and Socio-Economic Research at the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society, held in Atlanta, GA. The paper is titled “Pro-Active Adaptation to Unpredicted Climate Change: Challenging Projections.”
EEM Doctoral Candidate Conducts Seminar. On March 20, 2014, doctoral candidate Iryna Payosova conducted a seminar on “A Multiobjective ‘Analysis of Alternatives’ Tool for Energy Investments at Fixed-Site Installations” in the: EMSE Conference Room. The Department of Defense presently is facing unprecedented challenges in the area of sustainable energy supplies. In response to these challenges, the U.S. Federal government has mandated a series of extremely aggressive targets to guide a major transformation from dependence on fossil fuels to portfolios of renewable energy sources. These mandates include those set forth in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05), the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2007, and Executive Order 13514 (2009). Of these mandates, the 2007 NDAA sets by far the most aggressive target for this transition, specifying a 25% renewable energy goal by the year 2025. The Department of the Army has responded aggressively to this challenge via its Net Zero Installation initiative, which focuses not only on energy, but also water and waste management. To date, however, neither the Department of the Army nor the Department of Defense have developed a comprehensive and widely accepted analytical framework and a set of relevant metrics to assist in moving towards the net zero goals. This research attempts to develop an analysis of alternatives (AoA) tool for energy investments in fixed site installations. Such tool can be potentially used by the Department of Defense, or other large Federal and private organizations.
Iryna is in the 4th year of the EEM/EMSE PhD program. Her academic adviser is Dr. Jonathan P. Deason. Prior to entering the doctorate program in the SEAS/GWU, she obtained the MSc degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Arizona. Iryna is originally from Ukraine, where she earned her MSc in Environmental Science and Policy and BSc in Biology and Economics from the University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She worked in the Ukrainian NGOs on the projects sponsored by the UNDP and USAID, dealing with the issues of sustainability and investments in energy efficiency. She also worked in the energy-generating company in Kyiv. Key focus areas on her current dissertation research are the net zero water and net zero energy. In her research she mainly uses the MCDA approach.
EEM Professor Wins Major Award. Visiting Scholar Joe Cascio (EMSE) was named the 2014 recipient of the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award from the Society for Standards Professionals. Prof. Cascio’s notification indicated that “This award is given to only the most highly deserving individuals who have contributed significantly to the field of standardization (including conformity assessment). You have been a major contributor in so many ways over many years to both national and international efforts in standardization and it is most appropriate that you be recognized through this award.” The Society of Standards Professionals - formerly the Standards Engineering Society - was established in 1947 as a not-for-profit professional membership society dedicated to furthering the knowledge and use of standards and standardization. Prof. Cascio’s award will be presented during the Society’s annual conference that will be held in Ottawa, Canada during the period August 11-14, 2014.
EEM Hosts Environmental Delegation from Russia. On March 26, 2014, a group of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering faculty and students hosted a delegation of faculty members from the South Ural University of Chelyabinsk, Russia, which is a 50,000-student institution. EMSE Professors Jonathan Deason and Elvin Yuzugullu and graduate students Ira Payosova and Benjamin Heras conducted a two-hour symposium on innovative developments in energy conservation and energy efficiency for the 14 member Russian delegation, as requested by the GW Graduate School of Political Management. During the seminar, the EMSE group described relevant research activities and academic programs underway at GW and discussed matters of mutual interest and potential collaboration with the Russian colleagues.