Carnegie Mellon's Erica Fuchs Discusses How Global Redistribution of Manufacturing Is Changing Innovation

Sending U.S. products overseas to be manufactured may be cheaper, but it also may stifle innovation depending on the technology and the constraints facing firms, says Fuchs in her paper published this week in Science.

Learn more and watch the video: 

http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2014/july/july31_manufacturinglocation.html

Scott Institute's Jay Apt To Testify at EPA Hearing on Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule

The Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule was issued June 2, 2014, and outlines ways in which states can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that operate by combusting fossil fuels. It provides goals for each state to help the nation significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2020.

Apt's testimony, focusing on innovations and strategy for existing power plants, is scheduled to take place at 9:50 a.m., Thursday, July 31 at the William S. Moorhead Federal Building in Pittsburgh. 

Learn more:

http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2014/july/july30_apttestifies.html 

Quadrennial Energy Review Pittsburgh Public Hearing Statements and Video

On July 21, the U.S. Department of Energy held a public hearing as part of its Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) focused on "Natural Gas:  Transmission, Storage, and Distribution."  The agenda and statements made at the meeting are now available as well as video of the event.

CMU Student Research on biofuels, Navajo Energy projects, and Rural Microgrids in Developing Countries

CMU doctoral student Dan Posen won the best PhD presentation award at the Technology, Management & Policy (TMP) consortium hosted by TPP in Lisbon last month.  The presentation was titled, "Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Benefits of Expanding U.S. Biofuel Incentives to Promote Biomass Use in Chemical Feedstocks." 

CMU doctoral student Len Necefer will speak at the Navajo Nation Energy Summit in Arizona this week.  This is an annual briefing of elected officials and also department heads on the issue of energy resource development on the Navajo Nation. 

He will also present a webinar this September for the Tribal Energy Program, in cooperation with the DOE Office of Indian Energy and Western Area Power Administration (WAPA).  The series is intended for tribal leaders and staff who are interested in developing facility- and community-scale energy projects, responding to utilities' requests for proposals, and learning more about the competitive power market"  Necefer's will discuss collaborative, stakeholder-driven modeling, how the models developed have been and could be used, and how specifically this process and resulting models might be utilized in Indian Country.

A new economic model for rural microgrid implementation is being explored as CMU grad student Nathan Williams conducts his doctoral research on enabling the financial feasibility of rural microgrids in developing countries. Microgrids are small-scale electrical generation and distribution systems that deliver power in a small region near the power sources. Microgrids stand in stark contrast to typical macrogrid infrastructures, which transmit electricity over high-voltage transmission networks that connect very large power plants to load centers that can be hundreds or even thousands of kilometers from the generators.  

Scott Institute releases new video on the rebound effect

The Scott Institute for Energy Innovation just released a new video discussing the rebound effect -- how people change their behavior in response to the introduction of new technology that improves energy efficiency, possibly offsetting the benefits of such measures.  In this video, Inês Azevedo explains and analyzes the impact of the rebound effect for each of the 50 states, and makes recommendations for policymakers in this new video.

Public opinion on climate change: Is the glass half-full or half-empty for policymakers?

In The Hill, Deborah Stine provides commentary on public opinion and climate change.

Ed Rubin on Carbon Capture via the New York Times

On July 21, the New York Times provides an interesting article on carbon capture that included comments from the Scott Institute's Ed Rubin on the topic.