Energy Policy and Technology

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:00:00 -0500

Through the Energy Policy PUBP 8803 course, trainees in the NSF funded Nanostructured Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion (NESAC) IGERT studied energy policy theory from a welfare economics perspective, learned the assumptions of the competitive market model, market failures that justify government intervention, and the tradeoffs associated with tools that address these market failures and reviewed the major sources and end uses of energy in the U.S., as well as policies associated with their promotion and regulation. The trainees had direct experience working in highly multidisciplinary groups whose expertise spanned from science and engineering to public policy. These interactions allowed the students to investigate potential impacts of policy on the development of technology, and vice versa. The analyses they conducted elucidated energy centric areas of science and engineering oriented research that are of strategic importance to this critical societal need. Through their multi-disciplinary projects, trainees developed new experimental tools and models that will be important to the development of advanced nanomaterials and associated policies for energy applications. The methods and protocols will likely be of significance for other high technology applications.