UT Energy Symposium
A weekly guest lecture series that is both free and open to the public and available for course credit.
In an effort to provide a multidisciplinary platform for UT faculty and students to interact on the most pressing energy issues facing our world, the Energy Institute sponsors the UT Energy Symposium (UTES), which entered its 28th semester in spring 2025.
The UTES serves as a “convener” for the campus community, uniting students interested in energy issues with faculty and others working on sustainable energy security. Students who register for the symposium receive one credit hour for the 15-week seminar course, which is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. The course is taught in both the fall and spring semesters.
Ongoing themes for UTES include climate change policy, innovation and diffusion of energy technologies, low-carbon technology options and status, and behavioral aspects of energy consumption.
Each UTES talk is recorded and posted on this page and on the Energy Institute YouTube channel.
Instructor: Carey King
Unique Number (Fall 2025): 65605 (graduate students) / 65310 (undergraduates)
Day & Time: Tuesday, 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
If you need an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Christa Hopkins, who can be reached at 512-475-8447 or christa@energy.utexas.edu, no later than five (5) business days prior to the event.
UT Energy Symposium Talks
April 28, 2014
Energy and Urbanization
Arnulf Grubler, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and Yale University
April 24, 2014
Student Research Showcase
- Brent Bennett, PhD student, Materials Science and Engineering: “Redox Flow Batteries: How Cutting-Edge Chemistry Will Transform the Electric Grid”
- Sean Wood, PhD student, Chemical Engineering: “Improved Lithium-ion Batteries using Lead Telluride (PbTe)”
April 17, 2014
Trade-offs in Climate Mitigation Strategies: Assessing the Regional Variations in the Health, Environmental, and Climate Benefits of Wind and Solar Generation Across the United States
Inês Azevedo, Assistant Professor and Co-director, Climate and Energy Decision Making, Carnegie Mellon University
March 27, 2014
Carbon Neutral Design: An Architectural Primer
James Wasley, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
March 20, 2014
Electricity Scarcity Pricing and Resource Adequacy
William Hogan, Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy, Harvard University
March 6, 2014
Stanford’s ARPA-E Sensors and Energy Behavior Initiative
Carrie Armel, Research Associate, Stanford University
February 27, 2014
Human Nature & the Grid
Craig Boice, President Boice Dunham Group
February 13, 2014
Emerging Legal and Political Issues in Shale Gas Production
David Spence, Associate Professor, McCombs School of Business, UT Austin
February 6, 2014
A Status Report on the U.S. Nuclear Energy Program
William C. Ostendorff, Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner
January 30, 2014
A Ringside Seat: What I learned from 10 years reporting on, and living through, the fracking revolution
Russell Gold, Senior Energy Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
January 23, 2014
Transforming America’s Grid through Technology, Competition & Green Power
J. Calvin Crowder, President, Electric Transmission Texas
May 3, 2012
Americans’ Vehicle and Travel Choices: Opportunities for Plug- In Vehicles in the Nation’s Fleet Evolution
Dr. Kara Kockelman, Professor & William J. Murray Jr. Fellow, Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
April 26, 2012
The Future of Water in Texas, and What It Means for Energy
Thomas Mason, Former General Manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and currently with the law firm Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody
April 12, 2012
Taking Green Technologies from Innovation to the Market: A VC’s Perspective
Ashmeet Sidana, General Partner, Foundation Capital
April 5, 2012
California’s March Towards Sustainable Energy: Assessing the Record and Lessons for Future
Andrew McAllister, Managing Director, California Center for Sustainable Energy
March 29, 2012
Simulating Complex Systems: Applications to Energy
Dr. Charles Macal, Senior Systems Engineer, Argonne National Laboratory
March 22, 2012
The Energy Industry’s Media Triumphs and Disasters
Mark Fischetti, Energy and Environment Editor, Scientific American
March 8, 2012
National Oil Companies: Fueling Anxiety
Mark Thurber, Associate Director for Research, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, Stanford
March 1, 2012
What the Characteristics of Wind and Solar Electric Power Production Mean for Their Future
Jay Apt, Professor of Technology, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
February 23, 2012
From Here to Eternity (and Beyond): Transforming to a Clean Energy Economy
David Crane, President and CEO, NRG Energy
February 16, 2012
Student Research Showcase
- Sudamsh Bai-Reddy, McCombs School of Business See PDF slides in a new window
- Benjamin Sigrin, Energy and Earth Resources and LBJ School of Public Affairs See PDF slides in a new window
- Dave Tuttle, Electrical and Computer Engineering See PDF slides in a new window
- Dan Weisberg, Pecan Street Inc. See PDF slides in a new window
February 8, 2012
Geopolitical Implications of Shale Gas
Amy Jaffe, Fellow in Energy Studies and Director of the Energy Forum, Baker Institute, Rice University
January 19, 2012
Utility of the Future
Roger Duncan, Research Analyst, Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy