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
December 4, 2024
Influencing a Culture of Safety While Designing Energy Transition Solutions
Murtaza I. Gandhi, Manager of Qualitative Risk and Sustainability, BakerRisk
November 19, 2024
Oil in the Crosshairs: Energy as an Enabler and a Target in Modern Military Strategy
Clay Seigle, Energy & Geopolitical Risk Strategist
November 12, 2024
Engineering and Social Justice: Using High-Resolution Residential Data To Identify Energy Poverty in Households
Destenie Nock, Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; CEO, Peoples Energy Analytics
November 5, 2024
The State of Energy in Mexico
Ariel Ramos, Ramos Marcín Abogados - Founding Partner; International Board of Advisors (IBA) - The University of Texas at Austin; Mexican Academy of Energy Law - Coordinator of the Oil & Gas and Clean Hydrogen Committee / Former President
October 29, 2024
The Road to the Renewable Energy Transition Must Pass Through Crowded Lands
Joseph Kiesecker, Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
October 22, 2024
Sustainability and Autonomy - The Interconnected Future of Modern Flight
Dan Dalton, Vice President, Global Partnerships, Wisk Aero; LLC Volunteer Chairman of the Texas Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Advisory Committee
October 15, 2024
Reckoning with Social Policy in Utility Regulation
Alexandra Klass, James G. Degnan Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
October 8, 2024
Hydrogen in the Energy Transition, Emergence From Research Interest to National Priority
Frank Wolak, President and CEO, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association
October 1, 2024
Fusion on Earth: A Quintessentially Scientific Pursuit With an Important Commercial Goal
Swadesh Mitter Mahajan, Research Professor, Institute for Fusion Studies, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin; Chief Scientific Advisor of Exofusion
September 24, 2024
Carbon Capture and Storage in the Global Climate Scene
Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager, IEAGHG
September 17, 2024
Lowering the Risk of Commercialization of CO2 Capture With Amine Solvents
Fred Closmann, Research Associate, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering
September 10, 2024
Book Talk: The Conservative Environmentalist
Founder and Executive Chairman, American Conservation Coalition; Author, The Conservative Environmentalist
September 3, 2024
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