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

Displaying 1 - 25 of 25

April 15, 2025

Cellulosic Biofuel 2.0

Lee Lynd, Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering & Adjunct Professor of Biology, Dartmouth University; Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Terragia Corporation Renewable Energy Laboratory
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April 8, 2025

Interregional Transmission Operational Coordination

Yonghong Chen 
Chief Scientist, Grid Planning and Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

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March 27, 2025

Electric grid dynamic simulation: open synthetic datasets and stability assessment frameworks

Adam Birchfield

Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University 

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March 11, 2025

Reimagining Battery Chemistries for Sustainable Energy Storage

Kent Zheng

Assistant Professor, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering & Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

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March 4, 2025

A Country-Level Primary, Final, Useful Energy and Exergy Database to Improve Understanding of Energy and the Economy

Matthew Heun, Professor, Department of Engineering, Calvin University; Virtual Visiting Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds; Extraordinary Professor, School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University 

Paul Brockway, Associate Professor, Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds 

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February 25, 2025

February 18, 2025

Cyberwarfare and Critical Infrastructure in the 21st Century

Chris Lamb
Cybersecurity Researcher, Energy Security, Sandia National Laboratory

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February 11, 2025

February 4, 2025

Reducing Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in the Permian Basin: A Common Sense Approach

Melinda Taylor, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Texas at Austin

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January 21, 2025

Making Climate Policy Models More Decision-Relevant

Wei Peng, Assistant Professor School of Public and International Affairs & Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

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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

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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

March 29, 2012

Simulating Complex Systems: Applications to Energy

Dr. Charles Macal, Senior Systems Engineer, Argonne National Laboratory

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March 22, 2012

The Energy Industry’s Media Triumphs and Disasters

Mark Fischetti, Energy and Environment Editor, Scientific American

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March 8, 2012

National Oil Companies: Fueling Anxiety

Mark Thurber, Associate Director for Research, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development, Stanford

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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

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February 23, 2012

February 16, 2012

Student Research Showcase

February 8, 2012

Geopolitical Implications of Shale Gas

Amy Jaffe, Fellow in Energy Studies and Director of the Energy Forum, Baker Institute, Rice University

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January 19, 2012

Utility of the Future

Roger Duncan, Research Analyst, Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy

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