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 multi-disciplinary 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 will enter its 25th semester in fall 2023.
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.
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 will be recorded and posted on this page and on the Energy Institute YouTube channel following the event.
Instructor: Carey King
Unique Number (Spring 2024): 59680 (graduate students) / 59215 (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.
Weekly UT Energy Symposiums will resume for the Spring semester on January 16, 2024.
Visit the Energy Institute YouTube channel to catch up on any symposiums you may have missed.
UT Energy Symposium Talks
January 25, 2018
Food Security: Thermodynamics, Ecology, and Economics
John R Schramski, Associate Professor, College of Engineering, University of Georgia
November 30, 2017
Drivers of technological improvement in clean energy
Jessika Trancik, Professor in Energy Studies, Institute for Data, Systems and Society at MIT
November 16, 2017
Notes on 100% Renewable Cities in Texas
Neil McAndrews, Economist with Austin Chapter of US Association for Energy Economics
November 9, 2017
From Theory to Econometrics to Energy Policy: Cautionary Tales for Policymaking Using Aggregate Production Functions
Matthew Heun, Professor of Engineering at Calvin College
October 26, 2017
Grid Technology Trends and the Integration of Renewables
Juan Torres, Associate Laboratory Director, Energy Systems Integration, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
October 19, 2017
Cutting Carbon in Maritime Cargo Shipping
Maria Gallucci, 2017-2018 UT Energy Journalism Fellow
October 12, 2017
Coupling Heat Storage to Nuclear Reactors For Variable Electricity Output with Base-Load Reactor Operations
Charles Forsberg, Director and a Principle Investigator of the DOE Integrated Research Project on Fluoride-salt-cooled High-Temperature Reactors (FHRs), MIT
October 5, 2017
Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems
Kevan Weaver, Director of Technology Integration, TerraPower
September 28, 2017
Low Energy Nuclear Reactions: Status and Prospects for Science and Business
Dave Nagel, Professor, George Washington University
September 21, 2017
Electrolyte Choices for Rechargeable Batteries
John Goodenough, Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin
September 14, 2017
U.S. Climate Policy: The Importance of Thinking and Acting Regionally
Dave Adelman, Professor, School of Law, The University of Texas at Austin
September 7, 2017
Keeping The Lights On As We Transition To Renewables
Gene Preston, CEO, Transmission Adequacy Consulting
April 27, 2017
Redesigning Civilization: And Other Small Things
Matt Grocoff, Principal, THRIVE Collaborative
April 20, 2017
ExxonMobil 2017 Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040
Robert Gardner, Manager, Economics and Energy Division, Corporate Strategic Planning at ExxonMobil
April 13, 2017
The Evolving Utility Business Models – The Electric Cooperative Story
Peter Muhoro, Director of Energy Research and Strategies, Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC)
April 6, 2017
Mexican Energy Reform in a time of Insecurity
Lorne Matalon, UT Energy Journalism Fellow and reporter for National Public Radio in West Texas
March 30, 2017
Energy and the Anthropocene
David Biello, Science Curator at TED Conferences
March 23, 2017
U.S. & World Nuclear Energy
Dale Klein, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for the UT System and Professor of Mechanical Engineering
March 9, 2017
The Geopolitics of Oil: Western Hemisphere Scenarios
Jorge Piñon, Director of UT Austin’s Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program
March 2, 2017
The Art of Doing Good Science: Experiences in Interdisciplinary Energy Research
Varun Rai, Associate Professor at the UT Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs
February 23, 2017
Building a smart grid through smart decision-making and smart organizations
Michael Legatt, CEO and Founder at ResilientGrid
February 16, 2017
Decoupling energy consumption from GDP under induced technological change
Eric Kemp-Benedict, Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
February 2, 2017
Climate Change, Methane, and the Global Oil and Gas system
Daniel Zavala, post-doctoral-scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund