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 (Spring 2024): 60540 (graduate students) / 60245 (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.


Upcoming UT Energy Symposium Talks

Date
Speaker
Talk Title
4/1/2025 Sanjay Bishnoi
CEO, Entropy Inc.
Producing Low Carbon Power From Natural Gas and Carbon Capture 
Note: this talk will be held in San Jacinto Hall as part of UT Energy Week.
4/8/2025 Yonghong Chen
Chief Scientist, Grid Planning and Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Interregional Transmission Operational Coordination
4/15/2025 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
Cellulosic Biofuel 2.0
4/22/2025 Sam Porter
Co-Founder & CEO, NeuVentus
Texas Reliability Underground: How Salt Cavern Storage Enables the Energy Expansion & Transition

UT Energy Symposium Talks

Displaying 76 - 100 of 337

May 3, 2022

April 26, 2022

Environmental justice, climate change, air pollution, and decisions in the U.S. power sector

Inês Azevedo, Associate Professor, Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University

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April 19, 2022

Confronting Climate Gridlock: Technologies to Unlock a Clean Energy Future

Dr. Daniel Cohan, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University

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April 12, 2022

ESG and the future role of oil and gas in the global energy mix

  • Castlen Kennedy, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Apache Corporation
  • Leslie Beyer, CEO, The Energy Workforce & Technology Council in Houston, Texas

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April 5, 2022

Beyond the Plug: Volkswagen Group Innovation ​is looking at The Future of Energy Systems​​

William A. Paxton, Senior Scientist, Energy Storage, Innovation Center California, Volkswagen Group of America

Max Thum, Mechatronics Engineer, Innovation Center California, Volkswagen Group of America

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March 29, 2022

Location, Location, Location: Deploying Batteries in the Right Time and Place for a Transitioning Grid

Caitlin Smith, Sr. Director, Regulatory, External Affairs and ESG, Jupiter Power

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March 22, 2022

Resilient Distributed Energy Future

Javad Mohammadi, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

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March 8, 2022

Gaslighted: How the Oil and Gas Industry Shortchanges Women Scientists

Christine Williams, Professor of Sociology and the Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts, The University of Texas at Austin

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March 1, 2022

The Future of Energy

Bruce Niemeyer, Vice President, Chevron Strategy and Sustainability

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February 15, 2022

Exploring Inequities in Energy and Transportation Systems in the US and Mexico

Sergio Castellanos, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

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February 8, 2022

February 1, 2022

Integrating Massive Amounts of Wind and Solar in Electric Power Systems

Ben Kroposki​, Director, Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

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January 25, 2022

Grid Modernization and Energy Storage at Sandia National Laboratories – Challenges, Priorities, and Key Projects

Charles Hanley, Senior Manager, Grid Modernization and Energy Storage Programs, Sandia National Laboratories

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November 30, 2021

Panel Discussion: Energy Justice and International Development

Mr. Ashvin Dayal, Senior VP, Power and Climate, The Rockefeller Foundation

Dr. Rebekah Shirley, Director of Research, Data & Innovation, WRI Africa

Ms. Dana Harmon, Executive Director, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute

Moderator: Dr. Varun Rai, Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT Austin

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November 23, 2021

The how and why of energy use in the past: Additional insights from World long-run time series on electricity since 1900

Tânia Sousa, Auxiliary Professor, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa (Lisbon University)

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November 16, 2021

What clean tech will get us to net zero? An overview based on long-term energy scenarios

Anna Broughel, Program Director of Energy Leadership, Clean Energy Leadership Institute; Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University

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November 9, 2021

Survey of California Strategies to Meet Renewable Energy and GHG Goals

Jared Babula, Senior Attorney, California Energy Commission; Faculty member, Empire School of Law

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November 2, 2021

October 26, 2021

Cleantech Investing 1.0 to Energy Transition Investing Today – What is different this time?

Eric Danziger, Managing Director – Energy Transition, Riverbend Energy Group

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October 19, 2021

The Rise of Analytics and Digital Infrastructure in the Energy Industry

Raiford Smith, Products and Technology, X: The Moonshot Factory

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October 12, 2021

Akshai Rao, Sr Vice President, Ancillary Services, Yardi Systems

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September 28, 2021

Panel discussion: Perpetual Transition and Emerging Opportunities on the Energy Landscape

Distinguished Lecture Series of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Business:

  • Shawn Cumberland, Managing Partner, Energy Transition, Encap Investments L.P.

  • Deniz Dindoruk, Senior Development Manager, Shell

  • Will Glazener, Solution Leader, McKinsey & Company

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Semester