The most rewarding part of my experience was actually interviewing the people in the basins, and conducting first-hand research rather than depending on literature. This first-hand engagement helped me immensely in understanding how federal rivers like the Indus and Mississippi are managed, where different political constituencies vie for water resources, and where states compete with one another and with the federal government for control of water. Even within the federal government, there are so many competitors and stakeholders that water has become a highly politicized issue. However, I learned from this experience that managing any rivershed, large or small, is complex, and resolving any issue pertaining to its use, management and sharing requires contextualization, for which nothing is more important than being aware of the politics, history and background, because these frame the priorities and concerns of various stakeholders. In my field of environmental engineering, the buzz words have always been ‘energy’ and ‘entrepreneurship.’ Water was never seen as a concern, particularly on the East Coast—however, I feel certain through my past experiences that water management will become a growing global concern, especially as commodity prices rise. Many countries with a growing demand for energy will also want to utilize their hydro-power potential. The need to manage, use, and share water
resources judiciously and prudently will be of utmost significance in the future, which is why these issues have excited me. Ultimately, after graduate school in a civil and environmental engineering program, I hope to undertake both direct fieldwork and applied research so as to propose more effective policies toward water resource management, development, and conflict resolution.” Charles Gertler ‘13 Project Title: Potential for Solar-Generated Electricity in China “In the summer of 2012 I began my first long-term, independent research project: a senior thesis in Earth & Planetary Sciences and Environmental Science & Public Policy. Through analysis of relevant policies, industry factors, and solar resources, my senior thesis will evaluate the total potential for solar-generated electricity in China, as well as possible wind-solar coupling (to smooth out temporal variability in the resources) and atmospheric effects (including CO2 abatement). It is an exciting project with numerous intricacies and difficulties that my work this summer has helped illuminate. Briefly, my research took me to three major cities: Shanghai, Beijing, and Cambridge. Immediately after my last final of the spring term, I boarded a plane to Shanghai, where I spent 6 days attending the SNEC international solar PV
(photovoltaic) conference. There, I gained a sense of the vast PV industry, especially in China, and gained appreciation for the oft-noted “commodification” of monocrystalline and poly-crystalline silicon PV cells. I also made valuable contact with industry analysts, who have helped provide perspective for my project. From Shanghai, I boarded the highspeed maglev train to Beijing, where I spent the majority of my time in China. For about 5 weeks, I was stationed in the Research Institute at the China Three Gorges Corporation, a company with a research partnership with the Harvard China Project (HCP). At Three Gorges, I deepened my knowledge of Chinese policies relevant to solar-generated electricity; a trip to a solar plant run by the corporation shed light on the practical challenges and considerations utility-scale solar power is facing in China. I also made important connections with developers on the ground in China. Being the only foreigner in a state-owned Chinese corporation was really exciting—eating in the dining hall, playing ping pong after lunch, going on company outings, and getting to tour a solar power facility in the western province of Qinghai, Photos (L to R): Charles Gertler at the China Three Gorges Corporation; Gertler on a tour of a solar power facility in Qinghai province; Laila Kasuri poses by the Mississippi; Kasuri (third from right) stands before the Indus river in Pakistan.
Harvard University Center for the Environment
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