C M Y K
100 46 0 0
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0 61 97 0
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20 0 100 19
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building resilience / strengthening collaboration / forging a path forward
annual report for the academic year 2019 -2020
excel / new research
contents 1
Message from the Directors
2
Mission + Goals
3
Research Areas
4
Timeline 2019-2020
6 Excel 9
Growing Our Scholarly Community
10
The Andlinger Community Thrives
12
New Research
15 Investing in Cutting-Edge Research 17 Supporting Startups
Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo Director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor in Engineering Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Z. Jason Ren Acting Director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
18 Engage 21
Annual Meeting
22
E-ffiliates Retreat
22
E-ffiliates Member Highlights
26
Strengthening the Andlinger Community
28 Inform 31 Educating Undergraduates 34
Summer Internships
35
Graduate Spotlight
36
Educating the Public
38 Leadership 39 Supporters
2
“We need to use every tool in our toolbox, while simultaneously designing new ones to ensure an equitable and environmentally sustainable future for all. We also need partners.”
message from the directors Few could have imagined what 2020 would bring for the world, or
in the historical contexts of communities where new infrastructure
how one academic year could yield two starkly different realities, with
may be sited, land use and job implications, and the fiscal and social
the spring semester dramatically impacted by the global COVID-19
cost of electricity. As economies are rebuilding from the impacts of
pandemic. In an effort to prevent the virus’s spread, Princeton
COVID-19, and as communities are recovering from the devastation
University, like many other schools and businesses, moved its
of hurricanes and wildfires and healing from social and environmental
activities online. People around the world stayed in place and rapidly
injustices, we now have an opportunity to redesign policies, tools,
adjusted their daily routines. At the same time, social unrest awoke
institutions, and technologies to solve the problems at hand.
within the United States as people across the country confronted systemic racism and political divisiveness. From our information and communication networks, to our family norms and civic institutions, to local economies and markets, this year tested almost every facet of modern life and the effectiveness, resilience, and adaptability of the systems that support us.
We are actively working on the research that will inform these solutions. The Net-Zero America Project, one research project within our global decarbonization initiative, Rapid Switch, outlines with unparalleled granularity five pathways to achieving net-zero emissions in the United States by 2050, and exactly which states and sectors would be impacted by the transition and how. On the whole, we found
What this time can teach us is still coming into view. At the Andlinger
that making this clean energy transition would yield a net increase
Center for Energy and the Environment, 2020 brought to bear new
in jobs across the country throughout the 2020s.The reduction in
ways that we can work together and novel tools we can use to
coal power generation would improve poor air quality, which has
connect and carry out our mission, while minimizing the risk to
disproportionately impacted low-income communities, and would
our community and expanding our definition of inclusivity. A virtual
prevent more than 100,000 premature deaths in the United States.
seminar with the director general of ITER, the world’s largest fusion power experiment, convened attendees from 13 countries and, with over 600 attendees, became the largest event we ever hosted. Our academic community quickly adapted and provided ways for undergraduates to actively learn and participate in summer internships. We continued to host events that convene stakeholders
Critical to doing this work is engaging with stakeholders in industry, nonprofits, and government, even if their interests diverge. We work with major players to better understand the industry and the political landscapes, identify bottlenecks to an energy transition, and develop solutions to overcome these challenges.
to facilitate timely and thought-provoking discussions. Our spring
We are looking at this year, as we do every year, as a year to innovate
E-ffiliates retreat, for example, focused on making climate science
and take on hard problems. A quote from Albert Einstein that is
accessible to planners and local officials to bolster resilience,
engraved in the entryway of the Andlinger Center continues to ring
highlighted on page 21.
true: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that
Perhaps more than anything, this year showcased just how difficult it
caused them.”
is to address large-scale societal problems. Tackling climate change
We need to use every tool in our toolbox, while simultaneously
requires upending and reimagining nearly every norm and system,
designing new ones to ensure an equitable and environmentally
from the way we produce, transmit, and use energy, to our lifestyles,
sustainable future for all. We also need partners. Especially during
travel patterns, and eating habits. But we also have seen that rapid
these unique and trying times, we are thankful to our community that
change is possible. Across the country and at the Andlinger Center,
continues to value the pursuit of new knowledge, scientific thought
we are having conversations broadly about the way we want our
and process, innovation, and engagement. We are grateful to have
systems to work and who they should serve. Our research factors
your support and your continued participation in our community. 1
mission + goals
to develop solutions for our energy and environmental future accelerate innovation through funding, infrastructure, and intellectual discourse foster a vibrant and interdisciplinary community partner with industry, not-for-profit, government, and peer institutions train the next generation of leaders in a broad context be the leading center for information and advice
2 2
research areas
built environment, transportation, and infrastructure
Smart infrastructure, resilient cities, building efficiency systems and retrofits involving faculty from the School of Architecture; microgrids and networks, green cements, cleaner burning combustion engines, electric vehicles, and water desalination technologies
electricity production, transmission, and storage
Emerging technologies to harvest wind and solar power, nuclear fusion, power electronics and superconducting materials that enable more power transmission, grid-scale electricity storage, and modeling of grids with high renewables penetration
fuels and chemicals
Advanced fuels and chemicals from engineered microorganisms and artificial photosynthesis, development of catalysts with abundant elements, and techno-economic and lifecycle assessments of advanced biofuel production systems
environmental sensing and remediation
Sensors to detect emissions of carbon and nitrogen cycle gases to the atmosphere from the energy, water and food sectors; carbon capture and storage; and wastewater treatment and soil remediation technologies using nanoparticles and microorganisms
decision and behavioral science, policy, and economics
In partnership with faculty and researchers at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, individual and collective decision-making and economic analysis related to energy and environmental policy
environmental and climate science
In partnership with faculty and researchers at the Princeton Environmental Institute, environmental monitoring and modeling of Arctic sea ice, carbon dioxide absorption by oceans, extreme weather, and coastal impacts
3
andlinger center timeline 2019 -2020 July
August
September
October
December
excel engage inform
The Andlinger Center drives impact in three key areas: research in excel, external partnerships in engage, and educational offerings in inform.
Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo discusses 21st century energy challenges at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.
Harry Warren and Richard Moss join the Andlinger Center as Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellows.
Undergraduate Matthew Marquardt wins Slavin Fellowship for his work with Andluca Technologies and deployment of solar smart windows on campus buildings for research.
Luis Ceferino joins the Andlinger Center as a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow researching the resilience of energy systems during disasters.
The timeline represents select highlights of the events and activities of the past year and does not reflect all milestones.
Representatives from E-ffiliates members Siemens and NRG join faculty on campus for a workshop on cyberphysical security risks to the power grid.
4
November
Jesse Jenkins joins the faculty as assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
The center’s undergraduate teaching laboratories are named the John E. Stauffer ’54 Teaching Laboratories at an official ribbon cutting ceremony in honor of Jack E. Stauffer, Class of ’54.
Phil Sharp, former U.S. Congressman, and David Eaglesham, entrepreneurin-residence, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, deliver the keynote addresses on curtailing carbon emissions during the Andlinger Center’s eighth Annual Meeting.
Anu Ramaswami and Z. Jason Ren receive $2.5 million from Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems to advance the science of urban food sustainability.
Evidn, an applied behavioral science company based in Brisbane, Australia, joins Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership to explore how behavioral insights could help facilitate the adoption of new energy technologies.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
E-ffiliates funds Professors Prateek Mittal and H. Vincent Poor to study safeguarding the power grid, and Sujit Datta to develop technology to pull drinking water from the air.
The Andlinger Center holds Energy Dialogues summit at Princeton University to discuss energy transitions with leaders from diverse segments of the energy industry, organized by Harry Warren.
Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo is elected a fellow of the Materials Research Society.
Christos Maravelias accepts the position of Anderson Family Professor in Energy and the Environment, professor of chemical and biological engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
Forrest Meggers is awarded a $4M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a new method to dehumidify air to cool buildings more efficiently.
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Director, Steven Cowley, discusses fusion power and the 2020s as a unique moment in the technology’s history as part of the Andlinger Center Speaks commentary series.
Jennifer Rexford and Elke Weber are elected members of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Andlinger Center hosts its seventh annual E-ffiliates retreat, focusing on resilience, hosted by Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellow, Richard Moss.
The Andlinger Center goes virtual: the center deploys strategies and technology to support remote research, engagement, and teaching in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Andlinger Center hosts a virtual Highlight Seminar with Bernard Bigot, director-general of the international fusion plant ITER, with over 600 attendees from around the world.
Jesse Jenkins is selected to a committee for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine investigating decarbonization.
Neil Slighton is awarded the Senior Thesis Prize in Energy and the Environment for his research on mini-grids and electrifying rural India.
The Andlinger Center presents a Princeton Reunions seminar about the parallels between coronavirus and climate change to over 200 participants.
The Andlinger Center awards graduate student, Suong (Su) Nguyen from the Department of Chemistry, the 2020-2021 Maeder Fellowship in Energy and the Environment to study light-driven technologies for producing catalysts and fuels.
ExxonMobil and Princeton University renew partnership to advance energy technologies through Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership.
Sunxiang (Sean) Zheng joins the next cohort of Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows, focusing on the development of novel carbon capture materials.
Renewable energy developer, Community Energy, joins Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership to advance understanding of the future power sector.
5
excel / new research
JosĂŠ Avalos and Sergio Garcia Echauri, postdoctoral research associate, engineer microbes to produce more useful and efficient fuels. Avalos is assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. (Photo by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy)
6
excel / new research
excel Creating solutions requires inclusive research programs that build off of one another, instead of remaining siloed. At the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, we take pride in bringing together scholars who can collectively help to develop new fields and dynamic solutions for energy and environmental issues. Through seed grants and fellowships for veteran energy experts and postdoctoral researchers, we aim to build a community of scholars who integrate various fields of study in ways that are useful for addressing modern energy and environmental problems and their underlying contexts. Our researchers work on electric infrastructure, fuels and chemicals, decisionmaking and economics, environmental science, sensing and remediation, and the built environment, to lay the foundations for the next generation of clean energy technologies while working on remediating today’s key issues.
Z. Jason Ren, acting director and associate director for research at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, professor of civil and
“We cultivate expertise across all parts of energy systems, and facilitate collaboration in other realms, such as policy, architecture, and psychology, to produce timely and impactful research.”
environmental engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (Photo by Tori Repp / Fotobuddy)
7
andlinger center / excel
$6.7 million
2013
2014
114
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2014
Publications *the 2020 may change as I am waiting to hear back from 2 professors. Total – 91 2013 – 7 2014 – 20 (+12) 2015 – 28 (+8) 2016 – 42 (+14) 2017 – 53 (+11) 2018 – 76 (+24) 2019 – 91 (+15) 2020 – 93 (+2)Lorem ipsum
380
Publications Resulting from Andlinger Center Seed Fund Support
+23
Graduate Students & Postdocs Supported
+15
+19
+$8 million +$5 million
+$3.4 million
Environmental sensing and remediation
+13
Decision and behavioral science, policy, and economics
+18
The above information shows cumulative growth at the Andlinger Center.
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
Environmental and climate science
2014
2013
2020
2019
2018
2017
+$2.7 million
Electricity production, transmission, and storage
19
2016
2020
Fuels and chemicals
+8
2015
2019
Built environment, transportation, and infrastructure +82
7
2014
2018
Key to Andlinger Center Research Areas
+14
2013
2017
+82
+67
+11
8
2016
+80
+24
+12
2015
+$4.5 million
$32 Million
+$1.8 million
+$500,000
+$600,000
External Grants Totaling
$1.9 million
+$1.5 million
$6.9 Million Invested
+$800,000
by the Andlinger Center—
+$600,000
Research Projects Supported
67
+$372,000
+$600,000
46
excel / growing our scholarly community
New Process-Systems Engineering Professor Christos Maravelias joined the faculty of the Andlinger Center as the Anderson Family Professor in Energy and the Environment and professor of chemical and biological engineering, effective July 1, 2020. Maravelias was the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and Paul A. Elfers Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A specialist in process-systems engineering, Maravelias is also a researcher with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. Maravelias joins the Princeton faculty as an expert in the theoretical underpinnings of chemical and biological engineering, especially as they relate to renewable energy systems. His work covers a wide range of application areas, including the design of biorefineries and solar fuel systems, the optimization of biofuel supply chains, and the planning and scheduling of chemical production. He is jointly appointed in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Maravelias deepens the center’s knowledge base on energy systems and energy transitions, a strategic area of growth for the center.
Christos Maravelias (Photo by Matt Wisniewski/Wisconsin Energy Institute)
Strengthening Energy-Systems Expertise
“Energy systems are a puzzle and each piece affects if and how goals— environmental, economic, and reliability—are met.” —Christos Maravelias
RIGHT
Chris Greig (Photo by Bumper DeJesus)
Chris Greig, Australian energy leader and former industry executive, has been appointed the Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Senior Research Scientist, effective August 1, 2020. Greig was the director of the Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia and also the founding director of the UQ Energy Initiative. He has experience bridging the gap between industry and academia, with a history in the energy and resources industry and senior executive experience leading the development of a coal gasification plant with carbon capture and storage in Australia before becoming a professor. The main thrust of his work at Princeton will be to advance the Rapid Switch initiative. Rapid Switch is a global research network focused on identifying and overcoming the most critical bottlenecks to decarbonization, which Greig initiated in Australia and is now helping to lead at
the Andlinger Center. When asked about how he will measure the success of this next chapter, he said getting everyone—decision-makers, industry, and policymakers—on the same page moving collaboratively toward realistic decarbonization goals would be the ultimate marker of this success.
9
excel / the andlinger community thrives
Leadership
“I am honored to have my research recognized in this way. My election is a testament to the power of behavioral science to address difficult societal problems.”
Z. Jason Ren, the associate director for research, served as acting center director during the year of 2020 while Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo was on sabbatical. The Andlinger Center welcomed Claire Gmachl, Jennifer Rexford, and Claire White to the executive committee as of July 1, 2019. Steven Cowley and Anu Ramaswami joined the committee on July 1, 2020. The full executive committee member list can be found on page 39. Andrea Goldsmith, an expert and entrepreneur in wireless systems who served in campus-wide leadership roles at Stanford University, has been appointed dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science effective September 1, 2020. She joins as the Arthur LeGrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering.
—Elke Weber
Elke Weber Inducted into the National Academy of Sciences Elke Weber, the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and professor of psychology and public affairs, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, a lifetime appointment that is widely recognized as one of the highest honors a scientist can
RIGHT
Elke Weber opens the floor for questions during a seminar on Rapid Switch hosted by the Climate Futures Initiative in November. (Photo by Bumper DeJesus)
10
receive. Weber was one of four Princeton University faculty members elected this year. Weber, who is also the associate director for education at the Andlinger Center, is known internationally for using behavioral decision science and psychological theory to advance global understanding of social problems and developing strategies to alleviate them. She has been recognized for her distinctive approach linking psychology principles to behavior change and uncovering the implications for environmental and economic policy, communications, management, economics, and leadership models. Weber’s research ranges from studies of discrimination and economic inequality to investigations of the social and psychological barriers to decarbonization. Much of her work contextualizes trade-offs and decision-making risks, especially under conditions of uncertainty. Her recent research shows how the personal carbon footprints of climate scientists, philanthropists, and other climate advocates affect the perceived legitimacy of and policy support for their climate strategies. Prior to joining Princeton University in 2016, Weber was the Jerome A. Chazen Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School for 17 years, and also held visiting appointments at London Business School and the Copenhagen Business School. Congratulations Elke!
And the Honor Goes to… Sujit Datta, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation as part of its Faculty Early Career Development Program, which supports junior faculty who exemplify leadership in education and research. Datta will use the funds to investigate how bacteria move in porous environments like biological tissues, soils and sediments, and gels. The work promises to make a wide-ranging impact on areas such as the study of diseases and groundwater remediation. Z. Jason Ren received the 2020 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, the highest-level mid-career research award from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ren was recognized for producing groundbreaking technological advancements that are transforming water infrastructure for energy and resource recovery. The award is given annually to individuals who have made research contributions in all disciplines of civil engineering. Ren is well known for his work in understanding microbial and electrochemical processes that have enabled critical advancements in wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and sustainable water infrastructure. Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo, director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and the Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor in Engineering, has been elected a fellow of the Materials Research Society, a lifetime appointment recognizing outstanding leadership, service, and research contributions to the field of materials science. Loo has made important advances in the field of organic and polymer electronics, including
organic photovoltaics, which among other benefits, could substantially lower the environmental costs of generating electricity. Loo is also a professor of chemical and biological engineering. Jesse Jenkins, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, is one of 16 national experts selected from across disciplines to serve on a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to investigate ways to accelerate decarbonization of the U.S. economy. Jenkins was chosen for his expertise on energy-systems modeling and decarbonizing the electricity sector. The committee will assess the technological, policy, social, and behavioral dimensions of removing carbon from the atmosphere and of preventing future carbon dioxide emissions. The goal is to produce analysis that will identify the status of technologies, policies, and societal factors that could contribute to reducing greenhouse gases, and identify areas where there are research and policy gaps. Michael Mueller, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, was awarded the 2020 Research Excellence Award of The Combustion Institute for publishing research that yielded a major impact on the field of combustion science. His research uses high-fidelity computational modeling to study turbulent reacting flows. Recent areas of investigation include multimodal turbulent combustion, pollutant emissions, and combustionaffected turbulence. The list of awards and awardees represent select highlights from the past year and do not reflect all of the achievements of our faculty and associated faculty.
11
excel / new research
Microbe Chews Through PFAS and Other Tough Contaminants
TOP
Shan Huang tracks the removal of PFAS, a historically tough pollutant to remediate, in lab vials over 100 days of observation. Huang and Peter Jaffé are testing the use of the Acidimicrobiaceae bacterium A6 as a way to clean waterways of the class of pollutants. ABOVE
Peter Jaffé (Photos by David Kelly Crow)
12
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is a class of pollutants that have been widely used in products ranging from nonstick pans to firefighting foam. Despite efforts by manufacturers to phase out types of PFAS because of the dangers they pose to human health, the substances are longlived and extremely difficult to remove from soil and groundwater because of the strength of the carbonfluorine bond. Peter Jaffé, the William L. Knapp ‘47 Professor of Civil Engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Dr. Shan Huang, a professional specialist in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, suspected that the bacterium Acidimicrobium A6 might be an effective remedy. The researchers first began working with the bacterium several years ago when they investigated a phenomenon in which ammonium broke down in acidic, iron-rich soils in New Jersey wetlands. The new research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, showed that the relatively common soil bacterium demonstrated its ability to
break down PFAS, removing 60% of the contaminant after 100 days and releasing an equivalent amount of fluoride in the process. One challenge in working with Acidimicrobium A6 is the bacterium’s demand for iron both to grow and eliminate compounds. Jaffé, along with graduate student Weitao Shuai, a 2019 Maeder Fellow in Energy and the Environment, and Melany Ruiz, now a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University, determined that they could substitute an electrical anode for the iron in lab reactors. This allowed the researchers to more easily grow these bacteria and work with them; it also presented a possible way to develop reactors for remediation in the absence of iron. The bacterium thrives in low-oxygen conditions, which makes it particularly effective for soil and groundwater remediation and allows it to function without expensive aeration. Jaffé said even though the bacteria’s requirement of iron-rich and acidic soil conditions could limit their deployment, adjusting soil conditions could also allow the bacteria to function in areas that do not naturally meet these requirements.
Fix to Longstanding Flaw in Sensor Readings Could Lead to Energy-Saving Building Designs
ABOVE
Forrest Meggers and a team of researchers, including lead researcher Eric Teitelbaum, a graduate student in architecture, built a pavilion in Singapore to show that radiant cooling could keep people comfortable in extremely hot and humid conditions.
Forrest Meggers has been working on radiant heat exchange, which uses surfaces instead of air to cool people, for more than a decade. In his research, Meggers, assistant professor of architecture and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, has been showcasing that buildings could feel comfortable using significantly less energy by making the surfaces of nearby objects cool like walls, windows, and floors, instead of cooling the air around people. When his team of Princeton researchers traveled to Singapore in January 2019 to demonstrate the effects of radiant cooling in tropical environments, they expected that their exhibit’s unique design would cool inhabitants without the need for any air conditioning. But, it didn’t work as expected. A glitch spurred Meggers to comb through the building’s design looking for errors. He
didn’t find any. Instead, Meggers’s team uncovered a significant error in the method long used to measure radiant cooling in buildings. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, show that the sensing tool and associated formulas used to calculate radiative cooling and thermal comfort did not account for a type of airflow called “free convection.” Meggers and his team designed a new tool that does not require such formulas for deriving the thermal comfort measurements. The findings also show that engineers and designers had relied for decades on inaccurate measurements that consistently underestimated the role of radiant heat exchange in thermal comfort. Letting the air warm up by five degrees while cooling surfaces, the researchers say, can lower energy demand by up to 40% and maintain occupant comfort.
(Photo provided by the researchers)
Making the Rapid Switch Rapid Switch, a global research initiative on decarbonization catalyzed by the Andlinger Center, kicked off in 2018 and several projects are active. One project investigates how the PJM electric grid in the United States could economically decarbonize. Another explores how to effectively assess CO2 storage capacity reserves and identify storage potential in relatively underexplored regions like China and India. A third, the Net-Zero America Project (NZAP), is quantifying with local geographic specificity the amount and pace of energy technology and infrastructure deployments needed across the United States to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Preliminary findings from NZAP show that historically-unprecedented deployment rates, involving large and rapid capital investments, will be needed for any of the net-zero scenarios. For example, by 2050, electricity generation would need to double to quadruple from today’s baseline, with solar and wind dominating new generation. Land use implications are significant. Energy use efficiency must increase dramatically; 85% to 100% of all personal vehicles must be electrified to achieve net-zero emissions in the United States by 2050. Fuel uses that are difficult to electrify, such as aviation, will rely increasingly on advanced biofuels or fuels synthesized from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, with the latter captured at industrial facilities, bioenergy facilities, power plants, or directly from the air. Storage of captured carbon dioxide plays a large and essential role in most scenarios to get to net-zero emissions in the United States. This transition would yield a net increase in jobs across the country throughout the 2020s, compared to business-as-usual scenarios. For more on Rapid Switch projects, visit www.acee.princeton.edu/rapidswitch.
13
excel / new research José Avalos and his team modify the genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a strain of yeast commonly used to create ethanol, to produce isobutanol, a more efficient and useful fuel. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
How to Make Better Biofuels: Convince Yeast It Is Not Starving
“Deleting the GLN3 gene gives the yeast a better chance of fighting off the toxic effects of isobutanol, continuing to grow, and making more isobutanol for us.” —José Avalos
RIGHT
Yeast helps make bread, beer, and the biofuel ethanol, but scientists believe it can also be used to create isobutanol, an even more efficient fuel. Normally, yeast only produces a tiny amount of isobutanol. Now, José Avalos, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and a team of researchers have discovered a genetic switch in the yeast that significantly ramps up production. The findings, published in the journal Cell Systems, show that the researchers were able to increase isobutanol production by roughly five times over that of standard yeast strains by making it more tolerant to isobutanol’s toxic effects. Isobutanol is about 25% more energy-dense than ethanol, has better compatibility with gasoline engines, and can be upgraded to jet fuel.
New LED Material Offers Efficiency and Color Quality for Displays and Lighting
Claire Gmachl and Barry Rand have helped stabilize a new type of perovskite LED, opening the door for the material to be used in nextgeneration lighting, displays, and lasers. (Photo by Denise Applewhite, Office of Communications)
14
A new class of materials called halide perovskites offer higher color quality and low-cost and low-energy manufacturing, but have been considered too unstable for practical use. Now Barry Rand, associate professor of electrical engineering and the Andlinger Center for
Energy and the Environment, and Claire Gmachl, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering and associate chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, have found a way to significantly improve the material’s stability and performance by preventing the buildup of heat in the device, opening the door for the material to be used in next-generation displays and lighting. Lianfeng Zhao, first author on the research and a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering, said making more conductive charge transport layers, building a much narrower device, attaching an efficient heat sink, and pulsing the device to quickly turn it on and off, were key strategies that helped increase the device’s operational lifetime tenfold at high currents.
excel / investing in cutting edge research
Andlinger Center Grant for Innovative Research in Energy and the Environment
One Year Later
Two Years Later
Evaluating Infrastructure and Cities Postpandemic
Machine Learning to Better Manage Large Water Systems
Decarbonizing the World’s Energy Systems
Will behavior change brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic be long-lasting? How has urban infrastructure planning been affected by the pandemic? Anu Ramaswami and Elke Weber seek to answer these questions, and understand if new preferences around public transit, green spaces, food, health care, and other areas have emerged during this period. Ramaswami is the Sanjay Swani Professor of India Studies, professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the M.S. Chadha Center of Global India at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.
Since receiving the grant, the researchers:
Since receiving the grant, the researchers:
Q
developed a high-resolution rainfall data set for the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan region for 2000–2019 based on radar measurements.
Q
performed case-study analyses of “cloudburst” storms that have stimulated broad interest from the regional and national water-management community.
Q
Optimizing Offshore Wind Farm Design Designing wind farms for maximum power output needs to account for the “wake effect” that upstream turbines have on those downstream. Predicting these wakes for offshore wind farms is difficult due to complex energy exchanges between the atmosphere, sea surface, and the turbines themselves. Michael Mueller, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is leading a project to develop novel computational fluid dynamics modeling to mimic the behavior of the sea surface to inform wind farm design. Luc Deike, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Princeton Environmental Institute, is a collaborator along with other engineering colleagues. Funding for the Andlinger Center grant for Innovative Research in Energy and the Environment was provided by: Addy/ISN North American Low Carbon Emission Energy Self-Sufficiency Fund; John E. Cross ’72 and Mary Tiffany Cross; High Meadows Foundation’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment Director’s Fund; and anonymous gifts.
Q
established a global Rapid Switch research network that is pursuing 15 projects distributed across several world regions aimed at understanding ways to accelerate the decarbonization of regional energy systems.
Q
modeled alternative pathways for the U.S. to achieve net-zero emissions from its energy and industrial system by 2050. The research includes detailed geospatial mapping of required deployments of biofuels, solar and wind farms, high-voltage transmission lines, nuclear plants, CO2 pipelines, and other energy infrastructure.
Q
secured $3.9 million dollars in additional research funding, enabling support for 10 postdoctoral researchers under Rapid Switch, including two directly supported by the seed funding.
developed analysis tools for assessing the changing frequency of extreme rainfall based on a 20-year rainfall data set, and developed resampling procedures for estimating precipitation frequency from the largest rainfall events during the period.
One Year Later Using Atmospheric CO2 to Create Fuels Since receiving the grant, the researchers: Q
Q
began forming a startup, ReCaST (Reduced Carbon Sequestration Technology), with support from Solidia Inc., a company that produces cement-based products that use CO 2 inputs during curation. applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to form a solar liquid fuels national project, which would involve 24 investigators across the country.
Three Years Later Electrifying Transportation Since receiving the grant, the researchers: Q
published three papers on the flame aerosol synthesis process in the journals ACS Applied Energy Materials, Applied Energy, and the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute.
Q
used the findings to accelerate advances toward product commercialization for a startup, HitNano.
Q
filed an international patent on the unique, aerosol-based, high-temperature materials-synthesis process for applications in energy storage.
Q hired three postdoctoral fellows and initi-
ated work in the areas of: genetic design of bacteria that can produce butanol; CO2 electrocatalyst development on carbons with high surface areas; and surface science of CO2 capture and utilization
15
excel / investing in cutting edge research
Light-Powered Catalysts Could Make Molecules from Biomass
ABOVE
Light is focused into beams using apertures, irises, and other optic lab installations. The lasers are part of an emerging research field that uses light to break down biomass to derive the chemical backbones for common products, which historically have relied on fossil fuels. (Photo courtesy of BioLEC)
Making everyday chemicals, which often involves reforming fossil fuels, accounts for 10% of the world’s energy demand and generates 7% of the world’s greenhouse gases annually. But what if the chemicals could be produced by reforming plant or feedstock materials, and their manufacture supercharged with light? Bio-Inspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC), an Energy Frontier Research Center based at Princeton University, aims to do just that. Led by Gregory Scholes, the William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry, the research seeks to open the door to manufacturing valuable chemical products from common and abundant materials. Launched in 2018, the center has most recently shown how to depolymerize lignin, a major component of wood and waste materials, such as sawdust, using a light-powered reaction to produce small base molecules. The Andlinger Center advises on the strategic management of BioLEC and provides support for distinguished postdoctoral researchers who work across all BioLEC research groups.
Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows OPPOSITE LEFT
Yiguang Ju explains his battery technology innovation, a way to produce low-cost and highefficiency cathode materials using combustion, to a video crew during the Celebrate Princeton Innovation event in November. (Photo by Bumper DeJesus) OPPOSITE RIGHT
Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo holds a prototype of her self-powered smart window, which enables users to control the amount of light and heat coming through it. The innovation boasts an onboard translucent solar cell that produces the electricity necessary to power the device and therefore can be used to retrofit existing buildings. (Photo by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy)
16
Sunxiang (Sean) Zheng has been selected as the newest Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow. During his graduate studies at UC Berkeley he developed nanomaterial-enabled membranes for aqueous separation. He will collaborate with Claire White, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and Z. Jason Ren to develop new membranes and materials to capture and convert CO2 into value-added carbonate minerals. The research team hopes to create a system that more easily captures and utilizes CO2 from industrial facilities for subsequent valorization.
Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow Luis Ceferino has accepted a position as assistant professor at New York University in the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering and the Center for Urban Science and Progress. He will continue his research on hurricanes and earthquakes, and impacts on power systems and emergency response efforts. Successfully completing their tenure as Andlinger Center Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellows, Bastien Wild, Kian Wee Chen, and Tapomoy Bhattacharjee continue their work at Princeton in each of their primary advisor’s faculty labs as postdoctoral research associates. They presented at a seminar series during the summer of 2020, sharing their research progress on silicate dissolution and sustainable cements, new architectural design tools, and biofilms for water treatment, respectively.
Impact of the Fuel Economy Standards Impact of the Fuel Economy Standards Princeton researchers undertook the first comprehensive historical analysis on the impacts of the corporate average fuel economy standards, known as the CAFE standards. The paper, published in the journal Energy Policy, stated that the CAFE standards were an example of good policy and a costefficient way to achieve a sound public objective. The standards saved $4 trillion in fuel costs, 14 billion metric tons of carbon emissions, and almost two trillion gallons of gasoline over the policy’s 40-year history. Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow Rebecca Ciez collaborated with Judi Greenwald, a non-resident fellow at the Andlinger Center, and transportation expert David Greene, a research professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on the study.
excel / supporting startups
Designed in the Dorm Room Flux Marine
The company set out to design and manufacture zeroemissions, high-performance electric outboard boat motors. Ben Sorkin, Class of 2017, and Jonathan Lord, Class of 2018, serve as the company’s CEO and CTO, respectively. The company continues fundraising to advance their mission. In the last year, the company: Q
Q
Q
won the CleanTech Open Northeast Regional and earned second place in the CleanTech Open National Competition. demonstrated its electric motor-technology prototype at the Wye Island Challenge, a 24-mile all-electric boat race, and beat commercial contenders to win first place. began working with the East Bay Sailing Foundation to build an all-electric coaching boat for Brown University’s sailing team.
Growing Startups at the Andlinger Center HiT Nano: Rethink Energy Storage Yiguang Ju, the Robert Porter Patterson Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and director of the Program in Sustainable Energy, founded the battery company to produce low-cost, high-performance batteries for electric vehicles based on a combustion process. In the past year, the company: Q
Q
Q
completed Phase I of the STTR grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for small business technology transfer and won a new Phase I STTR grant to develop energy storage materials. began working with Tadiran Batteries in Israel to develop a collaborative project, "Silicon Anode, Nickel Rich Cathode, High-Energy High-Safety AA Li-Ion Cell for the Industrial Internet of Things.” moved into the Rutgers EcoComplex Clean Energy Innovation Center in Bordentown, New Jersey.
Andluca Technologies: Smart Windows Untethered
Chief executive, Ben Sorkin, utilizes a prototype outboard motor during a 24-mile electric boat race in Maryland in 2019. (Photo courtesy of Flux Marine)
The company grew out of the lab of Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo. Loo and cofounder and CEO, Nicholas Davy, developed the company to commercialize a solar UV technology used to power smart windows, which can control the amount of light and/or heat coming through them. The wireless technology enables an onboard power supply, allowing the smart windows to be used not only on new buildings, but also on existing ones, and create more efficient spaces while simultaneously allowing users to control their comfort. In the past year, the company:
Q
Q
Q
completed a 10-window feasibility project with Princeton Facilities to evaluate the wireless, smartwindow design for existing buildings. completed, with Princeton scientists, an NSF STTR grant program that resulted in additional patent filings protecting novel materials development and device architectures. was selected for the RAPID Hardware Accelerator program, which has a 4% acceptance rate, and won the Northeast Regional of the CleanTech Open Accelerator, with both programs supporting Andluca’s first product development and integration into the sustainable building ecosystem.
Hearth Labs: Measuring the Missing Half of Thermal Comfort The company is commercializing sensor-based technologies that can better measure occupant comfort and reduce energy consumption in buildings. Part of Hearth Labs’s technology was based on IP developed in the lab of Forrest Meggers. In the past year, the company: Q
Q
Q
licensed the SMART sensor technology from Princeton University. participated in HAX accelerator and program on design for manufacturing in Shenzen, China, and shifted the company base to Silicon Valley. patented a new product in the United States and is actively exploring market and investment opportunities.
17
excel / new research
Audrey Lee, vice president of energy services at Sunrun, and Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discuss the factors that led to a global cost decline in solar photovoltaics during the 2019 Annual Meeting. (Photo by Tori Repp /Fotobuddy)
18
engage / new research
engage Everyone has a stake in a secure energy and environmental future. That is why at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, we bring together companies, government entities, nonprofits, and other key stakeholders to discuss how to meet the world’s energy and environmental needs. Through conferences, workshops, and seminars, we facilitate dialogue and amplify the ideas and technologies that will help build inclusive, diversified, and thoughtful solutions. Our corporate partnership program, Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership, and our external engagements across sectors, enable us to expand our reach and ensure that research outcomes are pragmatic, collaborative, and designed for the field. Partnerships help us go further, and bring a diversified lens to academic research. Whether we are studying pathways to an energy transition, cutting the carbon footprint of chemical processes, developing new materials for solar cells, or capturing and valorizing carbon, we expand the view of our partners, just as they expand ours. Together we answer critical questions and solve problems with new tools.
“Partnerships help drive the center’s research in impactful directions and guide research to be pragmatic, collaborative, and designed to scale.”
Barry Rand, associate director for external partnerships at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and associate professor of electrical engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (Photo by Tori Repp/ Fotobuddy)
19
10.9
$
+ $1.4 million
andlinger center / engage
Million + $1.6 million
Cumulative Funding for All Research Projects
Faculty, Researchers and Students Impacted
+8 +15
+9 +11
+ $2.1 million
via Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership
80
+10 +17
+3
7
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
+ $4.7 million
52
2019
2020
+8 +10
Collaborations Formed as a Result of E-ffiliates Research
+14
+4
+7 +5
+1
2014
2015
3
+ 213,986
+ $304,216
+ $299,500
$282,298
2013
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Key to Andlinger Center Research Areas Built environment, transportation, and infrastructure Electricity production, transmission, and storage Fuels and chemicals Environmental sensing and remediation Decision and behavioral science, policy, and economics
2013
20
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
The above information shows cumulative growth at the Andlinger Center.
2020
Environmental and climate science
2019 Andlinger Center Annual Meeting Sponsored by Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership
PSEG Undergraduate Poster Award Audrey Shih, Class of 2021 / “Polymer Flow Structures in Porous Media” –Advised by Sujit Datta, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering
American Tower Graduate Student Poster Award
On November 8, nearly 300 people convened for the 2019 Annual Meeting, sponsored by Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership (E-ffiliates). Experts from government, academia, and industry presented on a range of topics, including creating new environmentally friendly fuels to sustainably power industries and transforming atmospheric carbon into useful products. Participants explored ways to bring disparate fields together to move toward the goal of drastically reducing atmospheric carbon. Phil Sharp, former U.S. representative and former chair of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, and David Eaglesham, an entrepreneur who has founded several energy and technology startups, were the keynote speakers. They advocated for policies that
would push down the price of renewable electricity and enable sustainable technologies to scale. Sharp spoke to the importance of a carbon tax and how policy could lower the cost of renewable hydrogen and other clean power sources. Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs at the University of WisconsinMadison, spoke about applying lessons from the historic cost declines of utility-scale solar power to the newest low-carbon advances. Discussion also tackled the need for incentives to develop a robust carbon management industry so that removing and utilizing carbon from the atmosphere is profitable, conjuring the image of a future which a nascent carbon industry becomes the largest industry in the world by the end of the century.
Liquin Peng / “Underreported Coal In Statistics: A SurveyBased Solid Fuel Consumption and Emission Inventory for the Rural Residential Sector in China” –Advised by Denise Mauzerall, professor of civil and environmental engineering and public and international affairs
ExxonMobil Graduate Student Poster Award Joanna Schneider / “ColloidEnhanced Mobilization of Immiscible Fluids” –Advised by Sujit Datta
ExxonMobil Postdoctoral/Researcher Poster Award Ali Daraeepour / “Enhancing Price Formation Process in Electricity Markets to Support Advancing High Renewable Energy Targets: A PJM Case Study”–Advised by Eric Larson, senior research engineer at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
TOP LEFT
Joanna Schneider receives the
ExxonMobil Graduate Student Poster Award, pictured with Barry Rand at the 2019 annual meeting. ABOVE
The Honorable Phil Sharp and Judi
Greenwald, a non-resident fellow at the Andlinger Center, lead the keynote discussion about policies to accelerate decarbonization at the 2019 Annual Meeting. R I G H T David Eaglesham, entrepreneur-inresidence at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, speaks on pushing decarbonization efforts beyond the electric sector. (Photos by Tori Repp /Fotobuddy)
21
engage / princeton e-ffiliates partnership
2020 E-ffiliates Retreat: Achieving Coastal Resilience
E-ffiliatesFunded Projects Since Inception 17 projects funded $2.3 million total funds awarded
In discussion with nearly 200 researchers, students, and industry representatives who gathered virtually, resilience experts said making the latest climate science accessible to mayors, planners, and local officials is the only way coasts will be able to prepare for sea level rise and other impacts of climate change. At the 2020 E-ffiliates retreat, led by Richard Moss, Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellow in Energy and the Environment, panelists, including Alice Hill, a senior fellow for climate change policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jainey Bavishi, director of New York City Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, and Skip Stiles, executive director of Wetlands Watch, said that strengthening the resilience of coastal communities, or the ability to rebound from a disturbance, is urgent. Edward Gray, director of transmission and distribution engineering at PSE&G, spoke to the challenge of passing rate increases to harden infrastructure when the value of avoiding future outages is uncertain and difficult to quantify. Haroon Kheshgi, senior scientific advisor at ExxonMobil Corporate Strategic Research, said localized climate and meteorological data and continually incorporating these new data into existing management systems is important to protecting assets and communities from severe effects. The panelists emphasized that this work requires reducing the information gap between the scientific community and practitioners, a divide that E-ffiliates aims to bridge.
E-ffiliates Funds Research Research seeking to protect the power grid from hackers tapping into armies of smart home appliances, and a novel effort to harvest drinking water from the air, have been selected for funding by E-ffiliates.
Safeguarding the Power Grid: Staving off Rogue Appliances The idea of an army of air conditioners and water heaters massing to take down the power grid seems unlikely, but it could be a real threat in the future. At the hands of sophisticated hackers, new 22
Prateek Mittal (Photo by Sameer A. Khan/Fotobuddy)
smart appliances, which are all connected to the internet and the grid, could become tools for manipulating power demand on a massive scale. E-ffiliates is supporting research that aims to avoid a future in which these high-wattage devices are vulnerable to unpredictable attacks that shut off or turn on the appliances, which can create large unexpected changes in power demand and cause massive blackouts. The researchers are developing systems and algorithms to inform grid operations on how to minimize the impacts from such breaches and, ultimately, prevent serious disruptions in power delivery. The project is led by Prateek Mittal, associate professor of electrical engineering, in collaboration with H. Vincent Poor, the Michael Henry Strater University Professor of Electrical Engineering.
Pulling Drinking Water From the Air Climate change is worsening drought across large swaths of the globe. To combat this, a team of Princeton researchers is looking to an uncommon water source—the air. The team aims to use thermo-responsive hydrogels, or networks of polymers that are commonly used in biomedical applications, for water harvesting. Whether thermo-responsive
hydrogels attract or repel water changes with temperature. The team is harnessing this feature to develop a hydrogel that can absorb water from the air in the evening when it is cool, and release the absorbed water when the air warms up during the day beyond a certain threshold. Existing water harvesting technologies typically use desiccants, materials similar to the gels that keep new shoes dry, which require a lot of energy and an external source of heat or electricity to release the captured moisture. In contrast, these hydrogels only require modest temperature swings and a much lower energy cost to expel the absorbed water.
BELOW
Community Energy has been developing wind and solar farms for over 20 years, supporting the carbon reduction efforts of companies and municipalities. (Pkawasaki / stock. adobe.com)
The project is the result of a collaboration between Sujit Datta, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, Sankaran Sundaresan, and Forrest Meggers. Sundaresan is the Norman John Sollenberger Professor in Engineering, and professor of chemical and biological engineering, and Meggers is assistant professor of architecture and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.
New E-ffiliates Members Behavioral Science Company Evidn Joins E-ffiliates Evidn, an applied behavioral science firm, joined E-ffiliates on December 1, 2019. The company specializes in the design, delivery, and evaluation of behavior change programs in the context of complex environmental problems. Evidn is the first company outside of the energy and water sectors to join E-ffiliates. The company, led by co-founder and CEO John Pickering, has worked with the Australian government and multinational companies to tackle problems ranging from water pollution to car accident prevention. The tactics involve using the latest behavioral science to design interventions and educational campaigns to facilitate behavior change. The opportunities for impact through the partnership range from reducing peak and average residential energy use to increasing climate awareness in investment decision-making.
National Renewable Energy Developer Community Energy Joins E-ffiliates Community Energy, a national renewable energy developer, joined Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership as of July 1, 2020. The company, which has built solar and wind farms from New Jersey to Colorado, is a leader in clean power development and the first renewable energy developer to join E-ffiliates. Brent Alderfer, co-founder and CEO of Community Energy, said that the Andlinger Center’s research is unique in combining fundamental scientific research and practical questions. Alderfer is particularly interested in research that outlines how a transition of the electric sector could actually play out in an economically feasible way for a particular region and how solar, wind, gas, and nuclear plants may be deployed. “The Andlinger Center is a perfect bridge between academic and policy studies and utility developers and investors to help make the energy transition happen, and happen in a way that’s economical and environmentally beneficial,” said Alderfer. 23
engage / e-ffiliates member highlights
Research Collaborations with ExxonMobil
Member Updates Q Forrest Meggers
completed a project with Siemens Corporate Technology on using thermal sensing to optimize manufacturing. Q American Water has
explored opportunities with Princeton researchers to study emissions from its wastewater treatment plants in hopes of reducing or utilizing waste gases as resources. Q Other E-ffiliates members
that have supported our research and student activities include Power Survey Company and NRG Energy.
RIGHT
A layer of one carbon sheet is placed atop another and is twisted at a “magic” angle to create a pattern of electrons that lead to superconductivity. (Image designed by Kai Fu for the Yazdani Lab, Princeton University)
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The Andlinger Center renewed its partnership with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company in 2020, extending the collaboration beyond its initial five-year agreement in light of academic successes. Princeton faculty, researchers, and students work with ExxonMobil researchers on a portfolio of collaborative research projects spanning 18 faculty labs across eight departments, including projects on climate science and sustainable energy technologies, two of which are highlighted below.
Satellite Data Paints a Clearer Picture of Air Quality Ammonia is the most abundant alkaline gas in the atmosphere and a precursor to haze, which impacts human health. A main source of ammonia is agriculture. Now researchers led by Mark Zondlo, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, are using satellites to measure atmospheric ammonia from space and have created high-resolution maps of the gas over India. Prior to this work, global models applied assumptions about ammonia emissions,
attributing the seasonal emission peaks in ammonia to Europe’s agricultural industry. Using machine learning clustering techniques, the researchers found significant spatial and temporal variability in ammonia over India, which is different from what had been assumed in the global models. The ammonia emissions in India depend on the growing seasons and prevalence of crops like wheat and rice, which require ammoniabased fertilizers. This study represents a novel use of spatiotemporal information from satellites to inform pollutant emissions used in global models that simulate air pollutant formation, transport, and climate interactions. The sensing and data analytic techniques developed for the project can be used to study other pollutants of interest, emitted from various sectors, anywhere in the world. Zondlo works with Cynthia Randles of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company on the research.
The Wide World of Superconducting Graphene In spring 2018, the surprising discovery of superconductivity in a new material set the scientific community abuzz. Built by layering one carbon sheet atop another and twisting the top one at a “magic”
BELOW
Map of the PJM, the regional transmission organization that coordinates the electric market for much of the east coast, named for several states in the electric territory, Pennsylvania, Jersey, and Maryland.
angle, the material enabled electrons to flow without resistance, a trait that could dramatically boost energy efficient power transmission and usher in a host of new technologies. Several Princeton experiments had given hints at how this material—known as magicangle twisted graphene—gives rise to superconductivity. Now Princeton researchers have provided firm evidence that the superconducting behavior arises from strong interactions between electrons, yielding insights into the rules that electrons follow when superconductivity emerges. In 2020, Ali Yazdani, the Class of 1909 Professor of Physics and director of Princeton Center for Complex Materials, and a team of researchers directly measured the strength of the interactions between the electrons, and found that they bunch together in interesting patterns and respond readily to an applied voltage. The research has found that in these unique materials, the electron’s behavior can change simply by adjusting the bias voltage, effectively an easy switch. This can enable the material to go from superconducting to insulating, opening the door for many new applications. The material could be used to build a new kind of transistor for electronics, or could create a low-energy way to separate gases from the air or separate power plant exhaust gases. Yazdani works with Yunlong Zhang of ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company on the research.
Research Collaborations with PSEG: Decarbonization Scenarios for PJM Princeton researchers and PSEG are working to assess the future carbon emissions from electricity generation across the PJM electricity grid, which extends from the mid-Atlantic region past Ohio. The research will investigate the costs of electricity for New Jersey customers under various decarbonization scenarios and how changes to state, regional, and national policies and markets, as well as uncertain changes in technology cost and availability, might impact the emissions of and costs of electricity. Researchers, led by Jesse Jenkins, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace
engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, use a nationwide data set of available wind and solar development areas and associated time series profiles, as well as time series profiles for changes in demand due to electrification of transportation, heating, and other end uses, to create customized electrification scenarios. The researchers explore the potential impacts of more electric vehicles on the road, electric heat pumps installed, and the extension of the nuclear fleet, among other variables. Eric Larson, senior research engineer at the Andlinger Center and head of the Energy Systems Analysis Group, is also collaborating on the research.
Research Collaborations with American Tower: Designing for Big Data, Efficiency, and Privacy Web services, financial markets, and hospitals are just a couple of industries that are continuously generating an enormous amount of data that needs to be processed and stored. As a digital transformation sweeps across society and the global economy, computing infrastructure needs to be developed closer to the user with faster data transfer rates and improved data security. Minjie Chen, assistant professor of electrical engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, is developing general purpose energy processing units (EPUs) that can precisely and efficiently manage power demand from emerging technologies and growing sectors, such as data centers, telecom infrastructure, solar farms, and grid-scale energy storage systems. With support from American Tower Corporation, an international owner and operator of wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure, Chen is testing how the units can be integrated with solar panels and battery banks, in an effort to create a self-powered small-scale server for computing at the grid edge. The EPUs are energy efficient and built for resiliency and security as they are highly modular, allowing easy installation, maintenance, and relocation. The project aims to demonstrate a next-generation power delivery architecture for smallscale base stations at the edge.
25
engage / strengthening the andlinger community RIGHT
Harry Warren closes the Energy Dialogues meeting (left) and Richard Moss presents his research on climate adaptation strategies in the Andlinger Center courtyard. (Photos by Bumper DeJesus)
“It has been a privilege being part of the Andlinger Center this past year. The Center has amazing faculty and students who have the curiosity and breadth needed to mount worldleading research on energy and resilience technologies” —Richard Moss
26
Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellows in Energy and the Environment During his time as a visiting fellow, Harry Warren, a 1979 alumnus, curated a full-day conference aimed at facilitating conversation between diverse players within the energy industry, from renewable energy developers to utility regulators, in collaboration with Energy Dialogues LLC. The event covered regional and global topics in the changing energy landscape: transitioning New Jersey and the broader PJM grid to a carbon-neutral electricity supply; achieving largescale carbon sequestration in the U.S. and globally; and how corporate environmental, social and governance programs and reporting are affecting the carbon footprints of corporations. The conference welcomed nearly 60 participants, and was led by Princeton faculty, senior research staff, and visiting fellows who moderated panels and roundtable discussions. Undergraduate and graduate students participated in the discussion, met leaders in the field, and were able to ask pressing questions. Corporate representatives working on energy and the environment had access to academic experts to discuss research gaps and learn from one another in a neutral setting for idea exchange. In addition to organizing the conference, Warren guest lectured on renewable energy economics in three graduate and undergraduate classes and advised students on career opportunities in energy, which he continues to do as a non-resident fellow.
Richard Moss, a 1987 graduate alumnus, directed the programming behind the 2020 E-ffiliates retreat, which focused on resilience and making infrastructure and communities resilient to storms and other extreme disruptions. One theme of the event was evaluating vulnerability and connecting scientists with practitioners to increase resilience. Moss will continue to develop meetings and resources to facilitate this engagement between previously unconnected stakeholders. He also collaborated with Elke Weber and colleagues on research about how to make reports, like those for the International Panel on Climate Change, more impactful, useful and accessible for broad swaths of the population. All of this work aligns with the mission of SCAN, the Science for Climate Action Network, a nonprofit network dedicated to accelerating climate change action by standardizing how climate science is applied in decision-making and providing resources for those on the front lines of climate change mitigation and adaption work. For more information on the E-ffiliates retreat, refer to page 22. Weber is the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and a professor of psychology and public affairs. Moss continues to participate with the center as a non-resident fellow.
Fellows Around the World Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the 2020-2021 academic year the Andlinger Center will offer off-campus collaboration through a non-resident fellows program.
ABOVE
Anthony Ku discusses opportunities to significantly decarbonize the
Jeffrey Bielicki, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering and in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, is continuing his research on sedimentary basin geothermal heat extraction using geologically-stored carbon dioxide to produce renewable energy. He is working with Forrest Meggers to extend geothermal research at Princeton in part using the University’s geothermal conversion campus project as a living laboratory and research opportunity. He will also collaborate on the Net-Zero America Project with Eric Larson.
Chinese power sector. (Photo by Bumper DeJesus)
Steven Freilich is executive director of Freilich Innovation Consultants. As a non-resident fellow, Freilich lends his industrial experience in the chemical industry to Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership, strengthening offerings and identifying opportunities to connect companies and researchers who share interests, specifically in industrial decarbonization, the electric grid and cybersecurity, and environmental resilience. Throughout his career, Freilich held several positions at DuPont, including most recently Director of Materials Science. He also currently serves as
Executive-in-Residence at the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis at NREL. Anthony Ku, chief technology officer for NICE America (China Energy Group), is focused on exploring pathways to decarbonize the Chinese power sector, specifically studying how to equitably and economically re-balance a coal-heavy electricity generation portfolio, in support of China's pledge to reach peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Ku is working with Chris Greig, Jesse Jenkins, and Eric Larson as part of the Rapid Switch project. John Pickering of Australian behavioral science firm, Evidn, is researching the science behind climate action or inaction on the individual and governmental levels. As a non-resident fellow, he worked with Chris Greig and Elke Weber on research in psychology and decision-making science in the context of energy transitions and environmental issues at large. Former visiting fellows Judi Greenwald, a 1982 alumna, and Darren Hammell, a 2001 alumnus, continued to engage with the center through non-resident fellowships. Greenwald collaborated with Rebecca Ciez on research on national fuel economy standards that showed how the policy achieved environmental and economic goals, detailed further on page 16. Hammell is advising startups and continues to teach his high-demand entrepreneurship course.
Convening Stakeholders The Andlinger Center held several events over the last year to bring decision-makers together with faculty who inform on energy and environmental issues. Select highlights are listed below: Meeting: 2019 Andlinger Center Annual Meeting Sponsored by E-ffiliates November 8, 2019
Conference: Princeton Energy Dialogues City Series February 18, 2020 Presentation: Princeton Research on Carbon Capture and Storage with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company February 19, 2020
Workshop: The Political Economy of Deep Decarbonization November 14-16, 2019
Conference: Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership 2020 Retreat “Resilience: Coasts and Beyond” June 9, 2020
Meeting: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) January 30, 2020
Meeting: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities July 31, 2020
27
Students tour the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) combined-cycle power plant in Sewaren, New Jersey, as part of the thermodynamics course taught by Lamyaa El-Gabry (second from left), a lecturer in mechanical and aerospace engineering. (Photo by Tori Repp /Fotobuddy)
28
inform Addressing the energy and environmental challenges of today and tomorrow requires nurturing the next generation of leaders who can bring new ideas, create dynamic solutions, and apply interdisciplinary perspectives. The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University propels a generation of students—from undergraduates to Ph.D. students, postdocs, and beyond—to investigate the role of energy in society and the impact of various energy technologies on the environment. We expose students to the full range of disciplines needed to grasp the complexities of and connections between issues, and to understand the context and systems in which the problems have arisen. Through undergraduate research and summer internship opportunities, graduate fellowships, executive education offerings, and news and media products, we strive to provide scientific information and critical analysis to all who have a stake in an environmentally sustainable future.
Elke Weber, associate director for education at the Andlinger Center
“The Andlinger Center, founded and led by two female engineers, is committed to building an educational program that embraces and reflects the diversity of ideas and talent in society at large to ultimately help us more equitably meet energy and environmental challenges.”
for Energy and the Environment, the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment and professor of psychology and public affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. (Photo by David Kelly Crow)
29
andlinger center / inform 2012
2013
78
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020 + 14
+ 12
Undergraduate Summer Interns + 5
+ 7
+ 6
71
+ 8
+ 6
+ 8
+ 13 + 11 + 12 + 17
Undergraduate Certificate Graduates
+ 12 + 5
43
+ 3
+ 4
+ 2
+ 2
+ 4
Undergraduate and Graduate Courses
+ 2
12
+ 1
Maeder Fellows
+ 2
Key to Andlinger Center Research Areas
+ 1
+ 2
+ 1
+ 2
+ 1
+ 1
Built environment, transportation, and infrastructure Electricity production, transmission, and storage Fuels and chemicals Environmental sensing and remediation Decision and behavioral science, policy, and economics Environmental and climate science
30
The above information shows cumulative growth at the Andlinger Center.
inform / educating undergraduates
Certificate Programs The Andlinger Center offers two certificate programs related to energy and the environment that uniquely prepare undergraduate students for graduate studies and/or relevant careers. Because the center has an interdisciplinary mission, students learn about energy and the environment through diverse lenses, with courses in engineering, architecture, policy, anthropology, behavioral science, and geosciences, among others. Students can pursue the Program in Technology and Society: Energy Track or the Program in Sustainable Energy. The Program in Technology and Society is administered jointly with the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. It offers a series of courses that explore the intersection of technology and society, and how their co-evolution affects innovation in energy technologies. The Program in Sustainable Energy offers a series of courses that explore the impact of energy systems and technologies on the climate, and helps students quantitatively analyze and design sustainable energy systems.Â
Andlinger Center Certificate Symposium and Class Day Celebration The Andlinger Center congratulated the graduates of the Class of 2020 and their families during an online celebration on May 29, 2020. The 13 students in the center’s two certificate programs had previously presented their theses in a virtual certificate symposium. They reported on diverse projects, such as a system that improves the design and ease of installation of drip irrigation, next-generation electric hoverboards, and an analysis of the effect of solar panels on the value of homes in California. Andlinger faculty and leadership then celebrated these contributions at the online Class Day ceremony. The Senior Thesis Prize in Energy and the Environment was awarded to Neil Slighton, who earned a certificate in the Program in Technology and Society: Energy Track. His thesis focuses on ways to electrify rural communities in India, building on the existing physical infrastructure of the centralized grid to create minigrids. Slighton, who majored in operations research and financial engineering, applied machine learning techniques to develop a model for optimizing the design of regional electric minigrids using data that he collected on a research trip to India over winter break. He traveled to and saw the electric infrastructure in Mumbai, Pune, and communities in the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary. Career paths of our students include fellowships in wind power, in water and energy projects, and in policy issues. Many continue their studies with masters and Ph.D. programs in mechanical engineering, chemical and biological engineering, and innovation and entrepreneurship. Others have secured jobs as analysts and consultants in various industries and at nonprofit organizations. LEFT
Neil Slighton (second from left) and Riley Wagner (center) pose with two graduate students at IIT Bombay and a representative from Gram Oorja, a mini-grid development organization, in the state of Maharashtra, India. (Photo courtesy of Neil Slighton)
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inform / educating undergraduates
Roan Gideon (Photo courtesy of Tufts University)
Student Success— Two Years Later
Supporting Our Student Community
In 2018, Roan Gideon earned the Senior Thesis Prize in Energy and the Environment for his research entitled, “Integrated Wave and Offshore Wind Energy: Benefits and Challenges.” After completing the Andlinger Center’s certificate in Sustainable Energy, he became a water resources engineer (EIT) at Dewberry. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in offshore wind energy engineering at Tufts University with the support of a scholarship from Avangrid Renewables, where he also interned in the offshore wind group.
The Andlinger Center supported a variety of activities throughout the year.
Gideon and his Princeton thesis advisor, Elie Bou-Zeid, professor of civil and environmental engineering, continued working together after Gideon graduated from Princeton. They investigated how wave-power generators and wind turbines can be sited to improve operations of both power sources and to provide a more stable power flow to the grid. The researchers found that co-locating offshore wind farms and wave generators can provide co-benefits, but that the benefits are highly dependent on the region. On the U.S. Pacific Coast, benefits would include higher reliability of power supply and decreased variability, but on the Atlantic Coast, co-locating did not lead to a more stable power supply. Often, when there is more wind there are bigger waves, and each of the generators produce relatively high amounts of power. But for the resources to complement one another, there must be strong waves when there is minimal wind. In places where there is swell, or waves originating far away, such as the West Coast, grid operators could expect higher wave power when wind power was low. The findings indicate that the benefit of reducing variability in supply from the variable renewable energy resources depends on both magnitude and time lag of resource correlation. The research was published in the journal Renewable Energy in September 2020. RIGHT
Lauren Edelman discusses her experience working
at Facebook on the company’s sustainability goals, energy management at data centers, and solar facilities during the 2019 PUEA Fall Conference held at Maeder Hall Auditorium. (Photo by Bumper DeJesus)
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Among them are the Princeton Racing Electric, a student-led initiative to design, build, and race highperformance electric vehicles. Throughout the year, the students continued their design work in anticipation of the 2021 Formula Hybrid Competition. A second center-supported activity was the Princeton University 2020 Science Olympiad Invitational, which took place February 8, 2020. The invitational is a national science competition designed to encourage high school students to think about STEM in a more analytical and creative way. The event is organized entirely by Princeton undergraduates. The Andlinger Center also helped the Princeton University Energy Association (PUEA) organize its 2019 Fall Conference. “Alternative Agents for an Energy Future” took place on October 4, 2019, and brought together Princeton alumni working in various aspects of the energy industry, as well as faculty and students, for a day of talks, panels, and networking. In the keynote conversation, Lauren Edelman, Class of 2014 and a Sustainable Energy certificate program alumni, spoke with Andlinger Center director, Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo, about Edelman’s work on the first large-scale heat recovery project as an energy program manager at Facebook.
The Circular Economy Students of the energystudies course “Resource Recovery for a Circular Economy� tour the materials-recovery facility, TerraCycle Inc., in Trenton, New Jersey. The company designs and builds processes to recycle and reuse all sorts of odd products from cigarette butts to shampoo bottles.
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Z. Jason Ren and students tour TerraCycle. (Photo by Bumper DeJesus)
Course Highlights and Updates In the fall, Z. Jason Ren developed and taught a new course, Resource Recovery for a Circular Economy, focused on the emerging science and technologies that can enable the transition to a new circular economy. In the spring, Jesse Jenkins designed and taught Introduction to the Electricity SectorEngineering, Economics, and Regulation to introduce students to the electricity sector and the engineering principles behind various power generation technologies, and transmission and distribution networks. Also in the fall, Darren Hammell, former visiting fellow and a lecturer in electrical engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, taught Energy Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which was offered for the second semester in a row due to student demand. This course highlights new innovations and opportunities in the energy field. In the spring, Rapid Switch: The Transition Challenge to Low-Carbon Energy, was offered and taught by Eric Larson, along with postdoctoral researchers Vitor Vasconcelos, Alicia Cooperman, and Joe Lane. Course enrollment tripled as interest increased in exploring decarbonization and energy transitions through multi-disciplinary
perspectives. Cooperman and Lane shared findings from their research trips to India where they investigated the tenets and challenges of sustainable development strategies. Resource Recovery for a Circular Economy (ENE/CEE 321; ENV 371) explores the concept of moving from a traditional linear economy (take, make, waste) to a new, circular economy (reduce, reuse, recycle). The course discusses the fundamental theories and applied technologies that are capable of converting traditional waste materials or environmental pollutants, such as wastewater, food, plastics, e-waste, and CO2, into value-added products, such as fuels, chemicals, and fertilizers. Introduction to Electricity Sector-Engineering, Economics, and Regulation (ENE/MAE 422) explores the economics of electricity markets and the regulatory policy perspectives of electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and sales. Open challenges related to the growth of distributed energy resources, the transition to low-carbon electricity sources, and the role of the electricity sector in mitigating global climate change are also discussed. 33
inform / summer internships
Summer Internships at the Andlinger Center The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment awarded summer internship funds to 14 undergraduates to support research on energy- and environment-related projects. We were successful in identifying 12 positions with Princeton faculty and two positions with NGOs that could be executed virtually as was required by the COVID-19 pandemic. These students were selected for their excellent academic record and the promising potential of their research in helping secure the world’s energy and environmental future.
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The students’ projects are described below and characterized by subject area.
During his summer internship, Nick robust sensor infrastructure database about energy use in dorms. Sudarsky, in collaboration with Meggers’ lab, focused on setting up the sensor network on campus, experimenting with several IoT solutions to establish it. The team aims to collect datasets to support further research and ultimately to track temperature, humidity, and energy use in buildings to provide a holistic view of indoor environmental quality and inform real-time energy use on campus. Sudarksy hopes it will help cultivate an environmental consciousness among occupants of
Built environment, transportation + infrastructure
Taj-Jahnae Brailsford-Forde (CBE ’22) / Professor Forrest Meggers / Geothermal heat exchangers for the campus of the future Ricky Feig (MAE ’22) / Professor Forrest Meggers / SMART Sensor Nick Sudarsky (COS ’23) / Professor Forrest Meggers / Data for buildings and campuses
Aaron Wu (MAT ’23) / Professor Egemen Kolemen / Machine-learning approach to understanding the underlying principles of fusion reactions to optimize plasma containment
Environmental sensing + remediation Azmaine Iqtidar (MAE ’21) / Professor Howard Stone and Dr. Ankur Gupta / Wetting and complex fluids
Decision + behavioral science, policy + economics
Emily Cruz (CEE ’22) / Professor Elke Weber / Behavioral science for climate policy Katherine Graham (ELE ’22) / Associate Research Scholar Joe Lane / Analysis of energy-system data for India Charlotte Merchant (COS ’23) / Senior Research Engineer Eric Larson / Downscaling energy-system transitions
Alexander Kim (MAE ’24) / Professor Forrest Meggers / Making people cool with radiant heat transfer
Julia Harisay (SPIA ’21) / American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy / Increasing homeenergy-assessment conversion rates with behavioral science
Electricity production, transmission + storage
Joseph Giguere (CEE ’21) / Environmental Defense Fund / Sustainable energy for Puerto Rico
college dormitories. (Photo courtesy of Nick Sudarsky)
Connie An (CBE ’22) / Professor Michael Webb / Understanding and quantifying design properties for future battery technology using molecular dynamics simulation Ryan Lee (MAT ’21) / Professor Minjie Chen / Development of a machine-learning-based magnetic core loss-modeling platform
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Fuels + chemicals
Sudarsky worked on developing a for distributed sensing to collect data
Diane Yang (ELE ’23) / Professor Barry Rand / Modeling the optical properties of top light-emitting diodes
The research is supported by the Peter B. Lewis Fund for Student Innovation in Energy and the Environment and the Dede T. Bartlett P03 Fund for Student Research in Energy and the Environment.
inform / graduate spotlight
Maeder Graduate Fellowships in Energy and the Environment Suong Nguyen, a fourth-year graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, has been named the Maeder Fellow in Energy and the Environment for the 2020–2021 academic year. The fellowship is awarded each year to top graduate students performing research that explores topics related to energy and the environment.
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Suong Nguyen, the newest Maeder Graduate Fellow in Energy and the Environment, develops light-driven technologies to produce chemicals from biomass, as opposed to deriving the chemical base structures from fossil fuels. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Nguyen’s work focuses on developing a novel set of light-driven depolymerization technologies. Her advisor is Robert Knowles, professor of chemistry, who studies photochemical methods for organic synthesis. The depolymerization work seeks to break down polymers, or strings of molecules, specifically the type that can be found in plant stalks. Breaking down biomass is useful for producing chemical products like vanillin, which is used for vanilla flavoring, and feedstocks for higher-value chemicals. This is an alternative to fossil fuel extraction and breaking down the molecules in oil, for example, to make such chemicals and chemical precursors. Current processes to break down lignin are energy intensive and take place under harsh conditions at high temperatures and high pressures. By using a photocatalytic approach, the researchers have shown that polymers can be broken down in milder conditions, including lower temperatures, and do not produce hazardous waste, as is generally the case with reactions not aided by light. Her work on this has been published in the journal ACS Catalysis. This work fits into a broader University effort to understand how light can be used to help break down and reorganize molecules to create valuable chemicals and fuels. Bioinspired light-escalated chemistry or BioLEC is an energy frontier research center funded by the Department of Energy and led by Princeton University, and on which Knowles is a collaborator.
Previous Maeder Fellows— Where Are They Now? 2019 / Evan Zhao (chemical and biological engineering) was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He is also currently in his fellowship year of the Schmidt Science Fellows program. 2019 / Hongshan Guo (architecture) was a postdoctoral researcher at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, and is now at the Bank of New York. 2018 / Ching-Yao Lai (mechanical and aerospace engineering) was a Lamont Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, and has been appointed an assistant professor at Princeton University in the Department of Geosciences with a joint-appointment with the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. 2017 / Clark Chen (chemical and biological engineering) was a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University and is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. 2017 / Ryan Edwards (civil and environmental engineering) was a William L. Fisher Congressional Geoscience Fellow in Washington, D.C., and is currently at Oxy Low Carbon Ventures. 2016 / Wenkai Liang (mechanical and aerospace engineering) is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. 2015 / Jennifer Obligacion (chemistry) is a senior scientist at Merck Pharmaceuticals. 2014 / Warren Rieutort-Louis (electrical engineering) is an engineering manager at Apple. 2013 / Josephine Elia (chemical and biological engineering) is a Honeywell UOP refinery modeling specialist. The graduate fellowships are supported by the Paul A. Maeder ’75 Fund for Innovation in Energy and the Environment. 35
Kittiphat / stock.adobe.com
inform / educating the public
Fusion’s Hot Moment In his first public status update of the year, Bernard Bigot, director general of ITER, a 35-country collaboration to build a 500-MW fusion plant in southern France, presented a virtual seminar on the plant’s construction and progress towards “first plasma.” Bigot spoke to over 600 attendees who tuned in from 13 countries around the world. Prior to the seminar, Steven Cowley, director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and professor of astrophysical science, joined Egemen Kolemen, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and a physicist at PPPL, to answer questions about fusion energy in an article for the Andlinger Center. The Q&A, titled “Fusion’s Hot Moment,” is part of the Andlinger Center Speaks series, which features commentary from the Andlinger Center faculty and associated faculty on timely topics.
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Educating the Broader Community
Highlight Seminar Series
Executive Education
Through the Highlight Seminar Series, the Andlinger Center hosts distinguished professors, researchers, and practitioners from various institutions across the fields of energy and the environment for public lectures.
Two years after conducting Princeton’s first executive education module, the Andlinger Center is designing a second module for executives to better understand the ways that their organizations can mitigate and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. The goal is to better prepare institutions, businesses, and communities for the evolving environmental and economic conditions and pressures that climate change forces. Participants are selected from the World Economic Forum’s class of Young Global Leaders, based on demonstrated interest in the area and potential for impact. Elke Weber and Jesse Jenkins are directing the module, ”Advancing the Global Energy Transition.” The Andlinger Center postponed the module from summer 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and now anticipates running it in summer 2021. BELOW
Elizabeth Wilson, director of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society and Professor in the Environmental Studies Department at Dartmouth College, gives an animated lecture about the impact of relying on predictions and assumptions about energy futures in energy modeling and teaching during the Andlinger Center’s December Highlight Seminar. (Photo by Bumper DeJesus)
Kimberly Prather (September 2019), UC San Diego, “Unraveling the Impacts of Humans and Oceans on Clouds and Climate” Seth Sanders (October 2019), UC Berkeley, “Flywheel Energy Storage: A Utility Scale Energy Solution for the 21st Century” Elizabeth Wilson (December 2019), Dartmouth College, “Wrong, Wrong, and Badly Wrong: Conventional Wisdom in the Energy Sector” John Crittenden (February 2020), Georgia Institute of Technology, “Gigatechnology: Developing Sustainable Urban Infrastructure to Solve Gigaton Problems” Bernard Bigot (May 2020), International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), “The ITER Project: Moving Forward”
Robert Socolow, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, emeritus, discussed the parallels between the climate change and coronavirus crises, and how the two converge and diverge. The New York Times: “Climate Change Has Lessons for Fighting the Coronavirus”–Elke Weber, explains how people are evolutionarily wired to react to present danger but not necessarily equipped to handle planning for the future, whether for climate change, a global pandemic or other future risks.
Decarbonization Strategies
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Darren Hammell provides an expert voice on the solar industry for a news documentary about Babcock Ranch, which is considered the first solarpowered town in the U.S., located in Southwest Florida. (NBC)
Expanding Our Reach— Events and News Air Quality and Climate Andlinger Center Speaks: “The Global Impacts of the Australian Wildfires”–Mark Zondlo, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, explains how the wildfires in the Southern Hemisphere can have a lasting impact around the world. NPR State Impact Pennsylvania: “Princeton U. Researchers Say Controlling Methane Leaks Can ‘Pay Off Quickly’ to Lessen Effects of Climate Change”– Mark Zondlo and Denise Mauzerall, professor of civil and environmental engineering and public and international affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, speak to the climate benefits of controlling methane leaks.
Climate Change and COVID-19 Reunions 2020: “Climate Change and the Coronavirus: A Virtual Seminar”–Elke Weber, Jesse Jenkins, Robert Keohane, professor of public and international affairs, emeritus, and senior scholar, and
Andlinger Center Speaks: “Why the Messenger Matters in Climate Action” / Axios: “The Carbon Footprints of the Rich and Activist”–Elke Weber’s research on the importance of climate messengers and the effect of personal efforts to reduce carbon footprints in cultivating support for climate policies was highlighted in an Andlinger Center Q&A, and the Axios energy and environmental column, Harder Line, as a top item in the news outlet’s daily energy newsletter, Generate. Foreign Affairs: “The Paths to Net Zero: How Technology Can Save the Planet”–Jesse Jenkins co-authored this piece to explain how innovation can achieve severe cuts in emissions, or “deep decarbonization,” at reasonable costs. Political Climate / Greentech Media: “Decarb Madness: How Would You Build a Policy Bracket to Decarbonize the Power Sector?”–Jesse Jenkins and three other energy experts were tasked to build their ideal policy bracket, March Madness style, for decarbonizing the electricity sector. NBC Nightly News Films: “Solar City: The Future of Florida’s Energy” –This two-part video series includes commentary from Eric Larson, Darren Hammell, and Barry Rand, associate professor of electrical engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and associate director for external partnerships at the Andlinger Center, on the economics and science of solar energy, and the future of the renewable energy resource.
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andlinger center for energy and the environment / 2019-20 Leadership and Staff
Molly Seltzer
Communications Specialist
Elke Weber
Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor in Engineering; Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Charlie Sharpless
Assistant Director for Research (beginning February 2020)
Associate Director for Education, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment; Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Barry Rand
Charmaine Smiklo
Faculty and Program Assistant (through January 2020)
Claire White
Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo
Associate Director for External Partnerships, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Z. Jason Ren
Acting Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (for the year 2020); Associate Director for Research, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Elke Weber
Associate Director for Education, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment; Professor in Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Faculty and Researchers José Avalos
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Minjie Chen
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Jesse Jenkins
Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Egemen Kolemen
Diane Carlino
Executive Director for Administration
Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Bumper DeJesus
Eric Larson
Visual Communications Specialist
Diana Dudash
Program Administrator (beginning April 2020)
Robert Eich
Program Coordinator
Vivian Fuhrman
Assistant Director for External Partnerships (beginning October 2019)
Sarah Jackson
Administrative Assistant
Lisa Kraut
Financial Assistant (through November 2019)
Brenda Mikeo
Business Manager
Ashlee Prewitt-Crosby
Grants and Finance Manager (beginning September 2019)
Moira Selinka
Education and Outreach Coordinator
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Senior Research Engineer, Energy Systems Analysis Group, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Christos Maravelias
Anderson Family Professor in Energy and the Environment; Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (beginning September 2020)
Forrest Meggers
Assistant Professor of Architecture and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Barry Rand
Associate Director for External Partnerships, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Z. Jason Ren
Acting Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (for the year 2020); Associate Director for Research, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
External Advisory Council D. Michelle Addington
Dean, School of Architecture; Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture University of Texas at Austin
Merrick G. Andlinger ’80 President Andlinger & Company, Inc.
Sally Benson
Director, Global Climate and Energy Project; Co-Director, Precourt Institute for Energy; Professor, Energy Resources Engineering Stanford University
Yet-Ming Chiang
Kyocera Professor of Ceramics Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Eaglesham
Entrepreneur-in-Residence Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Menachem Elimelech
Roberto Goizueta Professor of Environmental and Chemical Engineering; Director, Environmental Engineering Program Yale University
Peter Green
Deputy Laboratory Director, Science and Technology; Chief Research Officer National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Jennifer Holmgren Chief Executive Officer LanzaTech
Ralph Izzo
Chairman, President, and CEO PSEG
Paul A. Maeder ’75
Managing General Partner & Founder Highland Capital Partners
Linda F. Nazar, FRS, FRSC, Order of Canada
Fellow of the Royal Society; Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; Waterloo Distinguished Research Professor, Senior Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials; Department of Chemistry and the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology University of Waterloo
Gregory H. Olsen
Michael Celia
Director, Princeton Environmental Institute; Director, Program in Environmental Engineering and Water Resources; Theodora Shelton Pitney Professor of Environmental Studies; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Sir Steven Cowley
President GHO Ventures, LLC
Director, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; Professor of Astrophysical Sciences (beginning July 2020)
Mark F. Rockefeller ’89
Claire Gmachl
Chief Executive Officer and Founder Rockefeller Consulting
Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
Distinguished Professor of Practice, Georgia Institute of Technology; Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard Kennedy School
Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering; Associate Chair, Department of Electrical Engineering
Peter Jaffé
William L. Knapp ’47 Professor of Civil Engineering; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo
Gregory Scholes
William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry
Sankaran Sundaresan
Norman John Sollenberger Professor in Engineering; Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Elke Weber
Associate Director for Education, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment; Professor in Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Claire White
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Mark Zondlo
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Vice President of Research and Development ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor in Engineering; Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Matthew Tirrell
Denise Mauzerall
Professor of Environmental Engineering and International Affairs; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
The Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University is grateful to the following supporters whose gifts help to realize the vision of the center. 2019-2020 donors are denoted with asterisks.
William H. Walton III ’74 P21
Stewart Prager
Gerhard R. Andlinger ’52 Founding Gift
Vijay Swarup
Dean and Founding Pritzker Director, Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago; Deputy Laboratory Director for Science, Argonne National Laboratory
Managing Member and Co-Founder Rockpoint Group, LLC
Elizabeth Wilson
Professor of Environmental Studies; Director, Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society Dartmouth College
Maura Wong ‘88 Founder The IDEA
Executive Committee Craig Arnold
Director, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM); Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Rene Carmona
Paul M. Wythes ’55 Professor of Engineering and Finance; Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering
Professor of Astrophysical Sciences
Anu Ramaswami
Sanjay Swani '87 Professor of India Studies, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies; Princeton Environmental Institute; Director, Chadha Center for Global India (beginning July 2020)
Barry Rand
Associate Director for External Partnerships, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Z. Jason Ren
Acting Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment (for the year 2020); Associate Director for Research, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment; Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Jennifer Rexford
Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor of Engineering; Chair, Department of Computer Science
Supporters
Howard E. Cox, Jr. ’64 to the WEF/Young Global Leaders Executive Education Module*
David R. Loevner ‘76 and Catherine P. Loevner to support the Rapid Switch Initiative* Kent C. Simons ’57 to the David P. Simons Fund for Energy and the Environment*
Alexander L. Smorczewski ’07 to further the center’s mission*
William H. Walton, III ’74 and Theodora D. Walton ’78 to establish the Theodora D. ‘78 and William H. Walton, III ‘74 Research Scientist Fund*
Anonymous gift to support the Rapid Switch Initiative*
Lydia B. and William M. Addy ’82 to establish
the Addy/ISN North American Low Carbon Emission Energy Self-Sufficiency Fund to support innovative research, equipment, policy development, and teaching
Dwight W. Anderson ’89 to establish the Anderson Family Professorship in Energy and the Environment
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andlinger center for energy and the environment / 2019-20 Tia S. Barancik ’83 to establish the Class of 1983 Fund for Energy and the Environment
Solomon D. Barnett ’05 to further the center’s
David T. Liu ’99 *04 to further the center’s mission Sally Liu ’87 and Bay-Wei W. Chang ’87 to
Erika Simons F to the David P. Simons Fund for Energy and the Environment
mission
establish the Sally Liu ’87 and Bay Chang ’87 Fund for Energy and the Environment
Tapesh Sinha and Sandra Jin to establish the
James W. and Dede T. Bartlett to the Dede T.
Paul A. Maeder ’75 for construction of Maeder
Lewis W. van Amerongen ’62 to establish the
Jay P. Mandelbaum ’84 to establish the Laurie
William H. Walton, III ’74 and Theodora D. Walton ’78 to further the center’s mission
Bartlett P03 Fund for Student Research in Energy and the Environment
John E. Bartlett ’03 to establish the Dede T. Bartlett P03 Fund for Student Research in Energy and the Environment
Peter J. Bartlett ’77 and Erin T. Bartlett to further the center’s mission
Charles A. Bernheim ’57 to further the center’s mission
Erik C. Blachford ’89 to further the center’s mission
Patricia A. and Dante G. Bonardi F57 to the
David P. Simons Fund for Energy and the Environment
John E. Cross ’72 and Mary Tiffany Cross to further the center’s mission
Hall and to establish the Paul A. Maeder ’75 Fund for Innovation in Energy and the Environment for graduate fellowships
and Jay P. Mandelbaum ’84 Fund for Energy and the Environment
Lisa Lee Morgan ’76 *79 for research in renewable energy
William N. Neidig ’70 and Christy E. Neidig to
Nicholas G. Nomicos ’84 and Kathleen Connor Nomicos ’84 to the Nicholas and Kathleen
Charlene L. de Carvalho-Heineken to
Sarah Finnie Robinson ’78 and Jackson W. Robinson to further the center’s mission
establish the John Drzik and Ann Thorsell Fund for Innovation
High Meadows Foundation to establish the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment Director’s Fund
Kerry L. and William F. Holekamp for equipment Thomas W. Horton Family for equipment Fred W. Kittler, Jr. ’70 to further the center’s mission
Peter C. Klosowicz ’76 to establish the Peter C.
Klosowicz ’76 Fund for Energy and the Environment for research and teaching
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Anonymous gifts for construction of the Andlinger Center building
Anonymous gift for the highest priorities of the
Nicholas Family Fund for the Environment to advance public understanding of important issues related to energy and the environment
Gregory H. Olsen to establish the Gregory H. Olsen
John P. Drzik ’83 and Ann L. Thorsell ’83 to
further the center’s mission
Nicholas J. Nicholas, Jr. ’62 to establish the
John O. Dabiri ’01 to establish the John O.
establish the de Carvalho-Heineken Family Fund for Environmental Studies for faculty and student research
Maura Wong ’88 and Kenneth Chen ’87 to
Anonymous gift for environmental policy research
establish the Nancy A. Curtin ’79 and John Stafford Research Innovation Fund
Dabiri ’01 Family Fund for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Research
Lewis W. van Amerongen ’62 Fund for Energy Research for equipment
further the center’s mission
Nomicos Class of 1984 Fund for the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment to advance public understanding of important issues related to energy and the environment
Nancy A. Curtin ’79 and John Stafford to
Sandra and Tapesh Sinha P19 Fund
Postdoctoral Fellowship Fund
Mark F. Rockefeller ’89 to establish the Renee
and Mark F. Rockefeller ’89 Fund for the Environment for faculty and student research
Ernest H. Ruehl, Jr. ’85 to establish the Ruehl
Family Fund for the Environment for faculty and student research
Elchin A. Safarov and Dilyara Allakhverdova to further the center’s mission
Patrick and Mary Scanlan F52 to further the center’s mission
Gloria G. and Karl F. Schlaepfer ’49 to further
the center’s mission and to establish the Schlaepfer Family Fund for equipment
Richard and Enika Schulze Foundation for research
center, including research, equipment, and a visitors program
Anonymous gift for research Anonymous gift to establish the Peter B. Lewis
Fund for Student Innovation in Energy and the Environment for student projects, particularly field work and laboratory research
Anonymous gift to establish the Sustainability Fund for student research
Anonymous gift for research in carbon sequestration, solar energy, and fusion energy
Anonymous gift to establish the Parallax Fund for Energy and the Environment for faculty and student research
Where to Find Us Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment 86 Olden Street Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544 Email acee@princeton.edu Phone 609-258-4899 Web https://acee.princeton.edu Twitter @AndlingerCenter Facebook @andlingercenter Youtube @AndlingerCenter
Writer and Editor Molly A. Seltzer Contributing Editors Alison Lowander Diane Carlino Steve Schultz Brenda Mikeo Contributing Writers Scott Lyon, John Sullivan, Catherine Zandonella Visuals Editor Bumper DeJesus Project Manager Robert Eich Design Phillip Unetic, UneticDesign.com Photographers Denise Applewhite, David Kelly Crow, Bumper DeJesus, Sameer A. Khan, Tori Repp, Frank Wojciechowski Research Areas Icon Design Neil Adelantar
Copyright © 2020 by The Trustees of Princeton University In the Nation’s Service and the Service of Humanity Princeton University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The Center particularly invites applications from women and members of underrepresented minorities. For information about applying to Princeton and how to self-identify, please visit: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/dof/ applicantsinfo.htm. Nondiscrimination Statement In compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other federal, state and local laws, Princeton University does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, or veteran status in any phase of its employment process, in any phase of its admission or financial aid programs, or other aspects of its educational programs or activities. The vice provost for institutional equity and diversity is the individual designated by the University to coordinate its efforts to comply with Title IX, Section 504 and other equal opportunity and affirmative action regulations and laws. Questions or concerns regarding Title IX, Section 504 or other aspects of Princeton’s equal opportunity or affirmative action programs should be directed to the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity, Princeton University, 205 Nassau Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544 or 609-258-6110.
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Perovskite LED (Sameer A. Khan / Fotobuddy) Weitao Shuai, graduate student in civil and environmental engineering, a Maeder Fellow in Energy and the Environment (Tori Repp / Fotobuddy) Sarah Hammer, graduate student in chemical and biological engineering (Sameer A. Khan / Fotobuddy)
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86 Olden Street, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 / acee.princeton.edu