Innovations in the transition to distributed and local renewable energy

Innovations in the transition to distributed and local renewable energy

Noah Kittner
Assistant Professor, ESE, UNC Chapel Hill

Thursday, October 24, 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm
Reading Room, New East

I will discuss key changes in the electricity sector related to the shifting paradigm of centralized transmission and distribution systems to community-owned and operated distributed energy systems. We will discuss regulatory and policy shifts of changing utility structures and ask who benefits from this transition? Additionally, I will highlight emerging business models for integrated electricity and transportation networks using cases from California, China, Philippines, Thailand and Switzerland. Who benefits from increasing access to renewable electricity and what are the implications for an equitable transition?

Dr. Kittner is Assistant Professor in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is also joint faculty with the Environment, Energy, Ecology Program and Department of City and Regional Planning. Dr. Kittner earned his PhD in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley where he studied energy systems engineering, science, and policy. His research with the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab (RAEL) appears in leading journals ranging from Nature Energy to Environmental Science and Technology and Ecological Economics. Previously, he was a Fulbright Fellow at the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment in Bangkok, Thailand and has worked extensively on a Thai Solar PV Roadmap project with colleagues at Chulalongkorn University. He received his BS in Environmental Science (highest honors) with a dual minor in Mathematics and Urban Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.