The inaugural Future Leaders Climate Summit 2020 will gather ~100 young leaders (ages 18-30) from around the U.S. for three days to discuss climate policy, communications, advocacy, and individual action with climate and energy experts. By bringing together future leaders from diverse backgrounds with a variety of perspectives, this Summit aims to generate new ideas and solutions to today’s climate crisis. The Summit aims to empower these leaders that will be shaping and driving our response to the climate crisis by:

1. giving them the tools to create even greater change in their communities and beyond and
2. creating a robust network of climate leaders who will be able to work together in facing the greatest crisis of our time – the climate crisis.

Through interactive workshops, plenary panel discussions, and site visits, the Future Leaders will work to develop innovative ideas and recommendations to solve challenges: from mitigating the causes of climate change to preparing for and adapting to climate impacts and a rapidly changing world that will include more political unrest, migration, and conflict starting in their own backyards.

Workshops during the summit will give participants the tools to effectively push for change in their communities and the communication skills to connect climate change with the lives of everyday Americans. At the end of the Summit Future Leaders will make pledges during the Summit to complete an advocacy, education, direct action, or policy project in their community.

We hope that you will consider applying to join us for this monumental inaugural gathering.

Conventional energy sources such as nuclear or coal generate energy at a constant rate. Renewables on the other hand fluctuate with the variability in the natural sources from which they derive energy. Such fluctuations are particularly acute for wind and solar photovoltaics. On one hand, such fluctuations threaten the stability of the grid, whereas on the other, matching the fluctuating power production with a variable consumer demand presents scheduling difficulties for grid operators. Understanding fluctuations in renewables is also important for the design of robust smart grid technologies for the future.

In this talk, Professor Bandi will chart out the non-equilibrium character of wind power fluctuations which depend upon the turbulent wind blowing past the wind turbines. Indeed, the spectrum of wind power fluctuations is widely known to reflect the Kolmogorov spectrum of turbulence; both vary with frequency f as f-5/3. Yet it has not been possible to derive this spectrum from the turbine power equation which relates the generated power P to the wind speed v. Bandi will explain the wind power fluctuation spectrum and show it arises from the violation of an underlying assumption in Kolmogorov theory of 1941, with crucial implications for wind power. In particular, every individual turbine feels the influence of the largest length scales of atmospheric turbulence. As a result, turbines within and between wind farms become coupled with each other at low turbulent frequencies over large distances. Consequently, when geographically distributed wind farms feed their power to the electrical grid, the fluctuations remain correlated and smooth out until they reach a theoretical bound that can be deduced from Kolmogorov theory. Bandi will close his talk with a summary of engineering and policy implications of these results.

Cost: Free

To learn more about Professor Bandi and his work, click here.

Join EPIC, Booth Energy Group and Booth Energy Club for an evening of open networking with your peers and professionals in energy! We’ll gather at Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago to bring together students interested in energy, environment and climate change from across the University of Chicago as well as working professionals in Chicago. The event includes food and drinks but is for 21+ only. ID’s will be checked at the door.

About Booth Energy Group (full-time students)

Booth Energy Group promotes Booth community awareness of the energy industry, develops connections between Booth and industry participants and assist group members who are pursuing careers with energy firms and related service businesses. We build the Booth energy network by fostering relationships between industry experts, alumni and students. Our efforts are exemplified through our weekly published newsletter, numerous case competitions, speaker series, and the annual Booth Energy Forward Conference. If you would like to learn more about the group, attend the annual conference, or be a sponsor, please visit us at http://www.boothenergy.org/.

About Booth Energy Club (part-time students)

Booth Energy Club promotes the energy industry both within the Booth community and for our members across the world. We approach this challenge with our three pillars: community, education and outreach. Within the Booth community we host regular networking mixers to grow the bonds between those already in the energy sector and those seeking to enter. Our education seminars about opportunities in the energy sector help give our members a balanced perspective of what the energy industry has to offer. Finally, we seek to connect our members with industry experts and alumni through our outreach programs, case competitions and the annual Booth Energy Forward Conference. To learn more about Booth Energy Club, the Booth Energy Forward Conference, or how to get in touch, please visit us at: http://groups.chicagobooth.edu/energy/.

The second annual Energy & Environment Career Summit fosters relationships between employers and employees specifically interested in energy and environmental policy issues. Join the Harris Energy and Environmental Association (HEEA), Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and Harris Career Development Office for a day of mingling with professionals, meeting Harris students and learning from industry leaders. Sectors represented will include government, non-profit, research and private in the areas of environment, energy, sustainability and conservation as related to policy.

We will bring together leaders in the green sector to explore future environmental career opportunities and expand your networks. This will be a great way to interact with industry professionals to understand issues they’re facing and how to solve them.

*Note: This event is open to graduate students at the University of Chicago only.

Paritipating organizations will include:
Advanced Ionics
Clean Energy Trust
Delta Institute
DOE – Argonne
ENGIE Distributed Solar (SoCore)
FirstFuel Software
Friends of Chicago River
Invenergy, LLC
Omni Ecosystems
Plant Chicago
Slipstream
Union of Concerned Scientists
Verde Energy Efficiency Experts
West Monroe Partners

The Phoenix Sustainability Initiative (PSI) Speaker Series presents Chris Wheat, Strategy Director American Cities Climate Change Challenge at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and former chief sustainability officer for Chicago. Chris will discuss the efforts of cities, states, businesses and other organizations in the U.S. to mitigate climate change in the absence of federal action. Amir Jina, assistant professor at the Harris school, will moderate the discussion, which will be followed by a screening of the documentary “Paris to Pittsburg.” (watch the tailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFznn8FNRbU).

Chipotle (including a vegetarian option) will be served! For drinks, please bring your own mug/tumbler.

Please gather in front of University Ave. entrance of the Saieh Hall for Economics (5757 S. University Ave.) between 12:45 p.m. and 12:55 p.m. The shuttle will leave campus promptly at 1 p.m. and will return to campus plant for campus by no later than 3:30 p.m. Travel time is approximately 20 minutes each way.

Note the following requirements for the tour, which is open only to University of Chicago students:

• No jewelry and no gum.
• Tourees’ heads must also be covered by either a hat or hood, or a hairnet will be provided.
• No open-toed shoes (flip flops, sandals, etc.)
• Participants should also plan to bring a jacket because much of the plant is kept at freezing temperatures to store perishable food.

To learn more about the facility’s green features, visit http://www.testaproduce.com/warehouse2.html

Follow @miurbanchicago on social media to stay up-to-date on all the exciting news and opportunities at the Mansueto Institute.

Join the IOP as we welcome former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for a conversation on the issue that the United Nations has called “the greatest ever threat to human rights”: climate change.

Following his time as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Sec. Kerry was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he represented the Bay State from 1985-2013. As Secretary of State, Kerry oversaw the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, facilitated the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Cuba, and became the first sitting U.S. Secretary of State to visit the Hiroshima memorial in Japan. In 2004, he was the Democratic nominee for president.

This conversation will be moderated by Institute Director David Axelrod.

This program is presented in partnership with Global Voices Lecture Series at International House.

• This event is free and open to UChicago students, faculty, staff and the public. If you cannot attend, please cancel your ticket order.
• Registration is required. Tickets are general admission and registration does not guarantee a seat.
• Tickets are non-transferable.
• Doors will open 30 minutes before the event begins. Any unclaimed seats will be released 10 minutes before the event begins.
• If you have any questions regarding the accessibility of this venue, please email Christine Hurley, Director of Production & Special Events at cehurley@uchicago.edu.

In “Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy,” Wall Street Journal reporter Russell Gold chronicles one man’s mission to improve the U.S. electric grid by building a network of transmission lines to connect solar and wind hotbeds to areas of the country where demand for energy is high. Experts in the field broadly agree that this grid integration is the key to unlocking the clean, affordable grid of the future. The book provides deep insights on the challenges of achieving such a system and the opportunities ahead.

Join EPIC as we host Russell Gold for a special conversation with Michael Greenstone about “Superpower,” the characters and lessons it details, and the future of the U.S. electricity grid.

In this Becker Brown Bag lecture for students, Lars Peter Hansen will provide a framework for answering this question by embracing recent decision theory and tools from asset pricing, and applying this structure with its interacting components in a revealing quantitative illustration.