Unit-Level Analyses of the Power Sector

Please join the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines as we welcome Steven J. Davis, JD, PhD, Professor of Earth System Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, presenting at webinar titled Unit-Level Analyses of the Power Sector on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm (MT).

Studies of energy system trajectories typically rely on recent trends and model scenarios. Unit-level datasets of the power sector (i.e. plant- or generator-specific) enable complementary, bottom-up and forward-looking analyses. Moreover, such detailed data can help prioritize opportunities to reduce emissions and water use. Prof. Davis will share the results of several such unit-level analyses, covering “committed” CO2 emissions globally and in the U.S., power plant retirements embedded in modeled mitigation scenarios, as well as global, unit-level estimates of criteria pollutant emissions and water use.

Steve Davis is a Professor of Earth System Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, where he researches global energy infrastructure, agricultural production, GHG emissions, and international trade. He studied political philosophy at the University of Florida, earned a law degree at the University of Virginia, practiced corporate and securities law in Silicon Valley for a few years, then returned to do graduate work in isotope geochemistry and paleoclimate at Stanford University. Since 2009, his research has focused on the human dimensions of global environmental change, and in particular the distributional effects of international trade, carbon lock-in, and net-zero emissions energy systems.