MIT Climate Action Symposium: Economy-wide Deep Decarbonization: Beyond Electricity

2019-2020 MIT Climate Action Symposia Series

This event is currently sold out and the waitlist is at capacity. Watch the livestream here on February 25th at 5:00pm.

The fourth of MIT's six Climate Action Symposia, Economy-wide Deep Decarbonization: Beyond Electricity, will be held on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. Topics will include:

• pathways to scalable, affordable low- to no-carbon fuels;
• the role of biofuels, hydrogen, and long-term energy storage; and
• large-scale capture of carbon dioxide and gigaton-scale utilization.

The Climate Action Symposia series aims to advance our community’s understanding and expand our capacity to generate solutions for the urgent global challenge of climate change. Over the 2019-2020 academic year, the six symposia examine the current state of climate science and policy, as well as pathways for decarbonization of the global economy. We will also look at how universities can and should contribute solutions, including MIT’s efforts under our Plan for Action on Climate Change.

Speaker bios, livestream, and more will be available at climatesymposia.mit.edu.

Can't attend in person? Watch the livestream. 

Schedule

5:00 pm Framing remarks: Net carbon neutrality by mid-century?
Speaker

• Ernest Moniz, MIT

5:15 pm Decarbonizing transportation and industry

   Panel I: Electrification of transportation

   Moderator:

• Ernest Moniz, MIT

   Panelists:

• Yang Shao-Horn, MIT
• John Wall, Cummins (retired)

   Interactive discussion with audience questions

   Panel II: Low-carbon fuels

   Moderator:

• Ernest Moniz, MIT

   Panelists:

• Francis O'Sullivan, Ørsted Onshore North America and MIT
• Kristala Prather, MIT

   Interactive discussion with audience questions

6:35 pm Break

6:45 pm Large-scale carbon management and negative carbon

Moderator:

• Kristala Prather, MIT

Panelists:

• Howard Herzog, MIT
• Ruben Juanes, MIT
• Arun Majumdar, Stanford

Interactive discussion with audience questions

7:45 pm Closing perspectives
Speaker

• Susan Hockfield, MIT

Additional materials 

Clearing the Air Executive Summary

Clearing the Air Report

DOE Assessment of the SEAB CO2 Utilization Report

Lignocellulosic Biomass for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Report

Optionality, Flexibility & Innovation Executive Summary

Optionality, Flexibility & Innovation Report

Research Opportunities for CO2 Utilization and Negative Emissions at the Gigatonne Scale