Enhancing Resiliency and Increasing Equity in the Transition to a Sustainable Energy Future

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NRT: Enhancing Resiliency and Increasing Equity in the Transition to a Sustainable Energy FutureA fundamental transformation of our energy system from dependence on fossil fuels to a sustainable and resilient system supplied by renewable sources such as wind and solar is necessary if we are to avoid harmful climate change impacts. To successfully achieve this transition requires innovative technology and policy solutions in the electricity sector. These solutions must reimagine the electricity sector in a way that is simultaneously equitable in the benefits and impacts to society as well as resilient to uncertainty in future climate trends and energy demands. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Massachusetts Amherst will train graduate master’s and doctoral students to solve the integrated technological, economic, and societal challenges in the transition to a low carbon future. The project anticipates training 125 MS and PhD students, including 29 funded trainees, from Civil, Industrial, Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, Environmental Conservation, Geosciences, and Political Science. The students will conduct research at the intersection of electricity technology, energy economics and policy, climate science, and social equity. They will produce resilient and equity-driven innovations, while developing effective leadership and communication skills ideally suited to engaging stakeholders. Through strategic partnerships with stakeholders at the front lines of the energy transition, the program will develop a collaborative community, working together to find optimal energy solutions with local to global-scale benefits.The key goal of the program is to integrate concepts of equity and resiliency into research and training on the energy transition. The program will foster an integrated understanding of how technology and policies impact communities and how climate uncertainty necessitates resilient energy system solutions. This in turn will impact research goals. We will use an electricity market simulator to bring students from diverse educational and socio-economic backgrounds together. Trainees will identify how technology and policy combine to impact equity; and through role-play they will develop understanding and empathy for a wide range of perspectives. The students will receive training on public engagement and will produce events and communication platforms that will enhance communication between researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders. Research will focus on robust solutions to balancing the supply and demand of electricity in a way that is equitable and resilient to climate change. The project will develop ensembles of probabilistic estimates of energy demand and supply across multiple time scales, develop metrics to evaluate equity impacts, and use climate and power flow models to inform robust decision-making. The project will produce impactful energy research outcomes where adequate knowledge is currently lacking, while providing the trainees with an expanded interdisciplinary tool kit applicable to regions across the US and beyond, and a long- term competitive advantage to effect change.The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.