Graduate Student News |
Marisa McNatt article for The Boulder Stand, “Changing the Game: Boulder’s Clean Energy Goals, and How a Lego Game Shows How to Reach Them”
Excerpt: In July I traveled to the E.U. as a Heinrich Böll Climate Media Fellow, to learn about policies that the EU and Germany are implementing to transition to a carbon-free economy and translate them to U.S. policy-makers. My first stop took me to Copenhagen, home to the inventors of “Changing the Game” — a game that allows you to dream up your ideal energy scenario for a region in Europe in 2030 and see if you can get there under realistic technological and economic conditions. The Game uses Lego towers to visually capture the basic principles of the energy system. As you implement policy measures throughout the game using “Change Cards” that modify the energy system, the Lego towers are altered in tandem, so that the changes are visualized. Participating in a round of Changing the Game on day two of my travels, I learned that even with a well-educated and ambitious group, it’s pretty difficult to overcome the technological and economic constraints to meeting renewable energy and carbon reduction targets. Despite the cultural and political differences between Europe and the U.S., there are similar constraints to transitioning to a carbon-free economy on either side of the Atlantic. Even for Boulder, the Game offers insight into what it will take to reach municipal climate and clean energy goals. Read more ... |
Graduate Student News |
Kanmani Venkateswaran Participates in TED: Environmental Studies
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Graduate Student News |
Xi Wang Renewable Energy Policy Work, Appointment and Award
Xi’s work on renewable energy curtailment with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory was recently featured in CIRES’ Spheres science magazine. Xi has also been selected as a Breakthrough Generation Fellow for the Breakthrough Institute for summer 2014. As one of ten fellows, Xi will be working in the Climate and Energy Program. She will be examining global greenhouse gas emissions embedded in international trade. In addition, Xi has been awarded the CIRES Graduate Research Fellowship for the 2014-2015 academic year. The fellowship aims to promote student scholarship and research excellence by embracing a dual approach of 1) attracting the best talent to University of Colorado-Boulder at the outset of their graduate careers, and 2) enabling graduating seniors to complete and publish their research results. |