Spring 2012 Schedule

All lectures are free and open to the public
Time: 4:15 - 5:15pm, coffee, tea and cookies from 4:00 - 4:15pm
Location: 1106 Mechanical Engineering, unless noted otherwise
Contact: Carol Barford for more information

Jan 26: Mary Ann Piette
Director, Demand Response Research Center
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
"Automating Demand Response with OpenADR:  Communications, End-Use Loads, and an Advanced Integrated Grid"
WEBCAST

Abstract: Technology and policy for advanced demand response continue to evolve, as summers get hotter, the electric grid ages, and energy costs continue to rise. The addition of greater levels of intermittent renewable resources for electricity supplies also causes concerns about grid management. Demand response is one of the strategies to address this concern. This presentation summarizes research on communications technology and field experiments on automation of demand response in commercial and industrial facilities.

Feb 9: Paul Shepson
Professor, Analytic and Atmospheric Chemistry, Purdue University
"INFLUX: Moving Toward the Ability to Conduct Regional and Global Scale Accounting of Greenhouse Gases"
WEBCAST
Abstract: To understand the global carbon cycle requires knowledge of source strengths, and geographic and temporal variability of emissions. Moreover, international carbon management treaties demand reliable tools to verify compliance. Thus we need the ability to measure urban area-wide fluxes of carbon cycle gases. To do this we created the Indianapolis Flux Experiment (INFLUX). I will present preliminary results of the INFLUX project for both CO2 and CH4, focusing on efforts to apportion the emissions to individual sectors.

Feb 16: Carol Barford
Research Scientist and Interim Director, SAGE
"Sustainable bioenergy in Wisconsin: farm-level feasibility"
WEBCAST
Abstract: Wisconsin farms can grow bioenergy crops, but will they? Many factors govern this decision, including basic economic feasibility. This talk will present an analysis of the physical and economic conditions necessary for profitable production of switchgrass on Wisconsin farms, using a data-based approach. Logistic and environmental factors will also be discussed.

Feb 23: Michael O'Hare
Professor of Public Policy
University of California-Berkeley
"Risk, Time, Policy Design, and Other Lessons of Real Biofuels Policy"
WEBCAST
Abstract: Biofuel policy has forced unanticipated but useful lessons. Indirect land use change, the climate effect of different time profiles of releasing greenhouse gas, and the uncertainty associated with global warming indices of fuels have required rethinking of programs that looked simple when first conceived. Can a life cycle assessment be performed for any substance, or must it be applicable to a policy? What is the meaning of risk management, in programs like RFS and LCFS?

Mar 8: Richard O'Neill
Chief Economic Advisor
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
"New Approaches to Transforming Wind, Rain and Fire into Electricity – Making a Smarter, Cleaner, Efficient Grid"
WEBCAST
Abstract: Once virtually impossible, power system market design is now a practical possibility through advances in computer technology. New smart grid technology will allow appliances to ‘talk’ to the grid and allow cleaner energy sources to be integrated into the power system. Electric vehicles will recharge when prices are cheap and sell power to the grid when prices are high. New software will be needed to operate the grid.  What will these new markets look like and how do we get there?

Mar 15: Raghu Murtugudde
Professor, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science/Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland
"Big History: Earth, Life and Sustainability"
WEBCAST
Abstract: Humans are the most cooperative species on the planet, capable of collective action to save the planet from the ills of environmental change. Communications to reach the human mind to achieve this collective action at scales that matter may be better designed if we understand the evolution of how the mind came to be schizophrenic, with an emotional elephant and a rational rider. This conversation attempts to place sustainability in the context of the evolution of our planet and its cooperative species.

Mar 22: Michael Doran
P.E., D.E.E.
Adjunct Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Michael Doran Techknowledge LLC
WEBCAST
"Sustainability - I am an Engineer; I Need a Definition"
Abstract: "There are three times the population of humans on Earth since I was born; 30 times more than in the year 1 CE. Earth's resources are finite, however, and we face huge global challenges in the decades ahead. Sustainability of Human Society: I like that term. But it is defined and used in our society in a way that lacks metrics. I believe we can and must define it differently and better, and I want to have a conversation on this topic with you March 22nd here, on the UW-Madison Engineering Campus."

Mar 29: James McCann
Professor of History
African Studies Center
Boston University
WEBCAST
"Africa's Malarial Landscape - History, Complexity, and Silver Bullets"
Abstract: Results of a study of the agro-ecology of malaria in a specific landscape in Ethiopia will emphasize the role of complex interactions of rural ecology and current attempts at eradication and/or control of malaria. The study includes results of laboratory work and field ecology, but also ecological and economic transformation of a malarial landscape as a whole. The lecture will emphasize the importance of an ecological rather than a bio-medical approach to combating malaria's persistence in the tropical world.

Apr 5: No Lecture - SPRING BREAK

Apr 12: William W. Hogan
Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
WEBCAST
"Electricity Market Reform and the Green Agenda"
Abstract: The green agenda envisions dramatic changes in the production and use of energy. The electricity sector is critical because it is already a large user of fossil fuels, and many green initiatives assume electrification of the transportation sector. The challenges require fundamental innovations on a huge scale. The uncertainty about both future conditions and technology precludes any simple prescription. A focus on incentives and electricity market design motivates and identifies policy initiatives required to address these challenges.

Apr 19: No Lecture

Apr 26: Andrew Light
Director, International Climate Policy
Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C. and
Director, Center for Global Ethics, George Mason University
WEBCAST
"International Climate Negotiations After Durban"

Abstract: The rescent UN climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa received a mixed reception. Many close to the negotiations pronounced them a critically important victory; some of the bigger carbon emitters signed a binding international treaty. However, critics called them yet another farce. I will review the history of these negotiations to put in context the complicated outcome. More was achieved than most people realized. The next focus should be on establishing the Green Climate Fund and creating a robust public and private international climate finance system.

May 3: James A. LaGro, Jr.
Professor, Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning, UW-Madison
WEBCAST
“Plumbing Code or Land Use Policy?”

Abstract: On-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) serve most rural households in the Great Lakes Region. Major revisions of Wisconsin's plumbing code, which was changed in the 1990s from a prescriptive code to a performance code, now allow the installation of “alternative” on-site wastewater treatment systems on sites with only six inches (15.2 cm) of native soil above bedrock or the seasonal water table. What are the land use impacts - and sustainability implications - of this experiment in public policy?


May 10: R. Andreas Kraemer – Talk will begin at 4:00 PM
Director and CEO, Ecologic Institute, Berlin; Chairman, Ecologic Institute, Washington DC
WEBCAST
"Germany's Energy Future - Greening an Export Nation"

Abstract: Mr. Kraemer will discuss the economic and trade aspects of energy transformation in Germany, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, and relevant domestic and EU policies.
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