Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at ERG Equity and inclusion are at the heart of our mission to provide education and research for a sustainable and just society. We aspire to be an inclusive community with diverse ideas, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, abilities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We celebrate diversity in scholarship, teaching, community […]
Monday, March 16th, 2020 “After several years of professional experience, ERG has given me a new lease on life. Because of the incredible latitude ERG gives its students to explore, I’ve had the opportunity to take classes in law, business, public policy, and data science, above and beyond the core requirements in social science, […]
RAEL is engaged in projects to develop the science, technology, policy needs and to foster engagements that explore the future of energy, specifically the transition to a low-cabon, environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable energy system.
The Energy and Resources Group summer instructors understand the complex and interdisciplinary nature of sustainability. All have significant experience teaching and/or professional experience in the subject areas of their courses. For course descriptions and schedule, visit our Summer Curriculum and Schedule page. Instructors listed may be subject to change. SAMUEL EVANS Course: Climate Change Economics […]
Daniel Kammen is the Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy with appointments in the Energy and Resources Group, The Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
My interests range from the integration of renewables into existing grids,the possibility of indigenes (especially women) in rural communities producing their own power or at least understanding its workings and the interaction between science and policy making in developing countries. I would love to study in the Renewable & Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) or the […]
Beyond Energy Access: Understanding the Household Dynamics of Modernizing Cooking in Rural Karnataka, India (MA ’18) Bodie uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand land-based solutions to climate change and how innovative technology can enable beneficial land management. At present, he is working on understanding forest carbon outcomes, both in California and East Africa, and the impacts […]
Decentralized solar energy systems for electricity access: historical context and comparisons of reliability (MS ’18) Isa is a MS/PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group. She is interested in the impact of renewable energy on rural electrification, global development, and the domestic energy sector. Previously, Isa gained experience on both the technical and applied […]
I intend to research the intersection of renewable energy technology, education, and specifically prison education programs focused on STEM. Ultimately, my goal is to work with formally incarcerated citizens as they prepare for re-entry into society. I aspire to work with renewable energy projects in Africa to fulfill my goal as developing into a World […]
Jose Daniel was born in San José Costa Rica, received his B.Sc. and Licentiate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Costa Rica in 2009 and 2012 respectively, his M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 2014, and his M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of […]
Arthur is interested in using sustainable innovation as a framework for designing new businesses, services, and products that help tackle climate change. He is particularly interested in promoting sustainability through energy and resource efficiency, solar power deployment, and sustainable mobility, as well as bringing clean water, sanitation, and electricity to the rural and urban poor. […]
Joyceline is a Tanzanian who holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Rochester. Her research interest lies in energy decentralization, diversification, economics and policy making to empower women and improve the standard of living in East Africa. She currently works at the Renewable & Appropriate Energy Laboratory on Off grid systems […]
Sam Miles is a Ph.D. student in the Energy and Resources Group, and in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focus is at the intersection of the scalability challenge for electricity mini-grids and the socio-economic characteristics of urbanization in Africa, particularly for the artisans and entrepreneurs who […]
Development for the Stateless: the Displacement-Development Nexus and Implications for the Future (MS ’19) Samira is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group and researcher at the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. Her research focuses on development for stateless people and migrants, most recently on energy access and the development priorities of UN […]
Edem received his B.S in Environmental Science and Technology, with a concentration in Ecological Technology Design and minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS) from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2019. Edem is interested in sustainable energy development and natural resource management, in particular, exploring solutions to renewable energy integration and energy access in […]
Samuel Carrara holds a Bachelor Degree and a Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Major: Energy and Mechanical Plants) and a PhD in Energy and Environmental Technologies, all from the University of Bergamo, Italy. After working as an engineer in the gas turbine field, he is now a researcher at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milan, […]
Dimitry currently works as a Program Manager on Facebook’s Global Impact Partnerships Team. Prior to Facebook, Dimitry was a graduate student at ERG where he worked on market assessment for off-grid energy in Kenya, microgrid finance in developing economies, and public-private partnership development for universal electrification in South Sudan. Overall, Dimitry has nearly a decade […]
Josiah Johnston grew up in a rural part of the Ozark Mountains. He is great at construction and swinging a pick. Between college and grad school he lived in Baltimore for five years. When Josiah left for grad school, he was a tenured researcher in a genetics lab and had a seat on the board […]
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions, System Flexibility Requirements, and Drivers of Storage Deployment in the Western North American Power System through 2050 (PhD ’14) Ana’s PhD research is in modeling electricity systems with high penetration levels of intermittent renewable energy to identify technological and policy alternatives for cost-effective emission reductions. While her work focuses on the […]
Measuring California’s Energy Service Affordability (MS ’19) Christian is fascinated by energy end-uses’ effect on communities’ economic and political well-being. While his formal scientific background is in biorenewable resources, his focus is on the sustainable development of holistic energy solutions based on socioeconomic, geographic, and natural resource characteristics for communities both domestic and developing abroad. […]
Scenarios for Deep Carbon Emission Reductions from Electricity by 2050 in Western North America Using the SWITCH Electric Power Sector Planning Model (PhD ’14) Jimmy Nelson is a graduating Ph.D. student in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley and a Link Energy Fellow. His graduate work was performed in […]
Autumn Petros-Good received her B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2009, and her M.S. from ERG in 2011 and her PhD from ERG in 2015. She worked on characterizing the potential for energy storage to change the electricity landscape, and has previously worked with the Nature Conservancy on investigating the relationship between large-scale […]
Rebekah Shirley believes that there is more than one path to a bright, energy secure future. Developing nations strive to connect more and more of their communities to energy. Many have emulated the fossil fuel intensive model of developed nations, but Rebekah believes that this is not necessarily the only way.
ERG’s Dan Kammen and RAEL investigate how the benefits of solar energy is not distributed equally among individuals, and how there are racial disparities especially in rooftop solar PV deployment in the United States. This article, published on The Beam, provides numerous statistical and graphic evidence supporting the need for more inclusive energy infrastructure policy. […]
A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley and Tufts University shows fewer rooftop solar photovoltaics installations exist in African-American and Hispanic-dominant neighborhoods than in white-dominant neighborhoods, even when controlling for household income and home ownership. It was published in Nature Sustainability. The study was conducted by Deborah Sunter (former postdoctoral scholar in Dan Kammen’s […]
The U.S. government recently congratulated the government of Kosovo for signing a contract with American multi-national corporation Contour Global to build a new 500 MW coal-fired power plant. Kosovo highlights the potential of this plant to relieve a long history of energy insecurity, and provide for better health and economic prosperity. However, ERG Chair Dan […]
Last week, Dan Kammen, Diego Ponce de Leon, and Peter Marsters published their analysis of the environmental, social, economic, and community impacts of the shale industry on Mexico. The team also discussed lessons that can be learned from the recent ‘shale boom’ in the United States. The analysis seeks to inform mainly Mexican policy makers, […]
Noah Kittner and Dan Kammen's new paper, "Energy storage deployment and innovation for the clean energy transition," was published in Nature Energy on July 31, 2017
We are pleased to announce the appointment of the new Energy and Resources Group Chair, Professor Daniel M. Kammen. His appointment began July 1, 2017. Daniel Kammen is a Professor of Energy with appointments in the Energy and Resources Group, The Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. […]
Last week, Daniel Kammen announced that RAEL is supporting and participating in the launch of the Research for Climate Action global consortium anchored at the University of Maryland.
Solar Industry Magazine has announced a partnership between the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) and nonprofit solar installer GRID Alternatives. RAEL is a unique new research, development, project implementation, and community outreach facility founded by ERG’s Daniel Kammen and is based at the University of California, Berkeley in the Energy and Resources Group and Department […]
Commitments by two groups within ERG were included in the White House Summit on Water last week
ERG Professor Daniel Kammen has been appointed as one of five U.S. Science Envoys by the US State Department.
ERG & RAEL students present and engage at scientific conference “Our Common Future under Climate Change” ahead of COP21
As an alternative to the current Baram Dam project, Professor Daniel Kammen presented the benefits of using renewable energy instead of mega hydro-dams at a press conference held at Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia.
SWITCH model selected as a "Project to Watch" by the UN's Big Data Climate Challenge.
Rebekah Shirley (ERG PhD) and Professor Dan Kammen show how small-scale energy can work in the Pacific Islands.
Jalel Sager (PhD candidate) and Austin Cappon (Minor) head to Nairobi, Kenya to pick up UN prize for a sustainable energy development project in Vietnam.
Reshaping the relationships in Ungula’s electricity sector: the advent of the prepay meter (MS ’15) Presumptions and Precarity: Probing Electricity Infrastructure (PhD ’20) Veronica Jacome is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) and holds a BS in Engineering Physics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At ERG, Veronica focuses on the […]
Beyond Energy Access: Understanding the Household Dynamics of Modernizing Cooking in Rural Karnataka, India (MA ’18) Bodie uses interdisciplinary approaches to understand land-based solutions to climate change and how innovative technology can enable beneficial land management. At present, he is working on understanding forest carbon outcomes, both in California and East Africa, and the impacts […]
Decentralized solar energy systems for electricity access: historical context and comparisons of reliability (MS ’18) Isa is a MS/PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group. She is interested in the impact of renewable energy on rural electrification, global development, and the domestic energy sector. Previously, Isa gained experience on both the technical and applied […]
The Cost of Reliability in Decentralized Solar Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (MS ’18) Jonathan studies transitions in electric power systems and electricity markets, specifically microgrids and distributed energy resources, the role of new technologies in grid planning, and the effects of the physical structure of power systems on social equity. He is interested in both […]
Dr. Susana Arrechea holds a PhD and masters degree in Nano-science and Nanotechnology from the University of Castilla—La Mancha (UCLM), Toledo, Spain, and a bachelors in chemical engineering from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC), where she is currently a researcher at the engineering faculty. In 2011 she received a fellowship through the […]
Jose Daniel was born in San José Costa Rica, received his B.Sc. and Licentiate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Costa Rica in 2009 and 2012 respectively, his M.Sc. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada in 2014, and his M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of […]
Cauvery is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar working on her doctoral dissertation on "The politics of energy security: India's foreign and domestic policy imperatives." Currently, Cauvery is a Research Fellow at Global India Foundation and a Doctoral student at Jadavpur University, Calcutta.
Learning and Control Systems for the Integration of Renewable Energy into Grids of the Future (PhD ’20) Patricia is a Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley co-advised by Daniel Kammen and Claire Tomlin. She obtained an M.S. from the Energy and Resources Group, UC Berkeley (2016). She graduated with highest honors as an Industrial and Electrical […]
Daniel L. Sanchez holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Energy and Resources. He is interested in quantitative analysis to inform public policy, focusing on bioenergy and climate policy. His past research focused on design, deployment, and commercialization of bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) technologies. Daniel has previously held positions with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), Green for All, and the California Public Utilities Commission.
Chris Jones is lead developer at the CoolClimate Network, an applied research consortium at UC Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory that supports the development of comprehensive, socially integrated carbon footprint management tools and programs for individuals, schools, businesses and communities. His primary research interests intersect the fields of industrial ecology, environmental psychology, and climate […]