Academic Advisor Peter Fox-Penner Provides a Clean Energy Future Roadmap in Power after Carbon

Brattle Academic Advisor Peter Fox-Penner has authored a new book, Power after Carbon: Building a Clean, Resilient Grid, which provides a roadmap and actionable recommendations for the electric power industry to navigate a clean energy future.

The need to develop sustainable energy has taken on great urgency as the damaging and costly impacts of climate change continue to increase. The electricity industry has responded with a significant shift toward renewable energy sources in the face of unprecedented challenges and disruption brought on by new technologies, competitors, and policy changes. These industry forces necessitate an electric grid that provides abundant, secure, flexible, and affordable power, while handling enormous demands for power and rapid, systemic change.

In Power after Carbon, Dr. Fox-Penner argues that the trendy solutions – to “think small” with smart buildings, small-scale renewables, and locally-distributed green energy – is very important, but will not alone be enough to meet the increasing demand for electricity. Rather, large power systems, battery storage, and scalable carbon-free power technologies will be indispensable, along with the grids and markets that will integrate them.

Dr. Fox-Penner is the Founder and Director of the Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy and Professor of Practice at the Questrom School of Business, where he teaches courses on sustainable energy and electric power.

For more information on Power after Carbon, please visit the Harvard University Press website.