New Energy Series

About the Series

New Energy: Conversations with Early-Career Energy Researchers is an online series featuring graduate, post-doctoral, and other early-career researchers sharing their discoveries and perspectives on energy-related topics. From policy to analysis to emerging technology, this series will give anyone interested in energy the opportunity to learn from the rising stars in the field. 

All events in this series take place via Zoom.

Spring 2023 Talks

Join us for our spring term series!  

Wednesday, April 12 | 12 -1 p.m. ET 

Azucena Castro, Swedish Research Council Postdoctoral Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University; Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Stanford University
"Energy Justice from Below: The Role of Artivisms from the Sacrifice Zones for a Situated Political Ecology of the Energy Transition. Insights from La Guajira, Colombia and the Argentinian Patagonia"

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Azucena Castro
Azucena Castro

The national projects to transition to clean energy forms in Latin America are not devoid of conflicts. In many cases, these projects entail new forms of colonialism and extractivism that intersect with traditional ones as coal mining. These conflicts are connected with the formation of energy imaginaries around territories that are perceived as sacrifice zones to generate energy for the nation and international markets. In this talk, Azucena Castro will address how those imaginaries are formed and sustained by hegemonic discourses but also challenged by local forms of art and activism (artivisms) that demand energy justice in the context of the energy transition. While wind and water energy have been portrayed as the solution to the climate crisis, there are many conflicts arising in regard to Eolic parks and hydroelectric dams all over Latin America. Castro will draw insights from two case studies on renewable energy forms in Latin America: La Guajira in Colombia, designated as "the epicenter of Colombia's energy transition" for Eolic Energy, and the Argentinian Patagonia, viewed as "Patagonia-energy" for the installation hydroelectric plants. By discussing the engagement of local activist art with energy from a political ecological perspective, she will show how local needs and cosmologies are highlighted as crucial to attain an energy justice from below, i.e., a just and sustainable energy transition that considers biocultural diversity, technological sovereignty, and expanding views on energy beyond electricity.

About the Speaker

Azucena Castro is Swedish Research Council Postdoctoral Researcher at Stockholm Resilience Center, Stockholm University and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Stanford University. Her research revolves around environmental and energy humanities with focus on Latin American and Caribbean cultural studies.

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Project: "No aire, no te vendas. Energy Sovereignty and Collective Creation in the Context of the Eolic Parks in la Guajira" (with Juan Reina-Rozo and Agustín Neko Epiyú), funded by Intersecting Energy Cultures Working Group (Penn Program in Environmental Humanities).

Forthcoming publication (Spring 2023): Castro, Azucena and Castro, Hortensia. "Geographical Imaginaries around Santa Cruz River: Creative Materialities and Territorial Activisms in the Capitalocene." Espacios de Crítica y Producción. Revista de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires (In Spanish).

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Wednesday, April 26 | 12 - 1 p.m. ET

Ker-hsuan Chien, Assistant Professor Institute of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University
"Powering Up the Green Supply Chains: The Sustainability Chain Governance and the Marketization of Renewable Energy in Taiwan"

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Ker-hsuan Chien
Ker-hsuan Chien

In this talk, Dr. Chien will discuss her recent paper that looks at how 2050 zero emissions goals have put tremendous pressure on Taiwan's manufacturing sector to decarbonize its energy sources. In the paper, Dr. Chien focuses on sustainability chain governance, scrutinizing the formation, codification, and implementation of renewable energy procurement, and its impacts on the renewable energy market at the production end of supply chains. 

By following the transactions guided by global brands (e.g. Apple, Google etc.) and global initiatives (e.g. RE 100), and their impact on the emerging renewable energy market in Taiwan, Dr. Chien aims to answer three critical questions about sustainability chain governance. Firstly, how was supply chains' decarbonization guided by the rules and norms formed by the global disclosure regimes? How was decarbonization translated differently by the global brands and their suppliers? Secondly, how was renewable energy made into a tradable commodity through the marketization process of Taiwan's energy system? Finally, how have the materialities of renewable energy conditioned the marketization of renewable energy in Taiwan?

Through focusing on the nexus of global sustainability chain governance and the marketization of renewable energy, Dr. Chien demonstrates that the renewable energy market has become the new site of struggle between local renewable project developers, the grid operator, local/global renewable energy buyers, and the state.

About the Speaker
Ker-hsuan Chien is an assistant professor at the Institute of Technology Management at National Tsing Hua University. Her research interests are energy transition, industrial policy, and regional development.

Wednesday, May 10 | 12 -1 p.m.

Chell Lyons, Sir Roland Wilson PhD Scholar, Australian National University
"In the Vault: The roles of Green Banks in the Transition to Net Zero Emissions. Case Studies of Australia, New Zealand and the United States"

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Chell Lyons
Chell Lyons

Decarbonizing the global economy requires a significant increase in funding for low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure. It is widely recognized that current levels of investment are insufficient, and need to scale up rapidly to meet the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Green Banks, a relatively new form of  public financial institution, were developed to address this issue by accelerating investment and "crowding in" private finance. This presentation adopts a case study approach drawing on expert interviews, to elicit information on the investment governance and evaluation processes of four Green Banks; Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation, New Zealand Green Investment Finance, the New York Green Bank and the Montgomery County Green Bank. It concludes by sharing learnings for other forms of public financial institutions seeking to leverage private finance in the investment transition to net zero emissions.
 

About the Speaker
Chell Lyon's PhD research explores the role of public investment in the transition to net zero emissions. She examines how public banks, particularly green banks, evaluate investment decisions, with a focus on implications for Australian policymakers.
 

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