Findings: Close integration of global clean energy technology has benefited U.S. consumers and clean energy deployment. Estimated cost savings from China’s participation in the global solar sector are in the range $20-$30 billion over 2008-2020. Manufacturing incentives through policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act, not tariffs, have...

Public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) are a common pre-emptive measure to reduce wildfire risk due to power system equipment failure. System operators use PSPS to de-energize electric grid elements that are either prone to failure or located in regions at a high risk of experiencing a wildfire. Successful power system operation during PSPS involve...

These takeaways represent significant points made during the discussion at the ”Workshop on Low-Carbon Transitions in Chinese SOEs” held at UC San Diego on April 12-13, 2024. They are not consensus observations. Link to Publication Recommended citation: 21st Century China Center & Power Transformation Lab. (2024). Workshop on Low-Carbon T...

Power Lab member Shiny Choudhury presented her research at the 2024 Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Conference organized by International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) on October 21-25 at Vienna, Austria. This was the first SMR Conference of this scale, signaling growing momentum on advanced nuclear technologies. Shiny presented her work on ‘Fle...

The Power Transformation Lab at UC San Diego (https://pwrlab.org/) is seeking one or more postdoctoral researchers to conduct research on open modeling of China’s power sector decarbonization. The Power Transformation Lab studies the engineering and institutional requirements of deploying low-carbon energy at scale, centering on the role of the ...

China, holding nearly half of the global coal-fired power capacity, must shift from its coal-centric energy system to meet climate and air quality goals. This study explores the optimal utilization of natural gas by evaluating the environmental and economic costs of gas- and coal-fired power using plant-level data and a multidisciplinary modelin...

Lab members Manh Tri Dao, Jenny Nicolas, Shiny Choudhury, and Zhenhua Zhang win gold at the case competition hosted by the US Association for Energy Economics. This year’s competition involved the evaluation of geothermal projects for the hypothetical Energy Oversight Board (EOB), experienced in regulating conventional oil and gas but new to geo...

For years, environmentalists and energy policymakers have seen China’s reliance on coal as a major impediment to reducing global carbon emissions. Burning coal is the world’s single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, and half of all coal-fired power stations are located in China. Full article Recommended citation: Davidson, M. R. (20...