Speaker: Prof. Michael Craig, University of Michigan
About: Climate change might impact various components of the bulk electric power system, including electricity demand; transmission; and thermal, hydropower, wind, and solar generators. Most research in this area quantifies impacts on one or a few components and does not link these impacts to effects on power system planning and operations. In his talk, Michael Craig will present his recent collaborations on how climate change will affect bulk power system planning and operations. Those collaborations include quantifying compounding effects of climate change on thermal plant availability, wind and solar resources, and electricity demand in Texas; and optimizing generator investment decisions given atmospheric and hydrological impacts in the Southeast United States. He and his co-authors find that climate change will stress multiple parts of the power system simultaneously, underscoring the need for system-level research. They also find that adaptation strategies align with mitigation strategies, generating win-wins. He will conclude his talk by linking this research area and his findings to energy justice and equity.
Bio: Michael researches how to reduce global and local environmental impacts of energy systems while making those systems equitable and robust to future climate impacts. He conducts system-level analyses to understand the deployment potential and operations of new technologies given the constraints and features of the larger systems in which they are embedded. Through system analysis, his research also illuminates how the operations and evolution of energy systems respond to new technologies and other factors, e.g. nonstationary environmental conditions induced by climate change. Michael frequently collaborates with economists, climate scientists, engineers, and other disciplines. He is currently recruiting PhD students, so please email him if you are interested!