The 2018-2019 Annual Report of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment is now available.

Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo, director of the Andlinger Center, shares her reflections on the year in this excerpt from the report:

The global challenge of expanding access to energy worldwide, while using fewer resources and reducing the world’s carbon footprint, underpins all of our work at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Identifying how the transition to low-carbon energy systems will take place, and where these efforts will get stymied, is the crux of our newly launched project, Rapid Switch. The initiative brings together researchers from institutions across three continents to examine these transitions on a local level, and effectively identify viable pathways to decarbonization on a global scale. The cover is a nod to Rapid Switch and the initiative is further highlighted on pages 10, 11, and 22.

While we thoughtfully and vigorously study what stands in the way of a global energy transition, we are building new technologies that will comprise the foundations of the next-generation energy landscape: reactors to produce hydrogen gas from wastewater, highly efficient power converters that help data centers use less energy, and new catalysts to produce low-carbon fuels, among other developments. The Andlinger Center also funded two new projects in the past year – one to use artificial intelligence to improve the management of energy and water systems, and one focused on developing liquid fuels using atmospheric carbon. These projects are part of our diverse research program, and are detailed on page 15. As of Sept. 1, 2019, we welcomed Jesse Jenkins to our faculty, who brings a systems perspective to energy analysis, and two new Gerhard R. Andlinger visiting fellows, Harry Warren, an energy industry veteran, and Richard Moss, a top climate advisor to policymakers.

You can read about how we bring companies, governments, non-profits, and other stakeholders together through our annual meeting, E-ffiliates retreat, and research forums to share ideas, and about the new coursework developed to train students on these contemporary issues. At our annual meeting, we welcomed New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, who pointed to the critical role of universities in driving innovations that not only solve problems, but also create economic opportunities.

We are excited to work each day to move the needle on these complex and challenging global issues. We need everyone with us in this endeavor. I invite you to join us in our mission – attend a seminar, participate in our fellowship programs, ask our faculty questions, read our energy and environmental news, collaborate on research, and support the funding of our activities. We succeed with your continued support and engagement.

Thank you for being a part of the Andlinger Center community.

Lynn

Past annual reports can be found here.