From ramping up clean electricity to eliminating food waste. From designing cities for walking and biking to preserving ecosystems. Projects that lead to a low-carbon society and limit climate change will have more and greater …
Faculty News
UW-Madison and IIASA partner on environmental policy projects
After more than 40 years of collaboration, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) are officially partnering on a variety of policy-relevant projects related to energy, climate, air quality, and more. …
Tracey Holloway leads health benefits of clean energy project
Can clean energy solutions like solar power and electric cars help us breathe easier? New research at the University of Wisconsin—Madison shows how our energy choices can benefit public health, from longer life expectancies to …
Patz stepping down at Global Health Institute to concentrate on climate and health
Jonathan Patz, M.D., MPH, has announced his plan to step down as director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) in July 2022 to focus more on climate change and planetary health during …
At U.N. Climate Conference, UW observers look to civil society to save the planet
University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student Nova Tebbe, who works across disciplines from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies to the La Follette School of Public Affairs, calls herself a climate newcomer. Yet, in early November, she …
IIASA/UW-Madison Energy & Climate Webinar: What Happened at COP26 and Why It Matters
At the the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), world leaders reached a new global agreement on climate action following two weeks of negotiations. Additionally, several countries, private funders, and NGOs made new pledges …
UW team among winners of Musk Foundation’s XPRIZE for Carbon Removal Student Competition
A team from the University of Wisconsin–Madison is one of the top winners in the $5 million XPRIZE for Carbon Removal Student Competition. The contest is kickstarting projects that could mitigate the impacts of climate …
Edwards finds that repairs to natural gas distribution system don’t always work
For the network of pipelines that bring natural gas to homes throughout the U.S., leaks are an ongoing challenge. Repairing those leaks can lead to safety and climate benefits by reducing the amount of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) released into the atmosphere. But a new study led by La Follette School Assistant Professor Morgan Edwards found these repairs are not always successful, leaving some of the potential benefits of leak repair on the table.
Tapping innovative balance of power, microreactors could enhance energy resilience
“The main finding of our study is that if microreactor vendors can reach their goals for total costs, and if they rely on low-interest government financing rather than private financing, then microreactors could be economically competitive against natural gas and increase the energy resilience of certain government facilities,” says Paul Wilson, the Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering at UW-Madison who led the study.
Roald to use NSF CAREER Award to optimize risk mitigation in electric distribution grids
Roald will use the five-year, $500,000 grant to develop risk assessment methods to quantify short-term operational risk to electric distribution grids.