News from

Energy Policy

Reset All Filters
187 Results
The data at the heart of Green New Deal public housing legislation
Two people installing solar panels on a chilly day, wearing gloves and snow hats.

Funding in the recently proposed Green New Deal for Public Housing legislation would go toward energy-retrofitting interventions such as installing solar panels. 

The data at the heart of Green New Deal public housing legislation

Beyond improving living conditions, greening these spaces would reduce emissions and create 250,000 jobs annually, according to research from Penn and Data for Progress.

Michele W. Berger

A focus on environmental inequities
Philadelphia city street, abandoned factory in background, housing behind sidewalk fence.

A focus on environmental inequities

A Penn symposium will confront issues of inequitable access to a clean and safe environment and the unequal burden borne by vulnerable communities, particularly low-income and underrepresented minority populations, when it comes to environmental threats.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Leading the way in the field of energy policy
Mark Alan Hughes at his desk standing and talking with associates by windows in the sunlight.

Hughes (second from left) with the Kleinman Center team, including from left to right, Angela Pachon, Bill Cohen, Mollie Simon, Cornelia Colijn, and Kimberle Szczurowski.

Leading the way in the field of energy policy

During two decades at Penn, Mark Alan Hughes has made the University a leader in the field of energy policy—and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Michele W. Berger , Lindsey Samahon

Weighing the environmental impacts of a byproduct of biofuel combustion: plant skeletons
Pile of shredded straw from Miscanthus sinensis, Chinese silver grass

Chinese silver grass, Miscanthus sinensis, is a common source of biomass, burned to produce electricity or heat in power plants. Each piece is roughly 2-3 centimeters in length. (Image: Reto Gieré)

Weighing the environmental impacts of a byproduct of biofuel combustion: plant skeletons

The School of Arts and Sciences’ Reto Gieré and Ruggero Vigliaturo and colleagues found that phytoliths—small, silica-containing deposits present in many plant species—are emitted during biofuel combustion.

Katherine Unger Baillie

‘Climate Risk Solutions,’ a 30-part report on climate change proposals
Spring field flooded by high water of a small river.

‘Climate Risk Solutions,’ a 30-part report on climate change proposals

Wharton’s Steven Kimbrough and Carolyn Kousky and Penn Law's Cary Coglianese discuss the solutions offered by a new report by a number of Penn experts on climate change, “Climate Risk Solutions.”

Penn Today Staff

Talking climate change with Rafe Pomerance
A person sitting in a red chair gesturing with hands.

Environmental activist, Rafe Pomerance, founder of Arctic 21 and a senior fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, spoke at the Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy last week. 

  • Q&A

    • Talking climate change with Rafe Pomerance

    In a Q&A, the longtime environmental activist, who came to campus to speak at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, discusses where we are today and how we can avoid the worst effects of a warming planet.

    Michele W. Berger

    Minding the gap between mass transit and ride-hailing apps
    Person holding a cellphone with a lit up image of a car emanating from it.

    As Uber and Lyft become more widely available, researchers zero in on how these ride-hailing services are affecting urban development and the environment.

    Minding the gap between mass transit and ride-hailing apps

    With support from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, doctoral students Caitlin Gorback and Summer Dong are researching how services like Uber and Lyft are changing our transport habits, cities, and environments.

    Gina Vitale , Michele W. Berger

    Contest fosters local solutions to global sustainability challenges
    A person in a pink button-down shirt leaning against a brick wall.

    Rising senior Richard Ling started a nonprofit, Collective Cause, and through that, ran a competition called Sustainable Solutions. The goal was to encourage high school and college students to brainstorm local solutions to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

    Contest fosters local solutions to global sustainability challenges

    SoleProvider won the Sustainable Solutions competition created by rising senior Richard Ling. The automated texting system offers Philadelphia’s homeless a simple way to request a particular need and for users to fulfill it.

    Michele W. Berger

    A unique perspective on renewable energy
    Rachel Kyte stands at a podium speaking, the sign on the podium reads "Kleinman Center for Energy Policy."
  • Q&A

    • A unique perspective on renewable energy

    In a conversation with Rachel Kyte, the U.N. special representative and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All discusses how this energy sector has changed in the past decade and what happens when political will doesn’t match the science.

    Michele W. Berger

    The Green New Deal: What it says, what it doesn’t say, and how close we are to adopting it
    A view looking up into a forest of trees, with light streaming through.

    In February, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a non-binding resolution to Congress known as the Green New Deal. It’s unclear how far it will progress, but it is fueling a long-needed conversation about climate change, according to Mark Alan Hughes of Penn’s Kleinman Center.

    The Green New Deal: What it says, what it doesn’t say, and how close we are to adopting it

    Mark Alan Hughes, director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, discusses the basics of this energy-mobilization proposal.

    Michele W. Berger