Macro-Energy Systems Modeling as a Guide for Technology Innovation and Policy Design
Green Earth Sciences Building, 104
Abstract: Energy transition decision-makers – including technology developers, investors, and policymakers – routinely face questions involving complex interconnected systems, large temporal and spatial scales, and deep uncertainty. Macro-energy systems modeling can be an important tool in addressing such questions, allowing researchers to isolate and examine the impacts of specific interventions in highly complex systems. This talk illustrates the value of system modeling in support of energy transition decision-making via two case studies: one exploring optimal development pathways for emerging enhanced geothermal power technology, and another assessing the impacts of different potential implementations of federal clean hydrogen subsidies. In both cases, system modeling has offered key and unexpected insights that have informed energy sector technology innovation and policy priorities.
Bio: Wilson Ricks is a postdoctoral researcher in the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University, where he applies macro-energy systems modeling and other tools to assess the role of policies and technologies in electricity systems decarbonization. His areas of focus include emerging clean firm power technologies – particularly enhanced geothermal power – and granular approaches to energy sector emissions accounting. He holds a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.