The University of Chicago recently launched a climate and energy institute Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker described as “a place for leading academics, students, and policymakers to wrestle with the fundamental questions that will determine our future.”
“This is a place where the brightest minds in the field will come together from around the world and from right here in Chicago to drive world-altering progress, a place where no stone will be left unturned, I'm sure, in the fight against climate change, a place where our future will be built as we build it together,” Pritzker said in his remarks to the packed Rubenstein Forum during the unveiling of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth.
The launch event, which included policymakers such as Pritzker, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta, former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Hina Rabbani Khar, former Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar, and former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, now the director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, outlined the Climate Institute’s plans, goals, and structure, unveiled a slate of grants for climate research across the University, and broke down the historic challenge that faces humanity.
This is a challenge for which the University of Chicago is uniquely suited, said University President Paul Alivisatos, who also holds faculty appointments at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) and Chemistry Department.
“Between the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and our deep partnerships with Argonne National Laboratory, we are home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of energy innovators,” Alivisatos said.
UChicago PME’s energy expertise is an integral part of this university-wide endeavor, with Prof. Shirley Meng at the helm of one of the Institute’s three foundational pillars, called the Energy Technologies Initiative.
Meng also serves as the chief scientist of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) and director of the Energy Storage Research Alliance (ESRA), both at Argonne National Laboratory. With PME Prof. Laura Gagliardi, Meng is co-director of the recently launched Energy Transition Network, which connects fundamental research to early-stage startups and major corporations, bringing the private sector into the climate fight.
“Academia, national labs, and industry need to find common ground and brainstorm about how we can do better together,” Meng said.
Energy Technologies Initiative
The ETI is one of the Institute’s three foundational pillars. These initiatives are designed to explore novel approaches for answering the same question: How can we transition the planet off fossil fuels without sacrificing jobs, prosperity, and growth?
No one area of study has the answer to that vital, complicated question, said the Institute’s founding Faculty Director Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics. The question touches on areas of engineering, economics, law, chemistry, political science, social science, physics, and AI. The answer requires policy, clean and inexpensive energy storage, a pipeline to industry, and novel experimentation.
“The Institute's mission must be to fundamentally alter climate research and education on a global scale,” Greenstone said. “And make sure that it interacts with the outside world.”
In addition to creating the Chicago Curriculum on Climate and Sustainable Growth to bring this innovative mode of climate thought to the UChicago classroom, the Institute will bring it to research and industry through its three foundational pillars.