Energy & Cleantech Research Seminar
This two-semester seminar explores the broad contours of this new era of environmental and energy policy from multiple perspectives — environmental protection, energy regulation, technology and intellectual property policy, and business finance – and develops a framework for analyzing the interrelationship among them. Based upon this framework, each student in the seminar develops an in-depth case study of a major energy program or cleantech project.
Student participants are selected through a competitive application process. Applications for the 2011-2012 academic year can be found here.
Seminar projects for 2010-2011 cover topics including:
- the conflict between agencies with overlapping jurisdictions on cleantech projects
- stimulus funding & cleantech – specifically grid-scale storage technologies
- practical implications and solutions re financing of renewable energy
- the challenges and promise of projects including: Westlands solar development, Alta Wind Energy Center, and the DESERTEC Initiative
- multi-pronged approach to reducing oil consumption in the U.S. transportation sector
- Community Choice Aggregation in California in the Wake of Proposition 16
- development of a legal framework for carbon sequestration
- Moving LADWP Towards a Greener Future
- recommendations for renewable energy development on Native American reservations in California
- development of an internet-based social network to allow the inhabitants of distributed renewable energy generation facilities in international waters to collectively transact large-scale energy transmission agreements
- state preference in RPS mandates and implications for the wind industry
Independent Student Research
Faculty and Fellows of the Energy and Cleantech Program also supervise numerous independent student research projects spanning the broad fields of energy, climate change, and clean technology law. Some examples of recent projects include:
- History of Electric Transmission Development for Renewable Energy in California
- Review of Electric Transmission for Renewable Energy Planning Processes
- Federal Law and Policy Stimulating and Facilitating Electric Transmission Development for Renewable Energy
- California Law and Policy Facilitating Electric Transmission Development for Renewable Energy
- Issues Related to the Smart Grid and Renewable Energy
- A Legislative Proposal to Protect the Economic Value of Solar Access for Distributed Solar Energy Installations
- Assessment of the Progress Made By California Utilities in Meeting Renewable Energy Portfolio Targets
- California’s Proposition 16, June 2010 Primary: An Analysis
- The Impact of Smart Meters and Time-variant Pricing on Low-Income Utility Customers
Contact
Contact energy@law.berkeley.edu to learn more.