Stanford Faculty in Energy Research

Developing a community-based program for reducing residential energy use, working with Girl Scouts of Northern California. Environmental learning and behavior, including transportation.

The implications of discounting and uncertainty for climate and energy policy.

The formation, geometric patterns and fluid flow properties of fractures and faults, at lengths from a thin section to a mountain range.

Using avatars and virtual reality simulations to reduce energy use through reexamination of personal energy behavior and by connecting specific energy use and environmental consequences.

Nanostructured polymers for low-cost, stretchable batteries. Synthesis of functional organic and polymer materials. Thin-film organic photovoltaic cells. Printable, electrically conductive gel for potential use in energy storage and biofuel cells.

Wireless power transfer to moving electric vehicles.

Sequestering CO₂ in deep underground formations. Energy systems analysis to guide decisions about best options for providing energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Alternative transportation fuels, particularly biofuels. U.S. energy policy and its effects on the nation's domestic and international political priorities, particularly national security.

New algorithms to improve imaging of reflection seismic data for structural and stratigraphic interpretation. Continuous passive seismic monitoring for detection of CO2 plumes in geologic sequestration projects.

Tax and public expenditure theory and applications. Federal energy subsidies. Carbon-based taxation.

Decentralized message passing to constantly optimize an electricity network with many different devices, each with its own complex constraints and objective.

Development of silicon-based microphotonic functionality and plasmonic devices to manipulate the flow of light at the nanoscale. Use of nanowires in thin-film solar cells to boost efficiency.

Entrepreneurship education regarding high-growth and technology enterprises, in particular energy-related technologies.

Transition from coal to low-carbon electricity. Oceanic CO2 sequestration. Accounting for CO2 emissions. Future CO2 from existing energy infrastructure. High-altitude wind power. Assessing wind power resources. Geoengineering to combat climate change.

Plasma propulsion. Plasma and combustion synthesis of materials. Effects of injecting ionized gas on the operation of a fuel cell. Photon-enhanced thermionic emission devices, which use solar heat and light.

Energy security. Climate policy. Global fossil fuel markets. Government subsidies for renewable energy technology and fossil fuels. Meeting the U.S. military's energy challenges.

The extent to which dashboard mileage gauges and other behavior modification techniques improve driver efficiency.

Fundamental and applied electrochemistry: solar fuels, fuel cells, and batteries.

Controlling atomic scale structure of thin films and nanomaterials for use in photovoltaics and hydrogen storage. Photovoltaic absorbers from earth-abundant elements. Ion-beam assisted deposition for thin-film solar.

Fabrication of nanoscale materials, and study of their electronic, photonic, electrochemical and catalytic properties. Applications include lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, CIGS solar cells, transparent electrodes and using carbon nanotube in microbial fuel cell electrodes.

New ways to synthesize graphene and carbon nanotube architectures for potential future device applications, such as fuel cells, catalysis, and lithium-air and nickel-metal batteries.

Characterizing and modeling the fundamental micromechanical and photochemical mechanisms that dictate the reliability and lifetimes of emerging energy technologies, including solar cells and their modules, PEM fuel cells, and batteries.  Developing a longitudinally graded index lens as a non-tracking solar concentrator.

Modern computational approaches to electron and photon dynamics. Models for new energy paradigms for developing novel materials for superconductors, photovoltaics and batteries.

Nanostructured materials for light manipulation, photovoltaics and photocatalysis. Converting low energy photons to higher for greater efficiency in solar cells.

Use of X-ray free electron lasers in energy research.

Climate impacts of energy use and production. Anthropogenic climate change detection and attribution. CO2 uptake by the ocean., e.g., natural carbon sequestration as well as ocean acidification.

Computational modeling of subsurface flow, with applications in oil and gas production and geological carbon sequestration. Optimization of subsurface flow operations and energy systems.

Flow and heat transfer in complex turbulent flows. Turbulence interactions with dispersed particles and droplets, such as with pulverized coal combustors and fast-fluidized beds.

Study of plant cell wall biogenesis, cellulose synthase dynamics and trafficking, for potential application to cellulosic biomass for energy.

A simulation tool that models all parts of the electrical network, including generation, transmission, intermittent renewable supply, energy storage, distributed generation and electrical vehicles.

How different scenarios of expanded biofuels production in rich and poor countries will affect global and regional food prices, farmer incomes, food consumption by the poor, and climate.

Large hydroelectric dam impact on groundwater. Hydrologic pathways of food contamination from coal-fired power in northwest China.

Productivity of designing, building and operating facilities. Sustainability of the built environment. Computer models for port authorities on infrastructure decisions. Virtual design and construction. Energy consumption, segmentation and forecasting of utility customers.

Impact of deliberative polling, which explores how people's opinions would change if they were more informed, on energy choices, attitudes toward renewable energy and energy conservation.

Particle beam physics with emphasis on experimental measurements of physical systems and control of unstable particle beams. Energy interests in transportation systems, energy efficiency and education of scientists and non-scientists in energy policy and technology.

Comparative ecosystem services valuation of large solar power plants and conventional power plants. Hydrologic pathways of food contamination from coal-fired power in northwest China.

Key mechanisms for distributing energy in plants and fine tuning biomass. Cellulose production - polymer synthesis and extrusion. Nitrogen efficiency - reducing fossil fuels in making fertilizers.

Electron transfer dynamics. Mechanisms for directed and efficient channeling of solar energy to chemical energy. Multi-exciton generation efficiency in nano-structured materials.

Using control systems to reduce the environmental impact of automobiles. Unmanned electric vehicles. Homogeneous charge compression ignition engines.

Chemical kinetics, such as determination of bond dissociation energies. Rate constants for reactions of OH with fuels. Optimization of synthetic oxygenated fuels. Hydrogen effects on climate, stratospheric ozone and air pollution.

Wireless technology, including channel modeling, multiuser communications, signal processing and system design, for use in smart grids, automated highways and intelligent home electronics.

Fundamentals of transport of groundwater and contaminants. The future of global oil resources, supply and demand. Deep CO2 sequestration and earthquake triggering.

The environmental and economic impacts of U.S. and international environmental policies, including policies to deal with climate change, and with pollution from power plants and automobiles.

Acclimation in photosynthetic organisms. Generating bioenergy in the form of hydrocarbons and electricity from living cells. Regulatory aspects of photosynthesis and the biogenesis of photosynthetic membranes.

Electrochemical energy conversion, and storage materials and processes. Fuel cells for methane, hydrogen and solid fuel conversion. CO2 and water electrolysis for energy storage (methane). Coal-fired fuel cell with CO2 capture.

The economics and marketing of advanced technology, including energy technology. The impact of energy technology on business and policy.

New materials for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Low-cost, thin-film solar using III-V compound semiconductors including III-nitrides. Tiny, highly efficient semiconductor lasers for low-energy data interconnects.

Self-assembly of nanostructures from the natural protein clathrin to act as templates for metallization, which could potentially be of interest as experimental battery electrodes.

Characteristics of of airborne particles emitted from urban combustion sources. Effects of anthropogenic pollutants on cloud droplet formation. Assessment of air pollutant dispersion and mixing indoors, including the effects of energy-efficient building design strategies on indoor pollutant levels.

Developing energy efficient electronic solutions. Circuit, architecture and application optimization tools to minimize energy needed for each task. Applications from server farms to imagers in mobile platforms.

Materials and phenomena in lithium-ion batteries. New types of long life, safe and inexpensive alkali metal batteries to connect wind and solar sources to the electrical grid.

Atomic scale synthesis and control of complex oxides heterostructures for energy applications, including catalysis and charge storage.

New tools for making decisions in complex operational settings. Optimizing power dispatching for energy utility networks in the presence of uncertain demand and supply.

Developing large-scale clean, renewable energy solutions to global warming, air pollution and energy security. Modeling energy's effects on health and climate. Quantifying wind, water, and solar energy resources and reducing the impacts of their intermittency.

Design and management of the electric grid. Model and analyze efficient market mechanisms for resource allocation on the grid, using tools from operations research, engineering and economics.

Electrochemical CO2 and nitrogen gas reduction. Oxide-derived metal nanoparticle catalysts. Electrokinetic, mechanistic and structural studies.

Materials for the reversible sequestration of pollutants and for electro- and photo-catalytic conversions relevant for clean energy. Capturing atmospheric CO2 using organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Materials for the capture of radioactive iodine isotopes emitted from nuclear waste.

Green energy-efficient networks. Green networks for office and residence buildings. Novel photonics for green networks. Energy efficiency in optical and wireless access networks.

Genetically engineering E. coli bacteria to increase production of fatty acids, or biodiesel, from a biological matter feedstock for use as a transportation fuel.

(Instructor) Expertise in energy resource planning. Subsidies and social costs. Embodied energy. Renewable energy technology development and diffusion. Energy resource value versus cost. Energy-water nexus.

Environmental economics and industrial organization, with a focus on climate change and energy markets. Uncertainty and learning in strategic contexts regarding the provision of public goods, mostly in the context of international environmental agreements.

Environmental fluid mechanics. Turbulence and internal wave dynamics in stratified flows. The transport of mass and energy in estuarine systems such as San Francisco Bay.

Energy Efficient computing based on architectures, runtime environments and parallel computer systems. Resource management in large multi-core systems. Efficient data centers.

Surveys documenting public beliefs about global warming and preferences for energy policy for more than 15 years. Monitoring and interpreting processes of opinion formation and change.

Consequences of switching land use to biofuels.

The influence of environmental contextual cues on choices in consumer behavior. Long-term cost information related to fuel efficiency and its impact on car purchasing decisions.

Ways for the construction industry to overcome barriers to adopting energy-efficient innovations. Designing organizations and governance regimes for sustainable development of energy and civil infrastructure projects.

Deep-water sedimentation, especially using outcrops and cores to study the processes by which coarse sediment is transported and deposited in the deep sea.

Urban water infrastructure and the water/energy nexus. A new palette for urban water that saves water, energy and money.

Nanoscale materials and devices for energy conversion, transport and storage; future of stationary power - electricity grid and natural gas infrastructure, system integration and innovative technologies, finance, policy and business models; global warming and climate change

Atomic and molecular manipulation for energy-efficient nanotechnology. Designer materials and nanoelectronics. Local response of novel superconductors. Carbon-based devices.

Analysis, design and evaluation of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Green buildings. Wind and solar electricity. Distributed energy systems. Electric vehicles.

Impact of rock type, porosity, pore fluids, temperature, and stress on seismic wave propagation. How geochemical reactions of CO2 injection change the seismic attributes of rocks. Enhanced oil recovery.

Community opposition to siting of energy projects in the United States and of pipeline projects in the developing world.

Low-cost hybrid tandem solar cells with polymer or dye-sensitized cells on top of conventional silicon or CIGS cells. Controlling and characterizing the nanostructure of solar cells and their electronic processes. Transparent electrodes based on silver nanowires. Long-term reliability of solar cells.

Photon-enhanced thermionic emission devices, which use solar heat and light to generate electricity. Self-assembly of nanostructures from the natural protein clathrin for experimental battery electrodes.

Coal-based power generation involving coal conversion in supercritical water with CO2 capture and aquifer-based sequestration. Coal and biomass utilization in solid oxide fuel cells with CO2 capture. Co-firing coal and biomass during combustion and gasification. Chemical looping combustion with coal and biomass. Coal and biomass conversion in supercritical water for production of liquid fuels.

Predicting the physics of turbulent flows, including turbulent combustion. Simulation of an atomizing spray issuing from a gas-turbine injector. Simulation of hypersonic flight.

Specialized magnetic nanoprobes. Magnetic signatures of materials with quantum mechanical and strongly correlated electron behavior. Single vortex dynamics in superconductors.

Correlated electron system surface properties, such as superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, ferro electricity, and enhanced catalytic reactions. The search for new phases. Nanoscale applications.

Economic, political and food-security implications of American ethanol. Climate impacts of converting land use to biofuel crops. Sugar and ethanol production as a rural development strategy in Brazil.

For fuel cells, elucidating the steps of the oxygen reduction reaction to overcome power losses at the cathode and finding new catalysts to replace platinum. Carbon nanotubes for hydrogen storage.

Economics and politics of utility regulation.

How fractures and electrostatic properties of sedimentary rocks apply to reservoir evaluation and geothermal resources. Geochemical effects from injection of CO2 into reservoir rocks. Methane hydrates.

Environmental implications of China's energy consumption. Transfer of wind turbine energy technologies. Liquefied natural gas facility siting in the US.

Properties of passivated silicon surfaces prepared using wet chemical techniques. Identifying new thermally and chemically stable nanomaterials that efficiently convert heat into electricity.

Construction industry's barriers to adopting energy-efficient innovations. Operational management challenges for some clean-tech firms. Supply chains under uncertain costs due to energy policy.

How the geologic structures created by faults, fractures and folding affect hydrocarbon recovery and the flow of groundwater. Models for applying hydraulic fracturing to geothermal systems.

Using incentive mechanisms and societal networks for reducing congestion-related costs in transportation, both public and private, with projects in Bangalore, Singapore and Stanford.

New materials such as topological insulators and topological superconductors. Topological phenomena in these topological materials and their interplay with conventional materials such as superconductors and ferromagnets.

Unconventional superconductivity. Correlated electron materials, in which the low energy degrees of freedom behave qualitatively differently than a free electron gas. Topological phases of matter.

Theory and modeling for new, energy-related materials and nanomaterials. Engineering piezoelectricity in graphene for mechanical control at nanoscale.

Quantifying the impacts of energy and environmental institutions and policies. Auction design on electricity markets. Impacts of carbon policies on energy intensive industries. Restrictions on incandescent light bulbs.

Financial innovations to get low-cost capital for renewable energy investments. Real-time control of electricity demand to help balance generation and load.

Energy policy and energy supply issues. Nuclear energy. Reliability versus cost trade-offs in wind energy investments in California. Science policy.

The economics of nuclear power. Electricity markets. Electricity regulation and deregulation. Current focus on building econometric-cost engineering models of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Energy efficient and sustainable building design. Reducing plug loads to achieve net-zero energy buildings. HVAC energy efficiency. Efficient computing and data center energy management.

Structure/property of crystalline and polymeric organic semiconductors for photovoltaics. Upconverting nanomaterials. Advanced characterization of materials.

Quantifying the global flow of exergy and carbon through the natural and human systems. Wireless power transfer to moving electric vehicles.

Synthesizing wide bandgap semiconductor thin films that are temperature tolerant, chemically resistant and radiation-hardened. Sensor systems for extreme harsh environments, applicable to hydrocarbon exploration, gas turbines, car and plane engines, geothermal generation.

High-temperature cuprate and pnictide superconductors. Photon-enhanced thermionic emission devices, which use solar heat and light. Diamondoids-nanostructured diamond. Transition metal oxides as functional energy materials. Multi-scale imaging of energy materials.

Transmission electron microscopy to study effects of radiation damage on the size and distribution of quantum dots in solar cells. Phase change in magnesium as it becomes saturated with hydrogen.

International law and diplomacy, international relations, national security. Nuclear energy and weaponry proliferation, particularly in Iran. Securing Israel's offshore natural gas resources.

Determining the electronic structure of transition metal complexes, which are utilized in oxidation catalysis and fuel cells because of their ability to facilitate and control oxygen activation and reduction.

Metabolic processes of anaerobic microorganisms and their application in bioenergy. Microbes that convert electricity, CO2 and water into fuels (or precursors) without the use of biomass. Microbial conversion of sewage to methane.

Atomic-scale structure and dynamics of the ion conducting oxide ceramic materials at the heart of solid oxide fuel cells, with the aim of optimizing performance and lowering cost.

Energy efficiency technologies, policies and behavior. Energy and climate change policy analysis. Electricity market analysis. Implementation of California's AB32.

Numerical modeling of flow and transport in porous rock with emphasis on unstable multiscale dynamics. Application areas include CO2 sequestration and reservoir simulation.

Structural characterization of materials used for energy conversion and storage, such as PV thin films for solar cells, lithium-sulfur batteries for electric cars, high-temperature proton exchange membrane for fuel cells.

Social psychology interventions. Developing human-centered, online programs to motivate residents to reduce energy consumption, using social norms, community and goal setting as motivators.

Magnetic nanotechnology, spintronics and integrated inductors, with applications in energy conversion and storage.

Developing organometallic and organic catalysts. Oxidative conversion of natural gas into liquid fuels without CO2 release. Transition metal catalysts for direct-hydrocarbon fuel cells.

Cleaner energy production from fossil fuels. Membrane and sorbent design and testing for CO2 capture. Hydrogen storage and production. Speciation and capture of heavy metals released from coal combustion.

Multijunction photovoltaic cell using nanowire-based subcells connected in parallel and a plasmonic electrode serving both as a lateral spectral filter and as a light concentrator.

Developing an automated mechanism for charging a fleet of electric vehicles and discharging, i.e. borrowing electricity from car batteries during peak afternoon power use. Reduces charging costs for drivers and costs of managing peak power demand for utilities.

Theory of high-temperature superconductivity. Testing a new class of materials in an attempt to achieve the quantum spin Hall system effect without external magnetic fields and at room temperature.

Reservoir geomechanics, with particular emphasis on shale gas and tight gas reservoirs, geologic sequestration of CO2, hydraulic fracturing and earthquake triggering.