Stanford Faculty in Energy Research

Applying behavior change techniques to reduce energy use. Using pervasive sensor data to measure relevant behaviors and to evaluate efficacy of interventions. Climate behavior assessment tool.

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.

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

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.

Research pathways to low-carbon energy systems, including alternative and renewable sources, energy storage, smart grid and CO2 capture. Methods to project trends in energy technology innovations and associated new business models. The effect of energy efficiency standards in appliances and buildings, and how these standards affect purchase prices and operating costs.

The determinants of legal and political conflict in global infrastructure projects. Recovery of energy, nutrients, and water from household and community-level sanitation systems.

Interactions between climate change, biofuel mandates, and energy and agriculture markets. Interactions between climate and large-scale solar energy projects.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Tailoring solid-state surfaces for effective catalysis. Developing devices for storing renewable electricity based on chemical transformations. Converting CO2 and water into sustainable fuels and chemicals using renewable energy.

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.

Molecular analysis of organic extracts from sediments and petroleum. Aspects of petroleum genesis, production and environmental remediation of oil spills.

Nanomaterials for energy-efficient electronics, including transistors, data storage, integrated circuits, and sensors. Energy harvesting through thermoelectrics. Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and other 2D materials for electronic and thermal applications. Fundamental limits of current and heat flow at the nanoscale.

Quantum confined solar cells, including quantum dots, thin barrier layers and transparent electrodes. Solid oxide fuel cells. Photosynthetic membranes and their catalytic behavior.

Solar thermal and PV product design, production, commercialization, investment strategies. Electric vehicle design, production and commercialization. Roadmap to a 100% renewable energy system in the Bay Area.

Cost competitiveness of renewable energy sources, including solar PV, wind and biofuels. Economics of CO2 capture by fossil fuel power plants. Design of alternative regulatory and subsidy mechanisms to achieve CO2 reductions.

Nonequilibrium phonon dynamics. Thermal transport across interfaces between dissimilar materials. Fundamental laser-matter interactions in solids in the high-field limit.

Applying experimental approaches from public health and medical research to design and evaluate theory-driven, family-, school-, and community-based interventions to promote residential and food-related energy-saving behaviors. Designing "stealth interventions" that harness the motivating characteristics of social movements to promote the overlapping goals of environmental sustainability and health.

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.

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

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

Strategy and performance of national oil companies. How institutional factors affect the diffusion of technologies, from central electricity generation to cook stoves or generators for the very poor.

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

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.