Overview

The Decarbonization and Energy Program aims to guide clean energy transition decisions by advancing computational models of energy systems. Achieving a clean energy future requires significant technological changes, extensive resources, and substantial coordination. These transitions impact local pollution and regional resources.

However, current models often face trade-offs in scope and detail, limiting their ability to capture complex energy system features like feedbacks, nonlinear dynamics, and decision-making diversity. Our program supports cross-disciplinary and multi-scale models to address these limitations and produce actionable outcomes.

Our goals are twofold: one, to advance the state of the art in energy transition modeling and address universal gaps through the Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI); two, to advance decarbonization modeling in key geographies, with India as our first country of focus, by supporting Academic Exchanges. 

Through DEVI, we aim to develop new methods to tackle complex energy system interactions. We will support up to 4 projects over five years. The call for proposals is open and can be found here.

Starting with India, our Academic Exchanges will host researchers to collaborate on model development, studies, and training. We plan to support 2-3 programs over three years, with potential extensions. We have invited five academic institutions in India to submit proposals to host Academic Exchanges, and we expect to announce awards by early 2025.

Outputs from these initiatives will provide comprehensive insights into energy transitions, integrating various scales and interactions beyond carbon reduction, offering actionable strategies for policymakers and stakeholders.

This program will promote collaboration with other Climate Institute programs in the areas of freshwater (VIEW) and land use (VICC) constraints in energy transitions, and linking decarbonization strategies with climate (VESRI) and marine ecosystem impacts (OBVI). We also maintain strong links with other Schmidt entities, including the climate technology portfolio at the Schmidt Family Foundation.