By James Bikales
The University of Chicago launched a climate and energy institute on Wednesday that will centralize its research efforts on climate change and its solutions. The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth will have three pillars — markets and policy, energy technologies and climate systems engineering — along with developing a new curriculum program that will undergird several degree programs for undergraduates and master’s students.
Economics professor Michael Greenstone is the institute’s founding faculty director. The markets and policy research will be led by the existing Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), which is being folded into the new institute. The second pillar, energy technologies, will work with DOE’s Argonne National Lab, which is administered by UChicago.
The institute launched with an event Wednesday featuring Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and White House senior adviser John Podesta.