Penn hosted its sixth annual Energy Week featuring speaker panels, a film screening, a research poster session, and guided tours open to the Penn community
The week of events took place from Feb. 24-27 and was co-hosted by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology. Organizers canceled or postponed the first day of events amid inclement weather conditions.
“Energy Week showcases Penn’s commitment to being a sustainability leader in our operations,” Penn President Larry Jameson wrote in a Feb. 24 message to the campus community. “Throughout the week, you can learn more about how the University reduces campus emissions, invests in renewable energy, and fosters interdisciplinary research and collaboration across and beyond our campus.”
This year’s Energy Week was guided by national conversations surrounding the energy demands of artificial intelligence and the urgency of decarbonizing the electrical grid.
The Monday events canceled included an e-waste recycling drive — which continued Tuesday through Friday — and a panel discussion on energy storage, conversion, and fuel production. The happy hour event for “Young Professionals in Energy” scheduled for Monday was moved to Wednesday.
Tuesday’s programming opened with a fireside chat at the Kleinman Center, titled “Lessons from the White House: Climate, AI, and the Future.” The conversation featured School of Engineering and Applied Science professor Ali Zaidi — a former White House climate advisor — and was moderated by students from the Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research.
Zaidi discussed approaches to energy policymaking and regulation in the face of heightened demand, along with ways to maintain “political will” amid the energy transition.
“I think we need to accelerate that data and the rigor with which things are measured to build some transparency,” Zaidi said on the topic of data centers. “Before we get to the particulars of government, we just need to build some norms around what feels fair and what feels right.”
RELATED:
Wharton partners with consulting company to model skill valuation for jobs in an AI era
Penn Engineering launches new energy, sustainability master’s program
During a separate session “How Critical Minerals are Driving the Future of Energy” speakers highlighted the role of materials such as lithium and rare earth elements in clean energy technologies.
Also on Tuesday was a screening of “King Coal,” a documentary examining the cultural and economic legacy of coal in Appalachia. The event was part of the Kleinman Center’s “Power Reels” series, and was organized with input from the Kleinman Center Student Advisory Council.
Sika Gadzanku — a second-year Ph.D. candidate in city and regional planning and a member of the council — told The Daily Pennsylvanian that this year’s events were designed to introduce people to “the breadth and complexity” of the energy realm.
“We’re seeing different kinds of events that span multiple disciplines … from engineering and the sciences to the humanities,” Gadzanku said. “There’s just not one path in terms of what success looks like for people who are thinking of their careers.”
Gadzanku added that students “loved” the film and described it as “visually stunning.”
“Film can be a very powerful tool to tell stories and to better understand each other and to paint a nuanced picture of the people that are in the energy economy, whether it's the people that work there directly or the communities that they're part of,” she said.
On Wednesday, a seminar on economic equity by Kleinman Center professor and economist Heather Boushey was also set to take place, but was postponed due to “weather related issues.” Wednesday’s poster session event still took place, where students and postdoctoral researchers presented projects related to energy systems and climate science.
The next day, Wharton Impact hosted an event titled “Sustainable Computing and AI,” which focused on the environmental implications of AI and data center expansion.
A Kleinman spokesperson described the event as “packed,” highlighting growing student interest in AI’s impact on the energy landscape.
“People were not shying away from something that was maybe a little more dense and technical,” the spokesperson said.
An alumni panel took place Thursday evening, where Penn graduates discussed their careers in the energy sector through a moderated discussion.
“Our alumni panel talked about data centers and expanding the grid and things like that,” the spokesperson said. “So that was definitely a hot topic.”
Friday’s events wrapped up the week with a tour of Penn Museum’s collections and a panel focused on labor perspectives in the clean energy transition.
RELATED:
Wharton partners with consulting company to model skill valuation for jobs in an AI era
Penn Engineering launches new energy, sustainability master’s program
Senior reporter Saanvi Ram covers undergraduate sciences and can be reached at ram@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies health and societies. Follow her on X @Saanvi_vivi.
