RESEARCH TEAM ONE (3 STUDENTS):
This team will be led by Professor Michael B. McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies and Chair of the HCP, with Dr. Shaojie Song, Research Associate at the HCP, and Professor Xi Yang, Visiting Scholar at the HCP and Associate Professor, China University of Petroleum Beijing, also serving as mentors of student projects. All projects will include inputs from collaborating groups and professors at Tsinghua University, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, and/or Shandong University. Research Assistants will participate in one of two research topics:
- Zero-Carbon Energy Sources in China and Asia – The project will explore technology, financial, and policy dimensions of renewable (wind and solar) power generation and green hydrogen in China and Asia more broadly
- Methane Sources and Analysis – The project will explore sources and mitigation of the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas, methane, in the Beijing region
Left to right: Professor McElroy, Dr. Song, Professor Yang
RESEARCH TEAM TWO (1-2 STUDENTS):
The project, “China Electricity System Reform and Excess Coal Capacity,” will be led by Dr. Mun S. Ho, Visiting Scholar, HCP and Resources for the Future, with collaboration with the research group of Professor Jing Cao, Department of Economics, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University.
- Project Abstract: After a surge of investment in new coal-fired capacity in the electricity sector in the mid-2010s, there is now a huge overcapacity with possibly hundreds of billions US$ of “stranded assets” in China. If China were to reach the ambitious low-carbon targets, some (or many) of these coal plants would not be used, and there would be large financial losses and disruption of jobs. This thus is an enormous challenge to balance the goals of low CO2 emissions and economic stability. We like to understand these challenges better and how this might be affected by the current reforms of the electricity system that aim to bring in more market elements into a currently tightly controlled system.
Left to right: Dr. Ho, Professor Cao
RESEARCH TEAM THREE (1-2 STUDENTS):
The project, "Age-Friendly Communities, Social Technologies, and Neighborhoods China," will be led by Ann Forsyth, Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Yingying Lu, Associate, Harvard-China Project and Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Design.
- Project Abstract: The world’s population is aging. Taking China as an example, this project looks at how to make neighborhoods and cities more age-friendly. The project will (a) develop and test a tool or suite of tools to measure age-friendly environments, (b) set up a baseline study of older people in Nanjing, China, using multiple methods, and (c) assess how new technologies can help older people in neighborhoods (e.g. mobility, environmental monitoring). The student may be involved in one or all of these sub-projects. Ability to read Chinese is highly desirable.
Left to right: Professor Forsyth, Dr. Lu