Recognizing that energy is at the heart of many of the world’s tribulations—economic, environmental and political—Stanford University is establishing a $100 million research institute to focus intently on energy issues.
The new Precourt Institute for Energy aims to draw on deep scientific expertise from across the campus and around the world to develop sustainable energy and the global search for ways to reduce atmospheric levels of carbon.
“Universities such as Stanford need to focus their full talent on the
greatest challenges facing the world today,” University President John Hennessy said. “Energy is
certainly one of those issues, posing a threat to our economy, to
national security and, through the use of fossil fuels, to our
environment."
Hennessy announced the founding of the new institute at a gathering in
Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium. The announcement was followed by an
energy discussion that included noted venture capitalist John Doerr, a
partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google CEO Eric
Schmidt and others.
The institute will be headed by Lynn Orr, a professor in energy resources engineering. He has been the
director of Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). The GDEP’s research portfolio includes the science of materials used to convert
solar energy to electricity, biomass energy conversions, advanced
batteries, fuel cells, advanced combustion, and carbon capture and
storage.
“The new center will
allow us to expand significantly our effort to develop new
nanostructured materials for solar energy and energy storage and to
work on the host of social, market and policy issues involved in the
needed transition to energy systems with significant fractions of
renewables,” Orr said.
The institute is named for Stanford grad Jay Precourt–an oil and gas executive, who donated $50 million. In an interview, Precourt said he was drawn to the project for a number of reasons, including the chance to help reduce carbon emissions and their negative effects on global climate. But he is interested in energy security as well. “I’m quite concerned, having been in the energy business my whole life, with the fact that we are importing energy from insecure, unreliable sources who are, in many cases, not friends of the United States,” he said.
The University said seven or eight new faculty positions will be created, as well as
fellowships to attract the brightest graduate students and postdoctoral
scholars from around the world.
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