Officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology met in Washington last week to review joint energy research projects, including one on clean vehicles led by University of Michigan. SNRE Professor Greg Keoleian, who is part of the project and also directs the school's Center for Sustainable Systems, also gave a presentation to Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
Three aspiring student entrepreneurs have set their sights on overcoming a major obstacle to electric vehicle (EV) adoption: "range anxiety." Range anxiety refers to the concerns of potential EV buyers about the limited range of these new automobiles and the accessibility of re-charging stations to keep them on the road. University of Michigan students Javier Rivera, Lawrence Han and Ajay Varadharajan believe they can eliminate these concerns by creating an EV network that matches the demand for electric vehicle power with supply.
Two University of Michigan professors contributed to a White House report this week that calls for the United States to craft a government-wide federal energy policy and update it regularly with strategic reviews every four years. The report provides a roadmap for the federal role in transforming the U.S. energy system within one to two decades—a transformation that is necessary, the report concludes, for reasons of economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship and national security.