Please join us to hear from the winners of the Stanford Energy Student Lectures from the summer of 2023:

Sonia Martin:

Title: Electric vehicle green charging with marginal emissions signals

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) are a promising clean transportation option, but they still release CO₂ emissions when charging from the electricity grid. Often, EV drivers charge their vehicles when it is cheap or convenient, not when grid carbon intensity is lowest. Green charging, or smart charging control, is a solution to this problem that optimizes to reduce emissions by shifting electricity demand in between and across charging sessions. In this talk, I will present and validate a green charging control strategy based on actual EV driver data and historical grid emissions. The basis for this control is marginal emissions, or the emissions released when a new generator must be dispatched to the grid, which we find performs better than using average grid emissions data.

Bio: Sonia Martin is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab. Her research centers around controlling various battery systems to maximize their decarbonization potential. Specifically, she designs optimization algorithms for electric vehicles and aggregated stationary battery systems to ensure they are storing carbon-free power. Sonia obtained her M.S. from Stanford University in 2022 and B.S. from UC Berkeley in 2020, both in mechanical engineering.

Briley Bourgeois

Title: Understanding photoreactions across multiple length scales – in situ ETEM and reactor-scale studies of plasmonic photochemistry 

Abstract: Nanoscale metal structures can very strongly interact with light through a phenomenon called a plasmon resonance. These resonances collectively excite electrons which in turn drive chemical reactions in unique ways. The behavior of plasmonic photocatalysts is dictated by their nanostructure. Changing size and shape alters both inherent chemical reactivity and the nature in which light is channeled by the particle. These features, while much smaller than can be resolved by a traditional microscope, have a huge impact on performance. We utilize in-situ electron microscopy to control and study photochemistry with near-atomic resolution. We show that light can be used to control the presence of hydrogen within plasmonic catalysts and govern the most reactive sites on the catalyst’s surface. We further utilize bench-scale chemistry techniques to demonstrate improved chemical selectivity for light-driven hydrogenation chemistries instead of heat. Our efforts to understand photocatalysts at fundamental length scales will help design better materials for sustainable chemistry.  

Bio: Currently, Briley is a 5^th year PhD candidate in the Materials Science and Engineering department under the mentorship of Professor Jennifer Dionne. At Stanford, Briley studies plasmonic photochemistry using in-situ environmental and optically-coupled transmission electron microscopy in tandem with bench-scale catalytic measurements. Briley received his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from Tulane University in 2018. Under the guidance of Professors Matt Escarra and Doug Chrisey, Briley developed techniques for the scalable manufacturing of solar cell materials through high-power photochemical processing techniques. 

Dhruv Suri

Stanford profile: https://profiles.stanford.edu/dhruv-suri

More about the Precourt Energy Seminar: 

The Stanford Energy Seminar has been a mainstay of energy engagement at Stanford for nearly 20 years and is one of the flagship programs of the Precourt Institute for Energy. We aim to bring a wide variety of perspectives to the Stanford community – academics, entrepreneurs, utilities, big businesses, and more. We're proud to have hosted some of the biggest names in the energy world as well as those just starting out. 

Seminars take place most Mondays during the academic year and typically have an audience of 100+ attendees. Anyone with an interest in energy is welcome to join one seminar or all of them! You can enjoy seminars in the following ways:

• Attend live. The auditorium may change quarter by quarter, so check each seminar event to confirm location. Explore the current quarter's schedule.
• Watch live in a browser livestream. Check each seminar event for its unique livestream URL.
• Watch recordings of past seminars 
  • Available on the Past Energy Seminars page and the Energy Seminars playlist of the Stanford Energy YouTube channel
• (For students) Take the seminar as a 1-unit class (CEE 301/ENERGY 301/MS&E 494)

If you'd like to join the Energy Seminar mailing list to hear about upcoming talks, sign up here and select the Energy Seminar checkbox.