How innovators at University of California San Diego energise the planet’s low-carbon future

[Sponsored article]

The impact of climate change has challenged societies around the world to focus on more sustainable, lower-carbon solutions for energy generation and storage.

Deep decarbonisation – the significant reduction or elimination of carbon dioxide from energy sources – is the only solution to climate stabilisation, according to the World Economic Forum.

However, in practice, securing a net-zero carbon future requires switching to clean and sustainable energy sources and pursuing new and improved means of generating and storing energy.

This presents immense challenges that are set to define the energy sector over the next few decades.

Overcoming these problems will involve harnessing the accumulated knowledge and collaborative efforts of many academics and industry players, while also training and engaging the brightest minds among the new generations of scientists.

Inspiring future energy leaders

The Sustainable Power and Energy Center (SPEC) at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego)’s Jacobs School of Engineering – comprising engineers, material scientists, chemists, economists and micro-grid experts – is working to create higher performance, safer and less expensive low-to-no-carbon energy generation and battery storage technologies.

Its research teams aim to help develop technologies with negligible impact on the planet by expanding the role these environmentally efficient batteries and related functions play in our daily lives.

SPEC’s professors and researchers are also helping passionate students to become future leaders in energy by sharing the fundamental research carried out at the university with key players to ensure the innovative work remains relevant and of benefit to the industry.

Tech that benefits everyone

Students engaged in research and development at SPEC are constantly exposed to wide-ranging ideas and inspired to develop creative solutions to difficult energy storage challenges.

These energy leaders of the future are encouraged to think of batteries as “living systems” in terms of how they function, why they fail and how they can be improved.

UC San Diego also actively supports the efforts of would-be-entrepreneurs among its students in forming their own companies.

Start-ups founded at the university include South 8 Technologies, which is developing ultra-low temperature and high-energy-density batteries, and UNIGRID Battery, which is working on producing next-generation, sustainable and fully recyclable solid-state batteries for energy storage in our electrical grid.

The work of start-ups and technology licensing opportunities are just some of the ways in which SPEC’s innovations are influencing engineering for the benefit of all.

Through its cutting-edge research and scientific development, SPEC is helping to ensure that sustainable energy becomes a conceivable, practical and affordable reality.

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