Batteries and Electrification: Is It Sustainable?

The scientific evidence is overwhelming that we need to reduce the use of fossil fuels, but moving to sustainable sources like wind and solar brings its own challenge: that energy needs to be stored for times when those sources aren't generating much. Is battery technology where it needs to be for sustainability and safety? This panel discussion in the Sustainable Success Lecture Series, a partnership between the Nelson Institute and Wisconsin School of Business, will examine this question and related topics.

media release: UW Havens Wright Center lecture, Room 1310.

Reports suggest that switching from fossil fuels to batteries and electrification in the U.S. transportation, industrial, and commercial and residential sectors can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent in just a few decades.

But everything has its costs. 

Dig into this topic and more at Batteries and Electrification: Is It Sustainable?, the 2023 Sustainable Success Lecture Series cohosted by UW–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Wisconsin School of Business’ Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management.

Join three leading experts for a moderated discussion and audience Q & A to explore how electrification affects everything from climate change to national security. Hear from

• Eric Dresselhuys, a UW–Madison alumnus and CEO of ESS Tech, Inc., a company working to accelerate global decarbonization
• Mathy Vathanaraj Stanislaus, executive director and vice provost of Drexel University’s Environmental Collaboratory institute
• Emily Pickrell, independent energy journalist and scholar and NGO journalist at the MacArthur Foundation

Attendance is free; advance registration is highly encouraged as seats are limited.

Partners

Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment’s Weston Roundtable Lecture Series

Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management

Hanson Family Fund for Sustainability

Office of Business Engagement

Office of Sustainability

Wisconsin School of Business International Business Program

The Sustainable Success Lecture Series is a partnership initiative between the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Wisconsin School of Business’ Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management. Each spring, featured speakers from the private and nonprofit sectors come to share their focused efforts on environmental sustainability and its financial and environmental benefits.

The Nelson Institute is pleased to offer a variety of free public programs, lectures, and events, demonstrating our commitment and dedication to the Wisconsin Idea: the principle that education should influence people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom.

If you would like to support the Sustainable Success Lecture Series and the Nelson Institute’s related programming, please make your gift.