In the News

Energy Access Project faculty director Subhrendu Pattanayak recently visited Kathmandu, Nepal, for a weeklong workshop for the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). This network focuses on building the economics capacity of local academics and NGOs to address South Asia’s environmental challenges. In its most recent form, SANDEE has been formally integrated into the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), though it continues to receive support of the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). In addition to Pattanayak, Jeff Vincent, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment and an advisor to the SANDEE community for the last 15 years, attended. SANDEE’s main approach to capacity building is through medium grants for research, pairing a regional scholar with an international faculty advisor and led to joint research between SANDEE researchers and Duke faculty. For example, Royal University of Bhutan’s Tshering Thinley worked closely with Duke scholars to conduct fieldwork and publish a paper on Bhutan’s rural electrification scheme and the resulting impacts on health, education, and productivity of rural communities. Another SANDEE project has paired Robyn Meeks, a professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, Pattanayak, and ICIMOD staff in reviewing the sustainability of micro hydro projects in Nepal.

The Energy Access Project was established by a $1.5 million gift from Jim Rogers, former CEO and chairman of the board for the electric utility company Duke Energy, and his wife, M.A. Rogers. The Bass Connections Challenge at Duke University will add $750,000 in matching funds for a total of $2.25 million to support the project’s goal of accelerating deployment of sustainable energy and empowering the world through expanded energy access.

Jonathan Phillips, formerly the senior advisor to the president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, has been named director of the Energy Access Project at Duke University. This new research and policy effort aims to address the challenges around increasing access to modern energy solutions to underserved populations around the world.

Energy Access Project staff served as judges in November during the Duke Hult Prize competition. The competition is a startup accelerator for young social entrepreneurs, where over a million dollars can be earned for a social venture. The theme—Can you build a scalable, sustainable social enterprise that harnesses the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people by 2025? The Duke competition brought 6 student teams before judges, which included Jonathan Phillips and Rob Fetter.

Energy students from top schools across the country competed at Duke Nov. 7 to offer solutions for Kenya’s emerging energy market as part of the Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition.

The competition, now in its sixth year, connects students, academia and industry in pursuit of unconventional business-based solutions that expose unrecognized opportunities with positive social and environmental impact.  For this year’s case competition, participants helped M-KOPA’s leadership team shape the off-grid regulatory landscape in Kenya and assess the company’s business model. The Nicholas institute for Environmental Policy Solutions Tim Profeta helped to judge the competition.

The University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School of Business team took home the $10,000 prize, funded by the Energy Access Project (the project is funded by a gift from James E. and M.A. Rogers).

A Duke University undergraduate team has taken top honors in the North American division of Schneider Electric’s 2017 Go Green in the City case competition, which focuses on sustainable energy approaches in urban environments. The students trace their own energy management solution back to a 2015-16 Bass Connections in Energy team. Led by Jim Rogers, former Duke Energy CEO, and Tim Profeta, director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, the Bass Connections team designed student projects focused on off-grid electricity access, which were then funded through Duke Engage.