• Austin Electricity Conference

    Resource Adequacy is the theme of the 3rd annual conference held on 18-19 April, 2013 ... Read More

  • UT Energy Symposium

    Invited weekly speaker series that brings all of UT to discuss global energy issues ... Read More

  • EST Student at the UN

    EST Group researcher Pimjai worked on the Low Carbon Green Growth Road Map at the United Nations.

  • Low-Carbon Technologies

    EST group director, Varun Rai, visited Beijing and BaoDing City in China to teach on low-carbon technology transfer issues.

  • Students With Industry Leaders

    Energy Institute and EST Group dinner with David Crane, President and CEO of NRG Energy.

The EST Group @ UT Austin

We study the political and economic drivers of large-scale transformations in energy systems. Our goal is to produce policy insights that would enable energy-system transformations in socially optimal ways. Strongly guided by real world energy issues, our research spans a wide range of topics including: diffusion of solar photovoltaic systems, unconventional oil and gas production, carbon capture and storage, climate change policy, energy subsidies, and electricity reforms. We employ both quantitative and qualitative methods for conducting our research.

The EST Group is housed in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and are affiliated with several research bodies on campus including the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy (CIEEP) and the Energy Institute.


Research


Electricity

We study consumer behavior and diffusion of electricity-related consumer technologies.

More on Electricity

Renewables

We focus on market transformation to enable rapid deployment of renewable-energy technologies.

More on Renewables

Oil & Gas

We are desiging effective regulatory structures for hydrocarbons production in frontier areas.

More on Oil & Gas

EST Group Spotlight

UT ENERGY SYMPOSIUM: In an effort to provide a multi-disciplinary platform for UT faculty and students to interact on the most pressing energy issues facing our world, the Energy Institute has launched the UT Energy Symposium (UT ES). The UT ES will act as a “convener” for the campus community, serving to unite students interested in energy issues with faculty and others in the search of sustainable energy security.

More on UT Energy Symposium

Updates

  • EST Group paper analysing the economics of individual decision-making under uncertainty forthcoming in Environmental Research Letters.
  • Book with contributions from the EST Group published
    Dr. Varun Rai is the lead author on the India and Abu Dhabi studies in this Cambridge University Press book (Jan'12).
  • THAILAND: From Jun'11 to Jan'12, EST Group researcher Pimjai interned at the UN, where she worked on sustainable growth planning for the South-East Asia region.
  • DC: In the summer of 2011 EST Group researcher Ben Sigrin interned for the U.S. Department of Energy for the Wind and Water Power Program.

Events

  • UT Solar Conference
    27 April 2013
    For more information please write to us at varun.rai@mail.utexas.edu.
  • 3rd Annual Austin Electricity Conference
    18-19 April 2013
    Dr. Rai is a co-organizer of this conference focused in 2013 on Resource Adequacy in Competitive Electricity Markets.
  • UT Energy Symposium Spring 2013
    17 January to 2 May, 2013. Every Thursday, 5:15-6:15 PM at MEZES Hall (MEZ) 1.306
  • 31st USAEE/IAEE Conference
    4-7 November 2012
    Dr. Varun Rai was co-chair of the poster session for the USAEE conference in Austin from 4-5 Nov, 2012.
  • HICEC Summer Course 2011
    4-14 August 2011
    Dr. Varun Rai taught at the "DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A LOW CARBON WORLD" summer course in Beijing. The course was jointly organized by Hiroshima University and Beijing Normal University.