Q&A: Yi Cui discusses local weather change, ‘Flagship Locations’ and his new place as Director of the Sustainability Accelerator.

In April, Yi Cui was named the Director of the Doerr Faculty’s Sustainability Accelerator.  He presently serves because the Director of the Precourt Institute for Power and is a professor of supplies science & engineering and vitality science & engineering whose work primarily issues batteries.

The Accelerator gives grants ranging between $50,000 and $900,000 to tasks meant to scale laboratory findings to large-scale options to sustainability challenges. It’s anticipated to play an necessary function in implementing greenhouse fuel emissions removing as the primary “Flagship Vacation spot,” certainly one of a number of focus areas for the varsity.

The choice to make emissions removing the primary precedence obtained some criticism from members of the Stanford group who’re involved that the main target space is just too carefully aligned to the pursuits of the fossil gasoline trade, after a report by The Chronicle of Greater Training claimed that the choice was linked to 2 workshops that had been organized in collaboration with executives from Shell, Whole and ExxonMobil. Cui disputes this declare.

This interview has been evenly edited and condensed for readability.

The Stanford Day by day [TSD]: Congratulations in your appointment because the School Director of the brand new Sustainability Accelerator. What precisely is your function in serving because the School Director?

Yi Cui [YC]: Because the Director, or School Director, I’ve the total accountability to construct up the Accelerator and to get it to achieve the objective of “how will we translate know-how and coverage options to the true world quick and generate a big and scalable affect?” 

TSD: Will you could have direct say over which tasks get funded or which don’t? How does the organizational construction work for the accelerator?

YC: So we’re nonetheless beginning this up. Absolutely, as soon as we determine necessary areas, we wish to ask for college and scholar concepts, and they are going to be writing a proposal to the Accelerator to current their concepts. I ought to have a workforce of consultants to assist make the choice and provides recommendation to me, because the Accelerator Director. It will likely be a mix of the overview committee and my very own enter to collectively make the choice.

TSD: In June 2021, six months into your tenure because the Director of the Precourt Institute for Power, the Precourt Institute held a workshop that was instrumental within the designation of Greenhouse Fuel Emissions Elimination as a Flagship Vacation spot. We perceive that you weren’t on the organizing committee, however as Director, you have to have had some understanding of this occasion. Do you know that this might result in the primary focus of the brand new Sustainability Accelerator?

YC: No, I don’t suppose so. I imply, folks prefer to make the connection saying, you recognize, that the workshop led to the Accelerator’s choice. No, no. There’s little or no connection proper there. It’s often because greenhouse fuel removing is so necessary, impartial of this Precourt workshop. And Precourt actually acknowledged the significance of that, and our college and trade members acknowledged that, holding that workshop. However it’s not as a result of this workshop led to that connection.

Recognizing the significance of greenhouse fuel removing goes all the way in which again to early on earlier than I even acquired concerned. The American Bodily Society acknowledged this significance, holding a workshop and publishing a report. IPCC additionally has that. The US Division of Power acknowledges it, and there’s an Earthshot already on adverse carbon know-how.

I noticed the report from The Chronicle of Greater Training. It appears to make the connection that it’s due to this workshop with oil and fuel corporations [that greenhouse gas emissions removal was designated as the new Flagship Destination]. No, no. There’s no such connection. Anyone could make any connection as a result of there’s this workshop whereas they’re having this new faculty. No, I don’t suppose there’s a connection proper there. I’ve been observing this. I say, effectively, I’m slightly bit shocked. How come the connection was made this manner?

TSD: As within the Chronicle, there’s been a number of information these days in regards to the connections you point out. May you elaborate on how precisely did the Sustainability Accelerator come to greenhouse fuel emissions removing as the primary flagship vacation spot? Was there any affect from the workshops?

YC: Greenhouse fuel removing has all the time been extremely necessary to everyone. It’s not due to the workshop. I’ve my prime 10 applied sciences I wish to see. I typically give talks, I say, “greenhouse fuel removing, seize and utilization, lengthy period vitality storage, renewable fuels, low carbon cement.” For those who take a look at each time I discuss to of us preventing towards local weather change, greenhouse fuel removing all the time overlaps folks’s ideas [because] it’s such an necessary subject. So it wasn’t laborious in any respect to get to the purpose and say this ought to be the primary Flagship Vacation spot.

Now, because the Director of the Accelerator, I want to keep up impartial and unbiased. With my very own analysis, I all the time suppose lengthy period vitality storage is so necessary. However, I can’t push that and say that’s the Flagship. Lengthy period vitality storage is so necessary to get photo voltaic and wind electrical energy into {the electrical} grid, however greenhouse fuel removing has consensus amongst so many college and college councils. This all the time comes as much as be such an necessary subject.

After I turned Precourt Director, I expanded my examine of the entire vitality and local weather house. I was so targeted on batteries. Definitely now, preventing towards local weather change, all of it comes all the way down to the online results. You need the environment’s greenhouse fuel focus to be diminished. It doesn’t matter what method you are taking, that’s the result wanted with the intention to combat towards local weather change. Then it’s essential to scale back emissions first, burn much less coal, oil, and fuel. Finally, higher but is simply to not burn something, it’s to scale back in order that we don’t put extra [greenhouse gasses] into the environment. However for those who may discover a strategy to take out the prevailing greenhouse fuel, why not do this? I imply, that’s simply from any cheap scientific evaluation, you see the result is taking greenhouse fuel out.

That’s my main considering of endorsing greenhouse fuel removing from the air. However I don’t want that to be the explanation to provide oil and fuel corporations the permission to emit extra. I don’t want that, and I can fully perceive the opposite considering: “for those who do that, oil and fuel corporations say they’ll simply maintain emitting with out caring in regards to the penalties.” No, I don’t want that. The result that I care about probably the most is lowering the greenhouse gasses within the air, so we don’t have the greenhouse fuel impact, and we don’t have the numerous excessive climate occasions [and other threats associated with climate change].

I see now this collision of ideas of whether or not endorsing greenhouse fuel removing from the air or not. So I perceive and fully respect the considering from our college students and college saying, effectively, “for those who endorse greenhouse fuel removing from the air, it sounds such as you’re endorsing the oil and fuel corporations.” We’re not endorsing that in any respect, however I fully perceive this concern.

TSD: You talked about that you’ve got a listing of 10, or much more, applied sciences that you simply consider shall be necessary for the combat towards local weather change. So do you see every of those 10 ultimately turning into flagship locations?

YC: No. Properly a few of them perhaps. However sustainability is a lot broader than the applied sciences in my prime 10 record. Like, you recognize, we have to take care of the water situation, we have to take care of the variation situation, we have to take care of the meals situation – really, meals can also be in my prime 10. So there’s so many points proper there. We’re accumulating concepts broadly from our college within the Doerr Faculty and out of doors of the Doerr Faculty. I already reached out to quite a lot of of us and [started] having particular person conferences. As well as, we now have the web kind to gather concepts from people who find themselves prepared to fill within the kind and inform us what’s necessary. So we have to undergo that course of. I perceive not everyone desires to fill out the web kind, and that takes time. That’s why it’s a mix of the web kind and [outreach from myself and] the management workforce to particular person college.

I do wish to run a workshop down the highway to provide college broadly the chance to discuss the concepts. And we do [already] have a committee to take a look at this to assist display screen the most effective massive concepts coming in for the subsequent, for instance, three flagships. So the primary Flagship is simply the primary one, however we’ll have one other three, perhaps one other few coming quickly. So I don’t know what number of Flagships we’re going to have – it is dependent upon the concepts and the monetary sources we now have. So don’t suppose greenhouse fuel removing is the one one. No, no, that’s only a beginning one.

TSD: Have you learnt when the subsequent three flagship locations shall be launched?

YC: [The Doerr School is] accumulating concepts now, so I’m hoping within the subsequent few months we are able to run a workshop. I’m not going through the timeline but. So by kind of across the finish of this summer time, we would have one other three flagships recognized. As soon as recognized, every Flagship might want to undergo their very own workshop to determine the whitespaces, get our college and exterior companions concerned to totally discover these Flagships and what ought to be achieved, adopted by a proposal name to our college calling for concepts. This may go into subsequent 12 months.

TSD: Our understanding is that a lot of the tasks associated to the Flagship Locations will come from the Sustainability Accelerator. To what extent will the accelerator prioritize funding tasks associated to the Flagship Locations in comparison with tasks exterior of the Flagship Locations?

YC: The Accelerator is attempting to speed up tasks that may go to scale. We would discover that a number of the concepts from our college are implausible, however want preliminary idea demonstration. Then this suggestions can go to Precourt Institute or Woods Institute to offer seed funding first. Probably that’s the case, you recognize, Precourt has Precourt Pioneering Undertaking and Precourt Seed Fund, Woods has an Environmental Enterprise Program and the REIP program. And that’s one kind of end result. Since I’ve solely been on this only for two weeks on the Accelerator, I’m nonetheless formulating the concepts for motion if it’s not Flagship. There could possibly be some concepts which might be so necessary, but when they don’t bubble as much as be a Flagship, what will we do about these concepts? I’m cooking up concepts on how to do this. I’m additionally very enthusiastic about these concepts, [and am] now speaking to some college about potential instructions. I can see, along with Flagship, there shall be fairly a protracted record of thrilling concepts. How will we assist to discover and develop these concepts? I’m nonetheless within the strategy of arising with a plan.

TSD: You point out that a number of the concepts would possibly go to Woods Institute or Precourt, the place they may obtain seed spherical funding. And we additionally see TomKat and Bio-X and these various kinds of accelerators rising in quantity at Stanford, in addition to different universities. How do you see the panorama of funding mechanisms for analysis altering because the Accelerator is carried out? 

YC: These completely different items on campus have completely different focuses. For instance, the TomKat Middle is extra targeted on college students by offering sources for college students. And the Accelerator is specializing in doing analysis tasks that may be scalable. However the translation of this challenge, going into the true world, may work along with the TomKat Middle and different items. For instance, the answer popping out would possibly result in a startup firm, the startup firm formation would possibly contain the TomKat program and the enterprise faculty’s Startup Storage. Or it could possibly be a coverage resolution that may result in a nonprofit group. It will possibly additionally result in simply merely the interpretation of the answer to exterior companions. And this translation may additionally be capable to work with a campus program to do this. There are a number of touching factors proper now the place we may work collectively. I feel at Stanford we’re so lucky to have large sources and a number of items to coordinate and notice an enormous imaginative and prescient. I can see a number of synergy coming amongst all these items.

TSD: Within the Doerr Faculty and the Sustainability Accelerator, a standard phrase that we frequently hear is “Velocity and Scale” and the affect of those tasks. Do you suppose that accelerators are shifting the angle of academia or Ph.D. packages away from foundational science and in the direction of entrepreneurship and product improvement? And is that one thing that you simply’re nervous about? 

YC: I’m not nervous about it in any respect. I feel it’s very wholesome to have two methods to take a look at the analysis. One is the invention kind of analysis, [which] Stanford is already nice at doing. Many prime universities are literally taking this method of the invention kind of analysis. The Accelerator represents one other angle — begin from an end result, absorb suggestions, put a scale in thoughts, and [go back and] do the basic science discovery analysis and engineering improvement. It’s actually good to take a look at an issue [both ways]. I’ll predict that that is the fashionable college, and future main universities must have each working effectively. This shall be an enormous alternative for Stanford to steer. Silicon Valley has unintentionally or deliberately already achieved a part of that now. Put the size in thoughts, and this can improve the affect much more. 

I see [that] each sorts of analysis can coexist. My lab is an instance: prior to now 18 years since I’ve develop into a college member, each analysis varieties have coexisted in my analysis lab. I may do discovery kind. I also can do that end result pushed, affect pushed [research] and are available again to invent the science, invent the supplies, and develop the know-how. Each really can exist in my lab. In my mind, I can admire each. I feel that is going to be implausible for our college students to be taught each.

TSD: What are your priorities for the sustainability accelerator? Do you could have a set of targets that you simply hope to realize within the subsequent few years?

YC:  First is that I hope we are able to actually determine crucial thrilling Flagships – massive issues can encourage our college and college students to hitch to unravel these massive issues. Second is de facto constructing the Accelerator in order that the most effective folks be part of. Along with our college members, the employees becoming a member of will actually assist run the group, and to interact the correct Doerr Faculty college in addition to the entire campus college. And to essentially attempt to attain this, I feel that is associated to the earlier drawback I discussed of getting affect pushed and discovery kind of analysis coming collectively to develop into the longer term [of] academia. This turns into a spot [where we] can embrace each cultures of doing leading edge analysis.