www.webberenergygroup.com

Dr. Michael E. Webber is the Sid Richardson Chair in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the John J. McKetta Centennial Energy Chair in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his role as a faculty member, from August 2021 to September 2024, Webber served as CTO of Energy Impact Partners, a $5 billion cleantech venture fund focused on investments in cleantech and climate tech startups with the potential for deep decarbonization at speed and scale. Furthermore, from September 2018 to August 2021, Webber was based in Paris, France where he served as the Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, one of the world’s largest energy companies.

Webber’s works spans research and education at the convergence of engineering, policy, and commercialization on topics related to innovation, energy, and the environment. His research tackles complex energy systems analysis with a deep record of expertise on the following: 1) grid reliability in the face of electrification and the rise of variable sources in a warming world, 2) the hydrogen sector and how it couples to other sectors such as the grid, transportation, industry, and the built environment and 3) the food-energy-water-waste nexus.

Webber has authored or co-authored more than 600 publications, including five full-length general interest books, and holds 6 patents. His book Power Trip: the Story of Energy was published in 2019 by Basic Books with an award-winning 12-part companion series spread out over two seasons that aired on PBS, Amazon Prime, AppleTV, and in-flight entertainment on American Airlines. The series had more than 10,000 broadcasts in the United States and has been distributed in dozens of countries, ultimately reaching millions of viewers. Seasons 1 and 2 of Power Trip along with his documentary Thirst for Power and television special Energy at the Movies have been recognized with six Telly Awards (one gold, four silver, and one bronze) for excellence in television.

He serves on the board of GTI Energy (an industry consortium formerly known as the Gas Technology Institute) and the Scientific Advisory Council for ENGIE.

He was selected in 2014 as a Fellow of ASME (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers), in 2018 as a member of the 4^th class of the Presidential Leadership Scholars, which is a leadership training program organized by Presidents George W. Bush and William J. Clinton, and in 2022 for the Rockefeller Foundation’s prestigious writer’s residency in Bellagio, Italy. Webber holds a B.S. and B.A. from UT Austin, and M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.  He was honored as an American Fellow of the German Marshall Fund and on four separate occasions by the University of Texas for exceptional teaching.

Selected Publications

1. Y.R. Glazer, D.M. Tremaine, J.L. Banner, M.A. Cook, R.E. Mace, J.Nielsen-Gammon, E. Grubert, K. Kramer, A.M.K. Stoner, B.M. Wyatt, A. Mayer, T. Beach, R. Correll, and M.E. Webber, “Winter Storm Uri: A test of Texas' water infrastructure and water resource resilience to extreme winter weather events," Journal of Extreme Events, 2150022, Published December 31, 2021.
2. I.M. Gee, K.M. Faust, and M.E. Webber, “A framework for determining energy use in rural food delivery services: capturing system interdependencies through an agent-based discrete-event approach," Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability (2021).
3. S.C. Johnson, D. Papageorgiou, M.R. Harper, J.D. Rhodes, K. Hanson, and M.E. Webber, “The economic and reliability impacts of grid-scale storage in a high penetration renewable energy system," Advances in Applied Energy, 3 (2021) 100052.
4. P.R. White, J.D. Rhodes, E.J.H. Wilson, and M.E. Webber, “Quantifying the impact of residential space heating electrification on the Texas electric grid," Applied Energy, Volume 298, 15 September 2021, 117113.
5. J.W. Busby, K. Baker, M.D. Bazilian, A.Q. Gilbert, E.A. Grubert, V. Rai , J.D. Rhodes, S. Shidore, C.A. Smith, and M.E. Webber “Cascading Risks: Understanding the 2021 Winter Blackout in Texas," Energy Research & Social Science, Volume 77, July 2021, 102106.
6. K Ramirez-Meyers, W. N. Mann, T.A. Deetjen, S.C. Johnson, J.D. Rhodes, and M.E. Webber, “How different power plant types contribute to electric grid reliability, resilience, and vulnerability: a comparative analytical framework," Progress in Energy, 3 033001 (2021).
7. A. Bandyopadhyay, B.D. Leibowicz, and M.E. Webber, “Solar panels and smart thermostats: The power duo of the residential sector?," Applied Energy, Volume 290 (2021).
8. I.M. Gee, B. Heard, M.E. Webber, and S. Miller, “The Future of Food: Environmental Lessons from E-Commerce," Environmental Science and Technology (2020).
9. J. Mertens, R. Belmans and M.E. Webber, “Why the Carbon-Neutral Energy Transition Will Imply the Use of Lots of Carbon," Journal of Carbon Research, 2020, 6, 39.