Guest professor to celebrate Earth Day with lecture on climate change

Edward S. Rubin, the alumni professor of environmental engineering and science and professor of engineering and public policy and mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, will give a guest lecture on climate change strategies from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. on April 8, in room 117 of the Frable Building on the Penn State Greater Allegheny campus. His lecture is being delivered in honor of Earth Day, which will be observed this year on April 22. Rubin will discuss his research, which deals with technical, economic and policy issues related to energy and the environment, with a focus on reducing environmental impacts of electric power systems.

One major product of this research is the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM), a widely used tool for engineering-economic design and analysis of current and advanced power generation systems, including pulverized coal combustion, integrated coal gasification combined cycle, and natural gas combined cycle systems. Current emphasis is on the modeling and assessment of CO2 capture and sequestration options for climate change mitigation, and the potential of advanced renewable energy systems.

Rubin also serves on committees of the National Research Council studying climate change mitigation policies, energy research and development planning, and alternative transportation technologies. He was a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. At Carnegie Mellon, Rubin was founding director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and the Environmental Institute.

This presentation is co-sponsored by Greener Allegheny and Teaching International.