The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA welcomes Dr. Chris Bataille, who joins the Center as an Adjunct Research Fellow. For more than two decades, his career has focused on the transition to a globally sustainable energy system. In his new role at Columbia, Dr. Bataille will focus on policy and technology pathways to decarbonize heavy industry and the role of carbon management in speeding up decarbonization of the global economy.

Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of CGEP and Co-Founding Dean at the Columbia Climate School made it known that the latest IPCC report has made it clear the Agency needed to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions if they’re to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees C and Although challenging, getting to net-zero emissions for industry isn’t impossible while also adding that Chris is a welcome addition to the growing team at their Carbon Management Research Initiative.

Industrialization is a key driver of economic growth but also responsible for roughly 24 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. In the heavy industry group, cement, steel, and petrochemicals are the top emitters and pose some of the biggest decarbonization challenges in any net-zero scenario. Emissions from heavy industry are primarily produced from the burning of fossil fuels for energy. CGEP has prioritized looking at low-carbon solutions for industrial heat.

Dr. Bataille emphasized that Net-zero deep decarbonization of heavy industry has been his passion and focus since the Paris Agreement was signed in late 2015 and While time is short, so much more seems possible now with concentrated effort adding that He looks forward to working with CGEP and its global community to make heavy industry decarbonization a physical reality.

Dr. Bataille is also an Associate Researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris and an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University. He was a Lead Author for the Industry Chapter of IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, as well as the Summary for Policy Makers and Technical Summary.