Valerie Thomas
Anderson Interface Professor of Natural Systems
- Center for Urban Innovation
- Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory
- School of Public Policy
- Technology Policy and Assessment Center
Overview
Valerie Thomas is the Anderson Interface Professor of Natural Systems, with a joint appointment in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the School of Public Policy. Her research interests span energy systems, sustainability, industrial ecology, technology assessment, international security, and science and technology policy. Current research projects include the environmental impacts of alternative fuels, assessment of renewable electricity options, evaluation of alternative vehicle technologies, and energy development in Africa. Thomas received a B. A. in physics from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University. She was a post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, and then a Research Scientist at Princeton University, in the Princeton Environmental Institute and in the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, and was a Lecturer in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 2004-05, Thomas was the American Physical Society Congressional Science Fellow. Thomas is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. She has served as a member of the US EPA Science Advisory Board, and as a member of the USDA/DOE Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee.
- PhD, Physics, Cornell University
- BA, Physics, Swarthmore College
Distinctions:
- Georgia Tech Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Award, 2018
- Fellow, AAAS
- Fellow, American Physical Society
Interests
- Clean Energy
- Climate Change Mitigation
- Energy Efficiency
- Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy
- Transportation
Focuses:
- Africa (Sub-Saharan)
- Middle East
- United States
- United States - Georgia
- United States - Southeast
- Energy
- Environment
- Environmental Performance
- National Security
- Science and Technology
- Sustainability
Courses
- PHIL-6000: Responsible Conduct-Res
- PUBP-6701: Energy Technol & Policy
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
- A Framework for the Resilience Analysis of Electric Infrastructure Systems Including Temporary Generation Systems
In: Reliability Engineering and System Safety [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2020
- Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Different CO2 Supply Options for an Algal Biorefinery.
In: Journal of CO2 Utilization [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 2020
- Unpacking Ecological Stress from Economic Activities for Sustainability and Resource Optimization in Sub-Saharan Africa
In: Sustainability [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 2020
- Why have voluntary time-of-use tariffs fallen short in the residential sector?
In: Production and Operations Management [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2019
- Life cycle analysis of alternative fibers for paper
In: J. Advanced Manufacturing and Processing [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2019
- Unravelling Green Information Technology Systems as a Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Game-Changer
In: Administrative Sciences [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 2019
- Optimizing Wind Farm Siting to Reduce Power System Impacts of Wind Variability
In: Wind Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2019
- Social enterprise factory location and allocation model: Small scale manufacturing for East Africa
In: Socio-Economic Planning Sciences [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2019
- The Economic and Environmental Performance of Biomass Power as an Intermediate Resource for Power Production
In: Utilities Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019
Electricity powered by biomass is expanding. We examine four recent biopower plants and global benchmarks to assess their overall performance, confirming the characterization of biomass as an “intermediate” resource for power production. Electricity from biomass is more expensive than energy efficiency, natural gas, wind, or solar but substantially less expensive than new coal or nuclear plants. Compared to coal and natural gas per MWh produced, the NOx and SO2 emissions of biopower are also intermediate. We document that current investments in biopower can be attributed to an array of stakeholder value propositions extending beyond basic economic and environmental metrics.