Program Summary
The Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI) is an initiative of Schmidt Sciences’ Climate Institute to advance the methodological frontier of decarbonization modeling by addressing key knowledge gaps in complex interdependencies of decarbonization pathways, with an emphasis on yielding actionable insights for policy and technology deployment strategies.
Our Mission
The goal of DEVI is to support transformative research that advances the state of the art in computational models in order to accurately represent, predict and evaluate energy transition pathways and their varied needs and impacts. This funding effort is motivated by the limitations of current modeling paradigms in capturing complex interdependencies between the energy system and its human and natural contexts that influence the implementation of decarbonization strategies. These interdependencies include: feedbacks and nonlinear dynamics within and across sectors and between energy and climate, multiple decision makers responsible for the transition at different scales, linkages with key resources such as capital, water, land and critical minerals, interactions between national planning and localized implementation, and multiple sources of sometimes deep uncertainty. Limitations in capturing these interdependencies hinder the accuracy and reliability of current models in representing energy systems and evaluating decarbonization pathways to project likely outcomes, and restrict their applicability in informing decision making.
Projects may anchor their modeling efforts within sectoral or national contexts but methodological advances must transcend geographical boundaries to highlight fundamental patterns and interdependencies in energy and decarbonization. We expect new knowledge and modeling insights developed to have the potential to significantly contribute to informing decision-making on decarbonization efforts at various stakeholder levels (national or sub-national policymakers, industry leaders, think tanks, etc.) and in different country or global contexts.
Schmidt Sciences' Climate Institute
Schmidt Sciences’ Climate Institute aims to advance fundamental science to understand the implications of climate change mitigation strategies and to ensure that such planning takes into account feedback and constraints across the land, atmosphere, and oceans. It seeks to improve the state of knowledge for understanding the interactions between industrial civilization and the Earth system, and to inform decision-making and priority-setting at multiple levels, from scientific communities to civil society to industry to policymakers. Our programs enable the creation of datasets, models, platforms, and collaborations that are rigorous and trustworthy, openly available, accessible, and useful to an international community, and foster a diverse, global, transdisciplinary climate science community that rises to the challenge of imagining and building a sustainable future.
In addition to the Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI), the other Virtual Institutes are: the Virtual Earth Systems Research Institute (VESRI), the Ocean Biogeochemistry Virtual Institute (OBVI), the Virtual Institute for the Carbon Cycle (VICC), and the Virtual Institute for Earth’s Water (VIEW). Virtual Institutes are high-risk, high-impact international networks intentionally formed to pursue timely opportunities to significantly increase our knowledge of the interactions between industrial civilization and the Earth system and apply it for the positive benefit of science or society. We will facilitate coordination and collaborations with other Climate Institute programs to account for the interconnected nature of the climate grand challenge.
Decarbonization & Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI)
Program Summary
The Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI) is an initiative of Schmidt Sciences’ Climate Institute to advance the methodological frontier of decarbonization modeling by addressing key knowledge gaps in complex interdependencies of decarbonization pathways, with an emphasis on yielding actionable insights for policy and technology deployment strategies.
Our Mission
The goal of DEVI is to support transformative research that advances the state of the art in computational models in order to accurately represent, predict and evaluate energy transition pathways and their varied needs and impacts. This funding effort is motivated by the limitations of current modeling paradigms in capturing complex interdependencies between the energy system and its human and natural contexts that influence the implementation of decarbonization strategies. These interdependencies include: feedbacks and nonlinear dynamics within and across sectors and between energy and climate, multiple decision makers responsible for the transition at different scales, linkages with key resources such as capital, water, land and critical minerals, interactions between national planning and localized implementation, and multiple sources of sometimes deep uncertainty. Limitations in capturing these interdependencies hinder the accuracy and reliability of current models in representing energy systems and evaluating decarbonization pathways to project likely outcomes, and restrict their applicability in informing decision making.
Projects may anchor their modeling efforts within sectoral or national contexts but methodological advances must transcend geographical boundaries to highlight fundamental patterns and interdependencies in energy and decarbonization. We expect new knowledge and modeling insights developed to have the potential to significantly contribute to informing decision-making on decarbonization efforts at various stakeholder levels (national or sub-national policymakers, industry leaders, think tanks, etc.) and in different country or global contexts.
Schmidt Sciences' Climate Institute
Schmidt Sciences’ Climate Institute aims to advance fundamental science to understand the implications of climate change mitigation strategies and to ensure that such planning takes into account feedback and constraints across the land, atmosphere, and oceans. It seeks to improve the state of knowledge for understanding the interactions between industrial civilization and the Earth system, and to inform decision-making and priority-setting at multiple levels, from scientific communities to civil society to industry to policymakers. Our programs enable the creation of datasets, models, platforms, and collaborations that are rigorous and trustworthy, openly available, accessible, and useful to an international community, and foster a diverse, global, transdisciplinary climate science community that rises to the challenge of imagining and building a sustainable future.
In addition to the Decarbonization and Energy Virtual Institute (DEVI), the other Virtual Institutes are: the Virtual Earth Systems Research Institute (VESRI), the Ocean Biogeochemistry Virtual Institute (OBVI), the Virtual Institute for the Carbon Cycle (VICC), and the Virtual Institute for Earth’s Water (VIEW). Virtual Institutes are high-risk, high-impact international networks intentionally formed to pursue timely opportunities to significantly increase our knowledge of the interactions between industrial civilization and the Earth system and apply it for the positive benefit of science or society. We will facilitate coordination and collaborations with other Climate Institute programs to account for the interconnected nature of the climate grand challenge.