Holmes Hummel, PhD

In December 2006, Holmes Hummel completed a dissertation on interpreting global energy scenarios for climate stabilization, and immediately began putting the insights of that research to good use. When the International Energy Agency commissioned the Center for Resource Solutions to conduct a “Review of the Role of Renewable Energy in Global Energy Scenarios,” CRS President Jan Hamrin collaborated with Holmes as a co-author and anchor analyst to deliver the report. Next, the International Energy Workshop invited Holmes to deliver a plenary lecture, and since then, four energy information agencies have expressed an interest in applying the techniques Holmes developed at IPER as part of their standard scenario analysis practice.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) named Holmes one of the two Congressional Science Fellows it will sponsor on Capitol Hill this year. The fellowship is designed to provide a unique public policy learning experience, to demonstrate the value of science-government interaction, and to bring technical backgrounds and external perspectives to the decision-making process in the Congress. As the House of Representatives' Energy & Commerce Committee makes a first attempt to formulate national climate policy, Holmes now serves as a legislative fellow the office of Congressman Jay Inslee, who also sits on the Natural Resources Committee as well as the Special Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

While at IPER, Holmes' dissertation research investigated policy implications of global energy scenarios that explore uncertainty about economic and environmental conditions in the 21st century. Analyzing a range of scenarios that would stabilize global warming, Holmes' used a common pair of decomposition techniques to attribute the mitigation of greenhouse gases to specific changes in the energy sector. The insights from this type of analysis is useful for understanding the potential for high technological risk and stranded assets as well as for identifying public policy measures consistent with emission paths to stabilization.

Holmes began this research as a participant in the Young Summer Scientist Program of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and recognizing that China and its neighbors are the most dynamic regional element in long-term energy scenarios, the National Science Foundation supported further development of this work with the Energy Analysis Division of the Energy, Environment and Economy Institute at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Delving into the energy field just after high school, Holmes led a team of engineers at Clarkson University to build a solar powered vehicle, racing it across the U.S. in Sunrayce '95. Inspired by that experience, Holmes pursued energy engineering at Stanford, completing both a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Science in Engineering. After being admitted to Stanford as a Presidential Scholar, Holmes earned distinction once again for academic achievement upon graduation through induction to Tau Beta Pi in the School of Engineering. Holmes has twice co-taught the senior energy seminar, “The Coming Energy Revolution?” and has also anchored the popular Business & Environment Issues seminar series.

Holmes' professional experience includes work for Itron, crafting energy strategies for major corporate consumers, and for Rumsey Engineers, designing efficient high-tech production facilities and green buildings. Previously, Holmes helped edit Integrated Resource Planning, a textbook published by the United Nations Environment Program for utilities in high-growth emerging markets.

Exploring the vital role of energy in the international development field, Holmes traveled to South Africa as a technical assistant for a series of renewable energy projects in rural communities as part of the post-apartheid electrification program. Answering a different call to action the following year, Holmes joined allies to the indigenous Shuar in Ecuador, providing petroleum engineering technology background to advocates striving to protect the Shuar territory and the Amazon rainforest region from oil exploration and production.

The Environmental Leadership Program has recognized Holmes as a “visionary, action-oriented emerging leader” in the
U.S., and the Switzer Environmental Network also included Holmes as a fellow in 2005.