Stanford Professor Jacobson Builds Scientific Case for 100 Percent Renewables

Mark Z. Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University and Director of its Atmosphere and Energy Program, has built a research career around demonstrating the technical and financial feasibility of transitioning the global economy to 100 percent wind, water, and solar energy. His work forms the scientific basis for the energy provisions of the U.S. Green New Deal.

Jacobson has published six textbooks and approximately 180 peer-reviewed journal articles, focusing on air pollution, global warming, and large-scale renewable energy systems. In 2015, he received the Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for his research on integrating 100 percent wind, water, and solar energy systems into electricity grids. He has developed energy transition plans for states and countries worldwide and co-founded The Solutions Project nonprofit, which promotes renewable energy adoption.

His research is rated among the top 12 most impactful contributions to Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences globally from 1788 to 2021, and the top 16 in the field of Energy, based on citation analysis across 10 million scientists in history. In 2019 and 2022, Apolitical selected him as one of the world's 100 most influential people in climate policy. His work has directly influenced legislation requiring 100 percent renewable energy in cities, states, and countries globally.

Jacobson has also served on an advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and appeared in widely viewed public forums including a TED talk and the David Letterman Show. His research is particularly relevant to India's renewable energy planning, where the feasibility of high-penetration renewable electricity systems is a central policy debate as the country targets a significant expansion of solar and wind capacity to meet rising demand without proportional growth in coal generation.

Key figure — ~180 peer-reviewed journal articles published by Mark Jacobson across atmospheric sciences and energy fields