Raising Global Energy Ambitions: The 1,000 kWh Modern Energy Minimum
Energy is fundamental to modern living and any competitive prosperous economy. SDG7 calls for modern energy for all,…

Dr. Varun Sivaram is a physicist, bestselling author, and clean energy technology expert with experience spanning the corporate, policy, and academic sectors—most recently as Chief Technology Officer of ReNew Power Limited, a multi-billion dollar renewable-energy firm that is India’s largest. He was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Columbia University Center for Global Energy Policy, senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, and board member for Stanford University’s energy and environment institutes. Previously, he’s served as the director of the energy program at the Council on Foreign Relations, senior energy advisor to the Los Angeles Mayor and New York Governor, professor at Georgetown University, and consultant at McKinsey & Co. TIME Magazine named him to its TIME 100 Next list of the next hundred most influential people in the world, PV Magazine named him the “Hamilton of the Solar Industry,” Forbes named him to its 30 under 30, and Grist named him one of its top 50 leaders in sustainability. He is the author of Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet (MIT Press, 2018) and Digital Decarbonization: Promoting Digital Innovations to Advance Clean Energy Systems (CFR Press, 2018). A Rhodes and Truman Scholar, he holds a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Oxford University and undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.
Taming the Sun. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. 2018.
The Race to Invent the Artificial Leaf. MIT Technology Review. March 2018.
View a comprehensive list of Varun Sivaram’s publications.
Energy is fundamental to modern living and any competitive prosperous economy. SDG7 calls for modern energy for all,…
Hub Fellow Varun Sivaram discusses with Hub Policy Director Katie Auth what might be next for Mission Innovation…
In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, 2020 is shaping up as a pivotal year in India’s transition toward renewable energy. Over the prior decade, India dramatically accelerated its deployment of wind and solar power (see figure). Now it must grapple with the challenges of integrating ever-larger quantities of volatile renewable energy into its grid. In the first half of 2020, the government has successfully concluded two creative tenders for flexible renewable energy that represent steps in the right direction—even though serious challenges remain to keep India’s energy transition on track.
Varun Sivaram heads anyone’s short list of global solar power experts. A physicist, best-selling author and clean energy technology expert with experience spanning the corporate, policy and academic sectors, Sivaram was most recently the CTO of ReNew Power, India’s largest renewable energy firm. His 2018 book, Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet, was heralded by the Financial Times as “the best available overview of where the industry finds itself today, and a road map for how it can reach that brighter future.”