Michael Webber


Michael Evan Webber based in Paris, France where he serves as the Chief Science and Technology Officer at Engie, a global energy and infrastructure services company. Webber is the Josey Centennial Professor in Energy Resources, Author, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His first book, Thirst for Power: Energy, Water and Human Survival, was accompanied by a one hour documentary. His book Power Trip: the Story of Energy was published in 2019 and positively reviewed by The New York Times, it was the basis for a six-part PBS documentary of the same name released in 2020. Webber is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Biography

Webber was born in Austin, Texas, in 1971 to Stephen and Josephine Webber. His father was professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin and his mother a self-described bureaucrat. After graduating from Westlake High School in 1989, he attended the University of Texas as Austin where he played in the Longhorn Band, eventually serving as Drum Major. In 1995, he received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.A. in Plan II Honors. He went to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, to pursue a M.S. in mechanical engineering. He continued at Stanford where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1995 to 1998. He completed his Ph.D. at Stanford in 2001 in mechanical engineering with a Ph.D. minor in electrical engineering with advisor Ron K. Hanson. He currently lives in Paris, France, with his wife and children.

Career

Corporate

After completing his Ph.D., Webber shifted into private research first at Pranalytica and then at the RAND Corporation where he conducted research on energy, environment and industrial topics. He currently holds six patents as a result of his innovations, mostly related to environmental monitoring and trace gas sensing. With the Austin Technology Incubator, Webber helped originate the Pecan Street Project in 2008. Now, Pecan Street Inc. the public private partnership supports the innovation and development of smart grid solutions. He serves on the editorial board of advisors for Scientific American.
Webber was co-Director of the Clean Energy Incubator and Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at UT Austin. He has served on the Board of Advisers for Scientific American since 2009. Webber was a member of AT&T’s Sustainability Advisory Council and a commissioner for Austin Energy He was a member of the Roundtable on Sustainability with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and was a board member for Sustainable America, the Hope Street Group, and the Houston Advanced Research Center.

Academic

Webber joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 as associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy under the Jackson School of Geosciences. The following year he started as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2009 he joined the Clean Energy Incubator as Co-Director. The University of Texas System board of Regents recognized Webber in 2011 with the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, and he earned tenure in the following year. He now holds an associate professorship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering as well as serving as Josey Centennial Fellow in Energy Resources. His research group in the Cockrell School of Engineering focuses on questions related to energy resources, technology, and policy. In 2013, he was named Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

Other contributions

Webber starred in "Energy at the Movies" a PBS special which began national syndication in March 2013. Producing parties sought to release up to six episodes a year for five years. The special can now be seen on more than 78 stations in 25 states.

Selected publications and speeches

Over his career, Webber has published more than 400 articles, columns, reports, commentaries, and books and delivered more than 200 lectures, speeches, and seminars.

Books

M.E. Webber, D.S. Baer, and R.K. Hanson, “Ammonia Monitoring Near 1.5 μm with Diode Laser Absorption Sensors,” Applied Optics, 40, pp. 2031– 2042, 2001
C.W. King and M.E. Webber, “Water Intensity of Transportation,” Environmental Science and Technology, 42, pp 7866–7872
A.D. Cuellar and M.E. Webber, “Cow Power: The Energy and Emissions Benefits of Converting Manure to Biogas,” Environmental Research Letters, 3 034002 July 2008.
J.S. Vitter and M.E. Webber, “Water Event Disaggregation Using Sub-metered Water and Coincident Electricity Data,” Water 10, 714. https://doi:10.3390/w10060714
Y.R. Glazer, F.T. Davidson, J.J. Lee, and M.E. Webber, “An Inventory and Engineering Assessment of Flared Gas and Liquid Waste Streams From Hydraulic Fracturing in the USA,” Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports, October 2017.

Popular Press and Technical Commentary

M.E. Webber, “Green Star State,” Texas Monthly, May 2009.
M.E. Webber, “Will Drought Cause the Next Blackout?,” New York Times, July 23, 2012.
K.T. Sanders and M.E. Webber, “Quantifying the energy embedded in the US water system,” Global Water Forum, UNESCO, January 8, 2013.
Michael E. Webber “Energy, Water and Food Problems Must Be Solved Together-Our future rides on our ability to integrate how we use these three commodities,” Scientific American, Feb. 2015.
J. Coleman, S. Bragg-Sitton, E. Dufek, S.C. Johnson, J.D. Rhodes, F.T. Davidson, and M.E. Webber, “An Evaluation of Energy Storage Options for Nuclear Power,” INL/EXT- 17-42420, Prepared with the Idaho National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Under DOE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-05ID14517, June 2017.

Popular Lectures and Seminars

“Thirst for Power: Energy, Water and Human Survival,” SXSW ECO, Austin, TX, October 12, 2016.
“Thirst for Power: Energy, Water and Human Survival,” Midwest Energy Policy Conference, St. Louis, MO, October 5, 2016.
“Thirst for Power: Energy, Water and Human Survival,” National Association of Water Companies, Water Summit, San Diego, CA, October 3, 2016.
“Next Generation Energy Education,” National Energy Education Summit, Washington, DC, January 26, 2015.
“Global Energy Trends,” U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY, April 9, 2014.
“The Convergence of Energy, Water and Information,” Itron Utility Week, Orlando, Florida October 7, 2013.
“Global Energy Trends,” U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY, April 24, 2013.
“Energy Water Nexus,” U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, November 13, 2012.
“Global Energy Needs and Assessment,” World Energy Forum, United Nations, New York City, August 13, 2009.