Dalla Lana School of Public Health

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Abstract: Climate change, stemming from carbon and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, poses an existential threat to the earth’s ecosystem and humanity. Consequently, there is a broad consensus that society must rapidly transition to sustainable energy practices to curtail and eliminate these emissions. This talk will delve into systems for decarbonization spanning diverse sectors, including cloud computing, the built environment, and transportation. The discussion will emphasize the intricate trade-offs in balancing energy-efficiency, carbon efficiency, and performance guarantees within decarbonization initiatives. Moreover, it will illuminate the potential challenges in societal decarbonization arising from the intricate interdependencies among various sectors and the need to ensure equitable energy transition.

Bio: Dr. Noman Bashir, the Computing & Climate Impact Fellow at MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium (MCSC), collaborates with MIT researchers and industry partners to accelerate the decarbonization of computing systems. His research focuses on decarbonizing large-scale systems, combining expertise in distributed systems, power systems, algorithms, and resource management. Noman aims to aid decision-makers in diverse domains with short- and long-term decarbonization strategies while promoting informed and sustainable choices at the individual level. More details about his work can be found on his webpage.