Jesse Jenkins. Photo by Frank Wojciechowski
By Colton Poore, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
October 9, 2024
Energy systems modeler Jesse Jenkins was named to the TIME100 Next list as a rising leader working to shape a better future for the planet.
Jenkins, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, was recognized for his pivotal role in guiding, shaping, and evaluating the clean energy transition through his efforts to inform climate and energy policy in the United States. He is also an affiliated faculty with the Center for Policy Research in Energy and Environment at the School of Public and International Affairs and an associated faculty at the High Meadows Environmental Institute.
"Climate change is in some ways a math problem, and Jesse Jenkins is among the wonkiest and most effective of the number crunchers trying to work out a solution," environmentalist Bill McKibben wrote in the citation. "He's emerged as the scorekeeper for American efforts to transition to clean energy."
At Princeton, Jenkins leads the ZERO Lab to evaluate and optimize low-carbon energy technologies, guide investment and research in innovative energy technologies, and generate insights to improve energy and climate policy and planning decisions. Research in his lab has quantified the value of emerging clean energy technologies like enhanced geothermal systems and has unlocked new insights into more impactful clean energy purchasing strategies. Another analysis from his group provided an early warning about the potential emissions impacts of a new federal tax credit for clean hydrogen, shaping national conversations about the subsidy’s implementation. Additionally, Jenkins was a lead PI on the widely influential Net-Zero America, which charted five distinct pathways by which the United States could decarbonize its entire economy.
“The Net-Zero America study didn’t prescribe policy, but it gave policy makers a clear ‘to do list,’ one that Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration took very seriously,” said Jenkins.
The ZERO Lab also leads the REPEAT Project, which has provided regular and timely policy evaluations that have helped to inform major pieces of climate and energy legislation in the United States, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
In addition to his research, Jenkins was recognized by TIME for engaging with the public on energy and environmental topics. In the citation, McKibben wrote: “Jesse understood from the start that there’s no way to do this work from within an academic cone of silence — instead he’s been a regular on social media, mixing it up with all comers as he explains the sometimes abstract and difficult algebra of carbon reduction to a broader audience.”
Jenkins co-hosts a weekly podcast, Shift Key, with Robinson Meyer of Heatmap News that helps listeners understand the nuances of the energy transition, such as the impacts of AI on the energy sector, the long delays facing new energy projects that seek to connect to the power grid, and the state of the electric vehicle industry.
Prior to TIME100 Next, Jenkins was named to Vox’s 2023 Future Perfect 50 list of individuals working to solve the world’s biggest challenges, as well as the Engineering News-Record’s 2022 Top 25 Newsmakers list.
Since joining the Princeton faculty in 2019, Jenkins has received six commendations for outstanding teaching from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He earned a Ph.D. in engineering systems and a S.M. in technology and policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he received a B.S. in computer and information science from the University of Oregon.