As executive director, Doug Arent focuses on strategic public and private partnerships with NREL. In addition to his NREL responsibilities, Arent is senior visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and serves on the World Economic Forum Future of Electricity Working Group and the Advisory Boards for The Post Carbon Transition Program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at Oxford University, U.K., The Smart Electric Power Association, and The Energy Academy of Europe, Netherlands. He is a member of the Keystone Energy Board. Arent is the editor in chief for Renewable Energy Focus and is associate editor for the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 

Previously Arent served on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Steering Committee on Social Science and the Alternative Energy Future, and was a member of the National Research Council Committee to Advise to U.S. Global Change Research Program. Arent was the founding Executive Director of the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, and has served as the Director for the Strategic Energy Analysis Center and the Integrated Applications Center at NREL. Arent was a coordinating lead author for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has been a member of Policy Subcommittee of the National Petroleum Council Study on Prudent Development of North America Natural Gas and Oil Resources, served from 2008 to 2010 on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, and also served on the Executive Council of the U.S. Association of Energy Economists.

His research interests are centered in energy and sustainability, where he has been active for more than 30 years. He has published extensively on topics of clean energy, renewable energy, power systems, natural gas, and the intersection of science and public policy. Arent has a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an MBA from Regis University, and a bachelor's of science from Harvey Mudd College in California.

Research Interests

Clean energy

Renewable energy

Power systems

Natural gas

Intersection of science and public policy

Education

M.S., Business, Regis University

Ph.D., Solar Energy Analytic Chemistry and Sustainability, Princeton University

B.S., Chemistry, Engineering, Harvey Mudd College

Professional Experience

Executive Director, Strategic Public Private Partnerships, NREL (current)

Deputy Associate Laboratory Director, Scientific Computing and Energy Analysis, NREL (2017–2020)

Executive Director, Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, NREL (2009–2017)

Director, Strategic Energy Analysis and Applications Center, NREL (2004–2009)

Director, Strategy and Business Development, Network Photonics (2000–2002)

Director, Media Gateway and Strategic Planning Manager, Lucent Technologies (1998–2000)

Program Development Manager and Senior International Advisor, NREL (1991–1998)

Associations and Memberships

Senior Visiting Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Steering Committee on Social Science and the Alternative Energy Future

Member, National Research Council Committee to Advise to U.S. Global Change Research Program

Member, Keystone Energy Board

Editor-in-Chief, Renewable Energy Focus 

Associate Editor, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Member, World Economic Forum Future of Electricity Working Group

Member, International Advisory Board for Energy Policy 

Member, Energy Academy Europe

Featured Work

Next Generation Renewables and, Separately, Energy System Transformation, and Related Topics, NREL Technical Report (2020) 

Faster Than You Think: Renewable Energy and Developing Countries, Annual Review of Resource Economics (2019)

Power Couples: The Synergy Value of Battery-Generator Hybrids, Electricity Journal (2018)

View all NREL publications for Doug Arent.