Sam Mardell

Sam_Mardell
Degree Programs School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Master of Environmental Management, 2019
Affiliations Energy SIG leader

Sam Mardell is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate focusing on clean energy technology and policy, climate change mitigation, and environmental justice. This summer he interned with the Rocky Mountain Institute, where he supported the Energy Web Foundation in studying use cases for blockchain in the energy industry. Before coming to Yale, Sam worked for two Boston-area clean-energy companies - first with EnerNOC conducting demand response operations and more recently with Meister Consultants Group helping state governments develop local solar markets. He received his BA from the University of Massachusetts in 2014, where he majored in Science, Technology, and Society.

Authored Articles
Solar panels in Baja

In Push for 100% Renewable Energy, Efficiency Is Key

Sam Mardell
Enter the search term “100% renewable energy” into Google and you will find fierce debate. Is the possibility of 100-percent-renewable energy a myth? Or is the world already close to achieving this goal? This debate tends to underemphasize energy efficiency. But recent research makes a case that energy efficiency is...
Purple flower

Climate Finance Is Failing to Reach a Local Level, Study Finds

Sam Mardell
As world leaders met in Bonn, Germany in November for COP23, the challenge of climate finance projects in developing countries took center stage. A second challenge receives less attention: fewer than 10 percent of development finance from international climate funds reaches the local level. This finding is presented in a...