{"680975":{"#nid":"680975","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Meet the Expert: Matthew Oliver","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStudents in Matthew Oliver\u2019s economics of environment and international energy markets classes likely don\u2019t have a clue about his unusual journey to the lectern: \u201cI was bent on being a rock and roll musician from the time I was 16, and so I ended up dropping out of the University of Memphis after just three semesters,\u201d says Oliver, an associate professor in the School of Economics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cI was on tour for eight years \u2014 and I was starting to feel burned out.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt a crossroads, Oliver decided to end his musical career \u2014 a choice he credits with launching him into academia. \u201cI was 28 and wondering what to do with my life, so I reenrolled in college and discovered economics.\u201d\u0026nbsp; With a longtime love of the environment and growing concern for the climate, says Oliver, \u201cI grew fascinated with solar power and other renewables and the new markets emerging around them.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, his work in energy and environmental economics has implications for policies shaping the energy transition, from subsidies for rooftop solar to the expansion of battery storage.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe current frontier of energy economics is electricity and renewables, and these are areas I am passionate about,\u201d he says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPVs and amped up electric use\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of Oliver\u2019s core research thrusts is the solar rebound effect (SRE). This phenomenon involves a quirk of human behavior: When people install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roofs of their homes, they often consume more electricity. \u201cThe introduction of solar energy does not perfectly displace grid-supplied energy, but instead reduces demand for grid-supplied energy on a less than one-for-one basis, because the household increases its total electricity consumption,\u201d says Oliver. The bottom line: Solar PV systems may not lead to as much carbon emission reduction as anticipated.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/epicenter.energy.gatech.edu\/meet-the-expert-matthew-oliver\/\u0022\u003ERead more on the EPIcenter Webpage\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStudents in Matthew Oliver\u2019s economics of environment and international energy markets classes likely don\u2019t have a clue about his unusual journey to the lectern: \u201cI was bent on being a rock and roll musician from the time I was 16, and so I ended up dropping out of the University of Memphis after just three semesters,\u201d says Oliver, an associate professor in the School of Economics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cI was on tour for eight years \u2014 and I was starting to feel burned out.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt a crossroads, Oliver decided to end his musical career \u2014 a choice he credits with launching him into academia. \u201cI was 28 and wondering what to do with my life, so I reenrolled in college and discovered economics.\u201d\u0026nbsp; With a longtime love of the environment and growing concern for the climate, says Oliver, \u201cI grew fascinated with solar power and other renewables and the new markets emerging around them.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday, his work in energy and environmental economics has implications for policies shaping the energy transition, from subsidies for rooftop solar to the expansion of battery storage.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe current frontier of energy economics is electricity and renewables, and these are areas I am passionate about,\u201d he says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPVs and amped up electric use\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of Oliver\u2019s core research thrusts is the solar rebound effect (SRE). This phenomenon involves a quirk of human behavior: When people install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roofs of their homes, they often consume more electricity. \u201cThe introduction of solar energy does not perfectly displace grid-supplied energy, but instead reduces demand for grid-supplied energy on a less than one-for-one basis, because the household increases its total electricity consumption,\u201d says Oliver. The bottom line: Solar PV systems may not lead to as much carbon emission reduction as anticipated.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Master of the rebound \u2014 Economist Matthew Oliver measures the sometimes concealed costs of pivoting to clean energy"}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2025-03-06 19:38:51","changed_gmt":"2025-03-06 19:42:43","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-03-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-03-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676491":{"id":"676491","type":"image","title":"matthewoliver.jpeg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EMatthew Oliver, Associate Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Tech, EPIcenter Faculty Affiliate\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1741289946","gmt_created":"2025-03-06 19:39:06","changed":"1741289946","gmt_changed":"2025-03-06 19:39:06","alt":"Matthew Oliver, Associate Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Tech, EPIcenter Faculty Affiliate","file":{"fid":"260288","name":"matthewoliver.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/03\/06\/matthewoliver.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/03\/06\/matthewoliver.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":8603,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/03\/06\/matthewoliver.jpeg?itok=nrwQ4NnE"}}},"media_ids":["676491"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/epicenter.energy.gatech.edu\/meet-the-expert-matthew-oliver\/","title":"Read Story on the EPIcenter Webpage"}],"groups":[{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by: Leda Zimmerman\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENews Contact: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EPriya Devarajan\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.research.gatech.edu\/energy\u0022\u003ESEI\u003C\/a\u003E Communications Program Manager\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["priya.devarajan@research.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}