Energy Switch

Working in energy, particularly oil and gas, is not as popular as it once was in the US. Electricity and lower carbon energies are more readily embraced by young people. We’ll talk to two young professionals, Natan Battisti from Harbour Energy and Maya Barwick from ATC, to see why they chose jobs in oil and electricity, how they’ve found the experience, and if they’d recommend it to their peers.

We use a lot of biofuels in the US -- corn ethanol now makes up 10% of every gallon of gasoline. Ethanol made from cellulose, from agricultural waste or non-food crops, has been in development for years and may eventually become commercial, along with new kinds of aviation biofuels. Dr. Valerie Reed, Bioenergy Director at the DOE, and Yiying Xong from the Great Lakes Research Center.

To wrap up this discussion, Dr. Bjorn Lomborg and Dr. Andrew Dessler lay out their strategies for addressing climate change. One favors adaptation, and tackling other pressing global problems that could lead to greater prosperity. The other argues for urgent action to reduce emissions to manage the risk of damage from a changing climate. They agreed on a greater focus on new energy innovation.

Warming temperatures and their potential impacts are predicted to escalate in the coming decades. Dr. Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist, argues for urgent action to reduce emissions. Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, a political scientist, maintains that climate change is a smaller problem than others we face, like poverty and education. Pursuing those would allow us to better adapt to a changing climate.

Everyone loves electricity…and no one loves powerlines. But we need more of them. New lines face many challenges, in permitting, siting and eminent domain; allocating costs among stakeholders; and working with property owners and environmental groups who oppose them. We discuss with Mark Christie from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Emily Fisher from the Edison Electric Institute.

Fission, the splitting of atoms, makes the heat that drives our nuclear reactors. Fusion, the fusing together of atoms, powers the stars, including our sun -- which means that fusion already powers Earth, just not in a way that we can control. If we could harness fusion, it would transform our world, producing limitless energy, safely and without emissions -- the holy grail of energy.

In Part 1 of this discussion, we heard ideas to decarbonize cement and steel. We’ll conclude with a look at fertilizer, which has made modern agriculture possible, and petrochemicals and plastic, which go into nearly every product. Solutions could include switching from oil and natural gas to hydrogen and bioproducts, but the technologies are still in development, and currently expensive.

Cement and steel have created the modern world: they make our buildings, roads, machines and products. These two industries emit nearly as much CO2 as our entire electricity system -- but they’re difficult to decarbonize. We’ll talk about challenges and potential solutions to do so, including changing their production processes, replacing the coal they now require, and more efficient use.

Everything in our modern lives has energy inputs and emissions outputs -- and that’s certainly the case for our food. It’s not just all the energy that powers the equipment required to grow, transport and process our food. And the energy inputs for fertilizer required by global agriculture. But also the emissions from land, and livestock, and particularly from food loss and food waste.

In part 1, we focused on India’s electricity, and the potential to expand it using coal and/or solar. We continue with the growth of 2- and 3-wheel electric vehicles in India, the potential to manufacture their batteries domestically, the growth of air conditioning to combat heat waves, decarbonization targets, green building and the importance of efficiency.

India is the third largest energy consumer and carbon emitter in the world, with the fastest growing energy demand. Today coal makes three-quarters of their electricity, with the other 25% solar and other non-carbon sources. If they follow China’s path and develop further on coal, it may be impossible for the world to meet its climate targets -- making India’s energy choices of vital importance.

For our ongoing ‘youth voice’ series, we created an energy and climate survey and asked two current and recently graduated university students to help administer it to hundreds of peers across the country, from diverse political backgrounds. The results provide a broad look at the energy and climate opinions, and knowledge, of young Americans -- and will test yours too.

Everything in the modern world relies on the electric grid. To keep the grid reliable, system operators order electricity from dispatchable generation, like coal, gas, hydro and nuclear, to balance intermittent generation, like wind and solar. Together, these must meet our enormous electricity demand, which varies by the second. It’s a hugely complicated task, and it's facing real challenges.

The US energy system, particularly our electric grids and pipelines, is constantly at risk -- from extreme events, like hurricanes, winter storms, heat waves and wildfires. And increasingly from cyber attacks, from hostile foreign powers and criminal elements. Enough that the energy industry and the US government are investing billions of dollars and working together to counter these threats.

Sea level has been rising since the end of the last Ice Age, when continental ice sheets began to melt. In island nations and low-lying coastal areas sea level rise is contributing, among other things, to high tide flooding, and saltwater encroaching into farmland and freshwater aquifers. We’ll talk about what the future could bring, and ideas of how communities could adapt to sea level rise.

Six hundred million people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have modern energy -- so African nations are working to develop their energy resources. For many, the energy they do have comes from hydro. But Africa also has huge volumes of natural gas. Some funders, concerned about emissions, don’t want them to develop it. Others consider it essential to lift Africa’s people out of poverty.

There are many paradoxes in climate and energy: people want energy for their homes and cars… but don’t want new power lines or pipelines that could provide it. Nuclear is a zero-carbon energy source… yet many climate advocates oppose it. Some states impose EV mandates… but prohibit mining for battery metals. We’ll look to resolve these with two experts in economics, energy and climate policy.

Europe is currently facing an energy crisis that has instigated a 'war mentality' toward energy use and climate action, accelerating the implementation of new energy projects across the continent. In this episode, Jonathan Elkind, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, and Dr. Carlos Batlle, Visiting Scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative, delve into the implications...

In this continuation of the discussion on Europe’s energy crisis, Dr. Carlos Batlle and Jonathan Elkind explore how the crisis has catalyzed cooperation among EU member states and the central governing body, while reinforcing the drive towards expanding wind and solar energy solutions. Despite this momentum, there remains a debate over pursuing a technologically neutral approach to decarbonization...

Critical minerals and rare earth elements are pivotal for the advancement of new energy technologies, yet their supply is predominantly controlled by China, posing significant challenges and risks for global energy security. This episode features Dr. Nedal Nassar, Chief of the Materials Intelligence Research at the US Geological Survey, and Dr. Adam Simon, Professor of Earth and Environmental Scie...

Millions of solar panels are approaching the end of their life cycles, but current recycling methods are costly and underdeveloped, leading many panels to end up in landfills or in temporary storage. This episode features Dr. Serasu Duran, Assistant Professor at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, and Dr. Garvin Heath, Distinguished Member of the Research Staff at the National...

Electric cars offer speed, efficiency, and zero local emissions, marking them as a significant shift in automotive technology. However, their high costs and the controversial sourcing of metals for their batteries present notable challenges. This episode features Dr. David Rapson, Economic Policy Advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank and Professor of Economics at the University of California, along...

Continuing the discussion from Part 1, this episode further explores the complexities surrounding electric vehicles (EVs). Dr. Beia Spiller, Director of the Transportation Program at Resources for the Future, and Dr. David Rapson, Economic Policy Advisor for the Federal Reserve and Professor of Economics at UC Davis, delve into the effects of subsidies and mandates. While subsidies have boosted EV...

Geothermal energy, a vast resource found everywhere beneath the surface, offers sustainable solutions for heating homes, generating electricity, and potentially powering industrial processes. In this episode, Lauren Boyd, Acting Director of Geothermal Technologies at the DOE, and Carlos Araque, Co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy, explore the latest advancements and potential of geothermal energy....

Explore the future of energy through the eyes of two promising students deeply engaged in advanced energy studies. Shadya Taleb, a graduate research assistant specializing in carbon capture and storage at the Bureau of Economic Geology, and Grace Stanke, a nuclear engineering student and Miss America 2023, share their insights on a range of topics including nuclear power, carbon capture and storag...