Climate Now

Our Season One finale brings you a debate about the pace of the energy transition that was recorded live at NYC Climate Week three weeks ago.  How fast is the transition progressing, really?  And why might there be divergent opinions on the subject? The debate was co-moderated by James Lawler and Dina Cappiello (RMI), and features RMI’s Kingsmill Bond and Bain’s Aaron Denman.  We look forward to y...

Voluntary Carbon Markets , or VCM, are the decentralized marketplaces where carbon credits, used to offset greenhouse gas emissions are traded. Each credit offsets a metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions. The VCM has existed since the 1980s with recent updates to the types of activities that count as offsets. On July 30 of this year, the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) updated their recom...

On this week's edition of Climate News Weekly , James Lawler and Julio Friedmann discuss Exxon-Mobil's projections of flat oil demand by 2050, closing the last coal-fired power plant in the UK, disproportionate impacts of climate change in Africa, and more. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook , and Instagram . Contact us at contact@climatenow.com Visit our website for all of our co...

Climate News Weekly is back to cover the week’s biggest stories in climate news with host James Lawler, joined by Julio Friedmann and Darren Hau. The team kicks off this week's coverage with an analysis that uses artificial intelligence to determine the impacts of 1500 climate policies on emissions. Up next, Julio and James discuss a new CarbonMapper satellite that can detect methane and carb...

As a Climate Now listener, we know you appreciate frank and thoughtful debate about the climate crisis. So we'd like to share an episode from a podcast that looks at how climate change is changing our energy systems. Energy vs Climate is a podcast featuring energy experts David Keith, Sara Hastings-Simon, and Ed Whittingham. They break down the hard truths and tough choices posed by the energ...

Climate News Weekly is back to cover the week’s biggest stories in climate news with host James Lawler, joined by Dina Cappiello and Julio Friedmann. The team kicks off this week's coverage with upheaval in the voluntary carbon market . Up next, Julio and Dina discuss developments in politics, from Kamala Harris' VP pick to a Brazilian oceanographer's appointment as Secretary-Genera...

The United States' Renewable Fuel Standard Program requires a certain volume of renewable fuel be used to replace or reduce fossil fuel use . Each gallon of renewable fuel is assigned a Renewable Identification Number or RIN, which allows renewable fuel volumes to be tracked, traded, bought, and sold. These multifunctional numbers affect the entire fuel industry, including both conventional a...

James Lawler is joined by Carbon Direct's Julio Friedmann for Climate News Weekly.  Join James and Julio as they discuss what Kamala Harris' candidacy and potential presidency could mean for climate policy , followed by positive signs that China's emissions may be hitting a turning point . The team also covers the accident involving a wind turbine off the coast of Massachusetts , bi...

Ethanol-to-jet is one pathway to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Until recently, this pathway was out of reach for commercial production. That changed this year when LanzaJet opened the world's first ethanol-to-SAF plant , the Freedom Pines Fuels Plant, in Soperton, Georgia. LanzaJet projects that the plant will produce nine million gallons of SAF in its first year in operation . In...

Climate News Weekly is back to cover the week’s biggest stories in climate news. James Lawler, Julio Friedmann, and Darren Hau begin this episode with a discussion of the latest extreme weather events, including Hurricane Beryl and record-breaking heat over the last year . Up next, James, Darren, and Julio discuss developments in the EV industry like Tesla's market share falling below 50 perc...

Sustainable aviation fuel can use a variety of feedstocks , from used cooking oils to oily seeds. When those feedstocks are heated under high pressure with a catalyst, the process produces hydrocarbons - the essential component in fuel . This process is called HEFA, Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids . One company using this process to produce sustainable aviation fuel is Montana Renewables ,...

In the latest installment of Climate News Weekly, James Lawler and Dina Cappiello (RMI) discuss a variety of stories on climate, sustainability, and technology. Dina and James cover a breaking story out of the Supreme Court : the ruling that ended Chevron deference and slashed the power of regulatory agencies. Later, James and Dina analyze the Economist's special report on solar and a tax on...

Aviation accounts for 12% of CO2 emissions from transportation and 2% of all CO2 emissions globally . Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is fuel made not from petroleum hydrocarbons, but from other sources of carbon and hydrogen . These non-fossil hydrocarbons include waste oils, plant-derived oils , and more complex sources like woody biomass and municipal solid waste ; even CO2 can serve as a sourc...

Climate News Weekly is back to cover the week’s biggest stories in climate news. Host James Lawler, joined by Julio Friedmann (Carbon Direct), begins this episode with follow-up coverage of heat-related fatalities at the Hajj pilgrimage . Up next, James and Julio discuss two tales of climate risk- one relating to critical infrastructure and the other relating to the insurance industry . Later, the...

On this week's Climate News Weekly , James Lawler and Julio Friedmann discuss the latest in global climate news. Up first, James and Julio cover the latest developments in Europe; namely, green parties suffering losses in the latest elections as EU steelmakers risk missing their climate targets despite billions in subsidies.  Our hosts also discuss climate impacts around the world , from reco...

The US Department of Energy (DOE) was established in 1977 with two key missions : to carry out defense responsibilities relating to nuclear weapons, and to bring together under one department the "loosely knit amalgamation" of various energy projects which were, at the time, scattered across the United States government. The Department of Energy Organization Act created the Department to...

Climate News Weekly is back to cover the week’s biggest stories in climate news. Emma Crow-Willard and co-hosts Julio Friedmann (Carbon Direct) and Heather Clancy (GreenBiz) begin by discussing why the OECD’s $100 billion in climate finance for developing nations is better late than never . Later, the team covers international stories, including record-breaking temperatures in New Dehli and Kenya’...

Climate Now is back to tackle six of the biggest stories in recent climate news. James Lawler, Julio Friedmann, Dina Cappiello, and Darren Hau discuss recent developments in the U.S., from electric grid planning and finance to the Department of Energy's list of 10 national interest energy corridors . The team also digs into BHP's bid for Anglo American with one metal at the center of it...

According to the CDC , the spread of vector-borne diseases ( those spread by blood-feeding bugs like mosquitos, ticks, and fleas ) is linked to climate change. Rising temperatures and humidity influence breeding rates and can extend the range of disease-spreading bugs, bringing diseases to areas that have never seen a case. What are the ways that climate change can influence the spread of disease?...

Julio Friedmann and Darren Hau join James Lawler to discuss the latest climate news: Tesla lays off its supercharger team , historic flooding and heat in Asia , $11 Billion committed to the World Bank , G7 agree to phase out coal by 2035 , and several new rules from the CEQ and EPA to advance permitting reform and expand solar in the United States. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook , and I...

Just over 70% of humanity’s energy consumption comes from hydrocarbons like coal, oil, and natural gas. The world is dependent on hydrocarbons, not just for energy but also for plastics, contact lenses, and computers, and so many other things. Using hydrocarbons like fossil fuels for energy has also led to huge amounts of climate change-causing emissions. So, knowing how important hydrocarbons are...

This week, Julio Friedmann and Darren Hau join James Lawler to talk about the latest climate news. The news of the week covers Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol's latest comments on Europe's energy plans, a new innovation in home insulation with Aeroseal that could help reduce energy use (born from a U.S. National Lab), RMI's new home energy tool , th...

This week on  Climate News Weekly , James Lawler is joined by Dina Cappiello. They discuss the latest on green banks, the recent turmoil at the SBTI, the power of solar sheep, and more. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook , and Instagram . Contact us at contact@climatenow.com Visit our website for all of our content and sources for each episode.

This week on Climate News Weekly , James Lawler sits down with Julio Friedmann and Darren Hau. They discuss the passing of climate leader Richard Benedict, a new geoengineering experiment, new California rules for energy distribution and use, and the emergence of a new biomass startup. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook , and Instagram . Contact us at contact@climatenow.com Visit our websit...

This week on Climate News Weekly , James Lawler and Julio Friedmann discuss coal-fired power plant closures in New England, how the DOE is spending billions to spur innovation in technologies to decarbonize top-emitting industries, the role that AI can play in a variety of climate change fighting efforts, and more. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook , and Instagram . Contact us at contact@c...