Energy Current: In Search of Net Zero System

Send us Fan Mail There are a number of reasons why we have to halt the climate crisis. One of them is public health. In this episode we discuss these important questions: How do we rethink the future of healthcare when tackling climate change is only one of many challenges? What impacts will the COP28 UAE Consensus make on climate actions in reducing carbon emissions of healthcare sectors across t...

Send us Fan Mail To achieve a 100% renewable energy system worldwide by 2050 affordable or not? Apart from the maturing technology, like solar PV and wind power, are we too late to develop some alternative technologies such as carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, geoengineering, and small modular nuclear reactor? With the tightening time window to control carbon emissions in order to ke...

Send us Fan Mail Since 2020, not only some national governments but also many large multinational companies have announced their climate pledges - reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Among them are some oil and natural gas giants, such as BP, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, which are the majors in the industry and the top contributors of the carbon emissions across the corporate world.  • How do w...

Send us Fan Mail There are two major economic measures to reduce carbon emissions of energy system, carbon pricing and industrial policy. Which one is better to deliver climate targets?  What do the historical experiences of both emission trading systems and industrial policy in the E.U., China and the U.S. tell us? When competition rather than cooperation becomes the keyword in the new world econ...

Send us Fan Mail With both population and economy growing, Africa shall pursue a leapfrogging strategy in achieving the net zero energy system in the next three decades. However, some significant factors need to be addressed, like upscaled investment, accelerated deployment of low carbon energy technology, and international financial support.    In this episode, Jean-Benoit Fournier, a Canadian ex...

Send us Fan Mail For years China has dominated in the global supply chains of critical minerals, which are crucial to deploying low carbon energy technology and accelerating the global energy transition. Particularly, China's dominance is very apparent in the global supplies of rare earth, graphite, manganese and cobalt. These minerals are critical to the production of electric vehicle batter...

Send us Fan Mail While the world enters a de-globalization era and the relationship between China and the U.S. turns from bad to worse, policy makers from many high-income countries prioritize de-risking the supply chains and diversifying trading activities, such as increasing the security of the critical minerals supply.  Will this big policy change hold back the low carbon energy technology depl...

Send us Fan Mail U.S. – China climate cooperation is a crucial issue when we talk about tackling climate crisis. However, the bilateral relationship has been declining in the recent years, particularly since 2020. Under such a difficult situation, where will the U.S.-China climate and clean energy collaboration go? What lessons can the past cooperation experience imply? The G7 Summit in Japan last...

Send us Fan Mail Nuclear power plays an important role in the energy system in many big economies around the world. There are many debates related to this energy source, from energy security to addressing climate change to environmental and social justice. While some countries, like Germany, shut down the last nuclear power plants, others, like China, are still building new ones. Based on a new st...

Send us Fan Mail How to address public crisis implies a nation’s complicated institutional setting of economic, political, and cultural preferences and tolerance. A society’s resilience in mitigating the crisis, from environmental pollution disasters to global pandemics to climate change, depends on the interaction between crisis and evolving institutions. In other word, it relies on whether polic...

Send us Fan Mail To achieve a 100% renewable energy system worldwide by 2050 affordable or not? Apart from the maturing technology, like solar PV and wind power, are we too late to develop some alternative technologies such as carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, geoengineering, and small modular nuclear reactor? With the tightening time window to control carbon emissions in order to ke...

Send us Fan Mail The intense rivalry between the U.S. and China, the ongoing brutal war between Russia and Ukraine, and the potential geopolitical conflict risk in the South China Sea remain the big challenges to addressing the climate crisis via productive international cooperation. Under the complicated domestic and international situations and uncertainties, how can we understand the climate po...

Send us Fan Mail The intense rivalry between U.S. and China, the ongoing brutal war between Russia and Ukraine, and the potential geopolitical conflict risk in the South China Sea remain the big challenges to addressing the climate crisis via productive international cooperation. Under the complicated domestic and international situations and uncertainties, how can we understand the climate policy...

Send us Fan Mail Indian Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) adventure plays a significant role in both providing sustainable mobility services and materializing its long-term national carbon neutrality goal. What does the road transport decarbonization in the past ten years inform its future ambition? Under the various challenges, from the global energy crisis, and supply chain restructuring, to economic...

Send us Fan Mail Despite the high expectation in decarbonizing the fossil fuels sectors for years, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has not been scaled up. In the next 5-10 years, will comprehensive technology be a game changer in global climate mitigations? Can the oil and gas giants in the Middle East countries sustain their business in the future by both producing carbon as usual and sinking ca...

Send us Fan Mail Compared to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) have lagged during the electrification of the road transport sector across the world in the past ten years. Under the new context related to technological competition among economic powers, the energy crisis enhanced by the Russia-Ukraine war in Europe, the global supply chain security of critical mate...

Send us Fan Mail Enacted in 2021, China’s National Carbon Market based on tradable performance standard, was promoted as a new effort to engage with international climate policy. It’s too early to assess the emissions reduction impact of the so-called biggest carbon market in the world. Despite of the essential differences of market design, contextual institutions and the mild effects of the Calif...

Send us Fan Mail Japan's Green Transformation Plan is the latest national strategy in pursuit of energy transition and carbon neutrality by 2050. As a major economy with probably the highest energy efficiency standard and greatest dependency on fossil fuels import around the world, Japan faces a range of challenges. Professor Jusen Asuka from Tohoku University in Japan discusses how the new p...

Send us Fan Mail Indian Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) adventure plays a significant role in both providing sustainable mobility services and materializing its long-term national carbon neutrality goal. What does the road transport decarbonization in the past ten years inform its future ambition? Under the various challenges, from global energy crisis, supply chain restructuring, to economic recessi...

Send us Fan Mail The mutual benefits of economic growth between China and Australia had pushed the bilateral cooperation on science and technology, particularly the climate related technology, to a new level until a few years ago. However, the relationship has been deteriorating since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.    What does the dramatic change mean to Australian international scientifi...

Send us Fan Mail In 1980-2015, China experienced one of the longest economic expansion in the modern era. While playing a significant role in supplying affordable and reliable electricity, hydropower has also caused undisputed and large negative impacts on social, ecological and cultural aspects. Dr. Darrin Magee from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in America shares his research and observation...

Send us Fan Mail Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the first climate bill by U.S. federal government, will bring fundamental changes to American energy sector in terms of speeding up the penetration of low carbon technologies and clean power generation. Mr. Noah Lerner, who have gained working experience on energy decarbonization from private, non-profit and government sectors, discusses the opportun...

Send us Fan Mail What’s the beauty of Inflation Reduction Act? Why is it hard, if not impossible, for Republican Party to do something in undermining the law? How can the first American climate law advance the international climate policy and energy transition? Is there any tension between the climate law and the recent supreme court ruling on the West Virginia vs. EPA case? In this episode will a...

Send us Fan Mail International climate policy faces a range of challenges such as high energy costs and the deteriorating relationship between China and America. How will both domestic and international situations influence the near to medium-term climate actions of the three major actors, China, the U.S., and the EU? What could the climate cooperation among the three economies look like after the...

Send us Fan Mail Since the first episode came out in September 2020, our team have produced over 60 episodes. Our discussions cover a variety of topics, from global climate negotiations to energy crisis, from decarbonization in healthcare sector to carbon pricing, from electric vehicles growth to China’s carbon neutrality strategy. As an independent think in China, Rock Environment and Energy Inst...