[Episode #112] – Climate Science Part 11 – Climate Confusion
What do the various emissions scenarios published by the IPCC really mean? Is the worst-case RCP8.5 scenario “bollox,” as some have asserted, or it useful? Are we already doomed to experience seven...
View Article[Episode #113] – Coal Plant Self-Scheduling
Owners of uneconomic coal plants in the US have tried many ways to keep operating, even when it is not profitable to do so, such as out-of-market subsidies and re-regulation (as we discussed in Episode...
View Article[Episode #114] – Cyber and Climate Risks
As energy transition progresses and more internet-connected distributed energy resources (DERs) join the grid, they increase the grid’s flexibility and dynamism, but they also expose those systems to...
View Article[Episode #115] – Wildfire and Transition in Australia
Australia’s out-of-control wildfires in recent months have captured the world’s attention and raised serious questions about how climate change is affecting the continent, whether the country’s...
View Article[Episode #116] – Climate Science Part 12a – Improving Climate Modeling
Are the climate change scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) accurately representing our likely futures, or are they rooted in outdated perspectives that don’t...
View Article[Episode #117] – Climate Science Part 12b – Improving Climate Modeling
Are the climate change scenarios produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) accurately representing our likely futures, or are they rooted in outdated data that doesn’t represent...
View Article[Episode #118] – Open and Answered Questions
In this lagniappe episode, we ask: what are some unanswered questions about the energy transition from five years ago, but that seem answered today? And what are the new questions that have emerged...
View Article[Episode #119] – Energy Basics Parts 1–3
In response to listener demand, we are launching a new mini-series on the Energy Basics. If you have found yourself occasionally challenged to follow some of the more technical conversations we have...
View Article[Episode #120] – Carnage in the Oil Patch
The coronavirus shutdown has taken a huge bite out of demand for oil since everyone has been forced to stay home. Exacerbated by a pricing war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, oil prices have crashed...
View Article[Episode #121] – Winning and Losing the Policy Game
Conventional thinking is that policy supports the advancement of clean energy gradually and progressively, with hard-won gains setting up further success over time. And sometimes, it does play out this...
View Article[Episode #122] – Hybrid Power Plants
The days of worrying about the intermittency of solar and wind farms are quickly receding into the past as battery storage systems are added to existing plants, and new renewable plants are...
View Article[Episode #123] – Sustainable Energy Transitions
Addressing the threat of climate change means executing a successful energy transition. But as the transition proceeds, we are increasingly having to confront the impacts of transition technologies,...
View Article[Episode #124] – Energy Transition Progress Report
As the world slowly starts to emerge from lockdown and get back to business, energy analysts and climate activists alike are wondering if we will use this opportunity to accelerate the energy...
View Article[Episode #125] – Beyond Planet of the Humans
Planet of the Humans, by filmmakers Michael Moore, Jeff Gibbs, and Ozzie Zehner, has been roundly criticized by everyone involved in energy transition, and rightly so, because it’s more than a decade...
View Article[Episode #126] – Energy Basics Parts 4–6 – Electricity, Generation and Grid...
This is part of our mini-series on the Energy Basics. Parts 1-3 can be found in Episode #119. If you have found yourself occasionally challenged to follow some of the more technical conversations we...
View Article[Episode #127] – Hard-to-Decarbonize Sectors
When it comes to energy transition solutions, wind and solar and big battery projects regularly make headlines, but we don’t often hear much about the hard-to-decarbonize sectors, like aviation,...
View Article[Episode #128] – Energy Basics Parts 7–9 – The Electricity Business and Power...
This episode is part of our Energy Basics mini-series. Parts 1-3 of the series can be found in Episode #119, and Parts 4-6 can be found in Episode #126. If you have found yourself occasionally...
View Article[Episode #129] – Deep Decarbonization Policy for the US
We have seen numerous models showing how a mostly- or fully-decarbonized energy system can work, but how do we actually plot a path from where we are now to a deeply decarbonized energy system in the...
View Article[Episode #130] – 5-Year Anniversary Show
In this anniversary episode, we welcome back Jonathan Koomey to talk about some of the interesting developments and raucous debates we have seen over the past year. We’ll consider how expectations have...
View Article[Episode #131] – Decarbonizing the US by 2050
Is it possible to decarbonize the economy of the United States, and get to net-zero emissions by 2050? A team of researchers from 15 countries who are part of the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project...
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