Energy Switch

Liquifying natural gas and shipping it around the world in tankers could make it available to all at a global market price. While this could boost industry and help developing nations choose gas as an alternative to coal, some say LNG import terminals are too expensive and its trade may increase emissions. Octávio Simões, CEO of Tellurian, and Jake Schmidt, Senior Climate Director at NRDC, discuss.

The electric grid, and all its attached generators and transformers, has been called the largest machine in the world. In part 1, we’ll discuss how it powers our lives and the modern world, and as our electricity demands grow, how it could better meet them in the future. ERCOT CEO, Brad Jones, and Southern California Edison CEO, Steven Powell, discuss.

The electric grid powers our cities and industry, workplaces, homes and increasingly, our cars. For that, we’ll need more electricity, and we’d like it to be lower carbon. Can we build national electric systems that are more extensive, more reliable and affordable, with less impact on the environment? Southern California Edison CEO, Steven Powell, and ERCOT CEO, Brad Jones, weigh in.

Recent IPCC reports show less warming than predicted a decade ago. Emission growth is slowing, but has not yet plateaued, and while climate scientists say we’re not on track to meet Paris climate goals, the news is better than we often hear. Roger Pielke, Environmental Studies Professor at UC Boulder, and Daniel Cohan, Environmental Engineering Professor at Rice, discuss.

CO2 emissions from energy get most of the attention, but there’s a more immediate concern: particulate air pollution. Burning coal, wood, diesel and animal dung causes millions of premature deaths each year. We’ll look at air pollution and ideas to reduce it, with Angel Hsu from the University of North Carolina, and Amod Pokhrel, UC Berkeley health sciences researcher.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning could improve energy efficiency and allow for better prediction of electricity resources. Are the algorithms and computing power sufficient to realize these promises? Pamela Isom, Director of the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office for the US Department of Energy, and Anima Anandkumar, Director of Machine Learning Research at NVIDIA, discuss.

All energy facilities must be sited somewhere. All energy requires extracting something from Earth– fuel must be drilled for and materials must be mined. Transmission lines and pipelines cover many miles. What are the impacts of energy on land, and how could we reduce them? Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and Gurcan Gulen, Principal at G2 Energy Insights, discuss.

Battery technology has already made incredible leaps, making electric vehicles commercially viable and attractive to consumers. Could it also revolutionize the electric grid itself? Shirley Meng, Chief Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, and Lynden Archer, Dean of Engineering at Cornell University discuss.

What are the potential new materials to make batteries more affordable, safer and less environmentally impactful? What could this mean for the future? Lynden Archer, Dean of Engineering at Cornell University, and Shirley Meng, Chief Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory and Professor of Molecular Engineering in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, discuss.

Countries, states and companies have pledged to get their greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. What technologies, policies and investments would this require? Is it likely to be achieved? If not, is there a more achievable target? Dr. Melissa Lott, Sen Dir of Research, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University SIPA., and Terry Keeley, Managing Director at BlackRock, discuss.

Energy and water are tightly linked. We use extraordinary amounts of energy for municipal water systems and irrigation. And we use huge volumes of water in energy too. How could we use less energy and water to make more of both? Afreen Siddiqi, research scientist at MIT, and Newsha Ajami, the Chief Development Officer for Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab discuss.

80% of the world lives in developing nations, but uses just 20% of global energy. To provide them access to a modern life, we’d need to double energy production globally. Can we do it affordably, while reducing energy’s environmental impact? Ashvin Dayal from The Rockefeller Foundation, and Robert Stoner, Deputy Director at the MIT Energy Initiative, discuss.