Energy Switch

The US is the only country with permanent storage for low & intermediate-level nuclear waste. But we're one of the few countries with nuclear power plants that don’t have a plan for high-level waste. Dr. Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy at DOE, and Dr. Allison Macfarlane, Former Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, discuss potential solutions.

One solution to reducing carbon emissions is to capture and store them underground. But there are challenges in capturing, transporting and storing the CO2, and determining who will pay for it. Dr. Sallie Greenberg, formerly with the Illinois State Geological Survey, and Dr. Julio Friedmann, Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct, discuss current projects and how CCS could contribute in the future.

China is the world’s largest energy producer and consumer, the largest exporter of solar, the current leader in nuclear, and emits ⅓ of global CO2. This makes China’s energy and climate policies of vital concern to all nations. Dr. David Sandalow, Founder & Director of Columbia's US-China program, and Dr. Wei Peng, Assistant Professor, Princeton University.

While China continues to build coal plants, they intend to reduce their use, to manage local air pollution and meet peak CO2 and net zero goals, while prioritizing their energy security. Can it be done? Dr. Wei Peng, Assistant Professor, Princeton University, and Dr. David Sandalow, Founder & Director of Columbia's US-China program, conclude their thoughts.

Two advanced energy students share their thoughts on the future of nuclear, carbon capture and storage, solar and wind, batteries, energy reliability, climate change and their hopes for the future. Shadya Taleb, a graduate research assistant in carbon capture and storage at the Bureau of Economic Geology, and Grace Stanke, a nuclear engineering student and Miss America 2023, discuss.

Geothermal energy can be found everywhere below the surface, at varying temperatures, depending on how deep and where you are. We can use it to warm homes and buildings, generate electricity, and hopefully to produce high heat for industrial processes. Lauren Boyd, Acting Director of Geothermal Technologies at the DOE, and Carlos Araque, Co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy, discuss.

Electric cars are fast and efficient and produce no local emissions. But they're also expensive, with issues around the metals for their batteries. Dr. David Rapson, Economic Policy Advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank and Professor of Economics, University of California, and Dr. Beia Spiller, Director of the Transportation Program, Resources for the Future, discuss these issues.

Subsidies for electric cars have helped make them popular, but have gone mostly to the wealthy. These and mandates may have unintended consequences. We need more affordable EVs, even if they have lower range, say Dr. Beia Spiller, Director of the Transportation Program at Resources for the Future, and Dr. David Rapson, Economic Policy Advisor for the Fed and Professor of Economics, UC Davis.

Millions of solar panels are nearing end of life. Today they’re going to landfills or interim storage because recycling is expensive and immature. We need to build a recycling system. Dr. Serasu Duran, Assistant Professor, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, and Dr. Garvin Heath, Distinguished Member of the Research Staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, discuss.

Critical minerals and rare earth elements, essential for new energy technologies, are largely controlled by China. Global supply and demand and potential new mines in the US are pressing issues. Dr. Nedal Nassar, Chief of the Materials Intelligence Research at the US Geological Survey, and Dr. Adam Simon, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan, discuss.

Europe is in an energy crisis, which has encouraged a ‘war mentality’ about energy and climate, and fast-tracked new energy projects. What will this mean for the continent and its international allies? Jonathan Elkind, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, and Dr. Carlos Batlle, Visiting Scientist at MIT Energy Initiative, discuss this complex topic.

Europe’s energy crisis has fostered cooperation between member states and the EU governing body and strengthened the push for more wind and solar -- though some call for technologically neutral decarbonization. Dr. Carlos Batlle, Visiting Scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative, and Jonathan Elkind, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy, conclude.