[Episode #45] – Climate Science Part 3 – Paleoclimate
What can the history of Earth’s climate tell us about its future, and what is the relationship between climate change and the economy?
Jun 14, 2017•17 min•Ep. 45
The Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder
Straight talk about the world’s transition from fossil fuels to renewables with energy expert Chris Nelder
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Episodes
[Episode #44] – Different Strokes
Each state and country has its own unique set of resources and energy transition challenges, so there are different speeds and techniques for each one.
May 31, 2017•21 min•Ep. 44
[Episode #43] – Legal Challenges of PURPA and FERC
What is PURPA and why are utilities trying to change it in their fight against solar? What are the legal issues in around-market reforms?
May 17, 2017•19 min•Ep. 43
[Episode #42] – Can Renewables Power the World?
Is the net energy of renewables high enough to actually power human civilization? Or will low EROIs doom energy transition?
May 03, 2017•21 min•Ep. 42
[Episode #41] – Generator Survival Strategies
Utility Dive editor Gavin Bade explains how independent power producers are using around-market reforms and re-regulation to survive energy transition.
Apr 19, 2017•21 min•Ep. 41
[Episode #40] – Climate Science Part 2 – Taking Planetary Temperatures
This deep dive into ocean science reveals how we take the Earth’s temperature, the truth about the “Climategate” business, and the “Pausebuster” paper.
Apr 05, 2017•18 min•Ep. 40
[Episode #39] – Transition in Australia
How will Australia manage its energy transition, with both the most residential rooftop solar PV per capita, and the second-dirtiest power grid in the world?
Mar 22, 2017•21 min•Ep. 39
[Episode #38] – Getting from Here to There
What are the hard problems and interesting questions on the road to energy transition, and what are their solutions? An astronaut and professor has answers.
Mar 08, 2017•18 min•Ep. 38
[Episode #37] – Corporate Buyers of Renewables
Corporations have emerged as some of the top buyers of renewable electricity, even buying it from wind and solar farms in other states. But why are they doing that when they could just buy grid power? And how do “virtual PPAs” work, anyway? Erin Craig has the answers.
Feb 22, 2017•17 min•Ep. 37
[Episode #36] – Climate Science Part 1 – Climate Change Overview
We discuss the current state of climate science and rebut the arguments of climate change skeptics, and look ahead to what must be done to halt climate change.
Feb 08, 2017•18 min•Ep. 36
[Episode #35] – Green Bonds
What are green bonds, and how can they help mobilize private capital to fund energy transition and climate change mitigation measures? What kinds of things can green bonds be used to fund? What are the various roles for private, corporate, and sovereign issuers? Why does the green bond market need to grow by roughly 10x over the next few years to $1 trillion a year globally, and is there even enough capital out there willing to accept single-digit returns to buy that amount of green bonds? Are g...
Jan 25, 2017•11 min•Ep. 35
[eLab Extra #7] – How NREL Supports Energy Transition
This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) based in Golden, Colorado provides a wide range of research, guidance, and policy support to the whole government stack in the U.S., from the local and city level all the way up to the federal and tribal level. From supporting the rebuild of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to informing policies with things like calculating the Value ...
Jan 18, 2017•32 min
[eLab Extra #6] – Building EV Charging Infrastructure
This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. Should utilities be allowed to own EV charging infrastructure, or should that be reserved for private charging companies? How many Level 3 high-voltage chargers do we need at workplaces and shopping areas? And how do we build charging infrastructure now that won’t become stranded assets if and when we transition to fleets of autonomous vehicles? We interview Jonathan Levy of Vision Rid...
Jan 18, 2017•28 min
[eLab Extra #5] – EVs and More in Austin, TX
This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. Through a variety of programs, Austin Energy, the eighth largest publicly-owned electric utility in the U.S., has led the way to an EV future in Texas, installing the first EV charging infrastructure in the region, offering rebates for installing charging stations and the ability to charge up at 250 charging stations throughout the city for a low flat rate using 100% renewable energy. ...
Jan 18, 2017•29 min
[eLab Extra #4] – Transition in New York and the World
This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. What are some of the ways that New York is building its resilience capacity while executing its Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) energy transition plan, particularly as a response to the damage it suffered in Superstorm Sandy? Is it possible to have a successful energy transition without also securing justice and equity, particularly for the underserved and disadvantaged among us? And...
Jan 18, 2017•27 min
[Episode #34] – Transition in the North Sea and Netherlands
The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative would knit together the power grids of the countries adjacent to the North Sea, and enable a far greater share of renewables—especially offshore wind—on the northern European grid than would be possible otherwise. It would also make it possible to use Norway’s substantial hydro capacity as a giant battery to balance out the variability of wind and solar on the grid. And in the longer term, it could be a key part of a European “supergrid” that wo...
Jan 11, 2017•10 min•Ep. 34
[eLab Extra #3] – Grid Modernization and DERPs
This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. Grid architecture is evolving, with loads becoming increasingly indistinguishable from generators, and local generators and other distributed resources increasingly supplying the services that were always provided by large central generators in the past. Meanwhile, an ever-evolving set of regulations for wholesale market operations is both enabling new market participants and challengi...
Jan 04, 2017•42 min
[eLab Extra #2] – Hawaii’s Energy Transition
This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. How is Hawaii managing one of the most rapid energy transitions in history to variable wind and solar generators, while maintaining a balanced, isolated grid and actually reducing long-term costs? It’s no accident: They have developed a transition roadmap and they are working hard to adopt the latest technology while preserving social equity…not just for grid power, but for electric ve...
Jan 04, 2017•24 min
[eLab Extra #1] – Next Generation Demand Response
This is a special edition of the Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder, recorded in December 2016 at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in Austin, Texas. Can utilities disrupt themselves, or does it take an outside force? How can demand response technologies—including simply informing customers of their electricity usage—help reduce demand peaks on the electricity system and reduce costs for all ratepayers? And what kinds of infrastructure, like Advanced Metering Infrastructure, are needed to enable a ...
Jan 04, 2017•37 min
[Episode #33] – Fracking Follies
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) regularly updates its estimates for how much oil and gas might be recovered in the future, and at what rate. With the application of new technology from year to year, those estimates generally keep going up. But it’s important to remember that they are just estimates — and the devil is always in the details. Our guest in this episode is a career geoscientist who has diligently delved into those devilish details. In his new reports, he finds that EIA...
Dec 28, 2016•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 33
[Episode #32] – Resources and Economy
The notion of “decoupling” energy consumption from economic growth has become vogue in policy circles, but how much evidence is there that it’s really happening? If the energy intensity of our economy is falling, are we sure that it’s becoming more efficient, or might we just be offshoring energy-intensive industries to somewhere else…along with those emissions? If energy reaches a certain percentage of total spending, does it tip an economy into recession? Is there a necessary relationship betw...
Dec 14, 2016•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 32
[Episode #31] – Transition in Ireland
Ireland is one of the most advanced countries in energy transition, getting over a quarter of its electricity from renewables. It also has one of the most ambitious targets—to obtain 40% of its electricity generation from renewables by 2020—and the resources to be more than 100% powered by renewables, given time and technological development. On the flip side, it also has a severe dependence on imported fossil fuels, and relies on some of the dirtiest power plants in the world. In this episode, ...
Nov 30, 2016•1 hr•Ep. 31
[Episode #30] – The Future of Wind
The cost of wind power has been falling steadily again since the 2008 price spike, and newer projects have been coming in at 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, making them very competitive with natural gas fired power and ranking among the very lowest-cost ways to generate electricity. But can wind prices keep falling, or have they bottomed out? A recent report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and other organizations offers some clues. Based on a survey of 163 ...
Nov 16, 2016•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 30
[Episode #29] – Grid Simulation and Wind Potential
What combination of power generators on the U.S. grid produces reliable power at the lowest cost? Or, what’s the most renewable energy that can be deployed at a given grid power cost, and what kind of transmission capacity is needed to support it? How would the U.S. grid be different if it were one, unified grid with more high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission capacity? What’s the most productive design for a wind farm? How might weather and a changing climate affect future electricity ...
Nov 02, 2016•2 hr 5 min•Ep. 29
[Episode #28] – Transition in Cities
It is widely assumed that the ongoing migration of rural peoples to mega-cities all over the world will help reduce humanity’s per-capita energy footprint, while giving people a higher standard of living and accelerating energy transition. But the world is full of old, inefficient cities in desperate need of an eco-makeover, and of experts who understand the principles of “smart urbanization” and who can help identify how to transform a city from brown and dumb to smart and green. What’s the pot...
Oct 19, 2016•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 28
[Episode #27] – Better Grid Modeling
Although it’s clear enough that energy transition is necessary and reasonable, and although we know that transition is mainly happening on the grid at first, there is still much uncertainty about exactly where on the grid different strategies can be tried, how much they can accomplish, and what they’ll cost, relative to the alternatives….not to mention how the rest of the grid will respond as different measures—like storage, demand response, rooftop solar, controlled dispatch, and so on—are impl...
Oct 05, 2016•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 27
[Episode #26] – Geoengineering
As the world continues to struggle with the effects of climate change, energy transition is more important than ever as a key pathway to stopping global warming. But will it be enough? Many serious climate researchers think it won’t be, and urge deliberate attempts to directly alter the Earth’s climate by using a number of technologies, loosely grouped under the heading of geoengineering. But geoengineering has not won much support from the climate and environmental communities, and still strugg...
Sep 12, 2016•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 26
[Episode #25] – The Energy-Water Nexus
Energy and water are inextricably linked: It takes energy to supply water, and it takes water to supply energy. And those processes consume vast amounts of both. Yet we have only really begun to study the energy-water nexus and gather the data that policymakers will need to understand the risk that climate change poses to both power and water. As rainfall and temperatures continue to depart from historical norms, forcing conventional power plants to throttle back or shut down, we may need to inv...
Sep 07, 2016•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 25
[Episode #24] – Starting Over
What if we didn’t have to work around the grid we have today, with all of its inertia and incumbents and inflexibility? If we could start over and design the grid from scratch, what would it look like? And once we understood that, how might it change the way we are going about energy transition now, in order to reach that goal more quickly and directly? If what we really want is a grid that is fair, equitable, reliable, efficient, resilient, sustainable, and which serves our climate and social g...
Aug 24, 2016•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 24
[Episode #23] – Facts and Falsehoods in Energy Transition
Should we tweak our markets to keep nuclear plants alive, or forget about markets and pay for them another way… and do we really need them at all to keep the grid functioning? Is nuclear power really declining because of overzealous environmentalists, or are there other reasons? Is it possible to balance a grid with a high amount of variable renewables and no traditional baseload plants? Is cost-benefit analysis the right way to approach energy transition? How much “decoupling” can we do between...
Aug 10, 2016•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 23
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