In this episode, Andy Frank, president and co-founder of Sealed, discusses his company’s pay-for-performance model for home electrification. ( PDF transcript ) ( Active transcript ) Text transcript: David Roberts One of the greatest riddles of the decarbonization effort is the residential sector, responsible for about 20 percent of US energy-related carbon emissions. There are about 142 million housing units in the US, around 83 million of which are “owner-occupied.” Substantially changing them ...
May 09, 2022•1 hr
In this episode, UC Davis assistant professor Fran Moore discusses her research team’s effort to construct a climate model that includes (instead of ignores) effects from the interplay of social conditions and policy change. ( PDF transcript ) ( Active transcript ) Text transcript: David Roberts One of my long-time gripes about the climate-economic models that outfits like the IPCC produce is that they ignore politics. More broadly, they ignore social change and the way it can both drive and be ...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 2 min
In this episode, Nan Ransohoff, head of carbon at Stripe, discusses the company's new spinoff, Frontier, which will pool money from partners and make it available to early contenders in the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market. We chat about that market, the technologies that show promise in it, in the role of private industry in accelerating it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe...
Apr 29, 2022•43 min
In this episode, Google’s director of energy, Michael Terrell, explains the company's new goal of supplying all of its facilities with clean energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We discuss how its going, what kinds of new technologies will be needed, and what new policies could help move things along. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe...
Apr 27, 2022•52 min
In this episode, I discussed swappable, rechargeable batteries in two-wheeled electric scooters with Horace Luke, the CEO of Gogoro. Luke’s company is selling subscriptions to batteries in bustling emerging-market cities like Taiwan. We talked about consumer requirements for swappable batteries, the other kinds of technologies that might use them, and his plans for expansion. Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Horace Luke, April 22, 2022 ( PDF version ) David Roberts: Electric vehicles a...
Apr 22, 2022•1 hr 5 min
For years now, I’ve been dithering about getting an electric vehicle (EV). Much of that dithering has been done in public, on Twitter and for various sites I’ve worked for — just a few weeks ago I subjected you to my handwringing about an EV test drive — so I figured I might as well document how the journey finally ended. Long story short, we bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt. That is about the least sexy sentence one can write about EVs in the year of our lord 2022, but there you have it. We though...
Apr 18, 2022•6 min
In this episode, sociologist Elizabeth Popp Berman discusses her new book, Thinking Like an Economist , about the “economic style of thinking” and how it took over in US policy circles in the post-war period. It remains embedded there to this day, but alternatives are beginning to emerge. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 3 min
In this episode, Carnegie Mellon professor Paulina Jaramillo discusses the IPCC's working group 3 report, “mitigation of climate change,” of which she was a co-author. It's the most comprehensive look to date at the economic sectors that emit greenhouse gases, the strategies and technologies that can reduce emissions, and the state of play in climate policy around the world. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, ...
Apr 13, 2022
Earlier this year, I stumbled on the news videos from the team at Some More News . They are like The Daily Show , but longer, smarter, more in-depth, more profane, and free of Jon Stewart’s unfortunate navel-gazing centrism. But still funny as hell! In other words: they might as well be targeted directly at me. I’ve been gorging on them for months. (You could start with this one on critical race theory .) Anyway, imagine my delight when I discovered that Some More News also has a podcast, Even M...
Apr 11, 2022•57 min
Economist Noah Smith runs the excellent substack Noahpinion , where he writes and podcasts about … pretty much everything. Economics. Politics. The war. Housing. Technology. On and on. The guy is ludicrously productive. This week, he interviewed me! We talked about the new IPCC reports, the state of technology, some dumb tweets of mine, and NIMBYs, among other things. It was a fun and wide-ranging conversation. Check it out! (And subscribe to Noahpinion .) The video is below. The audio is posted...
Apr 08, 2022•1 hr 17 min
In this episode, activists Matthew Metz and Janelle London discuss their new report on gasoline “superusers” — the subset of drivers who drive long distances each year — and the policy recommendations around EV subsidies that it contains. It's a clever idea I haven't been able to stop thinking about. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe...
Apr 04, 2022•33 min
In this episode, activists and entrepreneurs Audrey Schulman and Zeyneb Magavi discuss their audacious plan to replace the nation's natural gas distribution infrastructure with a series of networked geothermal heat pumps. Basically, neighborhoods would be heated by warm water rather than natural gas. It would be the most efficient collective heating option available in the world. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, ...
Apr 01, 2022•1 hr 6 min
In this episode, entrepreneur Rob Harmon discusses his new method for tracking and monetizing energy efficiency in commercial buildings. Traditionally, efficiency policy has consisted in subsidizing equipment up front. Harmon explains how to get reliable numbers about actual performance and begin to build a market around them. Surprisingly fascinating. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 15 min
(Hey y’all — I’m attempting to dictate this post rather than type it , so please forgive any sins of grammar or structure.) My family and I own two extremely old cars, a 2001 Honda Odyssey minivan and a 2009 Toyota Prius hybrid. The van is literally falling apart, so we have been looking around lately for a new vehicle. Obviously, we would prefer an EV. A representative from Ford saw me musing about it on Twitter, contacted me, and offered to loan me a Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle for a ...
Mar 14, 2022•9 min
Hey, y’all, just a short note to catch you up on my current situation and my plans for the coming weeks. Long story short: I have tendonitis in both arms. I’ve had problems with pain in my forearms for years, but it always faded or went away after a while and was manageable. A few months after quarantine started, in 2020, it started getting worse, to the point I had to give up playing bass guitar — my one non-computer hobby. Then, a few months ago, it started getting a lot worse, quickly. I have...
Feb 18, 2022
In this episode, Gerald Butts and Catherine McKenna discuss their experiences passing a carbon tax in Canada, as advisor to prime minister Justin Trudeau and minister of the environment respectively. In particular, we focus on a key feature of the Canadian tax: all the revenue collected goes back to the province from which it was collected, mostly as per-capita dividends. Butts and McKenna believe that feature was central to selling the public on the policy. Full transcript of Volts podcast feat...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 5 min
In this episode, Rebecca Dell, who runs the industry program at the ClimateWorks Foundation, offers a comprehensive overview of the problems of industrial decarbonization, the most promising technological solutions in steel, cement, and chemicals, and the kinds of policies that could accelerate progress. Incredibly informative. Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Rebecca Dell, February 11, 2022 ( PDF version ) David Roberts: For most of the carbon-intensive sectors of the economy — electr...
Feb 11, 2022•1 hr 32 min
In a previous post , I offered a broad overview of the problems related to minerals needed for the clean-energy transition. To recap: * clean-energy technologies are more minerals-intensive to build than their fossil-fuel counterparts; * the growth of clean energy will rapidly raise demand for a set of key minerals; * mining and processing of those minerals is geographically concentrated, often in countries with weak labor and environmental protections; * mineral mines and processing facilities ...
Feb 07, 2022•19 min
In this episode, Jigar Shah, the recently appointed head of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), discusses how he and his team have reformed the office and pulled into into the modern age, the kinds of help LPO is offering entrepreneurs, and the frontier technologies that have him most excited. Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Jigar Shah, February 2, 2022 ( PDF version ) David Roberts: Back in 2010, the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) briefly became ...
Feb 02, 2022•50 min
In this episode, Panama Bartholomy, head of the Building Decarbonization Coalition, discusses the need to decarbonize buildings, the many challenges facing the effort, and the cities and states that are making progress. You better believe we get way into heat pumps and induction stoves. Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Panama Bartholomy, January 28, 2022 ( PDF version ) David Roberts: Fossil-fuel combustion in buildings — mostly natural gas for space and water heating — is responsible ...
Jan 28, 2022•1 hr 22 min
Arguments over carbon taxes go back as far as discussions of climate change itself. Economists have long insisted that pricing carbon is the most efficient way to reduce greenhouse gases. For years, they hijacked the climate discourse, with untold money and effort put behind proposals for various increasingly baroque pricing schemes, to very little effect. Over time, political experience with carbon taxes has highlighted a truth that should have been obvious long ago: carbon taxes are taxes, and...
Jan 24, 2022•16 min
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk in the energy world about the minerals needed by clean-energy technologies and whether mineral supply problems might pose a threat to the clean-energy transition. To hold warming beneath 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels, the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. To do that, it must radically ramp up production of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), electrolyzers for hydrogen, and power...
Jan 21, 2022•20 min
Hey Volties! As you know, last week I interviewed Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay for the podcast. Then the talented folks at Canary Media’s Carbon Copy podcast (which you should subscribe to) interviewed me — about the movie, climate change in art, and McKay — and interweaved bits of that interview with bits of my interview with McKay. The result is the first-ever Volts/Carbon Copy crossover episode! They did an amazing job. Even if you’ve already listened to my interview with McKay, I think ...
Jan 20, 2022•33 min
In this episode, international scholars Jason Bordoff and Meghan O’Sullivan discuss the geopolitical tensions that could be caused or exacerbated by the clean-energy transition, including supply constrictions in oil and gas and the geographical concentration of key clean-energy minerals. This episode is a great antidote to the notion that clean energy is going to make for smooth sailing in geopolitics. Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Jason Bordoff and Meghan O’Sullivan, January 19, 20...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 5 min
In this episode, writer and director Adam McKay reflects on the critical and audience reaction to his movie Don’t Look Up . We also talk about making an emotional connection to climate change, some of the other climate-related projects he’s working on (or at least thinking about), and why he ended the movie the way he did. Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Adam McKay, January 12, 2022 ( PDF version ) David Roberts: The film Don’t Look Up , available on Netflix as of late last month, has...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 25 min
My last substantial post of last year was a summary of where things stand with Congress and climate . I ended by reiterating my confidence that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who has been such an impediment throughout the process, would find his way to supporting some form of the Build Back Better Act, the Democrats’ last and only hope of taking substantial action on climate change. Mere days later, Manchin threw up his hands and said, “I can’t get there — this is a No on this legislation.” So much fo...
Jan 07, 2022•9 min
In this episode, messaging expert Anat Shenker-Osorio — a researcher, campaigner, author, and speaker — discusses the elements of an effective message, what’s required to spread messages, and the right way to test whether they’re working. We also get into the best way to craft climate messages and the current debate over “popularism.” Full transcript of Volts podcast featuring Anat Shenker-Osorio, December 20, 2021 ( PDF version ) David Roberts: People involved with politics are obsessed with me...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 24 min
The year is coming to a close, which means us bloggers are obliged to do a year-end post, looking back on the year’s events and looking ahead to what’s next. I’ll be honest, I had second thoughts about whether to publish this post at all — my outlook is pretty gloomy and I don’t want to be a spreader of gloom — but I figure you pay me for the straight scoop. So here it is. The broad story is that, as bad as it sometimes felt going through it, we are coming to the end of the most productive year ...
Dec 17, 2021•17 min
One of the most devilish aspects of climate change is that it resists good art. But Adam McKay, director first of comedies like Anchorman and later of more serious fare like The Big Short, has cracked the code. Don’t Look Up (in theaters today; coming to Netflix on Dec. 24) is the first climate movie — the first work of art about climate change of any kind — to hold my rapt attention from start to finish. It is fantastic. One reason it’s so good is that it isn’t really about climate change at al...
Dec 10, 2021•12 min
On Dec. 7, 2020, one year ago, I sent out the first Volts post . At the time, I was extremely nervous. I had left behind a stable job at Vox and had no idea if a newsletter dedicated to clean energy and politics would find any readers, much less readers who would pay. Over the last year I dug into carbon markets , transmission systems , lithium-ion batteries , and 24/7 carbon-free energy . I profiled new clean-energy legislation in Washington state, Colorado , and Illinois . There was a little p...
Dec 07, 2021•7 min
