The Future of Energy

We are going to focus the next three episodes on the Utility perspective with the theme of “Hug Pylons not Trees” or “This is not your grandparents Grid”. Most of us don’t really care where energy comes from but we do care when it is not available (storms or extreme weather) or the monthly electric bill gets too expensive. But our recent interview with utility expert Stephen Collins from SoCalEdison will shed some light on how complex our electricity grid is becoming with the addition of renewable energy sources. With the goal of reducing emissions and moving towards a net-zero ecosystem, we are introducing a lot of complexity in the lives of our utility providers. Let’s explore more about what is happening behind the electricity meter.https://www.edison.com/clean-energy/pathway-2045 Pathway to 2045

We are going to focus the next three episodes on the Utility perspective with the theme of “Hug Pylons not Trees” or “This is not your grandparents Grid”. Most of us don’t really care where energy comes from but we do care when it is not available (storms or extreme weather) or the monthly electric bill gets too expensive. But our recent interviews with utility experts from SoCalEdison and Colorado Springs Utilities have shed some light on how complex our electricity grid is becoming with the addition of renewable energy sources. With the goal of reducing emissions and moving towards a net-zero ecosystem, we are introducing a lot of complexity in the lives of our utility providers.reference Colorado Springs Utilities https://www.csu.org/

Welcome to episode three of the Future of Energy podcast sponsored by the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition at the University of Southern California. While all of our guests are special, we may have outdone ourselves in this interview. In our episode today and we have a different format where we went on the road and traveled to Denver, Colorado to the headquarters of Liberty Energy to talk to their CEO Chris Wright about the future of oil and gas. Our program sponsor Kyle Koerner is the moderator.Fossil fuels make up over 80% of the energy we use today globally so if there is a meaningful transition, we must develop solutions to replace this traditional, energy-dense, source in the context of rising energy demand. That is a big challenge that Mr. Wright describes. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and at MIT. Chris is passionate about any form of energy that improves human lives.We have so much to talk to Chris Wright about and his responses were so informative that we divided this episode into nine segments, and to add more information we have added some “Did you Know” segments as segues between our conversations. As a spoiler alert and just to name drop, Chris Wright is the new Energy Secretary for the new administration in Washington, so listen closely and take a lot of notes. Just like we did.Check out Bettering Human Lives Foundation https://www.betteringhumanlives.org/ and Flipping the Barrel podcast https://www.youtube.com/@flippingthebarrel

Our second interview in season two focuses on the global policy making process that leads to climate policy. We talk to Arthur Lee who as an industry representative to the IPCC and UNFCCC for several decades helps us to decode all the acronyms and look behind the headlines on how the work to build collaboration between more than a hundred countries and countless other stakeholders unfolds at meeting like the annual COP (Conference of Parties) meetings. IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2007). Mr. Lee was awarded a certificate of recognition by the IPCC for his contributions to the Nobel Peace Prize. Talking to a Nobel Peace Prize winner was a real treat.

We want to welcome everyone to season two of the Future of Energy podcast, sponsored by the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition at the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. We hope you followed us in season one if so welcome back. If you are new to the program we try to cover the vast size and complexity of the energy transition by interviewing experts in a wide array of fields in an informal, conversation format using our student co-host to do most of the interviews. This season we have two new student co-hosts so welcome Milia and Rochan. Our first topic is climate modeling. We frequently hear about the results of those models in terms of average global temperature forecasts but how do climate scientists develop those models? In this episode we talk to Dr. Stephen Koonin from the Hoover Institute at Stanford University and author of the book “UnSettled” and get a look behind the scenes in our episode titled: “All Models are Wrong, but some are Useful: A detailed look at climate models and modeling.”

We are back for a second season of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition podcast! We are joined by two new student co-hosts, Milla and Rochan. Our first episode of season two shares the origin story of the podcast, with important introductions by Dean Yannis Yortos on sustainability and Dr. Don Paul on how the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition got started. We are excited to debut a new name, The Future of Energy, and host some amazing guests, with each episode focused on a critical element of the future of energy. We publish on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple, and we invite you to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and share your thoughts. Special thanks to Kyle Koerner for his generous support of this project.

In our final episode (!!) of Season One of Energy Transition Talk, we look back at how far we’ve come, and look forward to where we hope to go from here. We start by chatting with Dr. Scott Tinker, a geology professor at UT Austin and the State Geologist of Texas. He is also a documentary filmmaker, host of the energy and climate talk show Energy Switch, and host of the radio program Earth Date. We chat about how he got into filmmaking and the importance of media in informing and inspiring the public about energy; the global challenges we face regarding the energy transition and how we can carve a “Radical Middle” path forward; and what inspires him about the future of the energy transition.  We then bring back 3 guests who we’ve had on previous episodes: Dr. Don Paul, engineering professor at USC and Executive Director of the USC Energy Institute (see Episode 3); Dr. Iraj Ershaghi, Director of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) and petroleum engineering professor at USC (see Episode 1), and Michael Edwards, an energy consultant and visionary leader in social change, digital transformation, and the energy transition (see Episode 6). We ask each of them to comment on various aspects of the question: are we ready for the energy transition?  Finally, we end by summarizing Season One of the podcast and reflecting on our key takeaways from all the conversations we’ve had with our amazing guests!   02:16 Interview with Dr. Tinker 28:20 Panel with Dr. Ershaghi and Dr. Paul 52:40 Interview with Michael Edwards 01:11:10 Reflection and Concluding Remarks   Thank you so much for coming along on this journey with us! We hope you enjoyed listening to these conversations and learned a thing or two about the energy transition that you can share with a friend. And we hope that you will continue to stay involved in the energy transition, whatever that looks like for you, because the energy transition is up to you and me. Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review, and let us know what you thought about this episode, as well as any suggestions you have for future seasons of the podcast. Special thanks to all of our amazing guests and as always, to Abhi, our technical guru. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition. For more of Dr. Tinker’s work, check out these resources! Switch Energy Alliance: nonprofit whose vision is to inspire an energy-educated future through film Switch International Energy Case Competition (SIECC)  Documentary films: Switch and Switch On PBS, Energy Switch: The Energy and Climate talk show  Earth Date: Public service radio program  TEDx talk: The Dual Challenge: Energy and Environment (May 9, 2022) Fortune: Reducing energy options doesn’t work. Just ask Europe—and the U.S. states where gas prices are rising (Oct. 18, 2022)  Scientific American: Carbon Pricing Is Not a Fix for Climate Change (Aug. 16, 2019) Forbes: Why “Keep It In The Ground” Is Not Necessarily Green (Aug. 10, 2017)  Talk: An Honest & Sensible Conversation about Global Energy (Nov. 8, 2023) Additional reading:  World Resources Institute, Unpacking COP28: Key Outcomes from the Dubai Climate Talks, and What Comes Next, Dec. 17, 2023.  Reuters, New COP28 draft deal stops short of fossil fuel 'phase out’, Dec. 12, 2023  WSJ, China Files WTO Complaint Against U.S. Over Electric-Vehicle Subsidies, Mar. 26, 2024   NYTimes, U.S. and China on Climate: How the World’s Two Largest Polluters Stack Up, July 19, 2023  Bloomberg, How China Beat Everyone to Be World Leader in Electric Vehicles, July 17, 2023  Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.

In this episode of Energy Transition Talk, we talk about the future of the energy workforce and how we can recruit and prepare the next generation energy workforce for the energy transition.  The International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates that adopting clean energy technologies will create 14 million jobs by 2030. However, many students, concerned about the fossil fuel industry’s role in climate change and its job security risks, are turning away from careers traditionally associated with the fossil fuel industry, like petroleum engineering and mining. This can create a shortage of positions needed for the energy transition. The energy transition will depend on engineers, electricians, plumbers, and mechanics—just to name a few—to build the infrastructure needed for the energy transition (think power lines, heat pumps, and wind turbines). So if you’re thinking about pursuing a career in STEM or energy more broadly – we need you!  How can we manage this critical transition in the energy workforce? To talk about this challenge, Justine chats with Dr. Barbara Ransom, an internationally known geoscientist at the National Science Foundation. They discuss current trends in the energy workforce, the broad range of skills we’ll need for the energy transition, the implications of artificial intelligence (AI), and the challenges and potential solutions to increasing interest in STEM and green jobs.  Jim then speaks with Abhinav Vishal, a petroleum engineering student at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in India, about the role that petroleum engineering can play in the energy transition.  02:33 Interview with Dr. Ransom 37:51 Interview with Abhinav Vishal  53:57 Concluding Remarks  Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review, and let us know what you thought about this episode! Special thanks to our guests for today and Abhi, our technical guru, for his behind-the-scenes contributions to our podcast. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition.  Referenced in the podcast and additional resources:  Wall Street Journal, Big Oil’s Talent Crisis: High Salaries Are No Longer Enough, August 6, 2023  New Yorker, The Great Electrician Shortage, Apr. 24, 2023 IEA, The reskilling challenge: How can we leave no one behind in the energy transition?, Apr. 26, 2023 McKinsey, Toward a more orderly US energy transition: Six key action areas, Jan. 12, 2023 Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S., and makes up about a quarter of all energy-related GHG emissions in the world. Thus, we have ambitious goals when it comes to transportation, such as California’s commitment to transition fully to electric vehicle sales by 2035. The U.S. bought over 1 million EVs through the end of 2023, which made almost 8% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. and 20% of auto sales in California. Globally, 9.5 million EVs were sold in 2023, a 31% increase from the prior year. But is this progress fast enough?  In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Beia Spiller—Transportation Program Director at Resources for the Future (RFF), a nonprofit that conducts economic and policy research on topics including energy and transportation—about the current state and the future of electric transportation, the related equity and environmental justice challenges we face, and how we can rethink mobility. We then chat with Chris Merola, a film student at USC, and Beth Prakash, a new EV owner in the Bay Area (who is also a presentation designer, check out her website here!), to hear about their experiences driving an EV. You don’t want to miss these conversations!  02:36 Interview with Dr. Spiller 33:35 Interview with Chris Merola 46:43 Interview with Beth Prakash 1:00:06 Concluding Remarks If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review. Special thanks to our guests for today and Abhi, our technical guru, for their important contributions to today’s episode. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition.   Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.  Referenced in this episode and additional resources:   NY Times: Guide to electric vehicle tax credits  NY Times, Feb. 17, 2024: The Biden Administration intends to relax limits on tailpipe emissions designed to fuel the switch to electric vehicles  Career Opportunities at Resources for the Future (RFF)  Green Business Impact Podcast with Beia Spiller: Electrifying Fleets: Challenges, Opportunities, and Why Transformation MUST Happen, June 8, 2023  Beia Spiller and Suzanne Russo, A Tale of Two Highway Plans: a planned renovation of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in New York City raises the opportunity to consider community input and environmental justice.  RFF Radio: Sensing Air Pollution Exposure in New York City Schools, with Beia Spiller, July 12, 2022 RFF Report: Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Electrification: Challenges, Policy Solutions, and Open Research Questions, May 3, 2023  RFF Report: Policy Challenges for Accessing Critical Minerals to Electrify Vehicle Transport  LA Times, California EV sales are falling. Is it just temporary, or a threat to state climate goals?, Feb. 15, 2024   Reuters, Global electric car sales rose 31% in 2023, Jan. 10, 2024 Cox Automotive, A Record 1.2 Million EVs Were Sold in the U.S. in 2023, Jan. 9, 2024 White House Blog, Full Charge: The Economics of Building a National EV Charging Network, Dec. 11, 2023   McKinsey, The real global EV buzz comes on two wheels, August 17, 2023  EPA, Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions UNEP, Transport Elizabeth Prakash Official Website - http://elizabethprakashdesignstudio.com

Much of the talk around renewable energy seems to be focused on wind and solar. But there are other renewable sources that may be worth paying attention to. In this episode, we discuss the potential for hydrogen to be another tool in transitioning away from fossil fuels. Hydrogen has been around for awhile, but as an energy source, could it be experiencing a revival? The Biden administration seems to think it could be promising; it announced in October 2023 that it will award up to $7 billion to fund 7 regional “hydrogen hubs” across the U.S. to spur the production of hydrogen as a clean energy source.  In this episode, Paulina first chats with Yeshvi Tomar, a student and fuel cell researcher at USC, who explains the basics of hydrogen as an energy source and its benefits and limitations. Justine and Jim then speak with Dr. Christine Economides, a professor at the University of Houston, who dives deeper into the difference between gray, blue, and green hydrogen, the applications of hydrogen, and the potential to scale up the role of hydrogen as an energy source.  02:23 Interview with Yeshvi Tomar  22:34 Interview with Dr. Economides 55:51 Concluding Remarks  Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review. Special thanks to our guests for today and Abhi, our technical guru, for their important contributions to today’s episode. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition.   Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.  Referenced in this episode and additional resources:  University of Houston Webinar: Fueling Houston with Hydrogen - The Switch Is On, September 29, 2023: As combustion of gasoline and diesel in the transportation energy sector account for 27% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there is an urgency to find clean and affordable fuel alternatives on the road to a more sustainable future. Research has identified hydrogen as a viable fuel source that could emerge as a premier energy source of the future. This discussion centers on how the cost of providing hydrogen refueling in the Houston area would compare with current fuel prices.   EIA, Hydrogen Explained: Use of Hydrogen  FuelCellsWorks, History of Fuel Cells  U.S. National Archives, Beyond the Hindenburg: Airships Throughout History NY Times, The hope and hype of hydrogen, Oct. 17, 2023  CNBC, These seven U.S. regions will receive $7 billion in federal funding to produce hydrogen, Oct. 13, 2023 USGS, The Potential for Geologic Hydrogen for Next-Generation Energy, Apr. 13, 2023