Decouple

Dr. Simon Michaux, Associate Professor at Geometallurgy at Geological Survey of Finland, discusses the minimum requirements for a net zero future, as well as the restraints on our renewables going forward. Read academic works by Dr. Michaux: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon-Michaux-2

Just as the political spectrum is divided between left and right, thinking on environmental problem solving is similarly split into two rival camps exemplified by the archetypes of the Wizard and the Prophet. Award winning science writer Charles Mann explores these archetypes as personified by the father of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug and the intellectual godfather of the environmental movement, William Vogt. Crudely put wizards are foremost humanists who eschew limits believing that our growing population and appetites can be accommodated by the wise application of decoupling technology. Prophets are foremost environmentalists who believe that carrying capacity is limited and that humans must remain within natural energy flows or risk ecosystem and civilizational collapse. Understanding the origins of one's opponents ideological beliefs and values goes a long way to depersonalizing a sometimes ugly debate and perhaps finding a small patch of common ground. Prophets who have contributed some impressive advances in natural resource stewardship such as water conservation must wrestle with an ugly history of Malthusian ideas which at their worst have justified horrific campaigns of coercive population control. Despite the success of technofixes that fed billions and averted famines wizards must temper their scientific rationalism with a sociologic understanding of the dark sides of modernization such as enclosures of the commons.

Noah Rettberg, physics lab technician in training and popular Decouple guest, sheds some light on the protests regarding the expansion of the Garzweiler mine into Lützerath and unearths the deeps roots that Germany and lignite share. Germany, with limited bituminous coal and no petroleum to speak of, has always been able to lean on its sizable lignite coal reserves. It has been transformed into anything from synthetic fuels to margarine to autobody.

Nate Hagens, host of the podcast “The Great Simplification,” discusses the implications of fossil fuel/material depletion and the ways that our financial system is accelerating consumption under the shadow of a looming economic correction. Nate argues that classical economics neglects the central role of energy, and he offers a critique of the idea of resource substitution, especially when it comes to liquid hydrocarbons.  Will peak oil rear its head again as we slurp up dwindling oil reserves from source rock via fracing? With energy tightly coupled to GDP what will be the implications of decreasing energy for a society and economy based on exponential growth? Listen to The Great Simplification: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/

Cal Abel, CTO of Signal Power and Light, discusses the engineering behind the sodium-cooled fast reactor Natrium, and argues for their centrality in the U.S. coal to nuclear transition, as their high temperatures could be used for the dual production of electricity and synthetic fuels from the gasification of coal.

Gerrit Bruhaug, based out of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at Rochester University, joins Decouple to talk about the significance of the recent ignition event at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories.

An IAEA panel discussion at COP27 on how nuclear energy intersects with the lives of individuals and a diverse array of nations including Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, the USA and Sweden.  Moderated by: Mark Nelson, Managing Director, Radiant Energy Group  Panelists: Seth Grae - American Nuclear Society - CEO, Lightbridge Corporation Heba Elkomey - International Youth Nuclear Congress - PhD Candidate at Claremit, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority Amanda Mbhele - Women in Nuclear Young Generation - Nuclear Waste Projects Lead, Nuclear Energy Company of South Africa Alfred Mbayoh - International Youth Nuclear Congress - CEO and Founder LEOTech Sierra Leone Ia Aanstoot - Generation Atomic - Berzelius School, Linkoping, Sweden Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu -International Youth Nuclear Congress - PhD Candidate in Nuclear Physics, Ahmadu Bello University

Noah Rettberg, physics lab technician in training and popular Decouple guest, updates us on Germany's return to fossil fuels and discusses a salient topic in the energy transition debate: that of human factors.

Dr. Simon Michaux, Associate Professor at Geometallurgy at Geological Survey of Finland, discusses the challenges of transitioning to clean energy, including the difficulty of communicating massive numbers, the limitations of wind and solar energy, and the need to decarbonize the mining industry. They also explore unconventional solutions and the importance of resource sharing and planning for a sustainable future.

Mark Nelson, managing director of the Radiant Energy Group, digests COP27, whose location in Egypt leads him to reflect on the incredible structure and longevity of the pyramids and what lessons on energy they harbor for the modern observer. Intro and outro music: Overture (Lawrence of Arabia) by Maurice Jarre, performed by Mark Nelson immediately prior to the interview.