Energy vs Climate: How climate is changing our energy systems

Energy vs Climate is still on summer hiatus, but we wanted to pop in with a very special recording of an in-person event we hosted at the end of July at Annex Ale Project in Calgary. In the show, we cover some thoughts on the climate news of the summer, answer some live audience questions, and tease some potential future topics we hope to cover on EvC. We had a great time engaging with folks in person so stay tuned for more information about future in-person programming by subscribing to our emails at energyvsclimate.com.  Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

Hi, Sarah here. We're still in a summer break, but we've got an exciting in person, Energy vs Climate meet and greet coming up that we wanted to tell you about.  Subscribers to our emails will receive the details next week. And tickets are limited.  So if you're not signed up for EVC emails, yet head over to energyvsclimate.com and subscribe today. Thanks and hope to see you soon. Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

David, Sara, and Ed are back for the final episode of Season Three, a special ask-us-anything episode dedicated to your audience questions. From nature-based solutions, to environmentally-responsible oil, hydrogen, geothermal, and more, they dig into a wide variety of topics.EPISODE NOTES: @2:27 Accounting Emissions to Consume with Care @3:53 The forests backing California's carbon offsets are burning up @8:20 EvC S1E7 Are Nature-based Solutions a Natural Policy Choice? @9:18 Can we control the CO2 in the atmosphere? Freeman Dyson @7:34 Delta Airlines Carbon Offsets Now Letting Passengers Fly Green @17:17 Oilsands are high-carbon fuel source @22:22 EvC S2E5 Decarbonizing Transportation @24:02 Figure: SPM.7 @25:14 20% of commuters commute <5km by car, 1/3 <10km@26:26 12 tried-and-true ways to reduce cars in cities@38:57 Jean Charest vows to repeal consumer carbon price plan@43:50 How We Survive Podcast@ 44:42 The Salton Sea could produce the world's greenest lithium @46:57 How much of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food? @47:57 The potentials and limitations of tree plantings as a climate solution @50:57 Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

The cement and concrete industry is an essential part of the Canadian and global economies. Concrete, made from cement, is a material that is used in virtually every building construction and infrastructure project across the country and the world. It’s also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Cement and concrete production account for roughly 7% of global emissions annually.On Episode 32 of Energy vs Climate Ed, David, Sara, and guest Dr. Rebecca Dell of the ClimateWorks Foundation examine the most promising technology and process solutions for decarbonizing cement and concrete. They discuss the key opportunities and challenges on the path to doing so, and debate what governments should do to encourage the industry to get on board.EPISODE NOTES: @0:00 Register for EvC's Season Three Finale: Ask Us Anything Episode@2:18 @rebeccawdell, ClimateWorks Foundation@3:19 What's in Concrete: Illustration@16:04 – California Ran on Nearly 100% Clean Energy This Month - BNN Bloomberg@25:25 – LC3 – Limestone Calcined Clay Cement@28:30 – Sustainable Building Materials - Geopolymer Concrete@30:45 – CarbonCure's Sustainable Concrete Solution - Concrete Technology Reducing Carbon Impact@31:21 – Solidia® – Sustainable cement manufacturing and concrete curing technologies@33:10 – Oxygen loss in biosphere 2 - Severinghaus@40:03 – The LEILAC Pilot Plant | Direct Separation Calcinating Technology@42:14 – Investment Tax Credit for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage - Canada.ca@45:46 – Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) (WBCSD)@50:12 – Lehigh Cement and Enbridge Agree to Advance a CO2 storage solution in Alberta@51:10 – Liberal climate plan looks to guarantee a carbon price, no matter who is in power | CBC News@1:03:00 – Low Carbon Fuel SSend us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

Alberta has declared an intention to attract a new sector to the province – cryptocurrency. But the early experience has been rocky and the significant energy demands of the sector is reason for concern. What are the energy and climate impacts of crypto? Should Alberta and Canada chase this 21st century gold rush? And just how much did Ed and David make in their foray into crypto investing?Ed, David, and Sara discuss the energy and climate implications of crypto on this special podcast-only episode of Energy vs Climate.‌EPISODE NOTES‌@1:00 Easy Answers | Annex Ale Project (not sponsored)@ 4:15 How Crypto Became the New Subprime - The New York Times@7:30 Uncensored Crypto@11:25 Understanding relative metal prices and availability: Combining physical and economic perspectives@17:45 Crypto miners see "stranded" natural gas as a novel energy source - Marketplace@21:30 Alberta sets sights on being new frontier for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs | CBC News@22:25 Bitcoin Operations Fly Under the Radar for Alberta Regulators, Emission Reduction Plans - The Energy Mix@23:43 A bitcoin mining power plant secretly set up shop in Alberta. Now it's being forced to shut down | CBC News@25:00  Cryptocurrency Traders Move Into Carbon Markets - WSJ@40:30 How Taiwan's 'civic hackers' helped find a new way to run the country | Technology | The Guardian‌Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

Industrial policy is hot again, back with a new name (mission innovation) and a new target (climate change). Detractors point to past failures and the risk of costly mistakes and argue that governments should avoid picking winners and stick to carbon pricing. Is government-directed innovation a good tool for climate innovation? How can governments do it well? What should they avoid? And what lessons are there for Canada's energy transition?Join David, Sara, Ed, and industrial policy expert Dani Rodrik of Harvard University to discuss government-directed innovation as a tool for decarbonization, on Episode 30 of Energy vs Climate.EPISODE NOTES: @3:15 Dani Rodrik@4:00 Combating Inequality: Rethinking Government's Role@4:34 NDP won’t oppose higher defence spending in exchange for billions on social programs@6:32 A 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use – Analysis - IEA @6:41 Nikos Tsafos thread about EU country commitments to fast track energy transition. @7:40 In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things | The New Yorker and The End of Nature, by Bill McKibben@10:21 Japan discussing Russian oil import ban with U.S. and Europe@16:36 Energy vs Climate: How Solar Became Cheap@20:20 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency@25:29 Remembering “Solyndra” – How Many $570M Green Energy Failures@26:27 TESLA | Department of Energy@31:00 AOSTRA - Oil Sands - Alberta's Energy Heritage@33:44 Tariffs Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

David, Sara and Ed are back March 23rd with a new episode of Energy vs Climate.  Until then, we'd like to share another podcast with you.Smart Prosperity: The Podcast with Eric Campbell offers fresh takes on the current affairs, business, technology and ideas behind the green economy. With a decidedly Canadian twist. The Smart Prosperity episode we’d like to share with you digs into Carbon capture technology and why climate experts are divided over it. Ed was Eric’s guest on the episode, along with Susannah Pierce, President of Shell Canada and Christina Hoicka, Canada Research Chair in Urban Planning for Climate Change at the University of Victoria.   Fans of EvC’s own carbon capture episode with Stanford’s Sally Benson from season 2 will find this episode builds on our discussion. On the whole, Smart Prosperity: The Podcast covers similar topics to us here at Energy vs Climate, while offering a different perspective, one we hope listeners will find interesting and enlightening. Find it and subscribe wherever you listen. Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

The cost of solar power has decreased by a factor of 1,000 over the last fifty years, and by a factor of 10,000 since it was first used to power a satellite in the mid-1950s. According to the International Energy Agency, in some sunny regions solar is now the cheapest energy available – cheaper than coal, gas and wind. What have we learned from solar's multi-decade cost curve decline? How did it benefit from a free flow of ideas, equipment and people across national borders? What lessons can we apply to other forms of climatetech, such as energy storage and carbon capture?David, Sara, Ed, and special guest Greg Nemet break down solar’s trajectory on Episode 29 of Energy vs Climate.Episode Notes: @0:47 - IPCC 6: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability@1:00 - Ukraine War and U.S. Politics Complicate Climate Change Fight@2:15 -  How Solar Energy Became Cheap,  Twitter: @GregNemet@5:56 - There should be no new gas supply contracts with Russia: IEA (cnbc.com)@7:14 - 25. anniversary of the 1973 oil embargo: Energy trends since the first major U.S. energy crisis@15:15 - Inter-technology knowledge spillovers for energy technologies - ScienceDirect@20:00 – Expert Assessments of Future Photovoltaic Technologies@21:00 - The German Feed-in Tariff - futurepolicy.org@32:03 - Evaluating the causes of cost reduction in photovoltaic modules - ScienceDirect@34:50 - U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmark: Q1 2020 (nrel.gov)@40:02 - Canadian Solar – Global@54:34 - Low Carbon Fuel Standard - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics@55:17 - WTO Body Confirms Ontario’s Local Content Rules for Renewables Are Discriminatory (powermag.com)Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

In the past year the number of companies committing to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 has exploded. With the fifty largest companies by value accounting for 28% of global GDP, corporate action is critically important if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. But what does a net zero commitment for a company mean in practice? What distinguishes the good from greenwashing, and can we even tell from the outside? What are the risks and opportunities for a company making a net zero commitment in the first place?Join David, Sara, Ed, and special guest Dr. Gabrielle Walker, Founder and Director of Valence Solutions, as they journey to net zero on Episode 28 of Energy vs Climate.EPISODE NOTES:@1:10 Dr. Gabrielle Walker, @GabrielleWalk3r@4:20 Offshore wind farms could double as electric charging…@6:20 BMW Group significantly increases use of low-carbon steel@6:39 Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Advances Cleaner Industrial Sector@7:00 Biden launches ‘Buy Clean’ task force to boost greener manufacturing@7:11 EU set to race ahead of UK in green steel production@8:03 Volvo's Dump Truck Takes Shape From World's First Green Steel - Bloomberg, Mercedez-Benz to use low-carbon steel@16:11 Microsoft announces it will be carbon negative by 2030 - Stories@16:27 Race To Zero Campaign | UNFCCC@28:00 Energy Transitions Commission | Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050@31:02 Carbon Emissions Factor Into Major Oil Sands Shakeup | Climate Central@33:00 Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter

On Episode 27 of EvC, from gas stoves to hot water heaters and furnaces, what might electrifying the home look like in Alberta and Canada? And should we? Guest Bruce Nilles of Climate Imperative helps David, Sara and Ed break down the future of natural gas in the home. @2:10 ecoENERGY for Renewable Power@2:14 AB Emissions reduction programs@2:37 Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign@3:39 Climate Imperative, @brucenilles@5:07 – Erin O'Toole out | National Post@5:47 – Meat Consumption Pacing Up Climate Change? @16:23 – Residential Indoor Air Quality Guideline, Human Health Risk Assessment for Ambient Nitrogen Dioxide@18:56 – Study: Pollutant Exposures from Natural Gas Cooking Burners@20:48 – NO2 exposure shows causal link with Asthma, Scientists find the climate and health impacts of natural gas stoves are greater than previously thought@28:18 - Effective Kitchen Ventilation for Healthy Zero Net Energy Homes with Natural Gas@32:26 – Berkeley gas hook-up ban appears likely to spread to other California cities@32:13 – America’s Natural Gas Utilities Add One New Customer Every Minute@33:33– California first state to phase out gas-powered lawn equipment Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts ___Energy vs Climate Podcastwww.energyvsclimate.com Contact us at info@energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn | X/Twitter