Energy Policy Now

Nobel Laureate Daniel Kammen, head of U.C. Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, discusses efforts to build clean energy solutions that meet the social and developmental needs of the communities they serve.---Discussions around today’s clean energy transition tend to focus on technological challenges, and the costs and climate benefits of renewable energy. Yet the social and cultural implications of a transition to clean energy are often overlooked.Nobel Prize laureate Daniel Kammen talks about his research into the ways that the adoption of clean energy may impact society and, by extension, guide political discourse. He also discusses how taking into account social, economic and developmental realities could accelerate the move away from fossil fuels, and speed electrification in some of the poorest regions of the globe.Daniel Kammen is Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also Director of Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, and a former Science Envoy for the U.S. State Department.  Related ContentMongolian Energy Futures: Challenges of Radical Energy Sector Decarbonization  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/mongolian-energy-futures-repowering-ulaanbaatar Robust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-markets Energy Transition Challenges for the 2020s  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/energy-transition-challenges-2020s See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The author of the first text book on carbon capture looks at the potential for negative emissions technologies to limit global warming, and discusses the challenge to scaling solutions for positive climate impact.---Negative emissions technologies are a key part of the strategy to keep global warming within the 2 degree Celsius limit set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. In fact, its projected that we’ll need to remove dramatic quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year to keep within the Paris goal. Yet today negative emissions hardly exists in any practical sense, and major barriers to growth lie ahead in the form of high costs, environmental impacts and political support.Jennifer Wilcox, professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and author of the very first text book on carbon capture, talks about the challenge of scaling negative emissions technologies to the point at which they can meaningfully limit carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere. Along the way, she looks at how the challenge of scaling negative emissions recalls early barriers to growing the wind and solar industries, and at recent efforts to speed the deployment of negative emissions technologies including direct air capture.Jennifer Wilcox is professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is a member of committees at the National Academies of Sciences and the American Physical Society charged with assessing carbon capture methods, their costs, and their climate impacts.Related Content Exploring a Tool to Curb Climate Change: Direct Air Capture https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2020/02/19/exploring-tool-curb-climate-change-direct-air-capture What’s Behind Poland’s Opposition to EU Climate Neutrality Agreement https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/12/13/whats-behind-polands-opposition-eu-climate-neutrality-agreement Robust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsPreparing PGW for a Low-Carbon Future https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/preparing-pgw-low-carbon-futureBetting on Climate Solutions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/betting-climate-solutionsA Hard Look at Negative Emissions (Podcast) https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/hard-look-negative-emissionsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What key developments are likely to mark the energy industry in the decade of the 2020s? Two experts in energy politics and economics offer their views of the future.---In looking back on history we often tend mark time by the decade. In the world of energy, the decade of 1970s is remembered as an era of oil crises and concern that the world’s energy supply was running out. More recently, the decade of the 2010s stands out for the emergence of shale oil and gas, and the growing adoption of renewables.And now, as we embark upon a new decade, it’s time to consider what key developments in energy the 2020s might bring.Two experts in the history of energy technology and politics offer their views on key energy trends that are likely to emerge in the decade ahead. The pair takes a particularly close look at how renewable energy might develop in the 2020s, and barriers to growth to watch out for.Johannes Urpelainen is professor of Energy, Resources and Environment in the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Michael Aklin is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. The two have launched a research program, the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy, to promote sustainable energy in emerging economies.Related ContentRobust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-marketsWhither the Regulatory War on Coal? Scapegoats, Saviors, and Stock Market Reactions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/working-paper-whither-regulatory-war-coalHow the Democratic-Republican Climate Rift Became Political Reality https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/how-democratic-republican-climate-rift-became-political-reality 200 Years of Energy History in 30 Minutes https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/200-years-energy-history-30-minutesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last June the largest oil refinery on the East Coast of the United States blew up. In the disaster’s wake, can the city of Philadelphia and its residents transition to a cleaner, more financially sound future? ---On June 21, 2019 the largest oil refinery on the East Coast exploded. The blast released thousands of pounds of toxic hydrogen fluoride gas into the surrounding Philadelphia air, and launched bus-sized debris across the neighboring Schuylkill River. Through sheer luck, the dissipating effect of winds on toxic gasses, and thanks to the clear headed emergency action of refinery operators, no one was seriously injured in the moments following the blast.Yet many in this city point out that the refinery leaves behind a legacy of health impacts, including elevated asthma rates in the densely populated neighborhoods that surround the site. The refinery also leaves a vast patch of urban landscape that is so toxic that it’s doubtful that it can ever be used for residential development.In the months following the explosion, the city, its residents, and business interests jockeyed over the site’s fate. Proposals were floated to repurpose the site as a logistics hub, return it to its natural state as a tidal marshland, and even to repair and reopen the damaged refinery itself. Yet, the decision on what to do with the site would ultimately be made within the walls of a Delaware bankruptcy court, where the priorities of the refinery’s creditors would take precedence.On January 22 the waiting came to an end. The court announced that a Chicago-based real-estate company had agreed to purchase the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery for $240 million dollars. The buyer has not yet announced a detailed vision for the site, but has a history of redeveloping industrial locations for less-polluting uses. Yet the auction’s losing bidders aren’t looking to go quietly, and there may be more drama to come.Dr. Mark Alan Hughes, director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and former founding sustainability manager for the city of Philadelphia, talks about the sale of Philadelphia Energy Solutions and what the future may hold for the city of Philadelphia.Related ContentBeyond Bankruptcy: The Outlook for Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Refinery https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/beyond-bankruptcyThis Energy Transition is Different. Here’s Why https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/12/05/energy-transition-different-heres-whySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2020 will be a crucial year for the Paris Agreement. An architect of the climate process considers the implications of the U.S. presidential election, and what might be accomplished in the months ahead. ---In November of this year the 195 countries that are part of the Paris climate process will hold their annual summit in Glasgow, Scotland. At the talks, countries are expected to announce more aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets in response to recent reports from the UN and others that highlight both the dangers of a warming climate, and the inadequacy of current efforts to keep warming to a minimum.Yet concern is growing over whether the vital goals of the Glasgow conference can be met.  Recently, at the COP25 summit in Madrid in December, countries remained far apart on key rules to guide implementation of the Paris Agreement going forward. What’s more, 2020 could prove to be a year of climate limbo, as the world awaits the outcome of the U.S. presidential election that will likely determine whether the U.S. returns to the Paris process and resumes a leadership role.Andrew Light, an architect of the U.S. involvement in the Paris Climate Agreement, talks about the current status of the Paris climate process, and what we might expect as 2020 unfolds. Andrew Light is a Distinguished Senior Fellow in the Global Climate Program at the World Resources Institute, and University Professor at George Mason University. He formerly served with the U.S. State Department, where he was a member of the senior strategy team for UN Climate Negotiations and U.S. participation in the Paris Accord.Related ContentChanging Tides: Public Attitudes on Climate Change and Climate Migration. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/changing-tides Robust Carbon Markets: Rethinking Quantities and Prices in Carbon Pricing. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/robust-carbon-markets Rethinking Global Emissions Tradinghttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/rethinking-global-emissions-trading  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As climate-related disasters become more severe and frequent, insurers and governments face an economic black hole.---The insurance industry specializes in understanding the nature of risk, and in estimating the likelihood, and cost, of future damages that can result. A major challenge for the insurance industry is to understand how climate change alters the likelihood of future natural disasters, from floods to wildfires, and how to accurately reflect these risks in the premiums it charges to consumers and businesses. Carolyn Kousky, executive director of the Wharton Risk Center, takes a look at insurers’ struggle to manage natural disasters of unprecedented scale, the challenge of communicating climate risk, and how climate risk is being felt in the energy industry.Carolyn Kousky is executive director of the Wharton Risk Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on disaster insurance markets and policy responses to changes in extreme events arising from climate change. Related ContentChanging Tides: Public Attitudes on Climate Change and Climate Migration https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/changing-tides Does Attribution Science Give Climate Litigators a Smoking Gun? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/does-attribution-science-give-climate-litigators-smoking-gunSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Power of Siberia gas pipeline brings Russia and China closer together, and reveals a new power dynamic between the two countries.---In early December China received its first delivery of Russian natural gas through the Power of Siberia pipeline. The new pipeline crosses 1800 miles of Siberian wilderness from the Arctic to the Chinese border, and is vitally important to both countries. For Russia, the pipeline will be a source of much needed foreign revenue, and a counter to US and European economic sanctions that followed its annexation of Crimea in 2014. China, for its part, gains a new alternative to imports of liquefied natural gas, and improved energy security.Beyond Power of Siberia’s energy and economic benefits, much has been made its political implications. The pipeline is the latest example of deepening ties between China and Russia at a time when both countries have been at odds with another key player in the global energy market, the United States.Kleinman Center Senior Fellows Anna Mikulska and Bill Hederman take a look at what Power of Siberia may reveal about a shift in the global energy market, and the geopolitical influence of key players in that market.Anna Mikulska is a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a nonresident fellow in energy studies at the Rice University’s Baker Institute. Bill Hederman is a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center, and a former senior advisor within the U.S. Department of Energy.Related Content Nord Stream 2: Energy Security for Europe or Prelude to Russian Aggression in the Baltic? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/09/04/nord-stream-2-energy-security-europe-or-prelude-russian-aggression-balticSaudi Aramco: A Big Bet on Oil https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/12/18/saudi-aramco-big-bet-big-oil See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The airline industry has a plan to limit its carbon footprint. Will it deliver?---The global air travel industry is growing rapidly, with the number of airline passengers projected to double in less than 20 years. Yet strong growth may not be entirely good news for the industry, which has come under scrutiny for its outsized carbon footprint in an age when concern over climate change is on the rise.An expert on airline emissions looks at the uniquely difficult challenge airlines face in reducing greenhouse emissions even as ridership grows, and at whether an industry plan to hold emissions in check will in fact deliver. Guest Andrew Murphy, aviation manager at Brussels-based Transport and Environment, also explores the role air travel may play in helping or hindering countries in their efforts to fulfill national and international climate commitments, including those under the Paris Climate Accord.Andrew Murphy is manager for aviation at Transport and Environment, an organization in Brussels, Belgium that works alongside industry and governments to reduce transportation emissions.Related Content Climate Change and Financial Risks https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/climate-change-and-financial-risksBye-Bye Bus: Ride Hail in Philadelphia https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/bye-bye-busRethinking Global Emissions Trading https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/rethinking-global-emissions-tradingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Environmental Defense Fund's chief economist discusses a plan that leverages international cooperation to achieve ambitious, and durable greenhouse emissions reductions under the Paris climate framework.---The first global climate pact, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, created the foundation for global emissions trading by allowing developed countries to purchase carbon offsets from areas of the globe where the cost of reducing greenhouse emissions was lowest.  Yet emissions trading under the Kyoto framework was far from perfect.Too many projects failed to deliver carbon reductions beyond what would have happened anyway. And even where climate benefits were real, projects often weren’t built to last and deliver ongoing reductions on the scale needed to address the long-term challenge of climate change.Suzi Kerr, chief economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, discusses a new framework for global emissions trading under the Paris Climate Accord, intended to incentivize ambitious and sustained emissions reductions. The plan, called Climate Teams, creates small groups of countries that are economically committed to each other and to creating financial and technological conditions needed to address climate change over the long term.Suzi Kerr is chief economist with the Environmental Defense Fund in New York. Her work focuses on domestic and international climate change policy. Related ContentBetting on Climate Solutions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/betting-climate-solutionsWhy Carbon Pricing Falls Short, and What to Do About it https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/why-carbon-pricing-falls-short  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Puerto Rico’s electric system was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Will privatization of the island’s electric utility ensure reliable and affordable energy for the future? ---In 2017 Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s electric grid, cutting off power to the island’s residents, some of whom remained without electricity for nearly a year. The island’s publicly owned power utility, PREPA, is now for sale, and it’s hoped that privatization will deliver an electric grid better prepared to endure future tropical storms, and to deliver power that Puerto Ricans can afford.David Skeel, member of Puerto Rico’s congressionally mandated Financial Oversight and Management Board tasked with guiding the recovery of Puerto Rico’s bankrupt economy, talks about PREPA’s controversial privatization plan and the challenge of overcoming years of mismanagement and corruption that have dogged the utility.David Skeel is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a member of Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board.Related ContentClimate Change and Financial Risks https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/climate-change-and-financial-risksPower Over the Twenty-First Century Electric Grid https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/power-over-twenty-first-century-electric-gridSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.