Energy Policy Now

A national network of CO2 and biomass transportation infrastructure, spanning pipelines to rail routes, will be needed to support the permanent removal of atmospheric CO2. Can the network be economically built? --- In December the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory published Roads to Removal: Options for Carbon Dioxide Removal in the United States, which explores pathways to permanently remove carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere. The report provides a granular, county-by-county look at the potential for atmospheric carbon to be captured and stored across the U.S., and highlights the fact that the best places for carbon to be captured, and stored, are frequently not the same. On the podcast, two report authors explore the need to develop a nationwide, multi-modal transportation network to move carbon dioxide and a related climate commodity, biomass, at scale, and potentially over great distances, to permanent geologic storage sites. Pete Psarras is a research assistant professor in chemical and biomedical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Hélène Pilorgé is a research associate whose work focuses on carbon management. The two explore the geography of carbon removal and storage, the challenging logistics of a future, multi-modal carbon transportation network, and how that network might be most economically built. Pete Psarras is a research assistant professor in chemical and biomedical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a researcher with the University of Pennsylvania’s Clean Energy Conversions Laboratory. Hélène Pilorgé is a research associate with the University of Pennsylvania’s Clean Energy Conversions Laboratory. Related Content A New Era of Policy in Solar Geoengineering https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/a-new-era-of-policy-in-solar-geoengineering/ Ammonia's Role in a Net-Zero Hydrogen Economy https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/ammonias-role-in-a-net-zero-hydrogen-economy/ Why the IRA's Carbon Capture Tax Credit Could Increase Greenhouse Emissions (Podcast) https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/why-the-iras-carbon-capture-tax-credit-could-increase-greenhouse-emissions/   Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cary Coglianese, director of the Penn Program on Regulation, discusses AI’s potential in optimizing energy regulation and measuring its effectiveness. Topics include managing a complex energy grid, challenges of regulating distributed energy sources, AI in forecasting energy demand and detecting methane leaks, and assessing regulation and algorithm transparency. The podcast also explores the balance between AI's energy consumption and renewable energy development.

Ari Peskoe, from Harvard Law School, dives into FERC's pending transmission reforms, discussing the need for expanded infrastructure, challenges in current planning systems, and legal hurdles expected. Topics include the impact of transmission regulations on clean energy growth, concerns around cost distribution, and the role of state involvement in planning amidst political debates. The podcast explores the complexities of utility decision-making, the importance of stakeholder diversity, and the need for flexibility in reform while addressing legal vulnerabilities and proposals for connectivity improvements in transmission infrastructure.

New research raises doubt around the climate benefits of the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture and storage for fossil fuel powerplants. --- The Inflation Reduction Act earmarks billions of dollars of incentives for carbon capture and storage from coal and gas-fired powerplants. Ideally, the incentive will provide a path for fossil generators to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as the electric grid transitions to cleaner resources and to net zero. Yet recent research calls into question the climate impact of the IRA’s carbon capture tax credit, known as 45Q. The report, co-authored by a former deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Carbon Management, finds that 45Q could lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions by incentivizing coal and gas generators to extend their working lives and maximize their output. The result could be billions of dollars of taxpayer money spent with no climate benefit. Emily Grubert, report co-author and now an associate professor of sustainable energy policy at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, examines the costs and climate impacts of carbon capture and storage under the IRA. Grubert explains how the 45Q tax credit could lead to unintended climate impacts. She also discusses the need for robust review of proposed carbon capture projects, and strong regulatory guardrails, if 45Q and CCS are to deliver climate benefits. Emily Grubert is an associate professor of sustainable energy policy at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, and former deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Carbon Management at the U.S. Department of Energy. Related Content Are Those Who Most Benefit from the IRA Aware It Exists?  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/research-projects/are-those-who-most-benefit-from-the-ira-aware-it-exists-guidance-for-stakeholders-and-policymakers/ What Impact Will the IRA Have on Consumer Energy Costs? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/what-impact-will-the-ira-have-on-consumer-energy-costs/ Agricultural Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act and Beyond https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/news-insights/agricultural-provisions-of-the-inflation-reduction-act-and-beyond/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The podcast discusses the importance of communication and coordination between energy policymakers and grid operators. It highlights the challenges of maintaining grid reliability during the energy transition and the need for deliberate planning. The chapter explores the challenges of aligning clean energy policy with grid reliability, emphasizing the importance of sufficient capacity and reliable operation. It also discusses New York's approach to clean resources and the potential impact of EPA's proposed greenhouse gas rules on grid reliability. Lastly, it emphasizes the coordination between policymakers and grid operators for a reliable transition.

Brazilian economist and IPCC lead author Roberto Schaeffer examines what constitutes a “fair share” of emissions reductions under the Paris climate process, and how fairness is defined. -- This December, at COP 28 in Dubai, countries will consider the results of the first “global stocktake,” which is a global report card that compares real climate commitments and actions with the level that’s in fact needed to achieve global net zero and avoid the worst of climate outcomes. Following COP, countries will be expected to intensify their efforts to reduce their climate impacts and keep the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement in sight.  As they consider their future commitments, countries will grapple with their capacity to reduce emissions, whether that level is in fact “fair” in a global sense, and what the climate implications of their efforts may be. Roberto Schaeffer, a professor of energy economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, explores paths to deliver the dual imperatives of fairness, and maximum carbon reductions, in the global climate context. Schaeffer is a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Reports, and a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize. His work focuses on frameworks to maximize individual country contributions to the global climate effort. Roberto Schaeffer is a professor of energy economics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Related Content The Net Zero Governance Conveyor Belt https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-net-zero-governance-conveyor-belt/ East Meets West: Linking the China and EU ETS’s https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/east-meets-west-linking-the-china-and-eu-etss/ Accelerating Climate Action https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/accelerating-climate-action/   Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A metals industry executive explores the race to develop alternative supplies of critical minerals essential to the energy transition.--- For over a century the global energy system has been dominated by fossil fuels, and governments and industry have gone to great lengths to secure reliable supplies of oil, natural gas, and coal. All along, scarcity and competition over fossil resources has been fuel for geopolitical conflict, and a root cause of energy insecurity when access to resources appears threatened or limited. Yet as the world shifts today toward clean energy technologies certain minerals like cobalt and lithium increasingly replace fossil fuels as the basis of our energy system. Accordingly, where governments once sought to gain secure supply of fossil fuels, energy security in the future will depend on access to dozens of critical minerals needed for an increasingly electrified and carbon-free energy system. Brian Menell, chief executive of critical minerals supply chain company TechMet, explores the challenges that come with dependence on resources that are by and large produced outside of the United States and, in notable cases, by countries with which the U.S. has strained diplomatic ties. Menell, whose company has received significant funding from the U.S. government’s International Development Finance Corporation, also discusses the challenges involved in developing new sources of supply, and the prospects for scaling the production of key minerals to support the pace of decarbonization. Brian Menell is Chairman and CEO of TechMet. Related Content Rare Earth Elements: A Resource Constraint of the Energy Transition https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/rare-earth-elements-a-resource-constraint-of-the-energy-transition/ Raw Materials Pose ESG Challenge for EV Industry https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/raw-materials-pose-esg-challenge-for-ev-industry/    Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ramón Méndez Galain, this year’s recipient of the Carnot Prize, reflects on leading Uruguay to a 98% renewable electricity mix, and what the rest of the world might take from his country’s experience. --- In 2008 Ramón Méndez Galain, a particle physicist with no experience in government, was appointed Director of Energy for Uruguay and proceeded to reimagine the country’s electricity grid. In less than a decade, Méndez’s energy transition plan succeeded in freeing the country’s power sector from its growing reliance on imported oil, and achieved energy independence through a mix of 98% renewable electricity. Méndez and Noah Gallagher Shannon, a journalist who has written about Uruguay’s energy transition for The New York Times Magazine, discuss the energy crisis that forced Uruguay’s shift to clean energy and the financing structure and political accommodations that made the transition possible. Méndez also discusses his current role as head of an NGO that assists policymakers in other countries with their own energy transitions, drawing upon lessons learned in Uruguay where possible. Ramón Méndez Galain is Executive Director of Asociación Ivy and former Director of Energy for Uruguay. Noah Gallagher Shannon is a freelance journalist and author of the New York Times Magazine article on Uruguay’s energy transition, “What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay.” Related Content The Prospects for Pennsylvania as a RGGI Member https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-prospects-for-pennsylvania-as-a-rggi-member/ Wholesale Electricity Justice https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/wholesale-electricity-justice/ Nicholas Stern on the Role of Economics in Combatting Climate Change https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/nicholas-stern-on-the-role-of-economics-in-combating-climate-change/   Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climatologist Michael Mann discusses his new book on Earth’s climate past, with insights into our climate future. --- Renowned Penn climatologist Michael Mann’s latest book, “Our Fragile Moment,” explores the history of climate change and the lessons it can provide into the trajectory of climate change today. The book is Mann’s response to the phenomenon of “climate doomism” which, Mann writes, misrepresents the paleoclimate record to promote climate inaction. In the book, Mann seeks to set the paleoclimate record straight, and discusses how human agency remains our greatest tool in preventing the worst impacts of climate change. Michael Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science, and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media. He is also a Faculty Fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Related Content The Net-Zero Governance Conveyor Belt https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-net-zero-governance-conveyor-belt/ The Prospects for Pennsylvania as a RGGI Member https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-prospects-for-pennsylvania-as-a-rggi-member/ Accelerating Climate Action https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/podcast/accelerating-climate-action/   Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The podcast discusses the different approaches of European and American oil majors towards renewable energy, influenced by regional energy policy and perceptions of fossil fuel longevity. It explores the diversification of the oil industry, the strategic advantage of oil companies in the energy transition, investor strategies, the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, and the future of renewable energy investments.