NTNU Energy Transition Podcast

Christopher Jones is a Professor at Georgia University of Technology and has been working on direct air capture (DAC) technology since 2008. Direct air capture is a process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in order to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. In this podcast episode, Jones discusses the importance of this technology in reversing the paradigm of emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for the past 100 years and how it can be used as a waste management solution to clean up the excess CO2 we have released. He also touches on the shift in discourse surrounding DAC, the increasing prevalence of this technology in media, and its importance in the energy transition and climate change mitigation. — The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

Ann Mari Svensson is a Professor at NTNU's Materials Science and Engineering department. She specializes in electrochemical processes for energy storage and electrolysis, which is important for developing new battery technologies. ntnu.edu/employees/annmari.svensson The future is electric, and batteries will play a big role in it. Renewables, like wind and solar, don't consistently deliver energy when we need it the most. Batteries can alleviate this, by providing storage and lending flexibility to the grid system. Ever thought about the fact that more and more people own electric cars, which are basically big batteries, hooked up to the system when charging? In theory, there are several amazing possibilities on the horizon. What are the current hurdles we need to overcome, and what is today's status? Traditional electric batteries Led Acid batteries - first invented in 1859 and hence a low energy density in comparison to today’s standard. However still often used in cars to start gas or diesel engines. Nickel–cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries - of limited use today because of toxicity, and limited energy density. Nickel–metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries – used by first Toyota with their Prius hybrid models; outcompeted by lithium-ion batteries due to their limited energy density. Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries Lithium Iron phosphate (‘LFP’) - good in terms of safety, cost and durability, but not great in terms of energy density; not so problematic in terms of mining, human rights and child labour; often used in stationary applications. Nickel Cobalt Aluminum (NCA) batteries - better in terms of energy density in comparison to LFP batteries, but difficult in terms of supply chain, child labour and human rights. Nickel cobalt manganese (NMC) batteries - similarly difficult in terms of supply chain, child labour and human rights. — The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

What are the first thoughts you have when you think about Switzerland? Mountains, Skiing, Nature, Toblerone? For sure! But what you may not have known is that the pace of the energy transition in Switzerland has not been amazingly fast in the last years. However, now, with the energy crises and spiking prices for fossil fuel things seem to be moving at a different pace. In this episode you will learn how the energy sector in Switzerland is structured, what the challenges are that the system is being faced with, and how the country is now embarking on an acceleration trajectory. For this episode I am joined by Dr. Florian Egli from ETH Zurich and by Dr. Léonore Hälg from the Swiss Energy Foundation. Enjoy the episode.  — The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

In this episode, I talk to Prof. Christina Voigt. Christina is a Professor at the University of Oslo and has been a member of the climate negotiation delegation of Norway for years. The last time we talked was right after COP26, in episode 3 of this podcast. The climate negotiation process occurring through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the primary forum for international cooperation on stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is to prevent catastrophic anthropogenic interference with the climate system aka. climate change. In this episode, we talk about expected negotiations at COP27, the current situation in the world, and the results we hope for in the coming weeks. — The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

This week we ask Equinor - Norway's state-owned multinational energy company - straight up: Why are you still investing in oil and gas? As society transitions away from fossil fuels, a huge oil and natural gas exporter like Norway will face huge changes. To understand how Equinor is positioning itself for this, we talked to Frida Eklöf Monstad, who works with business development for low-carbon solutions. — The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

High energy prices and a reduced supply of natural gas are pressuring the European economy. What possible impacts will this have on Europe's climate ambitions? Already we have seen a shift back to coal, and with the current war in Ukraine as a backdrop, it is little wonder that many raise concern. To help us ponder this question, we've brought along Taube van Melkebeke for this week's episode. She is a Policy Advisor on EU Politics and Climate Governance at E3G - an independent think tank whose aim is to steer the global transformation at the pace our planet requires. Before joining E3G, Taube was an attaché at the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU. — The  NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

Most pathways to climate neutrality include the use of carbon management technologies, like carbon capture and storage (CCS). In many ways, the technology is mature, but still needs massive upscaling to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Has CCS been overlooked? What is the current situation in Europe? What policies are needed to move this forward? In this week's episode, we grill Eadbhard Pernot about CCS and pepper him with popular Internet arguments. Eadbhard is a Policy Manager with the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) in Brussels- a global NGO working to rapidly reduce emissions while advancing climate solutions. In his role, he supports the carbon capture team in developing and implementing carbon capture policy advocacy in the European Union. — The  NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

What are the challenges Romania faces in the Energy Transition? The Eastern European country has committed itself to phase out coal, and plans a transition to renewables like solar and hydrogen. How are things progressing, and what are the current hurdles? To learn about Romania's energy system, policies, markets and social situation, we talked with Dr. Luciana Miu. She is is the Head of Clean Economy at Energy Policy Group - an independent think-tank located in Bucharest, specializing in energy and climate policy, market analytics and energy strategies. She holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Energy Systems from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in Energy Efficiency of Residential Buildings from the Imperial College London. Before joining EPG, Luciana worked for the UK Parliament and for the British Government’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as a consultant for Climate-KIC and London City Hall. — The  NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every March we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.

Technologies are often spotlighted when examining different energy transition pathways. However, how we use and produce technology and energy plays a significant role. Profound changes are needed to avoid dangerous climate change, and can only be achieved through public support for relevant policies. Therefore, implementing energy policies requires knowledge of citizens' lifestyles and behaviors. That's where Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) steps in. To teach us more about the importance of SSH in the energy transition, our guest this week is Chris Foulds, Professor at Anglia Ruskin University. Chris has been part of coordinating the energy-SSH platforms www.shapeenergy.eu and www.energy-shifts.eu, which has evolved into the SSH Centre of Excellence on climate, energy and mobility research for the EC. Papers mentioned in the episode: EC SSH monitoring reports: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/4f198f8e-4599-11eb-b59f-01aa75ed71a1 Overland and Sovacool, 2020, The misallocation of climate research funding, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629619309119 Royston & Foulds, 2021, The  making of energy evidence: How exclusions of Social Sciences and  Humanities are reproduced (and what researchers can do about it), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621001778 Foulds at al. 2022, An agenda for future Social Sciences and Humanities research on energy efficiency: 100 priority research questions https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01243-z Silvast & Foulds 2022, Sociology of Interdisciplinarity - The Dynamics of Energy Research, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-88455-0

The Inflation Reduction Act promises a $369 billion investment in climate action - the largest in U.S. history - and could drive significant emissions reductions. Its passing is both surprising, controversial, and full of compromises. To get the gist of it, we sat down with the founding editor of BusinessGreen.com, James Murray, who explains why he thinks the legislation's climate provisions will "turbocharge" US climate action. Also in this episode, we talk about the Net Zero Festival 2022 on 28-29 September, where some of the world's foremost thinkers will meet to discuss what it takes to accelerate and expand the net zero transition. Go check them out at https://netzerofestival.com/2022/en/page/home. — The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to accelerate the energy transition move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every other Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every spring we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to julius.wesche@ntnu.no.