Latest Climate solutions Podcast Episodes
Innovation at the grid edge | Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA
Climate Positive - June 27, 2024 09:00 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsBarbara Humpton, President and CEO of Siemens USA, sits down with Gil Jenkins and Susan Nickey to discuss Siemens' pivotal role in advancing sustainability across industry, infrastructure, and transportation sectors. The conversation dives into Siemens' approach to decarbonization as an engine f...
Casey Martinez | Enabling global emissions matching with data-enhanced RECs
Climate Positive - June 11, 2024 09:00 - 35 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsJust as not every battery is created equal, neither is every renewable energy credit (REC). Even though RECs today are commodified financial products companies purchase to reduce their carbon footprint, the actual avoided emissions impact of an individual REC can vary dramatically based on the t...
2°C: the story of the global climate goal
TILclimate - June 06, 2024 09:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsThe landmark Paris Agreement of 2015 gave the world a shared target for halting climate change: that global warming should stop well short of 2 degrees Celsius. But how did that target come about, and what exactly does it mean? Prof. Maria Ivanova, a specialist in international environmental pol...
Slow carbon, fast carbon
TILclimate - May 30, 2024 09:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsThe Earth naturally absorbs some of our climate pollution from burning fossil fuels. But how much, and how fast? Geophysicist Prof. Daniel Rothman joins the podcast to explain the nature and scale of the natural carbon cycle, and how our appetite for fossil fuels has pushed it out of balance. F...
Dr. Antonius Gagern |Executive Director of the Carbon to Sea Initiative
Climate Positive - May 24, 2024 05:06 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsIn this episode, Hilary Langer met with Dr. Antonius Gagern, the Executive Director of the Carbon to Sea Initiative, for a lively conservation about a hot topic: the promises and sensitivities of tinkering with the ocean’s chemistry to enable it to store more carbon dioxide. Initial research on ...
Dr. Antonius Gagern | Executive Director of the Carbon to Sea Initiative
Climate Positive - May 24, 2024 05:06 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsIn this episode, Hilary Langer met with Dr. Antonius Gagern, the Executive Director of the Carbon to Sea Initiative, for a lively conservation about a hot topic: the promises and sensitivities of tinkering with the ocean’s chemistry to enable it to store more carbon dioxide. Initial research on ...
Is it safe to store CO2 underground?
TILclimate - May 23, 2024 09:00 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsToday, companies are storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide underground every year to prevent this climate pollution from warming the planet. In the future it might be billions of tons. But is it dangerous to pump so much liquefied carbon below our feet? Geologist and carbon storage expert P...
An introduction to carbon capture (re-air)
TILclimate - May 16, 2024 09:00 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsWhat if there was a way to continue using fossil fuels for energy without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere? To prepare for a new listener question about carbon capture, we're re-airing this season two episode in which Dr. Howard Herzog and Professor Brad Hager talk about capturing, using, and st...
How clean is green hydrogen?
TILclimate - May 09, 2024 09:00 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsIs hydrogen fuel a climate solution? That depends on how you produce it. Dr. Emre Gençer of the MIT Energy Initiative takes us on a tour of the hydrogen spectrum, from climate-polluting “gray” hydrogen made from natural gas to the much more promising “green” hydrogen made with renewable electric...
Why are EVs more popular than hydrogen cars?
TILclimate - May 02, 2024 09:00 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsJust 20 years ago, hydrogen cars and battery electric cars were pretty evenly matched as clean alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. But today, batteries are way ahead: the big car companies are rapidly electrifying their lineups, while only a few hydrogen cars are available. What happened? Serg...
Bill Weir | CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent on ‘Life As We Know It (Can Be)’
Climate Positive - April 30, 2024 09:00 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsIn this episode, Gil Jenkins sits down with Bill Weir, Chief Climate Correspondent at CNN, for a rich, engaging, and meaningful conversation about his new book, “Life As We Know It (Can Be): Stories of People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World.” While reporting from every state and every co...
An introduction to hydrogen energy (re-air)
TILclimate - April 25, 2024 09:00 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsHydrogen gas acts like a fossil fuel, but with no carbon emissions. Is it the silver bullet we’ve been waiting for? To prepare for some new listener questions about hydrogen energy, we're re-airing this season four episode in which Prof. Svetlana Ikonnikova of the Technical University of Munich ...
Josh Cable | Wood that’s stronger, lighter, and cheaper than steel
Climate Positive - April 18, 2024 13:54 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsSteel is the world’s most used metal, and enables the construction of everything from buildings to wind turbines. Unfortunately, steel manufacturing is incredibly carbon intensive, contributing to approximately 8% of global green house gas emissions. As CEO of InventWood, Josh Cable envisions a ...
Do wind turbines kill birds?
TILclimate - April 11, 2024 09:00 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsWind power is the largest source of clean, renewable energy in the United States. But the large turbines that create that power can endanger wildlife. MIT Professor Michael Howland returns to the podcast to answer a listener's question about the risks of wind energy to birds—and explain how wind...
Do wind turbines freeze up in the cold?
TILclimate - April 04, 2024 09:00 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsYou might have heard how wind turbines failed in Texas during a terrible cold front in 2021. Does this mean we can’t rely on this clean, renewable source of energy when the weather turns extreme? MIT Professor Michael Howland joins the podcast to explain how wind turbine operators prepare for fr...
Steven Rothstein | Navigating new climate disclosure rules
Climate Positive - April 04, 2024 09:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsDisclosure. Disclosure. Disclosure. In early March, the SEC issued final climate-related disclosure rules for U.S. public companies. Designed to enhance standardization and in response to increasing investor demand, the new rules mandate companies disclose material climate risks they face and gr...
Won’t more CO2 help plants grow?
TILclimate - March 28, 2024 09:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsPlants take in CO2 from the air to grow—and today’s atmosphere has about 50% more CO2 than it did before we started burning massive amounts of fossil fuels. So, is that great news for plants? Prof. David Des Marais, a plant ecologist at MIT, helps answer this listener question. For a deeper div...
Akshat Rathi | Climate Capitalism
Climate Positive - March 20, 2024 08:00 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsIn this episode, Gil Jenkins sits down with Akshat Rathi, a senior climate reporter at Bloomberg News and the host of Bloomberg Green's Zero podcast, to discuss his new book, "Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of our Age," which was released on ...
Season 6 Preview: Something a Little Different
TILclimate - March 15, 2024 09:00 - 1 minute ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsThe sixth season of Today I Learned: Climate is coming in two weeks, and this time we’re doing something a little different. People all around the world write into our team with questions about climate change. So this season, we’re working with scientists and experts at MIT and beyond, to answer...
Lisa Jacobson and Tom Rowlands-Rees | 2024 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook
Climate Positive - March 07, 2024 10:00 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsThe Sustainable Energy in America Factbook serves as a key reference for the state of renewables in the United States. To mark the release of the 12th edition, Gil Jenkins and Hilary Langer talked to the people behind the annual report: Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustai...
Jacob Mansfield, Emma Konet and Adam Reeve | Not every battery is created equal
Climate Positive - February 22, 2024 12:46 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsAs the energy density of batteries continues to increase even as costs keep declining, the stationary energy storage market is booming, with investment growing by over 7x over the last few years – from $5 billion in 2020 to over $35 billion in 2023 – and with battery installations tripling just ...
Steve Raeder | Leading the charge in commercial solar
Climate Positive - February 08, 2024 10:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsIn this week's episode, Gil Jenkins sits down with Steve Raeder, the founder and CEO of Summit Ridge Energy. As a leading player in the community solar market, Summit Ridge Energy (SRE) has made significant strides since its inception in 2017, deploying over $1.6 billion into clean energy assets...
Tim Male and Ryan Sarsfield | Markets for valuing biodiversity
Climate Positive - January 17, 2024 10:00 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsAt the end of 2022, 200 countries signed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – what some have called the “Paris Agreement for Nature”. It calls on signatories to work together to enhance the resilience of natural ecosystems and to turn the tide on species extinction rates through ...
Julia Selker | Speeding GETs for a clean and reliable grid
Climate Positive - January 03, 2024 10:00 - 30 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsAmerica’s dramatic shift towards renewable energy generation in remote areas will require a substantial transmission build-out in the years ahead, potentially doubling or tripling the current grid. In other words, there is no transition without transmission. While it's crucial that we expedite t...
Dan Shugar | Tracking our solar-powered future
Climate Positive - December 19, 2023 18:48 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsIn our final episode of 2023, we sit down with Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXT), a leading provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects globally. With over 30 years of experie...
Why does it take five years to build a wind farm?
TILclimate - December 07, 2023 10:00 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsThe United States has a goal to power the country with 100% clean electricity by 2035. Unfortunately, our energy regulations are not set up to make this much change this quickly. Energy economist John Parsons of MIT joins the show to explain how much clean energy infrastructure we need to build,...
Energy storage: keeping the lights on with a clean electric grid
TILclimate - November 30, 2023 10:00 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsThe large majority of new energy we’re building today comes from clean, renewable wind and solar projects. But to keep building wind and solar at this pace, we need energy storage: technologies that save energy when the weather is favorable, and use it when wind and sun are scarce. Prof. Asegun ...
Mark Dyson | Applied hope and the ZEROgrid Initiative
Climate Positive - November 30, 2023 10:00 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsThe private sector has been a critical driver of increasing clean energy on the grid. Since 2008, corporate renewable purchases have helped bring online nearly 150 GW of new renewable energy capacity globally — more than the total power-generating capacity of France. Despite these purchase commi...
Mark Dyson | Applied Hope and the ZEROgrid Initiative
Climate Positive - November 30, 2023 10:00 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 72 ratingsThe private sector has been a critical driver of increasing clean energy on the grid. Since 2008, corporate renewable purchases have helped bring online nearly 150 GW of new renewable energy capacity globally — more than the total power-generating capacity of France. Despite these purchase commi...
A public health expert’s guide to climate change
TILclimate - November 16, 2023 10:00 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 119 ratingsWe all want to live full, healthy lives. But climate change is threatening a growing number of people’s lives and well-being. Amruta Nori-Sarma, assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health, joins the show to help us see climate change not in tons of c...
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