Claim OwnershipEnergy Current: In Search of Net Zero System
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© 2024 Energy Current: In Search of Net Zero System
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To address climate crisis, we have to pursue an energy system based on renewable energy and other low carbon technology. Through reasonable discussions with a variety of researchers from institutes and think tanks, this podcast informs curious minds of poliy debate on sustainable energy transition and global climate governance. The podcast is now being updated for its second season. The first season was called the REEI Energy and Climate Podcast.
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There are a number of reasons why we have to halt the climate crisis. One of them is public health. In this episode we discuss these important questions:How do we rethink the future of healthcare when tackling climate change is only one of many challenges?What impacts will the COP28 UAE Consensus make on climate actions in reducing carbon emissions of healthcare sectors across the world?As one of the most trustworthy voices in the society and the key players in providing healthcare services, what can doctors and nurses play a crucial part in accelerating global climate mitigations?How can high-income economies collaborate with low-income ones to share best practices in both spearheading a more affordable and equitable healthcare reform and decarbonizing healthcare services?Today Zhao Ang has a conversation with Sonia Roschnik, Executive Director of the Geneva Sustainability Centre. The Centre, powered by the International Hospital Federation (IHF), was launched in 2022 in response to the need for hospitals and healthcare services to address climate change. Sonia has over three decades of experience in healthcare and sustainability policy. Support the show
To achieve a 100% renewable energy system worldwide by 2050 affordable or not? Apart from the maturing technology, like solar PV and wind power, are we too late to develop some alternative technologies such as carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, geoengineering, and small modular nuclear reactor? With the tightening time window to control carbon emissions in order to keep the global temperature rise on average by 2100 well below 2 degree Celsius, what can policymakers from major economies do to make the most use of the available and scalable low-carbon energy technologies? One of the best scholars who are able to answer these questions is Dr. Mark Jacobson from Stanford University. Over 15 years ago, he proposed a 100% renewable energy system based on water, wind, and solar energy (WWS) and has been working and researching the relevant energy policy and planning solutions for a variety of countries, states, and cities ever since. In this episode, Professor Jacobson discusses his ideas and research findings on the WWS system. Although you may not agree with most or even some of his arguments, the discussions are definitely to expand your learning on the future energy system and some key policy issues of addressing climate change. As he mentioned at the end of the talk, educating ourselves on such complicated climate and energy policy issues could be the first action point for each one of us. Support the show
Since 2020, not only some national governments but also many large multinational companies have announced their climate pledges - reaching net zero emissions by 2050. Among them are some oil and natural gas giants, such as BP, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, which are the majors in the industry and the top contributors of the carbon emissions across the corporate world. • How do we understand the majors’ mid-term and long-term climate strategies? • Shall the end-users of oil and gas products, like the global consumers of conventional vehicles, share the responsibilities of burning dirty fuels, emitting carbon dioxide and causing climate change?• Among regulating corporations by setting up a phase-out timeline of old technology, nudging consumers to change behavior, and subsidizing the growth of a new low-carbon technology, which option shall policy makers choose? • Why is it controversial for the majors from both Europe and the United States to invest in large amount of carbon offset projects? • Can the majors bet on the promised development of new technologies, like carbon capture and storage and direct air capture, and go through the energy transition in the long run? In this episode, Dr. Gregory Trencher from Kyoto University in Japan shares his research findings and viewpoints based on a new paper which he co-authors with the other two scholars.Further Reading: Trencher, G., Blondeel, M. and Asuka, J. (2023). Do all roads lead to Paris? Comparing pathways to net-zero by BP, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil. Climatic Change, 176, 83. Access: https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s10584-023-03564-7?sharing_token=dvNVaGLdv_KAz5FFMnfFT_e4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY5d47vWLe-7NUah2sJ8amtONIx_6DNbZS-Ux9jIdwHqHp9jVCB68RK-96qeHy5tgfMDOkuPU-crNlM7_tp0QVsATBol9VNvWuW1djitKquffaUTZ1mebJBYjj9x0ENJJx4=Support the show
There are two major economic measures to reduce carbon emissions of energy system, carbon pricing and industrial policy. Which one is better to deliver climate targets? What do the historical experiences of both emission trading systems and industrial policy in the E.U., China and the U.S. tell us? When competition rather than cooperation becomes the keyword in the new world economic order, will the Race to the Top industrial policy have a better chance to cut the global carbon emissions by nearly half against the levels of 2020 by 2030? What can we learn from the argument that climate change is far from an existential crisis and the unprecedented economic achievements across the world in the past seven decades have built up human capacities to adapt to climate change? On today’s episode, I have a conversation with David Driesen, a law professor from Syracuse University. Support the show
With both population and economy growing, Africa shall pursue a leapfrogging strategy in achieving the net zero energy system in the next three decades. However, some significant factors need to be addressed, like upscaled investment, accelerated deployment of low carbon energy technology, and international financial support. In this episode, Jean-Benoit Fournier, a Canadian expert on climate financing and strategy, shares his observations and thoughts based on his first-hand experience on climate mitigation projects in African countries. He suggests that micro-financing in renewable energy projects need to scale up and be implemented in a smart way with focuses on community empowerment and sustainability criteria. Regarding the new financing scheme on phasing out coal faster between South Africa and G7 plus E.U., Fournier considers it a good model, but how effective the cooperation is carried out needs to be seen. The African Union just became a permanent member of G20 at the G20 Summit in India. This big move may not only bring up African voice in global geopolitics but also trigger African climate ambitions as well as climate-friendly investments from outside. Now, African leapfrogging in climate mitigation is probably more achievable than before. Support the show
For years China has dominated in the global supply chains of critical minerals, which are crucial to deploying low carbon energy technology and accelerating the global energy transition. Particularly, China's dominance is very apparent in the global supplies of rare earth, graphite, manganese and cobalt. These minerals are critical to the production of electric vehicle batteries and wind power turbines. However, the food and oil & natural gas supply chains disruptions resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made the policy makers of European Union (E.U.) act to de-risk the E.U. critical minerals supply. For E.U., this is a multi-faceted dilemma. On one hand, E.U. needs to speed up its actions in decarbonizing its energy system and build up strategic partnerships on circular economy and climate change with many developing countries. On the other hand, E.U. has to make strategic economic balance when China, its most important trading partner, and U.S., its strategic ally, engage in a long term rivalry and geopolitical tension. What can E.U. mitigate or de-risk the critical minerals supply? Today, Dr. Patrick Schröder, a senior fellow from the Royal Institute of International Affairs, shares his views and observations. Support the show
While the world enters a de-globalization era and the relationship between China and the U.S. turns from bad to worse, policy makers from many high-income countries prioritize de-risking the supply chains and diversifying trading activities, such as increasing the security of the critical minerals supply. Will this big policy change hold back the low carbon energy technology deployment in terms of pace and cost-effectiveness?Could the restructuring accelerate the formation of two economic blocks, which are led by the U.S. and China, respectively? How does the geopolitical tension between the powers influence the strategic management of critical minerals supply chains? As the largest supplier of lithium around the world, what can Canberra do to mitigate the political, economic and environmental risks resulted from diversifying the supply chains? In this episode, Marina Zhang from the Australia-China Relations Institute at University of Technology Sydney shares her analysis on the questions with Energy Current host, Zhao Ang. Support the show
U.S. – China climate cooperation is a crucial issue when we talk about tackling climate crisis. However, the bilateral relationship has been declining in the recent years, particularly since 2020. Under such a difficult situation, where will the U.S.-China climate and clean energy collaboration go? What lessons can the past cooperation experience imply? The G7 Summit in Japan last week may suggest that the 7 most developed economies are coordinating their industrial policies to pursue a more effective decarbonization pathway. By distancing China, this move could make the climate and energy cooperation between G7 member states and China more challenging. In this episode, Dr. Joanna Lewis, an expert on China clean energy policy and U.S. China climate and energy cooperation from Georgetown University shares her points of view on the related issues based on her new studies. China has gradually become a global leader in renewable energy and electric vehicle development since China initiated the renewable energy growth in about two decades ago. Because of manufacturing scale, investment capacity and enduring clean energy cooperation with U.S., Denmark and others, Dr. Lewis argues, China has the potential to support the acceleration of worldwide decarbonization, particularly in the countries of Global South. However, the complicated domestic economic and social situations and deteriorating international relations require the leaders from China, America and other major economies to seek a new strategy such as competitive cooperation to address climate crisis in a tightening time frame. Whether this optimistic scenario on climate and clean energy cooperation may succeed remains to be seen. Support the show
Nuclear power plays an important role in the energy system in many big economies around the world. There are many debates related to this energy source, from energy security to addressing climate change to environmental and social justice. While some countries, like Germany, shut down the last nuclear power plants, others, like China, are still building new ones. Based on a new study published in the academic journal, Nature Energy, Ms. Lyssa Freese, a scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the leading author of the research, discusses how phasing out nuclear power in the United States may change air pollution distribution and bring higher health risk to the low-income communities. Based on the past policy experience and the paper’s main findings, what can policy makers learn to avoid the unintended consequences in the energy justice area from the very beginning of policy design and planning? She also shares some ideas on how the current climate policy may accelerate American energy transition, from Inflation Reduction Act to the new regulations on pollutants emission standards and road transport decarbonization. Support the show
How to address public crisis implies a nation’s complicated institutional setting of economic, political, and cultural preferences and tolerance. A society’s resilience in mitigating the crisis, from environmental pollution disasters to global pandemics to climate change, depends on the interaction between crisis and evolving institutions. In other word, it relies on whether policymakers are able to learn lessons from crises and renew institutions in order to face future challenges. Fighting the COVID-19 pandemic is a showcase and unique experience for each country around the world to reflect what successful policy measurements may be applied to mitigate even larger crises like climate change. In today’s episode, Dr. Peter Orris, Professor of occupational & environmental medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago Health System, provides not only a comprehensive understanding of the American pandemic control experience from a public health expert point of view but also offers some historical and social-cultural analysis on the difference of policy interventions among diverse economies. For example, what were the dilemmas for the World Health Organization to deal with during the pandemic? Why had China stuck to the zero COVID policy in a way no other countries could afford? How can the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. improve to mitigate the next public health crisis? In the end, Dr. Orris proposes a couple of mitigation strategies for addressing climate change based on his decades of experience in civic engagement and environmental activism. Support the show
To achieve a 100% renewable energy system worldwide by 2050 affordable or not? Apart from the maturing technology, like solar PV and wind power, are we too late to develop some alternative technologies such as carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, geoengineering, and small modular nuclear reactor? With the tightening time window to control carbon emissions in order to keep the global temperature rise on average by 2100 well below 2 degree Celsius, what can policymakers from major economies do to make the most use of the available and scalable low-carbon energy technologies? One of the best scholars who are able to answer these questions is Dr. Mark Jacobson from Stanford University. Over 15 years ago, he proposed a 100% renewable energy system based on water, wind, and solar energy (WWS) and has been working and researching the relevant energy policy and planning solutions for a variety of countries, states, and cities ever since. In this episode, Professor Jacobson discusses his ideas and research findings on the WWS system. Although you may not agree with most or even some of his arguments, the discussions are definitely to expand your learning on the future energy system and some key policy issues of addressing climate change. As he mentioned at the end of the talk, educating ourselves on such complicated climate and energy policy issues could be the first action point for each one of us. Support the show
The intense rivalry between the U.S. and China, the ongoing brutal war between Russia and Ukraine, and the potential geopolitical conflict risk in the South China Sea remain the big challenges to addressing the climate crisis via productive international cooperation. Under the complicated domestic and international situations and uncertainties, how can we understand the climate policy and actions in both the United States and China? Where could the fragile relationship between the two countries go in the next 2-3 years? In Part 1 of the conversation, Bill McKibben discusses how the dynamic interaction between social responsibility and hyper-individualism of the American nation generates influences on its collective climate actions in the past and why the changes of American society in the 1960s-1980s matter with the global climate efforts. In Part 2, McKibben is focused on China and shares his experience of multiple visits to China. His arguments on the future of world climate governance and international collaborations between China and U.S. remind us of the complexity of reducing global carbon emissions in a short time.Support the show
The intense rivalry between U.S. and China, the ongoing brutal war between Russia and Ukraine, and the potential geopolitical conflict risk in the South China Sea remain the big challenges to addressing the climate crisis via productive international cooperation. Under the complicated domestic and international situations and uncertainties, how can we understand the climate policy and actions in both the United States and China? Where could the fragile partnership between the two countries go in the next 2-3 years? In Part 1 of the conversation, Bill McKibben, a well-known author, and environmentalist, discusses how the dynamic interaction between social responsibility and hyper-individualism of the American nation generates influences on its collective climate actions in the past half century and why the long shift of American society matter with the global efforts on tackling climate change. In Part 2 of the conversation, Bill McKibben will focus on China and share his insights, hope, and analysis on the future world climate governance and collaboration as well as what the roles of both China and the U.S. could look like during the long journey. Support the show
Indian Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) adventure plays a significant role in both providing sustainable mobility services and materializing its long-term national carbon neutrality goal. What does the road transport decarbonization in the past ten years inform its future ambition? Under the various challenges, from the global energy crisis, and supply chain restructuring, to economic recession and big powers competition, how can India strike a balance between climate actions and energy security? By 2030, will India become a major player in the ZEV manufacturing across the world? In this episode of Energy Current, Mr. Aditya Ramji, an energy economist, at the University of California, Davis, shares his research experience. Support the show
Despite the high expectation in decarbonizing the fossil fuels sectors for years, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has not been scaled up. In the next 5-10 years, will comprehensive technology be a game changer in global climate mitigations? Can the oil and gas giants in the Middle East countries sustain their business in the future by both producing carbon as usual and sinking carbon as a world carbon storage hub? May carbon markets, either regional or national, make CCS business cost-effective? How can the governments from the major economies provide sufficient incentives to speed up the development and deployment of CCS? Dr. Xu Yuan, an associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, discusses his perspectives and opinions on these questions. Support the show
Compared to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) have lagged during the electrification of the road transport sector across the world in the past ten years. Under the new context related to technological competition among economic powers, the energy crisis enhanced by the Russia-Ukraine war in Europe, the global supply chain security of critical materials in BEV manufacturing, as well as the greater role of hydrogen in energy transition, its worthy of re-evaluating the potential of FCEV in accelerating the decarbonization of the transport sector. Professor Gregory Trencher from Kyoto University in Japan shares his research insights on these relevant issues in this episode of Energy Current. Support the show
Enacted in 2021, China’s National Carbon Market based on tradable performance standard, was promoted as a new effort to engage with international climate policy. It’s too early to assess the emissions reduction impact of the so-called biggest carbon market in the world. Despite of the essential differences of market design, contextual institutions and the mild effects of the California’s system in delivering carbon emissions reduction and environmental justice, Professor Alex Wang of UCLA School of Law explains why China may still learn from California’s Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Program. In this episode, the discussion also touches the new direction of climate policy in the context of EU Green Deal and U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. Professor Wang shares his opinion on the academic exchange challenges facing scholars from both U.S. and China. Support the show
Japan's Green Transformation Plan is the latest national strategy in pursuit of energy transition and carbon neutrality by 2050. As a major economy with probably the highest energy efficiency standard and greatest dependency on fossil fuels import around the world, Japan faces a range of challenges. Professor Jusen Asuka from Tohoku University in Japan discusses how the new policies on offshore wind and solar PV may play a big part and why the next generational nuclear power technology could be a double-edged sword. His argument on Japan's cautious role in China-US contest in low carbon technology and investment resulted from a series of American legislation, particularly, climate policy embedded in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), suggests some relevant policy implications for Japan. Finally, his reading suggestion touches intergenerational justice, one of the most compelling issues on climate governance.Support the show
Indian Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) adventure plays a significant role in both providing sustainable mobility services and materializing its long-term national carbon neutrality goal. What does the road transport decarbonization in the past ten years inform its future ambition? Under the various challenges, from global energy crisis, supply chain restructuring, to economic recession and big powers competition, how can India strike a balance between climate actions and energy security? By 2030, will India become a major player in the ZEV manufacturing across the world? In this episode of Energy Current, Mr. Aditya Ramji, an energy economist, at the University of California, Davis, shares his research experience. Support the show
The mutual benefits of economic growth between China and Australia had pushed the bilateral cooperation on science and technology, particularly the climate related technology, to a new level until a few years ago. However, the relationship has been deteriorating since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. What does the dramatic change mean to Australian international scientific collaboration in the region? Do the sea changes of geopolitical situation between the two states and beyond suggest a different landscape of international scientific collaboration in the future? Diarmuid Cooney-O'Donoghue, Assistant Lecturer in Asian Studies at Monash University in Australia, shares his ideas on the history and challenges of Australian scientific and technology collaboration on climate and energy with China and others.Support the show
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