MIT Energy Initiative

Maria Zuber, vice president for research at MIT, on a lifelong interest in space, the human side of energy, and MIT as a testbed for climate solutions. Timestamps: 02:40 - Growing up in Pennsylvania 07:25 - Family response to the NASA GRAIL mission 09:26 - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences 12:14 - Plan for Action on Climate Change 18:25 - SESAME 19:36 - Climate Grand Challenges, Climate and Sustainability Consortium 23:44 - Campus sustainability 27:46 - Humanities, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences 28:50 - Developing world, J-PAL, King Climate Action Initiative 30:50 - President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 35:44 - Listener questions Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/39 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Gia Schneider, co-founder and CEO of Natel Energy, on early climate inspirations, founding a company, and how she’s revolutionizing hydropower. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/38 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Ije Ikoku Okeke, CFO of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, on decentralizing energy in urban and rural Nigeria, micro-grids, and their biggest technology barrier. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/37 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Mark Thompson, director of digital delivery at National Grid, on digitalization, industry standards, and the day-to-day of how our grid is being converted to renewable energy. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/36 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Vera Songwe, under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, on economic development and energy connectivity in Africa. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/35 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All and co-chair of UN-Energy, on energy access, electrification in Nigeria, and the power of data. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/34 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

David Keith, assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School, and Joanna Moody, research program manager at MITEI’s Mobility Systems Center, on why we value our cars and what it means for sustainable urban mobility in the future. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/33 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, on junior beginnings, energy priorities, and personal challenges. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/32 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and founder and chairman of the Switch Energy Alliance, on energy and filmmaking in the developing world. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/31 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Jessica Granderson, staff scientist and deputy of research programs for the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, on building analytics, energy efficiency, and the grid. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/30 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies, on the science of solar, green hydrogen, and an unexpected skill resulting from an MIT education. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/29 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Paula Gold-Williams, president and CEO of CPS Energy, on running the nation’s largest municipally owned gas and electric utility. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/28 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Shreya Dave, CEO of Via Separations, and Johanna Wolfson, principal at Prime Impact Fund, on their paths from studying at MIT to working for and investing in climate tech startups. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/27 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Danielle Merfeld, chief technology officer for GE Renewable Energy and corporate officer of GE, on trends in renewable energy technology and clean energy journey. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/26 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Nitricity and Harmony Desal on the startup technologies that won the 2020 MIT Clean Energy Prize, the largest and longest-running competition for student cleantech startups. Show notes and transcript: energy.mit.edu/podcast/25 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Mariko Meier, vice president of marketing at Enel X, on building a career in energy and recent trends in corporate climate strategy. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/24 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Tod Hynes, senior lecturer in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, talks success, spinouts, and advice from teaching Energy Ventures, an MIT course that guides student teams through the process of creating new energy ventures. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/23 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

John Reilly, energy economist at the MIT Sloan School, talks with Lisa Jacobson from the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and Ethan Zindler from Bloomberg New Energy Finance about how the energy market in the U.S. has changed over the past decade and lessons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/22 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Gökşin Kavlak and Jessika Trancik from the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society on their work to explain and forecast technology evolution. They also delve into a recent paper on photovoltaics, a type of solar energy technology. Read the paper discussed in this episode: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.08.015 Related work: https://doi.org/10.1038/528333d https://energy.mit.edu/trancikreport Trancik Lab: https://trancik.mit.edu Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/21 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Brian Anderson, director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, on how the Department of Energy National Labs work, and what his lab is doing in carbon capture, materials, hydrogen, and more. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/20 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

John Reilly, energy economist at the MIT Sloan School, and Noelle Selin, associate professor and air pollution specialist, on energy economics and air pollution. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/19 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Randall Field and Joanna Moody, MIT researchers, on how environmental policies, urban regulations, and consumer behaviors will affect the future of personal mobility. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/18 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Susan Hockfield, professor of neuroscience and former president of MIT, on the convergence of biology and engineering, the role of universities in technology evolution, and becoming the first biologist to serve as president of MIT. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/17 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Scott Burger, MITEI Energy Fellow and researcher, on rooftop solar economics, net metering, energy poverty, and electricity costs. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/16 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Stuart Madnick and Shaharyar Khan on cybersafety in the energy sector, industrial vulnerabilities, and applications for blockchain. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/15 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Paul Joskow and Richard Schmalensee on the history and future of electricity markets. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/14 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Nicholas Roy and Josh Joseph from the MIT Quest for Intelligence on the future of AI and its potential impact on fields ranging from energy to healthcare. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/13 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Professors Donald Sadoway and Yang Shao-Horn on researching, developing, and scaling energy storage technologies with guest host Bruce Gellerman of WBUR. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/12 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Will Chueh from Stanford and Yet-Ming Chiang from MIT on energy storage. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/11 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Professors Fikile Brushett, Elsa Olivetti, and Yogi Surendranath on building the next generation of materials for future energy systems. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/10 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Dennis Whyte, head of the MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering Department and director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, on the history and future of fusion. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/9 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Vladimir Bulović, director of MIT.nano and co-director of the MITEI Solar Low-Carbon Energy Center, on what's coming in solar and how MIT.nano is changing how startups launch from MIT. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/8 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

British Columbia's UNFCCC award-winning climate policies with George Heyman, minister of environment and climate strategy for British Columbia, and Sergey Paltsev, MIT Energy Initiative senior researcher and deputy director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/7 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Lessons from two "Pathways to Paris” climate policy and technology reports with Rob McKeel, GE Power VP and CMO, and Sergey Paltsev, MIT Energy Initiative senior researcher and deputy director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/6 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Emissions trading systems and why governments should consider collaborating, with Constanze Haug, head of the secretariat of the International Carbon Action Partnership, and Michael Mehling, deputy director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/5 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Frances Beinecke, past president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, discusses the U.S. climate trajectory, the need for national leadership, and how to make an impact on climate change. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/4 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Jacopo Buongiorno, John Parsons, and Karen Dawson of MIT discuss the new Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World study, released in September. They talk about nuclear energy’s potential in the future low-carbon energy landscape, and review strategies for navigating barriers in construction costs, government policy, and community outreach. They also touch upon new technologies and innovations that are poised to impact the nuclear energy field. Read the report: https://energy.mit.edu/futureofnuclearenergy Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/3 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Michael Wasielewski, Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, discusses new molecular-based methods to capture and harvest solar photons. Full video and 3 questions with Wasielewski: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-improving-solar-cells Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-improving-solar-cells#transcript Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Howard Herzog, Senior Research Engineer at the MIT Energy Initiative, discusses his new book Carbon Capture, a concise overview of carbon dioxide capture and storage. Read the book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/carbon-capture 3 questions with Herzog: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-howard-j-herzog-discusses-the-state-of-carbon-capture Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-09-30-Carbon-Capture-Talk-Transcript.pdf Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Jesse Jenkins and Nestor Sepulveda of MIT on what the future looks like for reducing CO2 emissions in electricity and the importance of firm low-carbon energy resources. Read the paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.08.006 Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/2 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

John Deutch of MIT and Arun Majumdar of Stanford University on potential technology and policy pathways for negative emissions and the importance of focusing on gigatonne-scale solutions. Read the paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.04.018 Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/1 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Katrin Klingenberg, co-founder and executive director of the Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS), looks at completed case studies of low- and mid-rise multifamily passive projects across the country. Full video and 3 questions with Klingenberg: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-passive-buildings-rise-in-popularity-and-necessity Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-passive-buildings-rise-in-popularity-and-necessity#transcript Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Abigail Krich, founder and president of Boreas Renewables, LLC, explores the innate incompatibilities between New England’s push towards clean energy and its current wholesale electricity market design. Full video and 3 questions with Krich: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3-questions-new-englands-wholesale-electricity-markets Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3-questions-new-englands-wholesale-electricity-markets#transcript Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Bruno Verdini, executive director of the MIT-Harvard Mexico Negotiation Program, teaches “The Art and Science of Negotiation,” one of MIT’s highest ranked and most popular course electives. This talk draws upon Verdini’s new book, "Winning Together", and is followed by a Q&A with MITEI Communications Director, Emily Dahl. More about "Winning Together": https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/winning-together Full video and 3 questions with Verdini: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-winning-together-in-natural-resources-negotiation-and-leadership/ Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3q-winning-together-in-natural-resources-negotiation-and-leadership#transcript Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Which clean energy solutions are effective, and which need more work? Through explorations of household, city, and regional clean energy innovations and implementation efforts, Professor Daniel Kammen both analyzes successful innovation processes and identifies the areas that need urgent action and targeted programs. A mixture of analytic and empirical studies are used to explore what steps have worked and where dramatic new approaches are needed. Full video and 3 questions with Kammen: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3-questions-innovating-for-the-clean-energy-economy Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3-questions-innovating-for-the-clean-energy-economy#transcript Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup

Daniel Sperling’s research examines the potential benefits, impacts, and synergies of the three transportation “revolutions:” electrification, automation, and pooling. In this seminar, Sperling describes what needs to happen for this new transportation paradigm to truly benefit the public interest. Sperling provides insight into the forces—from effective government policies to partnerships between transit operators, mobility service companies, automakers, and others—that will be instrumental in enhancing social equity, environmental sustainability, and urban livability. Full video and 3 questions with Sperling: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3-questions-future-transportation-systems Transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/news/3-questions-future-transportation-systems#transcript Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast#signup