Resources Radio - Resources for the Future

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Taming the Sun in India’s Power Sector, with Varun Sivaram Aug 09, 2020

Show notes

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Varun Sivaram, a visiting senior fellow at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Sivaram is an expert on all things energy and recently spent two years working in India on solar energy. Sivaram and Raimi discuss the evolution of India’s power grid, including its rapid expansion of energy access and its historical dependence on coal; the rise of solar, wind, and storage; and the challenges that lie ahead. References and recommendations: "Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet" by Varun Sivaram; https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/taming-sun "The Next Phase of India's Renewable Energy Transition" by Varun Sivaram; https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/the-next-phase-of-indias-renewable-energy-transition/ "Short-Circuiting Policy" by Leah C. Stokes; https://www.leahstokes.com/book "Columbia Energy Exchange" podcast; https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/podcast/columbia-energy-exchange "Our Daily Planet" newsletter; https://www.ourdailyplanet.com/ "After Coal: Stories of Survival in Appalachia and Wales" by Tom Hansell; https://aftercoal.com/book/

The Environmental Appeal of Green Steel, with Chris Bataille Aug 03, 2020

Show notes

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Chris Bataille, associate researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations in Paris. Steel accounts for almost 10 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, and Bataille considers the potential for reducing and perhaps eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from the steelmaking process. Bataille also discusses how the industry currently works, which approaches and technologies can reduce emissions, and how policy can help drive innovation. References and recommendations: "The Entrepreneurial State" by Mariana Mazzucato; https://marianamazzucato.com/entrepreneurial-state/ "Doughnut Economics" by Kate Raworth; https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/doughnut-economics-paperback/ "U.S. renewable energy consumption surpasses coal for the first time in over 130 years" from the US Energy Information Administration’s "Today in Energy;" https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=43895

Driving Behavior: How COVID-19 Pumped the Brakes on Transportation, with Abel Brodeur Jul 27, 2020

Show notes

This is the third episode in an ongoing webinar series, which is providing Resources Radio listeners the chance to listen to a podcast recording live and ask guests their own questions about pressing energy, environment, and economics issues. In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Abel Brodeur about how the coronavirus lockdown orders have affected the transportation sector. Brodeur, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Department of Economics, talks about his recent research on the decrease in car collision incidents during the lockdowns, along with his recently coauthored literature review about the economic impacts of the pandemic across a range of other dimensions. References and recommendations: "On the Effects of COVID-19 Safer-At-Home Policies on Social Distancing, Car Crashes and Pollution" by Abel Brodeur, Nikolai Cook, and Taylor Wright; http://ftp.iza.org/dp13255.pdf "A Literature Review of the Economics of COVID-19" by Abel Brodeur, David M. Gray, Anik Islam, and Suraiya Jabeen Bhuiyan; https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp13411.html "English Passengers" by Matthew Kneale; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/93872/english-passengers-by-matthew-kneale/

Getting Filled In on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, with Annalise Blum Jul 19, 2020

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In this episode, Annalise Blum fills us in on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Blum, a policy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement Science, has worked for years on the technical and geopolitical aspects of hydropower. Host Daniel Raimi talks with Blum about the controversial dam project on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia, whose reservoir could begin filling as soon as this week. The Renaissance Dam has been the subject of international negotiations for years, and has even prompted some threats of armed conflict. The issues surrounding the dam are complex, important, and discussed infrequently here in the United States—but Blum and Raimi jump right into the topic. References and recommendations: "Timbuktu" film; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-oscars-timbuktu/oscar-nominee-timbuktu-tackles-everyday-view-of-radical-islam-idUSKBN0LI0HV20150214 Aaron Wolf’s research about international agreements; https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/11/q-aaron-wolf/ "William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles" by Catherine Mulholland; https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520234666/william-mulholland-and-the-rise-of-los-angeles "Chinatown" film; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/

Air Quality Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A View from Two Epicenters, with Valentina Bosetti Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

This is the second episode in an ongoing webinar series, which is providing Resources Radio listeners the chance to listen to a podcast recording live and ask guests their own questions about pressing energy issues. In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Valentina Bosetti, a Bocconi University professor and a senior scientist at the RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment, who has closely studied air quality in Northern Italy. Bosetti finds that, while air pollution decreased in the region during the pandemic lockdowns, pollution did not fall nearly as much as expected, largely because lockdown measures hardly impacted agricultural emissions. In addition, Bosetti warns that the public health benefits of improved air quality pale in comparison to the lives lost from COVID-19, and unless governments take action, pollution will surge again once economic activity returns to pre-pandemic levels. References and recommendations: "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" by David Quammen; https://wwnorton.com/books/spillover/ "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/258507/when-breath-becomes-air-by-paul-kalanithi/

AC/DC: Unequal Access to Air Conditioning, with Kelly T. Sanders Jul 06, 2020

Show notes

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kelly T. Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California. With her coauthors, Sanders has recently published a series of studies on air conditioning use in southern California, with a focus on who does—and does not—have access to cooling on hot days. This work, which touches on issues of energy and environmental justice, has big implications for managing the COVID-19 pandemic this summer—and managing climate change in the decades to come. References and recommendations: "Utilizing smart-meter data to project impacts of urban warming on residential electricity use for vulnerable populations in Southern California" by Mo Chen, George A. Ban-Weiss, and Kelly T. Sanders; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6fbe/meta "Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities" by Vaclav Smil; https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/growth "These Truths: A History of the United States" by Jill Lepore; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393357424

Resources Radio Live: How COVID-19 Has Powered Down the US Economy, with Steve Cicala Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

This is the first episode in an ongoing webinar series, which is providing Resources Radio listeners the chance to listen to a podcast recording live and ask guests their own questions about pressing energy issues. In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Professor Steve Cicala of the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy (soon to be moving to Tufts University’s Department of Economics). Expounding on research recently highlighted in the New York Times, in which he undertook one of the earliest looks at electricity demand during the peak of the pandemic lockdowns in the United States, Cicala details how electricity demand can serve as a valuable—if incomplete—tool to assess the health of the economy and the outlook for recovering from a recession. Cicala notes that the current crisis has shifted renewable penetration and affected energy consumption, but researchers remain uncertain about the duration of the pandemic and its long-term impacts on the electric grid. References and recommendations: "Another Way to See the Recession: Power Usage Is Way Down" by Quoctrung Bui and Justin Wolfers; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/08/upshot/electricity-usage-predict-coronavirus-recession.html "Early Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Europe: A View from the Grid" by Steve Cicala; https://home.uchicago.edu/~scicala/papers/real_time_EU/real_time_EU.pdf "What Is Owed: It Is Time for Reparations" by Nikole Hannah-Jones; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/24/magazine/reparations-slavery.html

The Challenge of Diversity in the Environmental Movement, with Dorceta Taylor (Rebroadcast) Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

These past few weeks, people across the United States have been horrified by the continuing violence against people of color. Resources for the Future has been working toward contributing energy and thoughtful work—not just words and statements—to support and incorporate diversity in our environmental mission. Toward that end, we are rebroadcasting this Resources Radio episode from last July with Dorceta Taylor. In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Professor Dorceta E. Taylor of the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (soon to be moving to the faculty at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies). Raimi asks Taylor about her research on the history of the environmental movement, focusing on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within environmental groups—both historically and today. While some progress has happened over the years, major challenges remain, and the field has plenty of room for improvement. References and recommendations: "The Rise of the American Conservation Movement" by Dorceta E. Taylor; https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-rise-of-the-american-conservation-movement "The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations" by Dorceta E. Taylor; https://www.diversegreen.org/the-challenge/

Space: The Next Great Market Opportunity, with Michael Toman Jun 13, 2020

Show notes

This week, host Kristin Hayes talks with Michael Toman, lead economist on climate change for the World Bank’s Development Research Group. Toman worked at Resources for the Future (RFF) for many years, during which he collaborated with former RFF Vice President for Research Molly Macauley in her pioneering effort to develop the economics of outer space as a topic for research and policy analysis. Hayes and Toman discuss the commercialization and privatization of space, both in light of the recent successful SpaceX launch to the International Space Station, and given that the day of recording (June 10) would have been Molly’s 63rd birthday. References and recommendations: "Racism and Injustice: A Letter from RFF President Richard G. Newell" from RFF; https://www.rff.org/racism-and-injustice-letter-rff-president-richard-g-newell/ "In Loving Memory of Molly K. Macauley" from Resources magazine; https://www.resourcesmag.org/archives/in-loving-memory-of-molly-k-macauley/

Growing the Power Grid in Africa, with Todd Moss Jun 07, 2020

Show notes

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Todd Moss, executive director of the Energy for Growth Hub and a nonresident fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. Moss has years of experience expanding access to energy around the world, particularly in Africa. Here, Raimi and Moss discuss the current strategies that countries, companies, and international organizations are implementing to expand access in Africa; how COVID-19 is affecting these efforts; and the intersection between expanding energy access and mitigating climate change. References and recommendations: "Power Trip: The Story of Energy" show on PBS; https://powertripshow.com/ "Power Trip: The Story of Energy" book by Michael E. Webber; https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/michael-e-webber/power-trip/9781541644380/ "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/220290/between-the-world-and-me-by-ta-nehisi-coates/

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