Challenging Climate

David Keith is a Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago and the Founding Faculty Director of the Climate Systems Engineering initiative. Keith previously led the development of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program.

In this episode, we discuss Keith’s Climate Systems Engineering initiatives, carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and geoengineering techniques. Drawing on David’s decades of expertise, we dive deep into topics such as CDR, solar geoengineering, ice sheet geoengineering.

Links:

• David Keith’s profile (& old profile)
• The Climate Systems Engineering initiative

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Jennifer Allan is a Strategic Adviser and Team Leader with Earth Negotiations Bulletin, and Lecturer at Cardiff University. Jen has attended roughly 40 UN conferences where states negotiate the rules of global climate governance. Her work explores how global rules are made and remade, and currently focuses on the politics of ecosystem services and green recovery. In this episode, we discuss with Jen key agenda themes in the forthcoming COP28, the social inequality of climate change and whether COPs deliver useful outcomes - or is it just fanfare?

Links:

• Jennifer Allan’s profile
• COP28 Thematic Program
• IEA World Energy Outlook 2023 - Oil demand to peak by 2030 

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Today’s episode is brought to you in collaboration with our friends at the Energy vs Climate podcast. Energy vs Climate breaks down the trade-offs and hard truths of the energy transition in Alberta, Canada, and beyond with energy experts David Keith, Sara Hastings-Simon and Ed Whittingham.  

In this episode, they speak with Greg Nemet, a Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs. His research focuses on technological change in energy and the ways in which public policy can affect it. Listen as they discuss the trajectory of solar energy, coming down the cost curve and the energy supply chain.

Links: 

• Energy vs Climate Podcast
• Greg Nemet’s profile 
• Check out Greg’s book, How Solar Energy Became Cheap 

Topic links: 

• Nemet’s paper on Inter-technology knowledge spillovers for energy technologies (Timestamp: 07:43) 
• Paper on Evaluating the causes of cost reduction in photovoltaic modules (Timestamp: 24:18) 
• NREL Report on U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmark: Q1 2020 (Timestamp: 27:21) 

Originally published on The Energy vs Climate show on 24 Feb 2022.

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As we break for the summer, listen here for some highlights of our previous episodes and catch up on the ones you've missed. See you in October!

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Richard S.J. Tol is a Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Sussex and the Professor of the Economics of Climate Change, Institute for Environmental Studies and Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is also the author of Climate Economics: Economic Analysis of Climate, Climate Change and Climate Policy. In this episode, Tol breaks down climate economics – the economic and social costs and benefits of carbon. We also discuss the case for geoengineering and his criticisms on IPCC. 

Links: 

• Richard Tol’s profile 
• Richard’s article, The Economic Impacts of Climate Change 

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Emma Marris is an environmental writer and Institute Fellow at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. She has also written for National Geographic, the Atlantic, the New York Times, Wired, and other publications. In this episode, we dive into the concepts introduced in her book Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, such as wilderness and nature purity. We discuss the relationship between nature and humans, from assisted migration to climate change, and how we can re-envision it. 

Links: 

• Emma Marris’ profile 
• Marris’ weekly articles on The Atlantic  
• Check out her books, Wild Souls and Rambunctious Garden 
• As recommended by Emma, The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole

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Dr John Moore is a Research Professor at University of Lapland, Finland and Chief Scientist of GCESS at Beijing Normal University. His research focuses on geoengineering, sea level change, and ice sheet dynamics. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the cryosphere – the state and future of glaciers, sea ice and permafrost, as well as consider marine glacier geoengineering. John also shares his unique experience as a leader of a major geoengineering research program in China. 

Links: 

• John Moore’s profile 
• His paper on several cryosphere interventions 
• His call for marine glacier geoengineering  
• His latest study on the ocean curtain idea 

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Dr Steve Smith is the Executive Director of CO2RE, as well as Executive Director of the Oxford Net Zero initiative, based at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He also previously co-led the Climate Science Team at the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In this episode, we take a holistic deep dive into Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and discuss his expertise on net zero pledges, the political and economic strategies for CDR, and technology readiness. 

Links: 

• Steve’s Smith School profile and CO2RE profile 
• The Net Zero Tracker project - supported by students!
• The State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report

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Dr Heleen de Coninck is a Professor of Socio-Technical Innovation and Climate Change at Eindhoven University of Technology, and Associate Professor in Innovation Studies and Sustainability at Radboud University. She is also the newly appointed deputy chair of the Dutch Scientific Climate Council. 

In this episode, we discuss the four Net Zero transitions set out in the 2018 IPCC 1.5ºC report, and specifically how to facilitate a just transition. Towards the end, we debate on how much focus on geoengineering technologies is healthy. 

Links: 

• Heleen's profile  
• Lecture transcript: system change, not climate change 
• IPCC Special Report on "Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage”  
• IPCC Special Report on “Global Warming of 1.5 ºC”  

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Dr David Fahey is the Director of the Chemical Sciences Laboratory in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and he also serves as a Co-Chair of its the Montreal Protocol’s Scientific Assessment Panel, which produces the quadrennial assessments of stratospheric ozone depletion. In this episode, we discuss flying planes into the stratosphere to conduct experiments on ozone depletion, the success of the Montreal Protocol, and solar radiation modification (SRM) - potential impacts, future for research and deployment regulation.

Links:

• David Fahey ’s profile 
• David's work with the NASA Airborne Science Program, 
• Including this paper based on the 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment over the Antarctic
• Montreal Protocol Scientific Assessment Panel
• The 2022 Quadrennial report and Executive Summary
• One Atmosphere, the UNEP review on SRM research and deployment
• Episode chapter markers 

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