Cutting Carbon

Leveraging three decade’s worth of leadership experience across the energy industry, Audrey Zibelman, now an advisor to the Biden Administration as a member of the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council, sits down with Jeff and Brian to discuss the technological, regulatory and financial innovation necessary to ensure a successful energy transition and how the grid needs to evolve to support the next wave of electrification. They review best practices from around the world, including those gleaned from Audrey's time as CEO of the Australian grid operator AEMO and as Chair of the New York Public Service Commission. They also discuss the potential for the Inflation Reduction Act to accelerate the transition to more clean and renewable power.

Independent System Operators (ISOs) are the air traffic controllers of the power generation world. Learn more as Jennifer Curran, Senior Vice President, Planning and Operations & Chief Compliance Officer at MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator), stops by to help Jeff and Brian connect the dots on how we transport electricity from point A to point B via the grid to support reliable, sustainable access to power across geographies, leveraging innovative technologies and diverse resources to meet evolving energy needs.

Over the last five seasons of Cutting Carbon, hosts Dr. Jeffrey Goldmeer and Brian Gutknecht have helped listeners build foundational knowledge on today’s energy transition landscape, defining key terms and illuminating the myriad technologies, projects, and processes at play. This season, we dive deeper, examining the critical role infrastructure plays in supporting and sustaining these innovative technologies. Listen as Jeff and Brian set the stage for another exciting season to come. These are conversations that you don't want to miss!

UN Secretary-General António Guterres set the tone for the recent Conference of the Parties (COP27) with this deeply resonant statement: “The world is watching and has a simple message to all of us: stand and deliver.” Listen as Jeff and Brian take you inside COP27, held from November 6-18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Joining them in this timely conversation are conference attendees Roger Martella - GE’s Chief Sustainability Officer, and Arshad Mansoor, President and CEO of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Together they reflect on their experience, share key takeaways, highlight some of the top commitments coming out of the conference, and provide details around GE’s recent H2 demonstration in the region.

High-quality, equitable science education will play a critical role in empowering the next generation of leaders poised to confront the energy trilemma and climate change. In the final episode of the season, Jeff and Brian speak with Dr. Erika Shugart, Executive Director of The National Science Teaching Association, about how the need for the skills gleaned from student’s scientific exploration manifests itself in all professional spaces, making students' development of these skills and experiences all the more imperative as we grow closer to the year 2030.

Agriculture is both a cause and effect within the broader climate change discussion. Jeff and Brian speak with Dr. Marci Baranski, International Rice Manager & Program Management Officer in the United Nations Environmental Program Office (UNEP) about the role that agriculture plays in climate change. Over the course of their conversation, they discuss agriculture as a "hyper-local" industry shaped by a wide variety of social, technological, and environmental factors, while detailing some of the UNEP's exciting global projects and other developments within the industry at large.

Though traditionally seen as static objects, buildings are a new area of decarbonization innovation, as exciting advancements in building controls and digitization have the potential to help us create more intelligent, energy-responsive structures, adjusting output as demand increases or decreases, resulting in structures that are more efficient and produce fewer carbon emissions. Leading Jeff and Brian in the exploration of this dynamic space is David Dorney, VP of Industrial Refrigeration, Heating, and Cooling at Johnson Controls. Listen as they dive into some of these innovative technologies, such as Johnson Controls OpenBlue solution, while highlighting those currently accessible to business owners, homeowners, and apartment-dwellers alike.

How can a fleet of electric school buses assist with power generation during a summer surge? In what ways can battery electric technologies support the expansion of cleaner transportation at scale? Join Dr. Jeff Goldmeer and Brian Gutknecht as they speak with Gareth Joyce, CEO of Proterra, an innovative company in the American commercial vehicle and EV technology space, as they dive into these questions and more, emphasizing the actions we can all take in our local communities to advance clean transportation technologies.

The transportation sector has recently overtaken power generation as one of the top drivers in overall greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Join Jeff and Brian as they chat with Ryan Wheeler, Fleet Electrification Product Owner at National Grid, a regional electric and gas utility in the northeastern United States, about the critical role that fleet vehicle electrification is expected to play in reducing the industry's carbon footprint, while contributing to significant cost savings and public health improvements. Over the course of their discussion, Jeff, Brian, and Ryan also take into consideration the challenges, needs, and opportunities associated with creating and maintaining the infrastructure needed to support the continued electrification of personal and fleet vehicles.