Direct Current - An Energy.gov Podcast

By Energy.gov Digital Team

What's Direct Current - An Energy.gov Podcast about?

Direct Current is a podcast about energy -- the kind that lights our homes, powers our lives and shapes our world. From the U.S. Department of Energy’s digital team in Washington, D.C., Direct Current brings you fresh, insightful stories of how we generate and use electricity, what that means for the planet and the cutting-edge science that’s driving a global energy revolution.

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Brewing Up Energy Savings

09.30.2021

Contained within a single glass of beer is hundreds of hours of labor and vast amounts of resources. Join us as we go inside a popular craft brewery and learn how DOE programs are helping reduce costs while saving water ...

Direct Current - An Energy.gov Podcast episodes:

09.30.2021 Brewing Up Energy Savings Contained within a single glass of beer is hundreds of hours of labor and vast amounts of resources. Join us as we go inside a popular craft brewery and learn how DOE programs are helping reduce costs while saving water ...
07.09.2021 LCLS-II: Brighter, Faster, Smaller Stretching nearly two miles under a freeway in Palo Alto, CA, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is a huge X-ray laser with the power to capture images of molecules in motion. Now, a big upgrade is taking this SLAC ...
06.14.2021 LPO's New Look: A Conversation with Jigar Shah With $40 billion in lending authority, the Loan Programs Office is one of the Energy Department's most powerful clean energy investment tools. We sat down with Director Jigar Shah to talk about how LPO works, and what's in store for ...
04.21.2021 Getting to Know Secretary Granholm The nation's 16th Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, sat down with Direct Current to talk clean energy, climate, her "obsession" with creating millions of good-paying union jobs, and her vision for the Department of Energy.
07.30.2020 Mars 2020, Part 2: SuperCam Does It All Developed by Los Alamos National Lab, SuperCam is the scientific “Swiss Army Knife” for NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover. In this episode, we hear from the SuperCam team what it's like shooting rocks with lasers, and how it could help us ...
07.30.2020 Mars 2020, Part 2: SuperCam Does It All It zaps. It snaps. It scans. It even dusts! SuperCam is the NASA Mars Perseverance Rover’s multitalented “Swiss Army Knife” of planetary science. In this episode, we hear from the Los Alamos National Laboratory team behind SuperCam about what it’s ...
07.24.2020 Mars 2020, Part 1: Powered by Plutonium NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover is loaded with technology developed by the Department of Energy, including a nuclear battery fueled by plutonium-238. Listen as we follow the rover’s power source on its 7-year, 5,000-mile journey from lab to launch pad.
07.24.2020 Mars 2020, Part 1: Powered by Plutonium NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover is loaded with technology developed by the Department of Energy and our National Labs, including a nuclear battery fueled by plutonium-238. In this episode, Direct Current follows the rover’s power source on its incredible seven-year, 5,000-mile ...
04.22.2020 AI: Safer, Smarter, More Secure (Live at AAAS) Artificial intelligence is all around us — even if we don’t realize it — and the rapid spread of AI technologies into our lives raises big questions about security. Our guests in this episode study the risks of ever-present AI,
04.22.2020 AI: Safer, Smarter, More Secure (Live at AAAS) Artificial intelligence is all around us — even if we don’t realize it. Whether it’s in a self-driving car, a food delivery app, or our nation’s electrical grid, the rapid spread of AI and machine learning raises some big questions ...
03.31.2020 The Future of Water & Wildfire (Live at AAAS) COVID-19 is dominating the headlines, but the pandemic isn’t the only threat to human health. Water is an essential part of life, but changes in the water cycle can have disastrous results. The National Labs are working to understand and ...
03.31.2020 The Future of Water & Wildfire (Live at AAAS) Human health is at the top of all of our minds these days, with COVID-19 posing an unprecedented global challenge. One of the things that has a major impact on our health — and our security, the environment, agriculture, energy, ...
03.14.2020 National Labs Respond to COVID-19 An interview with Dr. Chris Fall, Director of the Department of Energy Office of Science, about the agency’s response to COVID-19.
03.14.2020 National Labs Respond to COVID-19 An interview with Dr. Chris Fall, Director of the Department of Energy Office of Science, about the agency’s response to COVID-19. Secretary Brouillette has tasked Dr. Fall with coordinating efforts across the Department and its 17 National Labs, where scientists ...
12.10.2019 Tribal Energy: Powering Self-Determination For hundreds of Indian tribes and native communities across the United States, energy represents many things: a lifeline, a source of income, a path to sovereignty. Learn how the Office of Indian Energy helps tribes take control of their energy ...
12.10.2019 Tribal Energy: Powering Self-Determination For hundreds of Indian tribes and native communities across the United States, energy represents many things: a lifeline, a source of income, a path to sovereignty. No two tribes are alike, which is why the Department of Energy's Office of ...
10.09.2019 AI: This Is Just the Beginning Artificial intelligence is all over the news, but what's all the hype really about? We travel to Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee to find out how AI is going to revolutionize science, and welcome a new podcast to the ...
10.09.2019 AI: This Is Just the Beginning Artificial intelligence is all over the news, but what's all the hype really about? We travel to Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee to find out how AI is going to revolutionize science and energy, and welcome a new podcast ...
07.16.2019 S3 E8: KRUSTY in Spaaace! 50 years after Apollo 11 made history, NASA is getting ready to send astronauts back to the Moon, then on to Mars. We're going to need a power supply that can keep humans alive in space for years at a ...
07.16.2019 S3 E8: KRUSTY in Spaaace! 50 years after Apollo 11 made history, NASA is getting ready to send astronauts back to the Moon. After that, Mars is next up. We're going to need a power supply that can keep humans alive in space for years ...
05.07.2019 S3 E7: DUNE: The Neutrinos Must Flow Join Direct Current on a subatomic sojourn into the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a massive international research project aiming to unlock the secrets of the neutrino and answer the question, "Why does anything exist?"
05.07.2019 S3 E7: DUNE: The Neutrinos Must Flow Here's a question. Why does anything exist? The key to this age-old mystery could lie with neutrinos, elusive particles that flow all around us and (through us) by the trillions. Join Direct Current on a subatomic sojourn into the Deep ...
03.20.2019 S3 E6: Women in Power: The C3E Story Direct Current - An Energy.gov Podcast talks to the women who are leading a clean energy revolution, with a little help from C3E. It's part support network, part annual gathering, part awards show — and all about empowerment.
03.20.2019 S3 E6: Women in Power: The C3E Story Meet the women who are leading a clean energy revolution, with a little help from C3E. It's part support network, part annual gathering, part awards show — and all about empowerment.
03.01.2019 S3 E5: Microbiomes! Live at AAAS There's an invisible world of microbes living all around us that we're only just beginning to understand. We talked to two DOE scientists at the 2019 AAAS Meeting in D.C. to learn how genetic research could answer big questions about ...
03.01.2019 S3 E5: Microbiomes! Live at AAAS There's an invisible world of microbes living all around us — on our skin, in our guts, even in the ground beneath our feet — and we're only just beginning to understand their function. In this episode, recorded live at ...
11.21.2018 S3 E4: This Episode Stinks Grease. Gunk. Sludge. Where most people see a nasty nuisance, these scientists see powerful potential. Join us as we wade into the world of bioenergy and learn about the folks working to turn waste into useful energy!
11.21.2018 S3 E4: This Episode Stinks Grease. Gunk. Sludge. Where most people see a nasty nuisance, these scientists see powerful potential. Join us as we wade into the world of bioenergy and learn about the folks working to turn waste into useful energy!
09.13.2018 S3 E3: Nuclear Energy: Fact, Fiction, Future Nuclear energy gets a bad rap on "The Simpsons," but there's a lot more to the story. In this episode of Direct Current, we separate fact from fiction and and explore how splitting atoms could play a big role in ...
09.13.2018 S3 E3: Nuclear Energy: Fact, Fiction, Future D'oh! Nuclear energy gets a bad rap on "The Simpsons". But don't believe everything you see on TV — there's a lot more to the story of our most misunderstood energy source. In this episode of Direct Current, we separate ...
07.31.2018 S3 E2: Makers This episode of Direct Current is dedicated to the makers at the Energy Department — the engineers, researchers and artisans whose creations are pushing science and technology to exciting new places.
07.31.2018 S3 E2: Makers This episode of Direct Current is dedicated to the makers at the Energy Department — the engineers, researchers and artisans whose creations are pushing science and technology to exciting new places. Check out photos, video and more from this episode ...
06.20.2018 S3 E1: Sitting Down with Secretary Perry You know Rick Perry as the current Secretary of Energy and former Texas governor, but did you know he once played drums with ZZ Top? On the Direct Current season 3 premiere, hear from Perry on everything from supercomputers to ...
06.20.2018 S3 E1: Sitting Down with Secretary Perry You know Rick Perry as the current Secretary of Energy and former Texas governor, but did you know he once played drums with ZZ Top? Hear from Perry himself in the season 3 premiere of Direct Current as he sits ...
02.05.2018 S2 E9: Power Couple A pair of energy detectives is hunting down waste and saving money at two big U.S. manufacturing companies. Hear their story, and learn how our Better Plants program is helping partners across the nation find similar success.
02.05.2018 S2 E9: Power Couple A pair of energy detectives is hunting down waste and saving money at two big U.S. manufacturing companies. Hear their story, and learn how our Better Plants program is helping partners across the nation find similar success.
12.19.2017 S2 E8: Holiday Lights, Redux We're keeping the season merry and bright with a show about data and holiday lights!
12.19.2017 S2 E8: Holiday Lights, Redux We're keeping the season merry and bright with a show about data and holiday lights! Ever thought about how big a role data centers play in your life? From searching to streaming to shopping, these critical pieces of infrastructure provide ...
11.14.2017 SHORT CIRCUIT \| History of the Light Bulb One of the most ubiquitous items in the world is an item you can probably see from wherever you’re listening… the light bulb. The story of how the light bulb came to light is a fascinating one that we think ...
11.14.2017 SHORT CIRCUIT \| History of the Light Bulb We devote this Short Circuit to one of the most ubiquitous items in the world, an item you can probably see from wherever you’re listening… the light bulb. The story of how the light bulb came to light is a ...
10.27.2017 S2 E7: Energy Secrets From the real science behind the Upside Down in Netflix's "Stranger Things" to the mysterious death of a U.S. president, Direct Current is pulling back the curtain on some of our deepest, darkest #EnergySecrets.
10.27.2017 S2 E7: Energy Secrets Last year, Netflix's sci-fi hit "Stranger Things" called us out on being... well... a secretive agency. We set the record straight back then, but with season 2 coming out, there's more to the story. So, prepare yourself: from the real ...
10.04.2017 SHORT CIRCUIT \| Energy @ 40 Energy is 40 and we're celebrating with a look back at four decades of #ScienceForThePeople. We talk to the Department's longest-serving employee (53 years!), revisit the agency's origins, and look to the future with the help of our official historians.
10.04.2017 SHORT CIRCUIT \| Energy @ 40 The U.S. Department of Energy is 40 years old, and Direct Current is celebrating with a look back at four decades of #ScienceForThePeople. Join us as we talk to the Department's longest-serving employee (53 years!), revisit the agency's origins, and ...
09.13.2017 S2 E6: A Shot in the Dark Earth, the cosmos, everything we can see with our eyes and our instruments is made up of normal matter. But all that doesn’t add up to a whole lot. It's just 15% of the mass of the universe. The rest ...
09.13.2017 S2 E6: A Shot in the Dark Earth, the cosmos, everything we can see with our eyes and our instruments is made up of normal matter. But all that doesn’t add up to a whole lot. It's just 15% of the mass of the universe. The rest ...
08.17.2017 SHORT CIRCUIT \| Solar, Meet Eclipse Solar power is booming in the U.S. So what happens when the sun disappears during the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017? We talk to the energy experts.
08.17.2017 SHORT CIRCUIT \| Solar, Meet Eclipse Solar power is booming in the U.S. So what happens when the sun disappears during the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017? We talk to the energy experts.
08.09.2017 S2 E5: Hyper Drive Time And now, for something completely different… Take a drive with Direct Current as we mash up three slightly off-kilter energy stories. It might get weird, but it won’t be boring. It’s Hyper Drive Time!
08.09.2017 S2 E5: Hyper Drive Time And now, for something completely different… Take a drive with Direct Current as we mash up three slightly off-kilter energy stories. It might get weird, but it won’t be boring. It’s Hyper Drive Time!

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