Fossil fuels -- coal, natural gas, and oil -- provide the large majority of our power in the United States and around the world. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), John Reilly of the MIT Sloan School of Management joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to demystify fossil fuels: what are the different kinds of fossil fuels, and how do they compare to each other? What is “fracking” and how did impact energy use and CO2 emissions in the United States? What kinds of decisions do we need to make to transition to clean energy, while providing electricity to a growing number of people?

John Reilly is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Co-Director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. An economist, he researches economic models that connect human activity with natural systems like the ocean, atmosphere, and vegetation.

Season two of TILclimate focuses on our global energy system, its relationship to climate change, and what our options are for keeping the lights on while creating a clean energy future. We’re partnering with the MIT Energy Initiative, which will air longer interviews with each guest to take a deeper dive into these topics.

For more episodes of TILclimate, visit: tilclimate.mit.edu

To listen to the MIT Energy Initiative podcast, visit: energy.mit.edu/podcast

For in-depth analyses on energy technologies, check out the MIT Energy’s “Future of” report series: energy.mit.edu/research-type/future-of/

For the full break-down of where U.S. gets its energy: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

Credits

• Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
• David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
• Rachel Fritts, Graduate Student Writer
• Olivia Burek, Student Production Assistant
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions
• Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology