How can local governments can help advance clean energy technology? Investor-owned utilities dominate the electricity market in the United States, but community choice aggregators let municipalities control their own energy strategy.
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Unlike nuclear fission made famous by the atomic bomb, nuclear fusion produces energy by fusing together hydrogen isotopes. It’s been an elusive but ultimately unattainable goal. That is until a recent breakthrough at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Physicist Annie Kritcher led the team that made this advance.
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In an increasingly globalized world, trade can have a big impact on carbon emissions. Could a new kind of tariff called a carbon border adjustment mechanism, or C-BAM, transform trade policy into a source of climate progress? Listen to our interview with economist and UC Berkeley professor Joseph Shapiro to learn more about C-BAMs and how the EU is trying to make them a reality.
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When grassland ecosystems are healthy, they can hold a lot of carbon. But these days, most are degraded. UC Berkeley ecologist Whendee Silver says that by using compost to restore grasslands, we can help local ecosystems and draw down more carbon from the atmosphere at the same time.
Both food waste and hunger are big problems, but connecting extra food to the people who need it most is often a challenge. In today’s episode, Climate Break talks to Replate, a platform making it easier for businesses to donate their food rather than throwing it out.
Office buildings, high rises, and greenhouses are covered in windows. What if we used all that window space to capture solar energy and add to the grid’s renewable energy supply? Listen to University of Michigan engineering professor Steven Forrest explain how a change in the semiconducors used in solar panels could allow us to transform windows into power sources — without sacrificing light and transparency.
When plants photosynthesize, they temporarily remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Could we use gene editing technology CRISPR to enhance photosynthesis and increase the amount of carbon dioxide they remove? UC Berkeley biology Professor and photosynthesis expert Kris Niyogi thinks so, and he says it could fight climate change and enhance food production at the same time. In this episode, Climate Break speaks to Professor Niyogi about his lab’s early-stage research into CRISPR, photosynthesis, and applications to climate change.
As global climate summit COP27 meets this week, Climate Break has partnered with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on a series of episode about CARB’s approach to climate policy and its work with international stakeholders advancing ambitious transportation decarbonisation goals. Today, hear from Cristiano Facanha, who leads the Drive to Zero program at CARB partner CalSTART, describe the transition strategy CARB and CalSTART developed for California’s commercial vehicles and how they’re bringing it to the world’s stage via the Drive to Zero initiative.
Audio By: Wangyuxuan Xu Scripting By: Alexandra Jade Garcia Blurb By: Elizabeth Shertinsky Socials By: Sophia Del Priore West Virginia v. EPA The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency on June 30, 2022, determining (in a 6-3 ruling) that, without explicit congressional instruction,…
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The growth of electric vehicles has increased the demands on the electric grid, which can be a particular problem if EV owners charge their cars at the same time that other electricity demand is at its peak. However, EVs may be part of the solution to some of the grid’s operational challenges. Dr. Carla Peterman, chief sustainability officer at electric utility Pacific Gas and Electric and a former California energy official, spoke about the possibility of electric vehicles providing grid services.
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