climate change Archives - The Next Billion Seconds

mpesceSeptember 13, 2021September 8, 2021

SUSTAIN #4: Would electrifying everything eliminate carbon emissions?

Inventor Saul Griffith has a radical proposal: electrify everything, saving energy, money, and cutting emissions almost to zero. It simultaneouisly transforms the costs of climate change into enormous opportunities. Co-host Sally Dominguez explores three amazing new battery technologies.

A must-read companion to SUSTAIN:

Saul Griffith’s forthcoming book ELECTRIFY is, well, an electrifying read that makes the clear, and obvious case that electrifying everything (coupled with renewable generation) is the win-win solution for the planet and our economy. Pre-order it here.

Sally Dominguez loves sodium-ion batteries, and here’s a report about why they may come to rival the dominant Lithium-ion batteries we use today…

Sally and I both love ‘structural batteries’ – they’ll allow us to store electricity pretty much everywhere, in pretty much everything. Read about them here.

mpesceAugust 23, 2021August 23, 2021

SUSTAIN #1: Can we ‘flatten the curve’ on climate change?

The recent UN report on climate change gives us about twelve years to really reign in our carbon emissions. That means it’s time to think clearly and methodically about how to get the most benefit for the least pain. We can do this!

At nearly 4000 pages, the IPCC Sixth Report on the Physical Science of Climate Change isn’t a quick read — but the first hundred or so pages contain the condensed facts. Everything you need to know to make decisions today to keep us on SSP1 – the path toward no more than 1.5ºC warming. Grab it here.

mpesceFebruary 22, 2021February 22, 2021

Episode 5.02 – Series 5 Predictions: Will you own an electric car this decade?

Prediction: At least half of all passenger vehicles sold by 2030 will be electric, revolutionising transportation – and energy.

Series 5 continues with more bold predictions for the next decade — an era of transition and remediation, as we work across multiple fronts and multiple industries – internationally – to cool the climate.

mpesceSeptember 10, 2020September 9, 2020

The Users Guide to the Future #2 – Why are we seeing more heatwaves?

The hot, dry conditions that preceded our Black Summer bushfires are becoming more common – how can we prepare for more frequent heatwaves?

Paleoclimatologist Nerilie Abram used coral samples to look back into a thousand years of climate, and heatwave expert Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick analysed the last seventy years of global data about heatwaves. Our climate past gives us a view into a hot future.

The Users Guide to the Future was produced in partnership with GIO.

mpesceApril 4, 2018April 4, 20181 Comment

Episode 2.02: Power Tools with Ramez Naam

Solar power cost $100 per kilowatt hour when energy futurist Ramez Naam entered the world. Last year, the UAE signed a 20-year contract for solar power at a four thousandth the cost. For Ramez Naam it’s no longer a question of if renewables, it’s a matter of when: the data proves it. Energy has been mixed with politics from the beginning – so over the next billion seconds, how do we talk ourselves out of our coal culture and into a sustainable future? Ramez Naam makes a convincing case for a future where we profit from the sun.

Here’s an excerpt:

There are some amazing things happening in the renewable energy space, as shown in this chart about a typical week of energy generation in South Australia: