Our second interview in season two focuses on the global policy making process that leads to climate policy. We talk to Arthur Lee who as an industry representative to the IPCC and UNFCCC for several decades helps us to decode all the acronyms and look behind the headlines on how the work to build collaboration between more than a hundred countries and countless other stakeholders unfolds at meeting like the annual COP (Conference of Parties) meetings. IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2007). Mr. Lee was awarded a certificate of recognition by the IPCC for his contributions to the Nobel Peace Prize. Talking to a Nobel Peace Prize winner was a real treat.

We want to welcome everyone to season two of the Future of Energy podcast, sponsored by the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition at the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California. We hope you followed us in season one if so welcome back. If you are new to the program we try to cover the vast size and complexity of the energy transition by interviewing experts in a wide array of fields in an informal, conversation format using our student co-host to do most of the interviews. This season we have two new student co-hosts so welcome Milia and Rochan. Our first topic is climate modeling. We frequently hear about the results of those models in terms of average global temperature forecasts but how do climate scientists develop those models? In this episode we talk to Dr. Stephen Koonin from the Hoover Institute at Stanford University and author of the book “UnSettled” and get a look behind the scenes in our episode titled: “All Models are Wrong, but some are Useful: A detailed look at climate models and modeling.”

We are back for a second season of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition podcast! We are joined by two new student co-hosts, Milla and Rochan. Our first episode of season two shares the origin story of the podcast, with important introductions by Dean Yannis Yortos on sustainability and Dr. Don Paul on how the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition got started. We are excited to debut a new name, The Future of Energy, and host some amazing guests, with each episode focused on a critical element of the future of energy. We publish on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple, and we invite you to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and share your thoughts. Special thanks to Kyle Koerner for his generous support of this project.

In this episode of Energy Transition Talk, we talk about the future of the energy workforce and how we can recruit and prepare the next generation energy workforce for the energy transition.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates that adopting clean energy technologies will create 14 million jobs by 2030. However, many students, concerned about the fossil fuel industry’s role in climate change and its job security risks, are turning away from careers traditionally associated with the fossil fuel industry, like petroleum engineering and mining. This can create a shortage of positions needed for the energy transition. The energy transition will depend on engineers, electricians, plumbers, and mechanics—just to name a few—to build the infrastructure needed for the energy transition (think power lines, heat pumps, and wind turbines). So if you’re thinking about pursuing a career in STEM or energy more broadly – we need you!

How can we manage this critical transition in the energy workforce? To talk about this challenge, Justine chats with Dr. Barbara Ransom, an internationally known geoscientist at the National Science Foundation. They discuss current trends in the energy workforce, the broad range of skills we’ll need for the energy transition, the implications of artificial intelligence (AI), and the challenges and potential solutions to increasing interest in STEM and green jobs.

Jim then speaks with Abhinav Vishal, a petroleum engineering student at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in India, about the role that petroleum engineering can play in the energy transition.

02:33 Interview with Dr. Ransom

37:51 Interview with Abhinav Vishal

53:57 Concluding Remarks

Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review, and let us know what you thought about this episode! Special thanks to our guests for today and Abhi, our technical guru, for his behind-the-scenes contributions to our podcast. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition.

Referenced in the podcast and additional resources:

• Wall Street Journal, Big Oil’s Talent Crisis: High Salaries Are No Longer Enough, August 6, 2023

• New Yorker, The Great Electrician Shortage, Apr. 24, 2023

• IEA, The reskilling challenge: How can we leave no one behind in the energy transition?, Apr. 26, 2023

• McKinsey, Toward a more orderly US energy transition: Six key action areas, Jan. 12, 2023

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.

Much of the talk around renewable energy seems to be focused on wind and solar. But there are other renewable sources that may be worth paying attention to. In this episode, we discuss the potential for hydrogen to be another tool in transitioning away from fossil fuels. Hydrogen has been around for awhile, but as an energy source, could it be experiencing a revival? The Biden administration seems to think it could be promising; it announced in October 2023 that it will award up to $7 billion to fund 7 regional “hydrogen hubs” across the U.S. to spur the production of hydrogen as a clean energy source.

In this episode, Paulina first chats with Yeshvi Tomar, a student and fuel cell researcher at USC, who explains the basics of hydrogen as an energy source and its benefits and limitations. Justine and Jim then speak with Dr. Christine Economides, a professor at the University of Houston, who dives deeper into the difference between gray, blue, and green hydrogen, the applications of hydrogen, and the potential to scale up the role of hydrogen as an energy source.

02:23 Interview with Yeshvi Tomar

22:34 Interview with Dr. Economides

55:51 Concluding Remarks

Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review. Special thanks to our guests for today and Abhi, our technical guru, for their important contributions to today’s episode. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition.

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.

Referenced in this episode and additional resources:

• University of Houston Webinar: Fueling Houston with Hydrogen - The Switch Is On, September 29, 2023: As combustion of gasoline and diesel in the transportation energy sector account for 27% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, there is an urgency to find clean and affordable fuel alternatives on the road to a more sustainable future. Research has identified hydrogen as a viable fuel source that could emerge as a premier energy source of the future. This discussion centers on how the cost of providing hydrogen refueling in the Houston area would compare with current fuel prices.

• EIA, Hydrogen Explained: Use of Hydrogen

• FuelCellsWorks, History of Fuel Cells

• U.S. National Archives, Beyond the Hindenburg: Airships Throughout History

• NY Times, The hope and hype of hydrogen, Oct. 17, 2023

• CNBC, These seven U.S. regions will receive $7 billion in federal funding to produce hydrogen, Oct. 13, 2023

  USGS, The Potential for Geologic Hydrogen for Next-Generation Energy, Apr. 13, 2023

When it comes to clean energy, we often hear about wind and solar, but there are other, perhaps less-talked about, renewable sources to include in our energy transition portfolio. In this episode, we focus on geothermal, which uses heat from the earth to generate energy. You may have heard of the Geysers in northern California, the world’s largest geothermal field, or the Salton Sea in southern California, the second largest geothermal field in the U.S. However, in 2022, just 0.4% of U.S. electricity generation came from geothermal energy. Can we harness the potential of the earth’s heat in more than just volcanic regions? 

To address this question, Justine and Paulina speak with Dr. Birendra Jha, a professor of petroleum engineering at USC who runs a research group, the GEM Lab, which aims to address engineering challenges related to energy. We talk about what geothermal energy is, why geothermal seems to be less popular than other sources like wind and solar, and the challenges and benefits of an emerging technology, Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), which could expand where geothermal energy is produced.

Jim then speaks with Minh Tran, a geothermal engineer with a PhD in Petroleum Engineering from USC, who is studying ways to more effectively transform geothermal heat into electricity. We talk about whether skills from oil and gas are transferable to geothermal, the potential of EGS in the energy transition, and the importance of financing and policy incentives in expanding geothermal. 

2:21 Interview with Dr. Jha 36:28 Interview with Minh Tran 55:48 Concluding Remarks

Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast so you can automatically get access to our new episodes – you can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we would appreciate it so much if you could leave a rating and review. Special thanks to our guests for today and Abhi, our technical guru, for their important contributions to today’s episode. This podcast is sponsored by the USC Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition.  

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast. 

Referenced in this episode:  

• EIA, Geothermal Explained 

• EIA, U.S electricity generation by energy source 

• California Energy Commission, 2022 Total System Electric Generation

• EnergyTransition.org, Mar. 28, 2023, Geothermal Iceland: This land of fire and ice is pushing the limits of its natural energy

• ScienceNews, July 12, 2023, How Kenya is helping its neighbors develop geothermal energy

• Forbes, Enhanced Geothermal Could Be A Missing Piece Of America’s Climate Puzzle, July 23, 2023

• Scientific American, Biden Administration Bets $74 Million on ‘Enhanced’ Geothermal Power, Feb. 14, 2023

• U.S. Department of Energy, Biden-Harris Administration Announces $74 Million to Advance Enhanced Geothermal Systems, Feb. 8, 2023 

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Energy Transition Talk series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET) or the producers of this podcast.