MIT Energy Initiative

Maud Texier, head of energy development at Google, on the carbon footprint of the internet, the role of data centers, and how Google and others are working to make the internet carbon-free. Timestamps: 01:11 - Interest in energy 02:00 - What is Google Cloud? 03:00 - What is a data center? 07:11 - Google’s energy usage, reaching 100% renewable, and 24/7 carbon-free energy 11:08 - Regional efficiency 12:15 - Different energy technologies 13:33 - Carbon offsets 15:20 - IPCC Sixth...

Maria Zuber, vice president for research at MIT, on a lifelong interest in space, the human side of energy, and MIT as a testbed for climate solutions. Timestamps: 02:40 - Growing up in Pennsylvania 07:25 - Family response to the NASA GRAIL mission 09:26 - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences 12:14 - Plan for Action on Climate Change 18:25 - SESAME 19:36 - Climate Grand Challenges, Climate and Sustainability Consortium 23:44 - Campus sustainability 27:46 -...

Gia Schneider, co-founder and CEO of Natel Energy, on early climate inspirations, founding a company, and how she’s revolutionizing hydropower. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/38 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Ije Ikoku Okeke, CFO of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, on decentralizing energy in urban and rural Nigeria, micro-grids, and their biggest technology barrier. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/37 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Mark Thompson, director of digital delivery at National Grid, on digitalization, industry standards, and the day-to-day of how our grid is being converted to renewable energy. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/36 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Vera Songwe, under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, on economic development and energy connectivity in Africa. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/35 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All and co-chair of UN-Energy, on energy access, electrification in Nigeria, and the power of data. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/34 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

David Keith, assistant professor at the MIT Sloan School, and Joanna Moody, research program manager at MITEI’s Mobility Systems Center, on why we value our cars and what it means for sustainable urban mobility in the future. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/33 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, on junior beginnings, energy priorities, and personal challenges. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/32 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and founder and chairman of the Switch Energy Alliance, on energy and filmmaking in the developing world. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/31 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Jessica Granderson, staff scientist and deputy of research programs for the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, on building analytics, energy efficiency, and the grid. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/30 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Frank van Mierlo, CEO of 1366 Technologies, on the science of solar, green hydrogen, and an unexpected skill resulting from an MIT education. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/29 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Paula Gold-Williams, president and CEO of CPS Energy, on running the nation’s largest municipally owned gas and electric utility. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/28 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Shreya Dave, CEO of Via Separations, and Johanna Wolfson, principal at Prime Impact Fund, on their paths from studying at MIT to working for and investing in climate tech startups. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/27 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Danielle Merfeld, chief technology officer for GE Renewable Energy and corporate officer of GE, on trends in renewable energy technology and clean energy journey. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/26 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Nitricity and Harmony Desal on the startup technologies that won the 2020 MIT Clean Energy Prize, the largest and longest-running competition for student clean tech startups. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/25 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Mariko Meier, vice president of marketing at Enel X, on building a career in energy and recent trends in corporate climate strategy. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/24 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Tod Hynes, senior lecturer in the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, talks success, spinouts, and advice from teaching Energy Ventures, an MIT course that guides student teams through the process of creating new energy ventures. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/23 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

John Reilly, energy economist at the MIT Sloan School, talks with Lisa Jacobson from the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and Ethan Zindler from Bloomberg New Energy Finance about how the energy market in the U.S. has changed over the past decade and lessons related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/22 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup

Gökşin Kavlak and Jessika Trancik from the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society on their work to explain and forecast technology evolution. They also delve into a recent paper on photovoltaics, a type of solar energy technology. Show notes and transcript: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/21 Sign up for notifications of new episodes: https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/signup