Energy and Sustainability - Audio

The CSIS Stephenson Ocean Security Project and Energy Security and Climate Change Program are pleased to welcome Senator Tom Udall who will share his views on U.S. efforts to address plastic waste.

The conversation will center on the contribution of plastics to ocean pollution and climate change. Plastic production is forecasted to triple by 2050, at which point it will account for 20 percent of global oil consumption and generate considerable greenhouse gas emissions. The United States alone disposes of 32 million tons of plastic waste each year. Much of that ends up in the ocean where it degrades marine ecosystems and enters our food system through fisheries.

Welcoming remarks will be given by Sarah Ladislaw, Senior Vice President and Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program, and the conversation will be moderated by Whitley Saumweber, Director of the Stephenson Ocean Security Project at CSIS.

This event is made possible by the generous support of the Philip Stephenson Foundation and by general support to CSIS and the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program. 

The CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, with input and support from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions and Chief Commercialization Officer, is pleased to launch the Energy Innovation Series. 

Energy Innovation is a six-part discussion series focusing on specific categories of energy technology and aims to foster greater understanding of―and support for―the role of innovation in the energy sysytem.  The series will investigate the innovation priorities of the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Laboratory Complex against the broader ecosystem, both domestic and international, for advancing a portfolio of solutions. 

Innovation in Storage and Battery Technologies, the first discussion in this series, will focus on innovation in the energy storage, including batteries for electric vehicles and for grid storage.  Under Secretary of Energy for Science Paul Dabbar will open the session with a keynote address.  The presentation will be followed by speakers from the national lab system, academia, and the private sector, who will present their work and discuss innovation in storage technologies and energy storage’s route from the laboratory to the market.

More speakers to be announced.

This event is made possible by support from Clearpath and Energy Innovation Fund at National Philanthropic Trust

John Larsen (RHG) joins Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) to talk about the Rhodium Group’s analysis of clean energy tax credit extensions in the United States. Not only could tax credits drive down GHG emissions, they are an opportunity to advance clean energy by offering incentives to supply more lower carbon energy options or by providing certainty to emerging clean energy industries. While Congress ultimately did not have a major tax credit deal at the end of 2019 (when we recorded our episode with John), the idea is likely to be revisited again.

For more, check out the Rhodium Group reports:
The Year-End Clean Energy Tax Credit Deal: Swing and a Miss for Climate
Can Tax Credits Tackle Climate?

Andrew Schwartz and Sarah Ladislaw talk about how and why climate change has risen as a top priority for global leaders, what this means for the energy sector, and what it means for decision makers across government, civil society and the private sector.

To stabilize the climate and prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change, we must reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by or soon after 2050. This will require a range of strategies and mechanisms including technological innovation, public policy, and private investment. We are pleased to launch the Climate Solutions Series, a year-long initiative which will bring together a wide range of audiences over six sessions to examine global pathways to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in different sectors of the economy.

The first session will look at various pathways to net-zero emissions, ranging from a significant reduction in fossil fuel consumption and major behavior changes with little reliance on “negative emissions,” to smaller structural changes with a heavy reliance on technologies to reduce carbon from point sources and the atmosphere. The event will feature a presentation on these various pathways, followed by a facilitated discussion featuring perspectives from multiple levels of government.

This series is made possible by the generous support of JPMorgan Chase & Company.

Russian natural gas exports are once again high on the agenda. Russia is completing two new pipelines to Europe, just inaugurated a new gas pipeline to China, and is boosting its presence in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. All this is happening as the outlook for gas in Europe is being upended by new supplies and routes, by new rules and regulations, and by an ambitious decarbonization agenda that will reshape the role of gas in the European energy system, and thus the relationship with Russia.

The Europe-Russia relationship has always had a political and geopolitical dimension, ever since the Soviet Union first supplied gas to Western Europe in the late 1960s. “Yet to boil down the subject of Russian-European gas relations to geopolitics is to miss a large part of the story,” writes Thane Gustafson, a professor of government at Georgetown University and a Senior Director at IHS Markit, in his new book The Bridge: Natural Gas in a Redivided Europe (Harvard University Press, 2020). He continues to say: “The gas revolution in Europe has deep roots, which originated quite independently of Russia, and are only distantly related to geopolitics.”

This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.

• Opportunities to address human rights violations in the seafood supply chain through U.S. policy, emerging technologies, and corporate accountability.
• Implications of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative port investments on ocean sustainability and on the security and sovereignty of developing coastal states.

• Phil Stephenson, Founder, The Philip Stephenson Foundation
• Dr. Whit Saumweber, Director, Stephenson Ocean Security Project, CSIS

• Dr. Dyhia Belhabib, Principal Investigator, Fisheries, Ecotrust Canada
• Jonathan Hillman, Senior Fellow, Simon Chair in Political Economy, and Director, Reconnecting Asia Project, CSIS
• Philip Chou, Senior Advisor, Oceana
• Ernesto Fernandez Monge, Officer, Reducing Harmful Fisheries Subsidies, Pew Charitable Trusts
• Moderator: Tabitha Mallory, Affiliate Professor, University of Washington, and CEO, China Ocean Institute

• Roberta Elias, Director of Policy and Government Affairs, World Wildlife Fund
• Bradley Soule, Chief Fisheries Analyst, OceanMind
• Jenny Barker, Chief of Party, Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability, FishWise
• Amol Mehra, Managing Director, The Freedom Fund
• Moderator: Dr. Whit Saumweber, Director, Stephenson Ocean Security Project, CSIS

• Vice Admiral Daniel B. Abel, Deputy Commandant for Operations, U.S. Coast Guard
• Dr. Whit Saumweber, Director, Stephenson Ocean Security Project, CSIS

This week, Energy 360 looks at the role of China on the global climate stage.  Deborah Lehr (Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Paulson Institute) and Han Chen (Manager for Energy Policy, International Program, NRDC), with Lachlan Carey (Associate Fellow, CSIS Energy & National Security Program), explain the actions China must take to meet its climate targets and be seen as a global leader on climate action.

For more, check out:
Deborah’s piece: Is China Still the Global Leader on Climate Change?
Han’s piece US Withdraws from Paris—Don’t Expect China to Follow Suit
From CSIS: How China can become the world leader for solving climate change and
Chinese Multilateralism and the Promise of a Green Belt and Road
 

More than two million electric vehicles (EVs) were sold globally in 2018, a trend expected to grow over the coming decades. The smart deployment of EVs and EV infrastructure will be an important part of broader mobility planning and offers opportunities to connect markets and supply chains.

The CSIS Energy & National Security Program is pleased to convene this panel to discuss strategies and policies to develop and deploy EVs. Nick Albanese will outline BloombergNEF's report, Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019, to set the scene with the global forecast for EVs and the implications on the growth of the clean energy economy. Garrett Fitzgerald, with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), will discuss its recent report, Driving a Shared, Electric, Autonomous Mobility Future, which evaluates mobility in China, India, and the United States. Lastly, Jonas Meckling will share his thoughts on how the United States can increase its commitment to EVs in the innovation, manufacturing, and deployment space under current and future policy landscapes. 

This event is made possible by general support to CSIS and the CSIS Energy & National Security Program.

In this week’s episode, Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS Energy Program) talks with Manish Bapna (World Resources Institute [WRI]) about global climate adaptation efforts. WRI is part of a new effort that recently launched the year of action to accelerate climate adaptation. Manish talks about the commission’s work and how greater adaptation can benefit not only the climate but also the economy and society.

For more, visit the Global Commission on Adaptation and read the report: Adapt Now: a Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience  

The CSIS Energy & National Security Program is pleased to welcome Sverre Alvik to discuss DNV GL's Energy Transition Outlook 2019.

DNV GL recently issued the third edition of its Energy Transition Outlook, which provides a “best estimate forecast” indicating a rapid transition in global and regional energy systems towards a 2.5° future.

Sverre Alvik will discuss the underlying assumptions of the study and the rapid transition that is predicted over the next three decades, including a particular focus on North America. More specifically, he will discuss the forecasted penetration of electric vehicles and changes in oil demand, the prospects for renewable energy and electrification, as well as the outlook for technologies like hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

DNV GL provides risk management and quality assurance services in the oil and gas, power and renewables, and maritime industries.

This event is made possible by general support to CSIS and the CSIS Energy & National Security Program.

Tatiana Mitrova (Director of the SKOLKOVO Energy Center in Moscow) joins Nikos Tsafos (CSIS Energy Program) to discuss the outlook for the Russian energy sector. They talk about the outlook for oil and gas, the impact of oil prices and of sanctions on the Russian energy economy, and touch on Russia’s perception of climate change.

The CSIS Energy & National Security Program is pleased to welcome The Hon. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and The Hon. Joe Manchin (D-WV) for a conversation on energy policy priorities in the United States.

This discussion will center on the opportunities and challenges of harnessing U.S. energy resources to foster economic opportunities and innovation for U.S. businesses, workers, and communities. As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senators Murkowski and Manchin are at the forefront of developing future energy policies across a wide range of crucial areas, including innovation, energy efficiency, and worker training.

This event is part of Energy in America, an ongoing project assessing the ways energy is contributing to or detracting from social and economic mobility across the United States.

This event is made possible by general support to CSIS and the CSIS Energy & National Security Program.

Francisco Monaldi (Baker Institute) chats with Andrew Stanley (CSIS) about Venezuela's collapsing oil industry.  Join them as they discuss the current status of U.S. sanctions, geopolitical implications of Russia's involvement in the country's oil industry, and what might come next for the embattled Maduro regime.

For more on the crisis in Venezuela, watch Are Sanctions Working in Venezuela?
 

This week, we return to India's ambitious agenda for improving electrification and energy access across its 29 states. Kartikeya Singh (CSIS) is joined by Indra Keshari (Resident Commissioner and former Power Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh), and Huda Jaffer (Lead Designer, SELCO Foundation). They discuss how state governments and civil society organizations continue to improve electricity access in India.

For more on Madhya Pradesh: Engaging with India’s Electrification Agenda: Powering Madhya Pradesh

Click here for more on the CSIS U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative.
 

Kartikeya Singh (CSIS) chats with Vikram Kapur (Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu) about the dramatic changes facing the state’s electric power sector, ranging from rapid growth in renewables to plans for electric vehicle infrastructure.

Click here for more on the CSIS U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative.