David Wallom: Energy Future and Climate Mitigation

I think personally, one key thing that will stick with me from this interview is the tradeoffs between different domains like energy, transportation, economics, policy, and the environment when trying to address climate change. Some of the examples given, like how driving electric vehicles or cycling to work have benefits but also come with their own carbon footprints that need to be fully assessed, illustrate how there are no simple solutions and the systems are more complicated than we initially think. I was surprised that it takes driving an electric vehicle for 80,000 kilometers for it to break even with the carbon it uses to make the batteries in the first place. It is something we rarely consider when talking about EVs. A full approach and critical thinking is required to create solutions that are truly beneficial for the environment.

In terms of how this could affect my future, I'm hopeful that it will encourage more holistic thinking about climate solutions. The interview highlights the need to bring together experts across energy, transportation, policy, economics, data science and more to jointly model scenarios and assess tradeoffs. Personally, it inspires me to learn more about lifecycle assessment methodologies to rigorously quantify carbon footprints and track down what the implications are at every stage. While the interview provided a warning of the daunting scale and complexity of the climate crisis, it also left me cautiously optimistic. Hopefully, in the future, unprecedented cooperation will occur across disciplines and innovative tools will be created to wrangle the complexity of solving climate change.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bX25QRGS1OJV_z0XXcmSj66G-kwqeeqZ/view