Gas stoves are a leading source of hazardous indoor air pollution, but they emit only a tiny share of the greenhouse gases that warm the climate. Why, then, have they assumed such a heated role in climate politics?
Even before the high heat of summer, the Texas power grid is struggling — but the lessons for adapting future energy plans amid climate change apply globally, writes faculty scholar Daniel Cohan, and a better connected grid with cleaner energy is critical. Read his commentary in The Hill.
"With the pressures of climate change and the urgency to incorporate alternative energy resources like wind and solar, the fixation on the purported benefits of energy transition technologies overshadows the glaring reality — an absence of strategy around identifying and quantifying other life cycle externalities, such as waste disposal or environmental impacts," write fellow Rachel Meidl and research assistant Mathilde Saada. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.
To better reflect the iterative collaboration necessary for scientific progress, the Nobel Prize must expand its recognition to the many contributors of winning discoveries as well as diversify the selection committee, thereby also expanding recognition of the work of underrepresented minorities, argues this Baker Institute Blog post.
Kirstin R.W. Matthews, Kenneth M. Evans, Flora Naylor, Daniel MoralíOctober 13, 2021
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the development of carbon-based catalysts. S&T Policy research assistant Flora Naylor writes that their discovery emphasizes the value of federal funding in supporting fundamental scientific research.
In the push for decarbonization, "turquoise" hydrogen offers a unique, commercially viable technology that reduces CO2 emissions, argue Rachel A. Meidl and Kenneth B. Medlock III.
Rachel A. Meidl, Kenneth B. Medlock IIISeptember 23, 2021
Circular processes cannot solve the sustainability problem, but critically implementing circularity with system-level thinking can help to urgently adopt a more resilient, regenerative model for avoiding resource scarcity while fostering economic growth, argues a Forbes piece co-authored by Rachel Meidl.
Rachel A. Meidl, Vilma Havas, Brita StaalAugust 9, 2021
Circular economy principles are oftentimes used in conjunction or synonymously with the term “sustainability.” However, although there is a relationship between sustainability and circularity, these two concepts are very different. Energy fellow Rachel A. Meidl explains the distinction in a new post for the Baker Institute Blog.