Chris Nelder on Energy Transitions

The transition from fossil fuels to a cleaner energy future is perhaps the most important human adaptation of our lifetime. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Chris Nelder about his mission to take a deep dive into energy, on a fortnightly basis, as the host of the Energy Transition Show podcast. We discuss his travels as a digital nomad, look at some of the energy stories he's been covering, and get into a larger conversation about what needs to happen to see this transition through. Narrator | 00:02 - This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise. Chris Nelder (CN) | 00:15 - The more I've studied this stuff, the more it has become clear to me that there's no technical or economic reason why we shouldn't do the energy transition or why it can't work. We have the technology, it's very affordable. In most cases, it's far cheaper than remaining on the existing fossil fuel systems that we use. It's cheaper than nuclear for sure. So there's really no reason why we can't or shouldn't do it, except for politics. Narrator | 00:45 - The transition from fossil fuels to a cleaner energy future is perhaps the most important human adaptation of our lifetime. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Chris Nelder about his mission to take a deep dive into energy, on a fortnightly basis, as the host of the Energy Transition Show podcast. We discuss his travels as a digital nomad, look at some of the energy stories he's been covering, and get into a larger conversation about what needs to happen to see this transition through. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:35 - I am joined now on Sea Change Radio by Chris Nelder. Chris is the host of the Energy Transition Show podcast. Chris, welcome to Sea Change Radio. Chris Nelder (CN) | 01:44 - Thanks very much. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:45 - So, tell us about the Energy Transition Show. I'd like to know more about how you got into it and what problems you're trying to solve through it. Chris Nelder (CN) | 01:56 - Well, my partner, Justin Richie, pitched me on doing this show and, we've been doing the show for about eight and a half years now. And the whole concept of it really was to create the kind of energy podcast that I wanted to listen to because I was really disappointed with what I felt like was just sort of shallow, poorly structured, poorly researched content that was available in, in a lot of the other podcasts. And I'm a geek, I'm a serious energy geek, and I've been studying energy intensely full-time for the better part of 20 years. And so I wanted to make a show that was for people like me that really want to geek out on, the details and really understand sort of the complex, thorny issues involved in the energy transition. And, and there's a lot of them. Policy is complex. The technologies are complex. The way that these changes that we're experiencing through the energy transition affects the world, are very complex and so I want to do a show about all those things and with the intention of really motivating other people to participate in the energy transition however they can. Alex Wise (AW) | 03:02 - When somebody who is not very familiar with the term energy transition asks you what your show is about and what, what does that mean energy transition, how do you define that to them? CN | 03:13 - I mean, the simplest way of putting it, I think is, um, getting off of fossil fuels and, and moving over to, uh, renewables as a way of powering the world and all the, all the different purposes we have for energy. Of course, it's more complex than that. There are various kinds of what people call clean energy solutions that aren't necessarily based on renewables. But as time goes on in the energy transition progresses, it's becoming more clear. I think that really what we're talking about is a switch to renewables. Primarily it's about eliminating carbon emissions. It's about transforming our society in that way so that we can address th...