The Big Switch

Dr. Melissa Lott
The Big Switch

To slow climate change, we need to transform our homes, buildings, cars, and economy quickly. "The Big Switch" explains how to rebuild the energy systems all around us. Dr. Melissa Lott of Columbia University brings together historical examples, current events, and incisive analysis to give listeners a deep understanding of the solutions to climate change.

  1. 03/27/2024

    Part 5: The Battery Recycling Dilemma

    This is the final episode of a five-part series exploring the lithium-ion battery supply chain. If you haven’t listened to the first four episodes, we recommend you start there. So far over this season we've traced the global lithium-ion battery supply chain from mining to processing to manufacturing. And we've put it all into a geopolitical and economic context. In this final installment of our five-part series, we come to the end of the road for a battery.  There are a lot of technical innovations on the horizon when it comes to battery recycling. But are we anywhere close to making the battery economy actually circular? When you get rid of your car, there is a profitable industry that takes responsibility for the components inside of it. And that's because we've had many, many decades to perfect this process -- and develop efficient supply chains. The modern battery supply chain is still a work in progress. In this episode, we’ll visit a recycling facility, learn how battery recyclers are evolving into battery component manufacturers, navigate the complexities of turning dead batteries into new ones, and explore the concept of circularity.

    33 min

  2. 03/20/2024

    Part 4: The Great Battery Manufacturing Race

    This is the fourth episode of a five-part series exploring the lithium-ion battery supply chain. If you haven’t listened to the first three episodes, we recommend you start there.  China has been the world's biggest battery manufacturer for over a decade. Chinese companies got in the game early, building an industry from scratch in the 2000s. By 2022, according to the IEA, China manufactured 76% of the world's batteries. But that’s changing. Battery factories in the U.S. and around the world are running 24/7 to churn out millions of cells – thanks to growing demand for storage all over the world, and government support for local manufacturing. In this episode, we’re exploring the rapid buildout of factories to support the battery economy. We’ll tour a lithium-ion battery factory in upstate NY to see how batteries are made at scale. And we ask where a small US factory fits into a global battery market dominated by China.

    46 min

  3. 03/13/2024

    Part 3: The High Stakes for Battery Ingredients

    This is the third episode of a five-part series exploring the lithium-ion battery supply chain. If you haven’t listened to the first two episodes, we recommend you start there. Batteries can replace gasoline in our cars, or diesel in our generators, with electricity. But batteries and petroleum-based fuels share something in common: they both rely on energy-intensive processes to turn extracted materials into something useful. The middle stage of the lithium-ion supply chain is called processing – and it's a critical one. To make lots of affordable batteries, we have to process a lot of materials. It’s a big, lucrative business with real impacts to local communities and the environment. In this episode, we dig into step two of the supply chain: processing all those minerals into usable ingredients for batteries. Why are countries so keen on building giant processing facilities? And can we process all the minerals we need to fight climate change in a responsible way?

    40 min

  4. 03/06/2024

    Part 2: The Mining Conundrum For Critical Minerals

    This is the second episode of a five-part series exploring the lithium-ion battery supply chain. If you haven’t listened to the first episode, we recommend you start there. To produce enough batteries to reach global net-zero goals, the International Energy Agency says we'll need to increase production of critical minerals by six fold by 2040. It's a monumental task.  It can feel like a contradictory mission. To save the planet, we have to mine more minerals; but mining and processing those minerals increases emissions and often negatively impacts indigenous communities and the environment.  In this episode, we start at the beginning of the battery supply chain: lithium mining.  We’ll ask why so much rides on where and how we source lithium, and whether we can balance growing demand with local communities and the land.

    38 min

  5. 02/28/2024

    Part 1: Are Batteries the New Oil?

    We need to electrify much of the global economy in order to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. That means installing a lot of batteries in our cars, buildings, and across the grid to balance vast amounts of wind and solar. The supply chain behind all those batteries could be worth nearly half a trillion dollars by 2030. Whoever controls that supply chain has enormous power – figuratively and literally.  In this episode, we explore the stakes of the battery-based transition. We’ll open up a lithium-ion battery, investigate what's inside it, and ask whether critical minerals will look anything like oil. This is the first episode of a five-part series exploring the lithium-ion battery supply chain. In the next four episodes, we’ll cover each step of the process, from mining to recycling.

    44 min

  6. 02/05/2024

    A preview of season 4: Batteries are taking over the world

    Batteries are finding their way into everything – from cars to heavy equipment to the electric grid.  But scaling up production to meet the demands of a net-zero economy is complicated and contentious. In this 5-episode season, we’re digging into the ways batteries are made and asking: what gets mined, traded, and consumed on the road to decarbonization?  Season 4 of The Big Switch drops Feb 28th. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

    3 min
  7. Degrees: The fastest electric vehicle fleet makeover in the West

    10/25/2023

    Degrees: The fastest electric vehicle fleet makeover in the West

    This week, we’re running an episode of Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers, from our friends at Environmental Defense Fund: “The fastest electric vehicle fleet makeover in the west”. Degrees is an action hub for green job seekers to find career guidance and connect to a community of mentors, especially now that green jobs are among the fastest growing jobs globally, surging over 237% in the past five years.  The new season of Degrees, “How to Green Your Job,” is out now wherever you listen to podcasts. Make sure you check out other Degrees episodes about how the green jobs transformation is shaping the future. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. And as for The Big Switch, we’re working hard on the next season. And – spoiler alert! – we’re looking at the supply chains behind lithium-ion batteries. It’s a technology that could transform the global energy system. In this season, we examine the trillion dollar question — can we make batteries fast enough to put us on track to meet net-zero climate goals? Enjoy and stay tuned for more!   Degrees home EDF Green Jobs Hub

    32 min

  8. 06/28/2023

    Part 5: A Crisis Reshapes the Energy Transition

    This is the fifth episode of a five-part series exploring the European energy crisis in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. If you haven’t listened to the first four episodes, we recommend you start there. In March of 2022, European officials unveiled a plan to push their energy transition much further, much faster – and rid their dependence on Russian fossil fuels.  REPowerEU was ambitious, but it raised lots of questions about whether it would lock Europe into new dependencies.  In this episode, we take a step back and ask: what are the consequences of the energy crisis for the entire European region? And how might it influence other parts of the world?  First, we explore the push to supercharge wind and solar – and what it says about the benefits and limits of what they can do. Then, we discuss the abrupt shift in where Europe gets the fossil fuels it uses today – and the vision to reuse gas infrastructure for hydrogen. Finally, we end with a conversation about how Europe’s response influenced other regions, particularly developing countries.

    47 min
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4.9
out of 5
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About

To slow climate change, we need to transform our homes, buildings, cars, and economy quickly. "The Big Switch" explains how to rebuild the energy systems all around us. Dr. Melissa Lott of Columbia University brings together historical examples, current events, and incisive analysis to give listeners a deep understanding of the solutions to climate change.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Melissa Lott
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2024
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Columbia University 2021
  • Show Website
    The Big Switch

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