This episode is different. We're tackling China's energy transition, and instead of David, Sara, and Ed just talking about it, they went out and interviewed different experts on the subject.

Why China? Because it's arguably the most important energy story on the planet right now. China is the world's largest emitter. It's also the world's largest investor in clean energy. It manufactures the lion's share of solar panels, batteries, and now electric vehicles in the world.

Functionally, what happens there determines whether the world has any real shot at meeting long-term climate targets.

David spoke with Andrew Light, distinguished professor at George Mason University and former Senior Climate Official in the Biden administration.

Sara talked with Jeremy Wallace, professor of China Studies at John Hopkins and Christina Pan, a PhD candidate at Cornell researching renewable energy in China.

And Ed interviewed Hong Li, a professor at the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an expert on battery chemistry.

Three different perspectives followed by David, Sara, and Ed trying to make sense of it all.

🎙️ TIMESTAMPS
00:13 - Intro: The scale of China's ambition
01:44 - David Keith interviews Andrew Light
03:33 - How China took over the Solar industry
04:55 - The massive Nuclear build-out: "Too small?"
11:08 - US vs. China: The clean energy arms race
15:30 - Sara Hastings-Simon interviews Jeremy Wallace & Christina Pan
24:48 - Will China's emissions peak before 2030?
29:48 - State Control vs. Ruthless Competition: What drives the growth?
40:11 - Ed Whittingham interviews Hong Li: The view from inside China
48:34 - EvC Roundtable: What can the West learn from China's speed?

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Recorded live at the Energy Transition Centre in Calgary, David, Sara, and Ed took on one of the toughest questions in Canadian climate politics: what does energy transition actually look like for Alberta?

They dug into emissions, economics, diversification, and the uncomfortable trade-offs that tend to get glossed over in public debate.

It's a fun conversation with an extended Q&A from the live audience.

Just a note, unfortunately we had some mic issues so apologies for any audio hiccups you might notice.

🎙️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 - Introduction & Welcome to Calgary
00:04:00 - Alberta's Hard Truths: Oil Dependence & Petro State Reality
00:10:00 - EV Growth & Peak Oil Demand by 2030
00:19:00 - China's Energy Bet: Lucky or Strategic?
00:22:00 - Alberta's Path Forward: What Should We Bet On?
00:25:00 - Can We Bend Emissions Without Breaking the Economy?
00:33:00 - Economic Diversification: Beyond Oil & Gas
00:42:00 - Oil Sands Resilience in a Disordered World
00:49:00 - Audience Q&A: Heavy Oil & Emissions Intensity
00:59:00 - Q&A: China and Climate Politics
01:11:00 - Q&A: Should Climate Be on Alberta's Election Agenda?
01:16:00 - Rapid Fire Q&A: TMX, Renewables vs Fossil Fuels, Carbon Tax
01:22:00 - Closing & Credits

Thanks as always to Avatar Innovations for being such gracious hosts.

🔗 LINKS

Full show notes

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Can we have guilt-free flying?

David, Sara, and Ed chat with Sebastian Eastham, associate professor of sustainable aviation at Imperial College London, about the climate impacts of aviation and what we can actually do about it.

The conversation covers immediate levers like contrail avoidance and operational changes that don't require waiting decades for new tech—plus the real potential (and limitations) of sustainable aviation fuels.

It's a lively and at times blunt conversation, with sharp audience questions and limited patience for climate cosplay. You'll get the cosplay bit once you listen...

🎙️ TIMESTAMPS
00:18 - Introduction
01:15 - Webinar Start
46:00 - Audience Q&A

🔗 LINKS
Full show notes
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About Our Guest

Seb Eastham is the Associate Professor for Sustainable Aviation at Imperial College London. An atmospheric scientist and aeronautical engineer, he seeks to understand what the true environmental impacts of aerospace activity are and what we can do about them. He develops and applies novel numerical models of the atmosphere, ranging from the scale of a single exhaust plume up to the global Earth system, to provide new understanding of those impacts and guide the development of new solutions to support a growing and sustainable aerospace sector. One of his current focus areas is to find robust strategies to reduce (or eliminate) the climate impacts of condensation trails, currently thought to be responsible for up to half of aviation's contributions to climate change.

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