Ideas to Innovation - Season Two
Securing A Livable Earth – Experts’ Latest Look at Renewable Energy
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Most scientists agree that if the world is to achieve net zero by 2050 and secure a livable Earth, efforts to implement renewable energy need to be accelerated. Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away. Of course, looking to build a better, more sustainable future has been talked about for years. But are we getting closer to achieving this shared global imperative?
Addressing such questions are two guests of this podcast episode, both experts in their individual fields. Ed White is vice president and principal analyst at Clarivate, based in London. Ed co-authored “A study of energy in transition”, a comprehensive report on the role of research and innovation in the world’s shift to sustainable energy sources, published in October 2022. Joining Ed is Shara Mohtadi, former chief of staff for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC. Shara is an advisor to Columbia Climate School in New York and Newlab, an applied innovation and investment platform.
Ed is a thought leader in innovation measurement and forecasting, and is the head author of the Top 100 Global Innovators™ and Top 100 Best Global Brands programs from Clarivate. A twenty-year veteran of Clarivate and its forebears, Ed has a technical background in electronic engineering, instrumentation and particle/plasma devices. He began his career at Clarivate within the editorial group behind the Derwent World Patents Index™ before moving into professional patent analysis in 2005. Ed has spent most of his career developing new methods of analyzing innovation ecosystems and advised hundreds of corporations, institutions and governments with technology data investigations.
Shara Mohtadi is an advisor at Newlab, an applied innovation and investment platform in New York and Columbia University’s Climate School. She was most recently the Chief of Staff for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she led strategic planning and implementation of the recent clean energy and infrastructure legislation. Prior to DOE, Shara led the America’s Pledge initiative, and managed grants focused on the coal to clean energy transition in Asia and Australia at Bloomberg Philanthropies. She was also a senior advisor for climate and energy policy for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). During the Obama Administration, Shara served as an advisor for the energy and environment portfolio at the White House, in the Office of Management and Budget. She also led ground-breaking research on the relationship between drought and migration prior to the civil unrest in Syria, published in 2015 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Hear inspiring stories told from a personal, on-the-ground perspective from the people who were there from the start, who are most passionate about the positive outcomes they helped deliver. These are stories about innovation that, by the end of each episode, you can’t help but think: “Wow, they really did that?”
