In February this year, we noticed at Resources for the Future that our explainer about carbon capture and storage—which provides an overview of the technology, along with its uses, benefits, and drawbacks—had suddenly skyrocketed in terms of page use on the website. When we investigated what had prompted this sudden expanded interest, we found Elon Musk’s announcement from the day prior: Musk had offered $100 million in prize money, through the XPRIZE Foundation, to teams that can envision, prototype, and validate scalable carbon capture and removable technology. At the end of the four-year contest period, several prizes will be awarded: $50 million for first place, $20 million for second place, and $10 million for third. In addition, the program will offer 25 six-figure scholarships to competing academic teams. According to XPRIZE officials, the $100 million on offer represents one of the largest—if not the largest—incentive prizes in history. 

So, this episode is about prizes: how they’ve been used, what we can learn from past successes and failures, and how they compare to other instruments that are designed to spur innovation. Zorina Khan joins the podcast to talk about these fascinating issues. Khan is a professor of economics at Bowdoin College and a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research examines issues in law and economic history, including intellectual property rights, technological progress in Europe and the United States, antitrust litigation, legal systems, and corporate governance. She’s an award-winning author, and her newest book is called "Inventing Ideas: Patents, Prizes, and the Knowledge Economy."

References and recommendations:

“Carbon Capture and Storage 101” from Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/carbon-capture-and-storage-101/

“$100M prize for carbon removal” from XPRIZE Foundation and Elon Musk; https://www.xprize.org/prizes/elonmusk

“Inventing Ideas: Patents, Prizes, and the Knowledge Economy” by B. Zorina Khan; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/inventing-ideas-9780190936082

“Democratization of Invention” by B. Zorina Khan; https://books.bowdoin.edu/book/the-democratization-of-invention-patents-and-copyrights-in-american-economic-development-1790-1920/

“Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography” by Jana Dambrogio, Amanda Ghassaei, Daniel Starza Smith, Holly Jackson, Martin L. Demaine, Graham Davis, David Mills, Rebekah Ahrendt, Nadine Akkerman, David van der Linden, and Erik D. Demaine; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21326-w

Big Dollars, Big Rewards? The Roles of Prizes in Driving Innovation, with Zorina Khan

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Simon Greenhill (PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley) and Hannah Druckenmiller (university fellow at Resources for the Future and assistant professor at the California Institute of Technology). Along with other coauthors, Greenhill and Druckenmiller recently published an article in the journal Science that uses a new machine learning model to predict which waterways are regulated under the Clean Water Act according to different definitions of what the Clean Water Act calls “waters of the United States.” Greenhill and Druckenmiller discuss the differences in regulation when considering a broader or narrower interpretation of waters of the United States, along with the implications for wetland protection, clean water, and flood mitigation.

References and recommendations:

“Machine learning predicts which rivers, streams, and wetlands the Clean Water Act regulates” by Simon Greenhill, Hannah Druckenmiller, Sherrie Wang, David A. Keiser, Manuela Girotto, Jason K. Moore, Nobuhiro Yamaguchi, Alberto Todeschini, and Joseph S. Shapiro; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/machine-learning-predicts-which-rivers-streams-and-wetlands-the-clean-water-act-regulates/

Clean Water Act regulation map; https://simondgreenhill.github.io/wotus-map/

Clean Water Act regulation map explainer video by Simon Greenhill; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkhz5gVUo2w&ab

“Wetlands, Flooding, and the Clean Water Act” by Charles A. Taylor and Hannah Druckenmiller; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/wetlands-flooding-and-the-clean-water-act/

“The Hungry Tide” by Amitav Ghosh; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-hungry-tide-amitav-ghosh

“The High Sierra: A Love Story” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-high-sierra/9780316306812/

Mapping Waters of the United States Using New Tools, with Simon Greenhill and Hannah Druckenmiller

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Susan F. Tierney, a senior advisor at Analysis Group and chair of the board of directors at Resources for the Future, about the future of fossil fuels in the United States. Tierney discusses the challenges of meeting climate goals while maintaining energy security, the importance of making energy accessible to citizens, and how to support communities and states that historically have depended on the coal and oil and gas industries for jobs and public revenue.

References and recommendations:

“Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions” by Stephen W. Pacala, Danielle Deane-Ryan, Alexandra Fazeli, Julia H. Haggerty, Chris T. Hendrickson, Roxanne Johnson, Timothy C. Lieuwen, Vivian E. Loftness, Carlos E. Martín, Michael A. Méndez, Clark A. Miller, Jonathan A. Patz, Keith Paustian, William Pizer, Ed Rightor, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Devashree Saha, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Susan F. Tierney, and William Walker; https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/25931/interactive/

“Community Engagement for an Equitable Energy Transition, with Julia Haggerty” from “Resources Radio”; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/community-engagement-for-an-equitable-energy-transition-with-julia-haggerty/

“Our Homes and Our Climate, with Carlos Martín” from “Resources Radio”; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/our-homes-and-our-climate-with-carlos-martin/

“The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese; https://www.abrahamverghese.org/the-covenant-of-water/

The Future of Fossil Fuels in a Decarbonized United States, with Susan Tierney

Behavioral economist Hunt Allcott, Professor of Global Environmental Policy at the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University, questioned the impact of new and used electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” 

The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.

Read a transcription of the podcast here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/hunt-allcott-podcast-transcript.pdf.

Impacts of Electric Vehicle Subsidies: A Conversation with Hunt Allcott

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Lisa Rennels, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, about a class of synthetic industrial chemicals used in air-conditioners, refrigerators, and other technologies: hydrofluorocarbons. Rennels discusses the proliferation of these chemicals in recent decades, the cost of hydrofluorocarbon emissions to society, the feedback loop between global warming and increased use of these chemicals for air-conditioning, and global efforts to reduce the emissions of hydrofluorocarbons.

References and recommendations:

“The social costs of hydrofluorocarbons and the benefits from their expedited phase-down” by Tammy Tan, Lisa Rennels, and Bryan Parthum; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01898-9

“Comprehensive Evidence Implies a Higher Social Cost of CO₂” by Kevin Rennert, Frank Errickson, Brian C. Prest, Lisa Rennels, Richard G. Newell, William Pizer, Cora Kingdon, Jordan Wingenroth, Roger Cooke, Bryan Parthum, David Smith, Kevin Cromar, Delavane Diaz, Frances C. Moore, Ulrich K. Müller, Richard J. Plevin, Adrian E. Raftery, Hana Ševčíková, Hannah Sheets, James Stock, Tammy Tan, Mark Watson, Tony E. Wong, and David Anthoff; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/comprehensive-evidence-implies-a-higher-social-cost-of-co2/

“The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear” by Paul Rogat Loeb; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/paul-rogat-loeb/the-impossible-will-take-a-little-while/9780465038589

“Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet” by Hannah Ritchie; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hannah-ritchie/not-the-end-of-the-world/9780316536752/

“Are we the last generation—or the first sustainable one?” TED Talk by Hannah Ritchie; https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_ritchie_are_we_the_last_generation_or_the_first_sustainable_one

“The High Sierra: A Love Story” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-high-sierra/9780316306812

Estimating the social costs of hydrofluorocarbons, with Lisa Rennels

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Brad Harris, the director of government affairs at Resources for the Future, about the increasing demand for electricity in the United States. Harris discusses the main sources of this surge in electricity demand, also known as load growth; the challenges that load growth poses to goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that have been set by utilities and the United States; and tools available to utilities and policymakers that can help meet growing demand and mitigate the effects of load growth on ratepayers and emissions.

References and recommendations:

“Harlan County, USA” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County,_USA

“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron:_The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room

How Surging Demand Is Shaping the US Power Sector, with Brad Harris

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Fernando Vidal, a postdoctoral researcher at the Polymat research institute in Spain, about technological and policy options to create a more sustainable plastics economy. Vidal discusses the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the life cycle of plastics, changes to the chemical makeup and recycling of plastics that could reduce the impact of plastics on communities and the environment, and international efforts to reduce the negative impacts of the plastics economy. Vidal shares recommendations for a more sustainable plastics economy from an article that he coauthored, which recently was published in the journal “Nature.”

References and recommendations:

“Designing a circular carbon and plastics economy for a sustainable future” by Fernando Vidal, Eva R. van der Marel, Ryan W. F. Kerr, Caitlin McElroy, Nadia Schroeder, Celia Mitchell, Gloria Rosetto, Thomas T. D. Chen, Richard M. Bailey, Cameron Hepburn, Catherine Redgwell, and Charlotte K. Williams; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06939-z

“Nudes in Nature” photography exhibit by Laura Aguilar at the Phoenix Art Museum; https://phxart.org/exhibition/laura-aguilar/

Photographer Laura Aguilar; https://www.lauraaguilarphotography.com/

Toward a More Sustainable Plastics Economy, with Fernando Vidal

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Travis Roach, an associate professor and director of the Central Policy Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma, about how the prevalence of air pollution may increase the incidence of fatal traffic accidents in the United States. Roach discusses the characteristics of airborne particulate matter that is 2.5 microns in diameter or less, which is air pollution known as PM2.5; the sources of PM2.5, including coal- and natural gas–fired power plants, vehicle tailpipe emissions, and wildfire smoke; the negative effects of PM2.5 exposure on physical health and cognitive functioning; and policies and technologies that can help reduce public exposure to PM2.5.

References and recommendations:

“Negative Externalities of Temporary Reductions in Cognition: Evidence from Particulate Matter Pollution and Fatal Car Crashes” by Anne M. Burton and Travis Roach; https://annemburton.com/pages/working_papers/Burton_Roach_Pollution.pdf

PurpleAir sensors and maps that measure air-quality data

“Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design” by Benjamin Vogt; https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p086779

Pollution Causes Crashes: Particulate Matter and Traffic Accidents, with Travis Roach

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Sebastian Blanco, editor-in-chief at SAE Media Group and a journalist on the automotive and vehicle-technology beat. This episode jump-starts a multipart series on electric vehicles (EVs), including the most practical matters that EV users need to know. In this first episode of the series, Blanco discusses the foundations of EV ownership. He covers different EV makes and models, the logistics of charging EVs at home and on the road, pro tips for locating charging stations through smartphone apps and other resources, and insights on EV maintenance based on his experience. Future episodes dive deeper on battery technology, charging stations, and driver experience. Listen in and stay tuned for those additional episodes in this series! Please let us know if we’ve missed any questions that you’re curious about; we may address those in a future podcast episode or blog post. And if you’re not interested in EV-ery detail, then tune back in after a few weeks, when we’ll return to our normally scheduled programming, which covers all kinds of topics in environmental economics.

References and recommendations:

PlugShare app for electric vehicle charging infrastructure; https://www.plugshare.com/

Flo app for electric vehicle charging infrastructure; https://www.flo.com/products/software/flo-mobile-app/

Alternative Fuels Data Center from the US Department of Energy; https://afdc.energy.gov/

“Transport Evolved” YouTube series; https://www.youtube.com/transportevolved

“State of Charge” YouTube series; https://www.youtube.com/StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney

Demystifying Electric Vehicle Ownership, with Sebastian Blanco

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.

Big Dollars, Big Rewards? The Roles of Prizes in Driving Innovation, with Zorina Khan

Resources Radio

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