Dr. Scott Tinker
Cast
Series SeasonSeason 7 episodes2025
Energy Switch
Season 7
Energy Switch brings together two renowned experts from government, NGOs, academia and industry, with differing perspectives on important energy and climate topics. Hosted by renowned global energy expert, Dr. Scott Tinker.
Episodes
Each episode has its own detail page.
Episode 127 min2025-10-07
Uncoventional Wisdom
Our guests argue against conventional wisdom, that oil companies must be part of decarbonization. That solar and wind will never replace them. And that we don’t value our environment enough to take meaningful action anyway. You may not agree, but you’ll still want to hear from Dr. Nate Hagens, of the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, and Tisha Schuller, CEO of Adamantine Energy.
Episode 227 min2025-10-14
Data Centers
Every text, email and social media post. Every digital photo, web search and credit card transaction. Every online purchase. Every streaming show. Nearly everything in our lives involves data coming in and out of data centers, with incredibly huge electricity demands. We discuss with Dr. Ayșe Coskun, from Boston University, and Josh Fluecke, who builds data centers for Syska Hennessy Group.
Episode 327 min2025-10-21
Extreme Weather part 1
We often hear that climate change is driving extreme weather. To understand the trends, our guests dug into the IPCC data for heat waves and cold spells. Historic rainfall and current patterns. Storm frequency and intensity. What they reveal will surprise you. With Dr. Patrick Brown, climate scientist from Breakthrough Institute, and acclaimed environmental journalist Andrew Revkin.
Episode 427 min2025-10-28
Extreme Weather part 2
Last episode, our experts referenced IPCC data to explain that heat, heat waves and precipitation are trending up. While floods, fires and storms are flat or down. However, in this episode we’ll see that risk and damages from these events have increased, and we’ll look at potential solutions. Again with acclaimed environmental journalist Andrew Revkin and climate scientist Dr. Patrick Brown.
Episode 527 min2025-11-04
Air Conditioning
Air conditioning has changed the world, allowing hot regions to develop, with increased comfort, health, and productivity. But these benefits come with challenges -- greater electricity demand and emissions. There are new ideas that could bring cooling to more people, with less impact. With Dr. Daniel Betts, CEO of Blue Frontier, and Dr. Chiara Delmastro from the International Energy Agency.
Episode 627 min2025-11-11
Russian Energy
Russia’s energy exports fund its government and war efforts. It’s the world’s 2nd largest producer of oil and natural gas, behind the US, and has avoided energy sanctions through careful maneuvering. Because of its energy, Russia will continue to play an outsized role in global politics. With Dr. Margarita Balmaceda from Seton Hall and Harvard, and Dr. Caroline Kissane, Associate Dean at NYU.
Episode 727 min2025-11-18
Air Quality in America
The Clean Air Act has reduced particulate matter pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides, ushering in capture technologies that have improved air quality and health. Further improvements, however, may be difficult to achieve. With Dr. Tracey Holloway, from the University of Wisconsin and NASA, and Emily Schilling, a law partner at Holland & Hart.
Episode 827 min2025-11-25
Fertilizers
Fertilizer drives modern agriculture, to feed the world. It turns natural gas, nitrogen from the atmosphere, and mined minerals into plant nutrients, which end up on our plates to nourish our bodies -- but with large energy and greenhouse gas footprints. We’ll discuss benefits, challenges and potential solutions with Chrystel Monthean from Yara and Dr. Jason Haegele from ICL Group.
Episode 927 min2025-12-02
Investing in Alternative Energy
Twenty years ago, wind, solar, grid-scale batteries, and the powerlines to connect them were rare. Now they’re mainstream. Our two guests have been there since the beginning. We’ll hear how they’ve led alternative energy development and investment companies with great success. With Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy, and Michael Harrington, Chief Investment Officer for Actis.
Episode 1027 min2025-12-09
King Coal
Coal is still the dominant source of electricity worldwide. That’s because it’s available domestically in many countries, and is cheap and easy to mine, transport and burn. But those benefits come with serious downsides: local air pollution and global CO2 emissions. We discuss with Dr. Rahul Tongia from the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, and Dr. Mark Thurber from Stanford University.