The need for affordable and clean energy [podcast]

High gas prices. Nuclear reactors closed forever. The growth of the electric car industry. Record-breaking temperatures, and Europe’s Dependence on Russian Natural Gas. There has been no shortage in energy-related news stories this summer, and we know that they are not going to go away any time soon.

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with Martin J. Pasqualetti, Professor of Geography at Arizona State University, and the author of The Thread of Energy, and Paul F. Meier, an independent clean fuels consultant and author of The Changing Energy Mix: A Systematic Comparison of Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy, on the need for affordable and clean energy (which is one of the UN’s sustainable development goals), the history of energy in the United States, and the dire implications of not changing our energy habits.

Check out Episode 75 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment podcast through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors.

Recommended reading

To learn more about the themes raised in this podcast, we’re pleased to share a selection of free-to-read chapters and articles:

Read the first chapter of Martin Pasqualetti’s The Thread of Energy, entitled “Discovery”.

The introduction to Paul Meier’s The Changing Energy Mix can be found here. Meier has also written numerous blog posts for the OUPblog, including “The versatility of hydrogen: storable, portable, and renewable,” “Renewable solar energy: how does it work and can it meet demand?,” and “Electric vehicles: a shift in the resource landscape for the transportation market.”

The Oxford Handbook of Energy Politics is a great resource on the energy issues relating to international relations and comparative politics. In particular, check out the chapter titled “Renewable Energy: A Technical Overview” by Kyle Bahr, Nora Szarka, and Erika Boeing.

What are the environmental consequences of natural resources and energy politics? This bibliography by Markus Kröger gathers sources relating to this topic.

_{Featured image: Karsten Würth, CC0 via Unsplash.}