Podcast #100! w/ Shreya Jai, Foreign Policy event, no Cedar Waxwings
Power Hungry Podcast episode #100! with Shreya Jai, Foreign Policy virtual event next week, missing the Cedar Waxwings
It’s good to be back in Austin for a few days. I’ve been catching up on email and prepping for upcoming presentations. On Saturday, I spoke at the Steamboat Institute’s event in Steamboat Springs. I shared the stage with Blu Hulsey from Continental Resources and Jacki Pick Deason, the host of the Jacki Daily Show. On Monday, I was in New Orleans for a presentation to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. The focus of my remarks was on energy security after February 24. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should be an inflection point in American energy policy. The other speakers included Frank Luntz and Ian Bremmer. Last Sunday, I had an hour or so to walk around the city. It was good to see New Orleans returning to something closer to normalcy. I was last there in September shortly after Hurricane Ida and the damage from the storm was still evident in much of the city. This time, there were lots of tourists on Canal Street and in the French Quarter. But New Orleans is still a poverty stricken city. On Thursday, I moderated a panel at South By Southwest about the hyperloop with some sharp engineering students from UT Austin, which was lots of fun.
Two other media things of note: my article in the Wall Street Journal last week about California’s energy crisis ended up with about 500 comments. I’ll repeat here what I said in that piece: California is demonstrating how not to run an electric grid. The other: on March 8, I was on Stu Does America talking about oil prices and Russia. I also talked about what’s happening in other commodity markets.
Okay, now to business. A short “news” letter this week as the weather in Austin is too beautiful to stay inside. Three items:
Podcast #100: Shreya Jai on India’s energy challenges
Foreign Policy virtual event “Toward Zero-Emission Power” next Wednesday.
Missing museums of Cedar Waxwings
The image of the Cedar Waxwings above was drawn by my most-favorite artist, Lorin Bryce.
Episode #100 of the Power Hungry Podcast with Shreya Jai, assistant editor at Business Standard in Delhi
In 2016, Lorin, and I, along with my colleague, Tyson Culver, flew to India to begin shooting our documentary, Juice: How Electricity Explains the World. It was a life-changing experience. That trip, and the people we met, left an indelible impression on all of us. We also met some of the people, including Rehena Jamadar, who would become the emotional heart of the film.
Given that history, it’s appropriate that the 100th episode of the Power Hungry Podcast features my conversation with Shreya Jai, a Delhi-based reporter who covers the energy sector for the Business Standard newspaper. (Follow her on Twitter: @shreya_jai). In this episode, Shreya talks about India’s energy challenges, including electricity demand that’s growing by about 6% per year, why “coal is here to stay,” solar, microgrids, and why, for many Indians, “energy security is missing.” We covered a lot of ground, but at a time when a lot of countries in the West are talking about decarbonization, Shreya reminded me that “India is a coal-dependent country. Close to 75% of our energy demand, electricity demand, rather, is met by coal. And that seems to be a backbone, our whole power grid infrastructure, power supply infrastructure, is also built around coal.”
Shreya provided a glimpse of the complexities of the electricity sector in India, which is controlled in part, by the federal government, but is administered by local distribution companies. That fact, combined with electricity theft, line losses, and India’s bureaucracy, has created an enormous amount of complexity. Shreya explained that the different tariffs in India for electricity total some 600 pages of text. “So, if you have to learn that what is the tariff a particular farmer is paying in this city...you have to run through 600 pages to understand, but the summary of that 600 pages is always dismal.” We also talked about nuclear energy, land-use conflicts, and why she thinks micro-grids offer great promise in India. It was a very interesting conversation.
Again, here’s the audio of the podcast. The video, as usual, is available on YouTube. Please share it.
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Virtual event next Wednesday with Foreign Policy magazine on decarbonizing the electric grid
Next week, I’m participating in a virtual event sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine. It’s called “Toward Zero-Emission Power.” The other panelists include Sama Bilbao y León from the World Nuclear Association, Ted Nordhaus from Breakthrough Institute, Mohamed Al Hammadi from Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, and David Victor from UC San Diego.
It starts at 11a ET on Wednesday. It’s free. You can register here.
No "museums" or "ear-fulls" of Cedar Waxwings this year
The winter in Austin has been long, cold, and dry. Most of the grass is only just now starting to green up. The redbud trees are only just now starting to bloom. They are late. They usually start to bloom in late February close to Mary's birthday of February 23. Along with the blooming of the redbud trees, I also eagerly anticipate the arrival of flocks of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). (The image immediately above is from John J. Audubon’s Birds of America.) About this time of year, flocks of them usually invade the yard and regions along Barton Creek feeding on juniper berries and depositing poop on pretty much everything. They are relatively small birds. They are also, when seen through binoculars or up close, strikingly beautiful. But so far this year, nothing. Are they still going to come through, or did they migrate through on one of the strong south winds that blow through here? I don’t know. But I miss them. A few facts: The collective noun for Waxwings is an “ear-full” or “museum.”
Here’s what Wikipedia says about Cedar Waxwings:
The genus name Bombycilla comes from the Ancient Greek bombux, "silk" and the Modern Latin cilla, "tail" this is a direct translation of the German Seidenschwanz, "silk-tail", and refers to the silky-soft plumage of these birds, The specific cedrorum is Latin for "of the cedars"...Waxwings are attracted to the sound of running water, and love to bathe in and drink from shallow creeks. In urban or suburban environments, waxwings often favor parkland with well-spaced trees; golf courses, cemeteries, or other landscaping with well-spaced trees; bushes that provide berries; and a nearby water source such as a fountain or birdbath. Also look for them near farms, orchards, and gardens, particularly ones with fruiting trees or shrubs. Outside the breeding season, cedar waxwings often feed in large flocks numbering hundreds of birds. This species is nomadic and irruptive...Cedar Waxwings are sociable, seen in flocks year round. They are non-territorial birds and "will often groom each other." They move from place to place depending on where they can find good sources of berries.
Have a good weekend.
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