Energy Policy Seminar: David Keith on "How to Cool the Planet"

Speaker

David Keith has worked near the interface between climate science, energy technology, and public policy for twenty five years. He took first prize in Canada's national physics prize exam, won MIT's prize for excellence in experimental physics, and was one of TIME magazine's Heroes of the Environment. Best known for work on solar geoengineering, David’s analytical work has ranged from the climatic impacts of large-scale wind power to an early critique of the prospects for hydrogen fuel. David has built a high-accuracy infrared spectrometer for NASA's ER-2 and developed new methods for reservoir engineering increase the safety of stored CO2. David is Professor of Applied Physics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy in the Harvard Kennedy School. He spends about a third of his time in Calgary, where he helps lead Carbon Engineering a company developing technology to capture of CO2 from ambient air.

Background Reading

"What's the Least Bad Way to Cool the Planet?" The New York Times, October 1, 2021: "How to cool the planet? The energy infrastructure that powers our civilization must be rebuilt, replacing fossil fuels with carbon-free sources such as solar or nuclear. But even then, zeroing out emissions will not cool the planet. This is a direct consequence of the single most important fact about climate change: Warming is proportional to the cumulative emissions over the industrial era."

"Optimal Climate Policy in 3D: Mitigation, Carbon Removal and Solar Geoengineering" (2021) with Mariia Belaia and David Keith, Climate Change Economics, 2150008