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Following the race to develop an unlikely climate solution. Leaders in Wyoming have a plan to revive coal: jumpstart a young, controversial technology called carbon capture. To plant the seed, the state is hosting an international competition pitting five start-ups against each other for a grand prize. Can they figure out how to future-proof coal—or is this just false hope for the town that powered America?
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A radio program and podcast that explores big questions.
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The NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE winner is finally announced. Will it be Dimensional Energy? Meanwhile, Cooper returns to Gillette to learn whether a Carbon Valley has magically appeared. Interviewing people at the local Walmart and meeting former miners with new visions provide the answer - and a way forward.…
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The pandemic wreaks havoc on the Carbon XPRIZE - it turns out, additional delays won't be the only impact. Upon arriving in Gillette, Cooper is in for a major surprise. Plus, things start to get competitive between the teams on site.By Wyoming Public Media
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Dimensional Energy is at a crossroads with the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE: can they afford to stay in? Their situation raises larger questions about the value of grand challenges. It turns out, not everyone is on board with prize competitions as a strategy to move technology forward.By Wyoming Public Media
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Cooper can't wait any longer to see carbon capture utilization technology, so he makes a slightly abnormal reporting trip... across the country. He wants to see how Jason's team is faring. Are they actually ready to set up a large-scale demonstration soon? What challenges do an early-stage startup truly face? And most importantly, will Cooper survi…
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Bonus: Introducing Generation Anthropocene
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49:26
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As we work on Part 6 of Carbon Valley, we're excited to present an episode of Worldview Stanford's Generation Anthropocene. Acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton tells us the story of how he became "The Soundtracker," an unorthodox career choice that has led him around the planet three times in pursuit of the last pristine soundscapes. Journey along wi…
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It's the summer of 2019. Two more coal companies have filed for bankruptcy, and hundreds of workers are left in the lurch. Meanwhile, Jason Salfi is relieved to find out the Carbon XPRIZE has been delayed. But, how does Jason's drive for this technology square with Wyoming's own? Has he faced any struggles that would help him empathize with coal co…
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Cooper must abruptly leave Wyoming for an unexpected trip home. But there's no break in reporting on coal country: another coal-fired power plant has been scheduled for closure, spelling doom for Kemmerer, Wyoming. Loss tangles with hope--but is it false hope? Dedicated to Larry McKim.By Wyoming Public Media
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The finalists' confidence begins to crack as they're faced with the reality of setting up demonstrations in just a few months. How do their challenges stack up to those industry-wide? Also, we learn Jason and Dimensional Energy may be at more of a disadvantage than we even realized.By Wyoming Public Media
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We take a drive north across the Wyoming prairie to visit the research center that's been dubbed a "glimmer of hope" for coal country. There, we meet the XPRIZE competitors for the first time and learn what's at stake for them. And we start to wonder--could the confidence behind carbon capture be premature?…
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Coal is on its last legs. In the coal capital of the country, in the least-populated state in the union, leaders had to make a move. So, they turned to a silver bullet and brought in a $20 million competition to jumpstart a new era for coal country. Along the way, an unlikely ally emerges: a skateboarding environmentalist.…
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Leaders in Wyoming have a plan to revive coal: jumpstart a young, controversial technology called carbon capture. To plant the seed, the state is hosting an international competition pitting five start-ups against each other for a grand prize. Can they figure out how to future-proof coal—or is this just false hope for the town that powered America?…
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Episode 9: Is the world louder now than it used to be?
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After repeatedly failing to find a room on the campus of Carnegie Mellon that is silent enough to record our podcast in, we asked ourselves this question. Because every little sound messing up our pristine recording—the spinning of computer fans, the constancy of indoor climate control, the buzz of traffic filtering in from outside—seemed to be a p…
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Episode 8: What happens when you jump into a hole that goes through the center of the earth?
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This week, we're traveling halfway around the globe using the most direct route we can think of-- through the center of the Earth. To help us along the way, we consult the mind of Professor Markus Deserno of the department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon. It turns out, even after turning down the thermostat in the Earth's core (so we don't melt durin…
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Episode 7: Where is the highest point in Pittsburgh?
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In this episode we ask: where is highest point on land in the city of Pittsburgh? In answering, we uncover the events that give our city both its unique topography, as well as the "gold mine" beneath our feet----the Marcellus Shale. To help us, we talk to Professors Charles Jones and Brian Stewart of the Department of Geology & Planetary Science, a…
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Episode 6: Is there a cure for a hangover?
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Many of us know the feeling— after a night of having a few too many, you wake up feeling miserable. One of the great enigmas of our time, hangovers have been affecting humans for thousands of years. There must be a cure, right?In this episode, we search for a hangover cure by talking with cocktail historian and Esquire staffwriter David Wondrich, B…
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Generation Anthropocene: Climate Geoengineering (Granger Morgan)
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In our changing climate, wouldn’t life be simpler if we had a thermostat we could dial down the earth’s temperature with?It turns out we do, actually. And a few billion dollars is all it would take to deploy a version of solar-radiation management (SRM), one form of geoengineering. SRM uses stratospheric aerosol particles to shade the earth’s surfa…
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Generation Anthropocene: Life In The PostNatural World
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How much does a genetically-engineered tomato have in common with your dog? A lot more than you might think.Both are shining examples of PostNatural organisms, a term Rich Pell, assistant professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon, uses to describe living things whose evolutionary path has been controlled by humans. He is the curator of the Center for Pos…
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Ever been listening to a sad song wondering why it sounds so darn sad? Happy, sad, peaceful or angry — there's just something about music that makes us feel a certain way. Apart from any lyrics, there seems to be much more to music than meets the ear.In our investigation of how and why we perceive music the way we do, we talk to physicist Dr. Roy B…
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Episode 4: What does the brain do while reading?
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As you’re reading this sentence, what is your brain doing? What’s actually going on as it turns a bunch of lines and circles into words that carry meaning? This week, I Wonder… explores the world of reading. During the program, we talk to some people who have been thinking about the reading brain for quite a while: Dr. Maryanne Wolf, author of Prou…
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