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Dr. Melissa Lott

@mclott.bsky.social
4.3K followers 177 following 78 posts

Engineer exploring tech/econ/health impacts of the #energytransition to #netzero | Energy & Climate Communicator

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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 11/10/2024
Thanks to everyone who reached out to ask about my next professional chapter in response to today’s article Update: I’m heading west and will be publicly sharing details on my new role just before Halloween 🎃 🤐 www.ft.com/content/b2a3...
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 07/10/2024
🚨 Professional News 🚨 Friday marked my last day at Columbia University. The past 5 years have been transformational for me, full of impact & major milestones. Reflections on the past 5 years + a preview of my next professional chapter 👇 www.linkedin.com/posts/meliss...
linkedin.com
Melissa C. Lott, PhD on LinkedIn: ❗❗ 📰 Transitions and Exciting Professional News 📰 ❗❗ The past 5 years… | 51 comments
❗❗ 📰 Transitions and Exciting Professional News 📰 ❗❗ The past 5 years Columbia University have been transformational for me, full of impact and major… | 51 comments on LinkedIn
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 25/09/2024
Sales of heat pump water heaters surged in 2023 in the USA (hello Inflation Reduction Act??), and gas heaters continue to lose market share cleantechnica.com/2024/09/24/s... 🔌💡
cleantechnica.com
Soaring Sales for Heat Pump Water Heaters in 2023. Let the Party Begin! - CleanTechnica
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Heat pump water heater sales saw their largest increase ever in 2023, according to the latest data released by ...
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Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 25/09/2024
🚨 New SHIFT KEY episode just dropped 🚨 This week, @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social and @jessejenkins.bsky.social bring you a user’s guide to new green banks, with help from the EPA's Jahi Wise and Elemental Impact's Dawn Lippert. Listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts.
heatmap.news
The Hardest Working $27 Billion in the IRA
Inside season 2, episode 7 of Shift Key.
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Justin Gerdes @justingerdes.bsky.social · 10/09/2024
"The U.S. solar manufacturing boom could be big enough to allow the country to soon become a net exporter of solar panels for the first time in decades." www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol... via Eric Wesoff
canarymedia.com
US solar manufacturing capacity has quadrupled thanks to climate law
The Inflation Reduction Act has sparked a boom in domestic solar panel manufacturing, though the U.S. still depends on China for certain steps of the supply chain.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 30/08/2024
Just discovered these extended clips from Chasing Carbon Zero on PBS NOVA. Fun memories recording this with Miles O’Brien and the whole NOVA team + our team at Columbia including Natalie Volk and Jen Wu. #netzero #energytransition youtu.be/x-oFuAgnzkk?...
youtu.be
"Chasing Carbon Zero" Extended Interview with Melissa Lott - NOVA | PBS
YouTube video by NOVA PBS Official
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Justin Gerdes @justingerdes.bsky.social · 26/08/2024
US EIA: Combined US sales of hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and battery electric vehicles increased from 17.8% of total new light-duty vehicle sales in 1Q 2024 to 18.7% in 2Q 2024, according to estimates from Wards Intelligence: www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...
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Brendan Pierpont @brendan.bsky.social · 23/08/2024
Good deep dive into the state of local permitting barriers and what states can do to address them 🔌💡: www.utilitydive.com/news/states-...
utilitydive.com
Carrots, sticks or both: State efforts to combat anti-renewables NIMBYs
In pursuit of zero-emissions electricity goals and tax windfalls from utility-scale renewables, states are taking a range of approaches to disarm opponents.
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Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 16/07/2024
Some nice copy here …apparently California now has batteries roughly equivalent to 5 Diablo Canyons (in capacity, not run time…)
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 17/07/2024
“The increasing number of days with above-average temperatures means that the lack of air-conditioning can be a matter of life and death,” said Sheila Foster, a professor at the Columbia Climate School. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/n...
nytimes.com
New York City Tenants Are Entitled to Heat. What About Air-Conditioning?
Landlords have to keep tenants warm in the winter, but can leave them sweating in the summer. A city councilman wants to change that.
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Justin Gerdes @justingerdes.bsky.social · 17/07/2024
California ISO on managing this month's heat wave: "California’s power grid held up against prolonged record temperatures because of new clean energy resources, more battery storage, and enhanced coordination with state government." www.caiso.com/about/news/m... h/t Wes Venteicher
caiso.com
Managing the July 2024 heat wave with our partners in California and the West | California ISO
Extreme weather like the extended heat wave California and much of the West have experienced this July can pose a reliability challenge for even the most resilient electric grid. Such prolonged heat e...
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 17/07/2024
“Human bodies tend to use sleep time to lower temperatures and recover from a brutally hot day; if temperatures don’t drop enough, people sleeping without air conditioning — or, say, people in major cities that didn’t get their power back for a week after a storm — don’t get that chance”
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 17/07/2024
The drivers of climbing electricity rates are… 1. spikes in gas prices 2. rising costs to maintain and rebuild grid infrastructure 3. a utility business model that incentivizes big capital investments that customers have to pay off over decades www.canarymedia.com/articles/uti...
canarymedia.com
Don’t blame clean energy for rising electric bills
A new report links rising U.S. power bills to fossil gas price spikes and utility incentives — not solar, wind, and batteries, as clean energy foes suggest.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 11/07/2024
It can be cheaper for a utility to pay to electrify homes rather than updating gas pipelines that serve those homes. Enjoyed speaking with James Ford at WPIX-New York about why electrification can make a lot of economic sense for utilities like ConEdison pix11.com/news/local-n...
pix11.com
All-new appliances for free? How a new Con Ed program provides them
WAKEFIELD, The Bronx (PIX11) — A new program promising brand-new, super-efficient appliances, lower monthly bills, and a smaller carbon footprint has left some utility customers skeptical. Ho…
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 03/07/2024
“The damage to human health, agriculture and the global economy is just beginning to be understood.” www.nytimes.com/2024/06/21/c...
nytimes.com
Well Beyond the U.S., Heat and Climate Extremes Are Hitting Billions
People all over the world are facing severe heat, floods and fire, aggravated by the use of fossil fuels. The year isn’t halfway done.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 03/07/2024
Great (and very interesting) thread by @katharinehayhoe.com 👇
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 03/07/2024
4 hours and counting… ⏰📺 Excited to go live with Dr. Nee on PBS NOVA today - will be streaming on Twitch and YouTube if you want to join the conversation live! www.youtube.com/live/hFmAOrA...
youtube.com
Building Stuff with NOVA Livestream with Dr. Melissa Lott
Subscribe to our Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/novabuildingstuff/Tune in to our stream today as our host Dr. Nehemiah Mabry is joined by energy syste...
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 19/06/2024
Ecuador was plunged into a nationwide blackout on Wednesday afternoon, the country’s public work minister said, blaming the emergency on a failure of a key transmission line. www.nytimes.com/2024/06/19/w...
A card reads: "Ecuador Hit by Nationwide Blackout. The South American country of 18 million people has struggled with an energy crisis for years — though none of the blackouts have been as widespread as this one."
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 14/06/2024
Driving in Tennessee this week — and each of our last 3 Tesla charging stations have increased in size by 2-3x since our August ‘23 trip Can’t help but wonder how much this region’s history (read: TVA) is influencing the build out @joshdr83.bsky.social #energytransition #electrification
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 11/06/2024
Really enjoyed diving into these two books with @edcrooks.bsky.social and @josephmajkut.bsky.social on The Energy Gang last week! Happy listening, y'all!
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 11/06/2024
For those who are also interested in reading Alon's latest --- Island Press just let me know that folks can use code TECH for 20% off islandpress.org/books/making...
islandpress.org
Making Climate Tech Work
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 10/06/2024
What an awesome start to the week! Just had coffee with Alon Tal. Thanks 🙏 for the great conversation and the copy of your latest book with @IslandPress, Alon! Can’t wait to dive into it 📖 😀 #climatetech #energytransition
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 22/05/2024
How do we make rooftop solar cheap in America? Here, it costs ~$4/watt to install a rooftop PV system, 4X as much as a similar system in Australia today! On today's Shift Key, we talk to Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun, about how to unlock rooftop solar's full potential. heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
heatmap.news
How to Unlock Super Cheap Rooftop Solar
Inside episode 17 of Shift Key.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 22/05/2024
This looks really cool --- and, as the posting says "This is not an academic exercise—we’re looking for proposals with a near term path to implementation such that they could translate into real demand for carbon removal suppliers within the next 3-5 years." #netzero #speedandscale
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 22/05/2024
Today --- while doing some paperwork --- I discovered that papers that I have (co-)authored have been cited in policy documents nearly 800 times. And thinking through what this number means got me thinking about broader conversations about "impact" and "success" in research and academia... 🧵
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 18/05/2024
There’s a growing trend of replacing shuttered coal plants with solar, batteries, or other forms of clean energy. The ground is already cleared and the hookup to the electrical power grid is already there, so it makes all the sense in the world! More of this please 😊🌎 Here’s Nevada USA…
yahoo.com
Former coal-fired power plant site now home to incredible new energy storage system: 'The infrastructure to connect the battery system to the grid at scale already exists'
"Throughout 2024, our customers are going to see their bills be between 15 and 20% lower by the end of the year."
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 25/03/2024
Awesome to see the trailer for #RisingTides drop! Enjoyed recording with Philip Boucher-Hayes on campus here at Columbia University last fall. And am excited to see how it all has come together. Huge thanks to Natalie Volk for all her hard work sorting the logistics for recording that day!
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 20/03/2024
On Thursday 3/27 - C3E is hosting a rockstar panel on "Leveraging Data & Digitalization to Make the Grid More Visible, Resilient, & Clean” w/ Lisa Frantzis, Page Crahan, Alexina Jackson, Maria Pope, & Silvia Valerio c3e.org/webinars
c3e.org
Webinars — The Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Initiative
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 20/03/2024
Yesterday, I spoke with Phaedra Trethan @usatoday.com about how April's eclipse will impact solar power in its path. #Eclipse2024 #solar www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
usatoday.com
Darkness from April's eclipse will briefly impact solar power in its path. What to know.
The eclipse isn't expected to disrupt the nation's power grid and power companies are planning to compensate for the temporary dip in solar power.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 20/03/2024
Almost all of our electricity flows through a distribution transformer, a tech that is facing unprecedented demand. New analysis from NREL estimates that transformer capacity will need to increase 160%–260% by 2050 compared to 2021 levels. That's a BIG deal. www.nrel.gov/news/program...
nrel.gov
How Many Transformers Will US Distribution Grid Need by 2050?
New NREL research is providing first-of-its-kind modeling to help curb the current shortage of distribution transformers and ensure a reliable and resilient power grid.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 06/03/2024
From Latitude Media: Electrification requires batteries, and batteries require critical minerals, which means that however much the battery economy is heralded as a decarbonization solution, it's still an extraction economy. The question is: can we change that? www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-min...
latitudemedia.com
The mining conundrum for critical minerals | Latitude Media
The battery economy is still an extraction economy. Can we build it differently?
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 06/03/2024
"It makes perfect sense that the IEA should seek to include India as a full member given the outsized role the country will play in the global energy transition over the next decade or so..." www.business-standard.com/opinion/colu...
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 02/03/2024
“Together, automobiles and electric power generate more than half of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. That makes the rules designed to curb pollution from those sources some of the most important tools that the E.P.A. can wield to tackle climate change” www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/c...
nytimes.com
Inside the E.P.A. Decision to Narrow Two Big Climate Rules
Michael Regan, the E.P.A. administrator, said the Biden administration would meet its climate goals despite tweaking regulations on automobiles and power plants
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 28/02/2024
It’s live! Episode 1 of the latest season of #TheBigSwitch is now available wherever you get your #podcasts. In this season we are diving into batteries. 🔋 In episode 1 we explore how we make batteries and ask “Are batteries the new oil?” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 26/02/2024
The U.S. has big plans to make EV charging available across the country, but that effort is moving more slowly that needed to solve climate change. I spoke with CBS News environmental correspondent David Schechter about this 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=twcM...
youtube.com
How Los Angeles is building new EV chargers fast
The U.S. has big plans to make EV charging available across the country, but that effort is moving slowly. CBS News environmental correspondent David Schecht...
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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 25/02/2024
It’s the weekend everyone, so you know what that means. Time to drink two polar seltzers and do a thread on the power transformer shortage. Without transformers, we don’t get a clean energy transition. And as energysky knows, there’s been a shortage due to covid, supply chain, & labor constraints 🔌🔋
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 22/02/2024
Join us for a virtual event on March 4 on Nuclear Power --- including the role of nuclear energy, past cost overruns experienced in US reactor projects, and prospective strategies to achieve cost-effective outcomes in the future. mailchi.mp/columbia/iea...
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 17/02/2024
Another beautiful, snowy morning here at Columbia ❄️⛄️
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Michael Thomas @michael-thomas.bsky.social · 12/02/2024
2023 was another huge year for batteries. 🔌💡
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 15/02/2024
Welcome to BlueSky @globalecoguy.bsky.social !
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 14/02/2024
Catch Episode 2 of SHIFT KEY, where we explore the headwinds buffeting the US offshore wind industry and ask whether the sector has finally hit rock bottom. The only way to go now is up, right?? Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: heatmap.news/podcast/shif... 🔌💡 climatesky
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 15/02/2024
Join us on March 1 for a discussion focused on “Resource Extraction and Energy Equity" as we explore India's current energy landscape and potential ways for ensuring its energy transition is equitable and just. www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/events/clima...
energypolicy.columbia.edu
Climate Justice Series: Resource Extraction and Energy Equity - Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA | CGEP
At a time when India is increasing both its reliance on renewables and coal mining...
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Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 09/02/2024
Great suggestion! My Follow Friday: @shastingssimon.bsky.social @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social @drsimevans.bsky.social @kevinjkircher.com @knowledgeproblem.bsky.social @cityatlas.bsky.social And anyone else active on the EnergySky feed (can just put 🔌💡in your posts for it to show up there)
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Jeffrey Winters @jeffreywinters.bsky.social · 15/12/2023
Energy expert Michael E. Webber gives his firsthand impressions of COP28. He says getting wealthy petrostates (like the UAE and U.S.) onboard with climate action is the only way to reach emissions goals. www.asme.org/topics-resou...
Engineer at work on wind farm.
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Dr. Melissa Lott @mclott.bsky.social · 09/02/2024
My colleagues took a look at the BIG WIRES Act to understand how close the bill might come to realizing its intended benefits and accelerate the construction of new electricity transmission projects that cross existing electric grid boundaries 👇 www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/estimating-i...
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Emily Grubert @gruberte.bsky.social · 09/02/2024
If you'd told me 5y ago when I was starting to get grumpy about the way we handle "waste" methane in GHG accounting that this would be one of the single most important things I spend my time on, I wouldn't have believed it. From @ghgpolicy.org & me: how methane offsets could upend the H2 industry
heatmap.news
The New Hydrogen Rules Risk Opening the Door to Methane Offsets
Having a true green hydrogen industry depends on that not happening.
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Aimee Witteman @aimeewitteman.bsky.social · 09/02/2024
⚡️🙌🔌💡🤙
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Joe Robertson @joro.bsky.social · 09/02/2024
Essential @katharinehayhoe.com: “The true threat is the delusion that our opinion of science somehow alters its reality… The window to prevent widespread dangerous human interference with the climate system is closing fast. Rejecting this reality puts us all at risk.” www.wired.co.uk/article/kath...
wired.co.uk
Katharine Hayhoe: 'The true threat is the delusion that our opinion of science somehow alters its reality'
Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says that scientists have no option but to fight against the politicisation of science
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