A preview of season 3: Europe’s energy crisis

06/06/23 • 4 min

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked supply shortages, fears of blackouts, and a scramble to find new sources of energy.

In this season of The Big Switch we’re trying to answer the trillion-dollar question: Will the energy crisis speed up or slow down Europe’s clean energy transition? And what will it mean for the rest of the world?

Over the next five episodes, we’ll look at Poland and Germany specifically to figure out how they’re navigating supply shocks, and planning for the future.

This show is all about trade-offs. This season, we’re talking about tradeoffs on a grand scale. Because the decisions Europe makes now in response to this ongoing crisis have consequences around the world.

Season 3 of The Big Switch drops June 28th. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked supply shortages, fears of blackouts, and a scramble to find new sources of energy.

Over the next five episodes, we’ll look at Poland and Germany specifically to figure out how they’re navigating supply shocks, and planning for the future.

Season 3 of The Big Switch drops June 28th. Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Previous Episode

In Kenya It’s Geothermal for the Win

Geothermal energy doesn’t get near the attention that wind and solar do. But to decarbonize our energy systems, we need a team of net zero technologies. And despite geothermal’s low profile, it’s an always-on, zero carbon technology that can complement intermittent renewables like wind and solar.

So could geothermal become a bigger player on the net zero energy team?

In this episode we go to Kenya, a country that built its geothermal energy from scratch in the 1980s and now gets nearly half of its electricity from geothermal power, with plans to double its geothermal capacity by 2030. Kenyan geoscientists Drs. Nicholas Mariita and Anna Mwangi explain the process of exploring for underground heat, drilling wells, and building geothermal power plants.

Melissa and show producer Daniel Woldorff discuss geothermal’s strengths and what’s holding it back from wide scale expansion. Jamie Beard, executive director of the geothermal non-profit Project Innerspace, talks about how techniques first introduced by the oil and gas industry could help geothermal grow.

The Big Switch is produced by Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy in partnership with Post Script Media. This episode was produced by Daniel Woldorff and Alexandria Herr. Theme music and mixing by Sean Marquand. Story editing by Anne Bailey. Special thanks to Jen Wu, Natalie Volk and Kyu Lee. Our managing producer is Cecily Meza-Martinez. Our executive editor is Stephen Lacey.

Next Episode

Part 1: An Energy Crisis in the Making

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Putin’s assault on Ukraine triggered an energy crisis that sent Europe’s economies into a tailspin and put the European energy transition to the test. But how did the European Union, a leader in climate action, become so dependent on Russian oil and gas to begin with?

This season, we look at the energy systems of Germany and Poland. Both have very different energy systems, but both became dependent on Russian energy for heating homes, firing power plants, and fueling businesses.

In this episode, we look at the immediate impact of the Ukraine invasion on that dependency and the historical influences behind it – from Germany’s pursuit of natural gas to Poland’s centuries -long relationship with coal.

Then we ask whether Europe's initial response to the crisis– leaning more heavily on fossil fuels – will accelerate or slow down the region's push toward green energy.