NVIDIA IS JUST TAYLOR SWIFT FOR DUDES.

True climate innovation starts with people, not ideas. With 2023 about to become the hottest year on record, and uncertainty overshadowing COP28, it’s clear we need solutions now more than ever. 🧵

NEW: The #COP28 presidency has launched an "Oil and Gas Charter" signed by oil-and-gas companies representing 40% of global production They pledge to 🔥End gas flaring by 2030 🏭"Zero-out" methane emissions 0⃣"align" with net-zero by 2050 But... (see next tweet!)

The results from @BloombergNEF's 2023 lithium-ion battery price survey are out. Battery prices are back to their declining trajectory, after an unprecedented year of increases in 2022. Average pack prices reached a new record-low of $139/kWh, a 14% decline from last year.⬇️

Not the type of climate I usually post about, but equally important!

Look forward to seeing the new batch of @Breakthrough Energy Fellows!

⛏️ Copper. Lithium. Graphite. Rare Earths. Nickel. Cobalt. Critical minerals can unlock a shift from consumable fossil fuels to an energy system based on durable metals. Problem:

"Like the sirens who called Odysseus onto the rocks, the irresistible treasure of waste heat is like a beacon that lures many startups into a shipwreck" -@MichaelEWebber, in an EIP Slack

It's time to increase the supply of critical minerals. Current pipelines cannot meet the growth of renewables, batteries and the power grid that the world needs for net zero. Which is why ...

So excited for attophysics winning this year’s Nobel prize!!! Look forward to atto second spectroscopy becoming mainstream too 🔦

Cool post by @rrhoover on the venture studio model featuring the one and only - @MarbleClimate ! 🙏

Everything, Everywhere, All On One Plot

Looking for a chemical engineer to work alongside our incredible team at @MarbleClimate to hardware that solves hard climate problems! Cc @ChEnected if you know anyone? 🫣

We’re building a super low-energy DAC system. Capturing Gts never looked better!!

My experience has repeatedly proven this Paul Graham quote to be true. Three implications: 1. Writing cultures tend to learn faster than those that use slides, dashboards, or other mediums. 2. They learn faster because they present denser information to readers, but even more importantly because they help writers think more clearly. 3. As you become more senior, it is very dangerous to only review work from other people. You must keep writing yourself.

Woke up today, in a world of gray, Numbers on my mind, equations lead the way.🎶🎶

RT @BillGates: To achieve the world’s climate goals, we need all the tools in the tool kit. Direct Air Capture (DAC) is one of those critic…

Last year I wrote Cheaper Energy, Pricier Wires about the relatively unknown and rapidly growing cost of delivering, not generating, electricity. Since then I've received hundreds of emails asking for a deeper dive into the data and its implications.

1) DOE launched a historic carbon removal purchasing program. This is unprecedented (!!) innovation policy. The gov is going to create a first market for CDR and in the process, set standards for what high-quality carbon removal looks like.

Professors should not serve as punchbags for the university admins. A story from this article: - Tolu Odumosu submitted for tenure after 5 years at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville). His application was highly supported by the department, but the school rejected it. Why? Because “he hadn’t published any single-author books” (the requirement he never heard of) ▫️ Tenure requirements are becoming more life-draining than before. The main purposes behind tenure requirements are: - Universities want faculty members to secure funding, which generates overheads. But funding is hard to get! So, your profile MUST stand out. - Departments compete for ranking. They don’t want a faculty who is not great. ▫️ As a result: - Fewer people want to pursue a tenure-track academic career these days. - Young faculties experience enormous stress under tenure pressure. This hits their personal life really hard. - Students suffer from overwork and lack of mentoring because (in particular) their advisors are under pressure themselves. I do not defend such faculties, but this seems to be a big contributing factor. - Risky #research is postponed “until after tenure” (and often never pursued), resulting in fewer discoveries. ▫️ My personal opinion: 1. Yes, tenure by itself can give you freedom. However, I don’t see many associate professors suddenly leaving their comfort zone and going into risky research after getting tenured. This prompts the question - what does this freedom pertain to? (a provocative thought) 2. Tenure track is often turned into a rat race. This makes everyone miserable. Students, postdocs, faculties. The requirements MUST be lessened. It’s basically exploitation. Personally, I am not on a tenure track. And I don’t care if I am given tenure or not. ▫️ With this in mind, let me recite another story form this article: Columbia University had been trying to GIVE tenure to David Helfand for nearly FOUR decades. Each time, the astronomer said “no thanks”. Why? “Tenure does more to suppress academic freedom of those who don’t have it”. - he said. (He was on five-year contracts. However, in July 2022, the provost refused to give him a new contract, so he got de facto tenure.) ▫️ The point is: ❗Departments should lessen TT requirements. Excessive competition, ranking and quantities is not why we go into science. We're not here to do business. ❗Tenure has been essential to academia. But fierce competition is not. #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter