Welcome to Cutting Carbon,
a conversation about our energy future.

Climate change is an issue that scientists, engineers, politicians and many others have been grappling with for decades now, but it’s much more than that. It's ever present in our lives. Fundamentally, climate change is part of the dialogue of our future. With this podcast, Cutting Carbon, we’re sharing our thoughts on the factors at play today as well as the journey ahead.
We’ll be talking to scholars, technology experts, and industry luminaries to get their views on decarbonization. We’ll be providing you with the basics of what decarbonization is, the technologies behind it, why it matters, and how we can think about implementing these technologies and strategies into how we generate power.
Join our co-hosts Dr. Jeffrey Goldmeer (GE’s fuels guy), Brian Gutknecht and a roster of very special guests for a robust and lively discussion on Cutting Carbon.
Season 1
Please listen to the episodes in order.

Episode 1:
Climate change: The everything, everywhere problem
Global climate change is real. We have a limited time to take action to limit the impact and to prevent massive long-term global changes. Conversation with Brian Gutknecht, GE’s Chief Marketing Officer.



Episode 2:
Carbon emissions: All needles, no haystacks
Carbon emissions are prevalent in multiple sectors, not just power. Industry, transportation and agriculture all contribute to global CO2 emissions. Guest: Neva Espinoza, Vice President, Energy Supply and Low-Carbon Resources at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).




Episode 3:
Renewables need friends
Decarbonizing power is a team sport. Today, there are still a billion people in the world without electricity. By 2050 the world is expected to need ~42000 Terawatt Hours of electricity, adding about 400 TWh of additional power every year: twice as much electricity as California generates today. Can this all be done by renewables? We hope that the continued growth of Renewable power generation will lead to wind and solar being 50% of total electricity generation by 2050. But where will the other 50% come from? In this episode Brian and Jeff explore this paradox with Vic Abate, GE Chief Technology Officer and the CEO of GE Research




Episode 4:
Key terminology to measure the journey
What do terms like carbon neutral, carbon negative, zero carbon mean? What are the implications of various scope levels of emissions? What is carbon intensity? Want to know more? Jeff Goldmeer and Brian Gutknecht explain what these key terms mean and why it matters.



Episode 5:
Electricity, hold the carbon
We don't have to invent new technology to begin to combat climate change today. Gas-fired generation is flexible, affordable, reliable, and produces less than half CO2 of coal, while coal-to-gas switching represents a fast and effective win for emissions reduction. But what technology options exist for gas turbines to reduce carbon emissions. Jeff and Brian talk about the use of hydrogen as a power generation fuel and the potential for carbon capture technology to be applied to power plants.



Episode 6:
Gas turbines are awesome
Did you know that a gas turbine sucks in enough air to fill a Goodyear blimp in ~10 seconds? Our guest Dr. Jacqueline O’Connor, Director of the Penn State Center for Gas Turbine Research, Education, and Outreach at The Pennsylvania State University, explains the main components of a gas turbine and how these amazing machines manage one of the most extreme environments that human engineers have developed.


We’ll be back with more episodes of Cutting Carbon in early 2021. Want to learn more about Hydrogen Rainbow, the Soul of the Machine or the Rocket Power? Be sure to join us in the new year as we take on topics spanning combustion technologies and fuel innovations, listen in on customer perspectives, and survey global policies and political implications of decarbonization. Subscribe to Cutting Carbon on your favorite podcast site to get notified when Season 2 comes live!