“Do the right thing, reduce your carbon footprint… Think of the world we’ll be leaving behind for Willie Nelson and Keith Richards.” Anonymous (Google Slides version more suitable for large screens here) In the previous episodes We have learned that there is nothing straightforward in the energy transformation towards net zero carbon emissions, and…

I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable. Jules Verne, “The mysterious island”, 1875 (Google Slides version more…

“The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light” Plato (Google Slides version more suitable for large screens here) In the previous episodes Energy consumption has been growing at an incredible rate, mostly supported by fossil fuels, and with it the greenhouse gas emissions have piled up in the atmosphere…

(Google Doc version more suitable for PC and Tablet is here) In the previous episode Hydropower and geothermal energy were the earliest forms of renewable sources used for electricity generation, and we started to harness them over a century ago. With hydro much more impactful than geothermal, we see them evolving and continuing to…

(Google Doc version more suitable for PC and Tablet is here) In episode 2 Produce, consume, pollute, repeat Energy consumption has been growing at an incredible rate, mostly supported by fossil fuels, and with it the greenhouse gas emissions have piled up in the atmosphere, starting to change our climate, for the worse, and polluting our environment…

(Google Doc version more suitable for PC and Tablet is here) In episode 1 Energy is the key to a world that is far better, or worse Climate Change and Global Warming are upon us and we need to act urgently if we want to limit their devastating effects. …

(Google Doc version more suitable for PC and Tablet is here) I’ve never been certain whether the moral of the Icarus story should only be, as is generally accepted, “don’t try to fly too high,’ or whether it might also be thought of as “forget the wax and feathers, and…

April 6th, 2020: four weeks after the start of the country-wide lockdown in Italy, and there are some stats we are all monitoring for a clear sign of the virus slowing down. Everybody is desperate to start discussing the next phase and move on from what is still a pretty…

We are referring to the type of tests conducted pretty much everywhere in the world until now to check whether a person is currently positive to the virus, typically consisting in taking nasal swabs and performing lab tests (Reverse Transcription-PCR). There’s a fierce debate in almost every country about the…