Episode 146: Sarah Saltzer, Managing Director of the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage at Stanford University

Today's guest is Sarah Saltzer, Managing Director of the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage.

The Stanford Center for Carbon Storage focuses on applied and fundamental research to address critical questions around carbon storage in geological formations. The team also works on technological and economic analysis, public policy research, and carbon storage projects around the world.

Before joining Stanford, Sarah spent 25 years at Chevron. She worked across exploration, development, production, clean-up, and internal auditing for the oil & gas company. Sarah has taken on various roles in geology, engineering, and research. As Managing Director of the Center for Carbon Storage, Sarah is involved in guiding research activities, teachings, business development, grant writing, and general operations. Sarah holds a Ph.D. in Geology from Stanford and an MS and BS in Geology from MIT.

Sarah walks me through her time at Chevron, her current position at Stanford, and what motivated her to focus on carbon storage. Sarah's wealth of knowledge and experience leads to a lively discussion about how carbon capture and storage works, where oil and gas companies fit into the climate fight, and the future of the industry. This episode is awesome for those interested in the carbon storage landscape.

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded February 10th, 2021.


In Today's episode we cover:

  • What led Sarah to focus on climate

  • Sarah's time spent at Chevron

  • The Stanford Center for Carbon Storage and Sarah's role as Managing Director

  • How carbon capture works, the existing projects, and where the sector is from a cost perspective

  • The carbon capture landscape, where we are now, and where we need to go

  • Big oil's role in the clean energy transition

  • The effectiveness of carbon capture as a long-term solution

  • The biggest factor in driving the cost of carbon capture down

  • The role each agent has in developing more carbon capture solutions from government to big oil to startup innovations

  • How the US stacks up against other countries in terms of carbon capture projects

  • Advice Sarah has for recent geology graduates

Links to topics discussed in this episode:


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