Costa Samaras

@costasamaras

Climate, energy, emerging tech, resilience, & policy professor. Carnegie Mellon Univ. Institute for Energy Innovation Director. Former Biden-Harris White House OSTP Chief Advisor for the Clean Energy Transition. Personal account. He/Him. costasamaras.com

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Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 19d

RIP grimace

Tony soprano saying grimace was an American hero end of story

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 20d

bonkers title page font choice

SCIENCE
A NEW GOLDEN AGE

In an italic thin serif font

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 22d

WSJ op-ed page doesn’t like the answers science found, so it attacks National Academies, and also looks like incorrectly wrote C02 not CO2 in their subheadline. The National Academies are a national treasure and the staff are brilliant professionals. Leave them alone.

WSJ opinion

A Climate Coup at the National Academies of Science
A report on C02 and extreme weather is a trial-lawyer operation.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 24d

Air in Pittsburgh had a little better air quality today (upper 200s AQI vs 300s yesterday). But outside with a mask today for a few minutes & my eyes were burning. Saw some folks on bikes with bike gear huffing and puffing up the hill and I really don’t understand folks going out for a leisure ride.

Smoky gray skies in Pittsburgh with the cathedral of learning in the background.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 25d

yes fas.org/publication/...

Recommendation 4. Develop Prizes That Reward Flexibility and End-Use
Efficiency Investments
Flexibility in how and when data centers use electricity can meaningfully reduce the stress on the grid. FESI should award prizes to data centers that demonstrate best-in-class flexibility through smart controls and operational improvements.
Prizes could also be awarded to utilities hosting data centers that reduce summer and winter peak
loads in the local service territory. Prizes for utilities that meet home weatherization targets and deploy virtual power plants could help reduce costs and grid stress in local communities hosting Al data centers.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 25d

only clean

In addition, FESI could facilitate a "Bring Your Own Power™ prize award that is a combination of public, private, and philanthropic funds that data center developers can match to contract for new, additional zero-emission electricity generated
locally that covers twice as much as the data center uses annually. For data centers committing to this "Smart Al Fast Lane" process, both the data center and the clean energy supply would receive accelerated priority in the interconnection queue and technical assistance from National Laboratories. This leverages economies of scale for projects, lowers the c it of locally-generated
clean electricity, and gets clean energy connected to the grid quicker. Prize resources would support a "connect
and manage" interconnection approach to cover 75% of the costs of any required infrastructure for local clean power projects resulting from the project. FESI prize resources could further supplement these payments to upgrade electrical infrastructure in areas of national need for new electricity supplies to maintain electricity reliability. These include areas

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 25d

yes fas.org/publication/...

"Smart Al Fast Lanes" expands the spirit of the Texas "connect and manage" approach nationwide for data centers and clean energy,
and adds to it investment and innovation prizes to speed up the process, ensure grid reliability, and lower costs.
Data center providers would work with the Department of Energy, the Foundation for Energy.
Security and Innovation (FESI), the Department of Commerce, National Laboratories, state energy offices, utilities, and the Department of Defense to speed up interconnection queues, spur innovation in efficiency, and re-invest in infrastructure, to increase energy security and lower costs.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 25d

EPA still has a good AirNow app that can provide good info about current conditions.

Airnow EPA app in the App Store showing hazardous air in Pittsburgh with an AQI of 316

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 26d

Wildfire smoke visible, smellable, and tasteable in Pittsburgh.

Smoky gray skies with the Carnegie Museum, Carnegie Library, and Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 28d

Gratitude and congratulations to @cdelawalla.bsky.social, @colesci.bsky.social, and the @standupforscience.net team. With 3 hours until the comment period closes, there are 341,699 public comments! Still time to submit one: www.regulations.gov/docket/OMB-2...

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/OMB-2026-0034 OMB docket showing 341,699 comments

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 29d

it's only one singular costa, how much could it cost, $500?

Good Morning,

Do you have any interest in costasamara .com for 500 usd? i noticed you own costasamaras, the plural version, so maybe you will be interested in this one as well.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· 29d

Here's what I wrote about energy, AI, and climate: data centers pay into a grid infrastructure trust fund, country builds a green grid for everyone and to deal with climate change. We need a Grid New Deal. gizmodo.com/what-is-the-...

The electric power system is the foundational economic, security, and environmental infrastructure of this century, but the grid is aging and is vulnerable to extreme weather events amplified by climate change. Al data centers are helping drive near-term electricity growth, but we have a generational moment to rebuild the electricity system for this century and to power the electrification of buildings, vehicles, and factories. Powering the Al boom in a way that is good for the economy, communities, and the climate requires bold actions across power generation, transmission, and demand.
First, we need a grid infrastructure trust fund that helps us to double the capacity of the grid by 2040—not just to power Al, but to power the broader electrification needed to address climate change. This could be funded in part by data centers using a "Smart Al Fast Lane" connection fee to quickly connect to the grid when they bring their own clean power and enough additional power and energy storage to benefit surrounding communities. A larger, cleaner grid needs lots of solar, wind power, and batteries right now, as well as ramped up investments in geothermal, advanced nuclear, and broader energy innovation.

Next, the wires and equipment that bring electricity to cities and neighborhoods need an upgrade to be resilient to climate change, move more power, and be ready for broader electrification. Data centers, firms, and governments can share in the reinvestment needed beyond the needs of a specific data center, which can help keep electricity costs affordable. The grid is an essential national infrastructure asset, and residential customers shouldn’t be required to pay the entire bill for a 21st century refresh.

Finally, a grid infrastructure trust fund can support energy efficiency and flexibility, distributed power and energy storage, and virtual power plants, which can reduce peak power demands and keep electricity reliable. In addition, transparency from data centers, a “miles per gallon” efficiency measure for AI, and the reporting of electricity use, emissions, and water use would incentivize best in class environmental performance. Communities are facing new economic and environmental risks, and at the same the grid needs a generational investment to get to a zero emissions future. AI has the potential to help drive better climate and infrastructure outcomes, but this will not happen without focused policy and deep partnerships with communities.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jul 11

I'm inclinin' here!

Pittsburgh incline in the foreground, downtown pittsburgh skyscrapers in the backgound

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jul 7

This chart is old, but does give a sense of the scale of life cycle consumptive water use of different electricity technologies. The type of cooling used at power plants matters. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Figure 4 from: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015031

Estimated life cycle water consumption factors for selected electricity generation technologies, based on median harmonized estimates, demonstrate significant variability with respect to technology choices. Base case estimates for each life cycle stage, presented in bold font, are held constant for estimating life cycle water consumption factors for other life cycle stages. Estimates for production pathway variants in fuel cycle or power plant (labeled on top of the bars) or operations (bottom) are labeled at points connected to the base case estimate with horizontal lines. Note: PV =photovoltaics; C-Si =crystalline silicone; EGS =enhanced geothermal system; CSP =concentrating solar power; CT =combustion turbine; CC =combined cycle; IGCC =integrated gasification combined cycle; and PC = pulverized coal, sub-critical.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jul 3

Noah Wyle from The Pitt with a speech bubble to the quoted text

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 29

Society didn’t spend on climate at the scale needed until the BIL/IRA. The 2000s vibe, wasn’t “CCS will save us”, it was “put off the hard stuff until later, because it costs more per ton to abate it.” It was a bad move because as I said on Volts, later is now. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/v...

Getting ready for IRA 2 Mar 15, 2024 • 1 hr 9 min
Well, I think that we made the community in the 2000s and 2010s made a mistake in framing this easy-to-carbonize, hard-to-carbonize world, because it was like, oh, we're going to start with electricity, and then we're going to do buildings, and then transportation, and then industry. And so what that did is basically leave industry to now, right? And it also turns out, like, electricity is not that easy.
Yeah, nothing's easy.
It's like the easy one is still got some challenges. You know, we're making amazing progress, but it's like in a world that needs to get to zero fast, we need to be thinking about not what we can put off till later, like later is now, right? And later was then, but now then is now.
I'm sorry.
Volts

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 28

Thomas A. Edison with speech bubble to the post below

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 25

In the @wsj.com today, I talked about how we’re barreling into climate impacts with cities designed for last century’s weather. But read the more important part in the next paragraph: www.wsj.com/science/envi...

"A lot of infrastructure we're still using now was built for the weather of the 1950s and
'60s," says Costa Samaras, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. "This is not the weather that we have now, and it's not the weather that we'll have in the future as it continues to be altered because of the emissions that lead to climate change."

A key metric to watch in the coming decades will be the wet-bulb temperature, a measure of combined heat and humidity. When the wet-bulb temperature exceeds 87 degrees Fahrenheit (abour 100 degrees with a relative humidity of 60%), the human body can no longer cool itself efficiently, leading to heat stroke and fever.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 17

it might feel like that, I agree, but there is a lot more heating energy required in Pittsburgh, 5x more in 2025 www.aepohio.com/savings/busi...

https://www.aepohio.com/savings/business/temperature/temperature-monthly-history?station=PIT&stationname=Pittsburgh%20PA&year=2025

Month
Heating
Cooling
January
1262
0
February
929
0
March
534

April
337
33
May
153
32
June
20
267
July
0
379
August

229
September
29
108
October
323

November
694
0
December
1053
0
Totals:
5355
1060

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 17

This Kind Of Smart, Walkable, Mixed-use Urbanism Is Illegal To Build In Most American Cities.

Steel tower bringing power lines into Pittsburgh, PA

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 15

I mean just look at this, my god www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=64705

Chart showing U.S. battery capacity increased 66% in 2024 and line going up

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 15

Here’s a good graph: homes in colder states use more annual energy than homes in warmer states, because there are many more days where it’s cold outside than there are days when it’s hot. This is changing under climate change, but still 3x the amount of cold days (HDDs) www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...

MAY 4, 2023
U.S. households in
Warmer states consume less site energy than households in colder states
Site energy consumption per household versus average state temperature (2020) million British thermal units (MMBtu) per btu

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56380

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020
Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS)
Note: Average temperature derived from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather data for
RECS sampled households.
80

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 12

not bad weird tho

Red October one ping only but says good weird only, please

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 12

Quote from man blocked

What are you gonna do, block me?

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 11

plenty of window space and room for bass tubes here

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 6

“Pardon me, I just hope both teams have fun”

I’m walking here scene from midnight cowboy movie

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 6

this is pathetic loser stuff

Matt Stoller tweet

Graham Platner represents a rejection of Dem HR lady politics

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 6

Yesterday we got to join our County Executive Sara Innamorato for the signing of her Executive Order on Advancing Clean Technology for Neighborhood and Next Generation Opportunity and Workforce (ACT NOW). Climate and clean energy policy at the state and local level can have a big impact.

County Executive Innamorato signing an executive order while folks look on.

County Executive Innamorato and Costa sitting in chairs on stage.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· Jun 3

@darthbluesky.bsky.social how about this for next year

jon hamm from mad men standing in front of flipboard that says Potatoesburgh

Costa Samaras@costasamaras· May 30

Any public comment on a proposed regulation, event short and anonymous saying you don't like it/like it, helps. For those wanting to provide something deeper, I saw this resource and really liked it, from the PDF linked on here: www.peer-center.org/research/vir...