Randy Simon
Randy Simon has over 30 years of experience in renewable energy technology, materials research, superconductor applications, and a variety of other technical and management areas. He has been an officer of a publicly-traded Silicon Valley company, worked in government laboratories, the aerospace industry, and at university research institutions. He holds a PhD in physics from UCLA. Dr. Simon has authored numerous technical papers, magazine articles, energy policy documents, online articles and blogs, and a book, and holds seven patents. He also composes, arranges and produces jazz music
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Installing solar panels on bodies of water has the potential to generate large amounts of renewable energy. Among other benefits, floating solar has the advantage of not taking up land that has other uses. However, there are potential interactions between birds and floating solar facilities, possibly being problematic for both. -
Mining tailings are the waste byproduct of mining, consisting of ground rock, water, and processing chemicals that remain after extracting valuable minerals. They have been disposed of for thousands of years, but the industrial mining in the late 19th and 20th centuries is responsible for most of what occupies large, engineered dams. Estimates are that there are over 8,000 active and inactive tailings facilities storing nearly 220 billion cubic meters of material. They pose many environmental dangers, some catastrophic in nature. -
In January 2025, two large wildfires burned through large areas of greater Los Angeles damaging or destroying more than 18,000 buildings and directly causing the death of 31 people. A study by public health researchers attributed another 409 deaths to factors associated with the fires. While the fires burned, air quality in Los Angeles was terrible. Researchers from UCLA’s School of Public Health collected air samples both indoors and out during and after the fires. -
Our country has a deep political divide over wind and solar renewable energy sources. Generally, Democrats are in favor of them, and Republicans are against them. The current administration is doing whatever it can to stop the growth of wind and solar power despite that they involve nearly $100 billion in US investments and nearly 500,000 jobs. -
Greenland is one of the fastest-melting cryosphere regions on Earth. In fact, scientists say the large-scale melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is irreversible, and it’s happening now at an accelerating rate. Understanding what is driving this melting is crucial for predicting how much sea levels will rise and what that means for coastal communities around the world. -
Researchers at Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources have been studying dietary fats and their effects on dairy cows for over a decade. This research in part focused on high-oleic soybeans, a variety that is rich in oleic acid, a type of fatty acid found in both animal and vegetable fats and oils. The conjecture was that if these soybeans were included in a cow’s diet, the yields of milk fat and protein would increase, and along with them, the profits of farmers. -
When we talk about locust swarms, we envision biblical plagues and famines in ancient societies. But locusts continue to be a serious problem around the world. Huge swarms of the insects can destroy crops across entire regions and cause massive economic losses. -
Windfarms located out to sea have the advantages that there is a lack of obstacles to airflow and higher wind speeds and steadier wind flow tend to be observed out at sea. As of last year, the global offshore wind capacity reached 83-88 gigawatts, enough to power 75 to 100 million homes and is growing rapidly with annual growth rates of 15% or more. -
Hydrogen can play a key role in the transition to clean energy because when it is used as a fuel, it only produces water as a byproduct. Hydrogen is already produced in industrial quantities, but it is primarily made with methods that use fossil fuels like natural gas. But instead of extracting hydrogen from hydrocarbons, it can be obtained by splitting water into its constituent elements. -
Greenhouse gas emissions rose again last year, while global temperatures continued to rise. Carbon dioxide concentrations reached new record highs. Despite this, climate-related issues, events, and developments saw less frequent media coverage around the world, down 14% compared to 2024 and 38% lower than in 2021.
