jo melville
@jmelville.science
climate tech (electrochemistry, industrial decarb, synthetic fuels, carbon removal, deep biogeochemistry, solar radiation management)
formerly: ARPA-E, Georgetown, MIT (PhD), UC Berkeley (BSc)
ask me anything: https://jmelville.science/ask/
🇺🇸→🇸🇬
formerly: ARPA-E, Georgetown, MIT (PhD), UC Berkeley (BSc)
ask me anything: https://jmelville.science/ask/
🇺🇸→🇸🇬
Pinned
jo melville
@jmelville.science
· Feb 19
out on a first date. she asked me "are you artistic?" but i misheard and replied "i've never been diagnosed"
Reposted by jo melville
Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...
January 23, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...
Reposted by jo melville
good post on this phenomenon from the point of view of a very influential software engineer who is also a big LLM user
Agent Psychosis: Are We Going Insane?
What’s going on with the AI builder community right now?
lucumr.pocoo.org
January 19, 2026 at 11:20 PM
good post on this phenomenon from the point of view of a very influential software engineer who is also a big LLM user
EnerGIS: identify different kinds of power plants from satellite imagery! good on desktop but should work well on phones now, too. gameplay modes include a global daily challenge and an infinite mode.
jmelville.science/energis/
please let me know what you think!
🔌💡
jmelville.science/energis/
please let me know what you think!
🔌💡
January 19, 2026 at 12:02 PM
EnerGIS: identify different kinds of power plants from satellite imagery! good on desktop but should work well on phones now, too. gameplay modes include a global daily challenge and an infinite mode.
jmelville.science/energis/
please let me know what you think!
🔌💡
jmelville.science/energis/
please let me know what you think!
🔌💡
damn, it's almost like the Dec 2024 DOE report on LNG exports predicted this might happen!
www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...
www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...
January 19, 2026 at 7:22 AM
damn, it's almost like the Dec 2024 DOE report on LNG exports predicted this might happen!
www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...
www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...
Reposted by jo melville
Back in 2008, the EIA believed that natural gas production would be flat through 2030. Then came fracking.
January 16, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Back in 2008, the EIA believed that natural gas production would be flat through 2030. Then came fracking.
this shift is basically 100% attributable to the coal-to-gas transition in the US power sector, driven by the shale/tight gas fracking boom of the mid-aughts...
🔌💡
🔌💡
January 16, 2026 at 5:25 AM
this shift is basically 100% attributable to the coal-to-gas transition in the US power sector, driven by the shale/tight gas fracking boom of the mid-aughts...
🔌💡
🔌💡
as we approach the singularity of the remaining 1.5 °C budget reaching zero, this framing will become more and more extreme.
"Your lunchtime hamburger could eat up 5% of carbon budget to keep 1.5 °C limit, studies suggest."
"Your lunchtime hamburger could eat up 5% of carbon budget to keep 1.5 °C limit, studies suggest."
US plan to exploit Venezuela’s oil could eat up 13% of carbon budget to keep 1.5C limit #Climate
US plan to exploit Venezuela’s oil could eat up 13% of carbon budget to keep 1.5C limit
Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:59 AM
as we approach the singularity of the remaining 1.5 °C budget reaching zero, this framing will become more and more extreme.
"Your lunchtime hamburger could eat up 5% of carbon budget to keep 1.5 °C limit, studies suggest."
"Your lunchtime hamburger could eat up 5% of carbon budget to keep 1.5 °C limit, studies suggest."
Reposted by jo melville
You need significantly more generation capacity without heat pumps, this is because heating is a high percentage of many nations energy consumption (along with road transport) and heat pumps are very efficient.
January 12, 2026 at 12:16 PM
You need significantly more generation capacity without heat pumps, this is because heating is a high percentage of many nations energy consumption (along with road transport) and heat pumps are very efficient.
Reposted by jo melville
Synthetic chemists breaking into the analytical chemists' labs at night to use their instruments without knowing what they are doing:
January 12, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Synthetic chemists breaking into the analytical chemists' labs at night to use their instruments without knowing what they are doing:
toying with a new idea. can you guess the fuel source and nameplate capacity of a power plant, based solely on satellite imagery?
jmelville.science/plantle/
this is a hacky pre-alpha prototype, feedback very welcome (:
#energysky
jmelville.science/plantle/
this is a hacky pre-alpha prototype, feedback very welcome (:
#energysky
January 11, 2026 at 3:02 PM
toying with a new idea. can you guess the fuel source and nameplate capacity of a power plant, based solely on satellite imagery?
jmelville.science/plantle/
this is a hacky pre-alpha prototype, feedback very welcome (:
#energysky
jmelville.science/plantle/
this is a hacky pre-alpha prototype, feedback very welcome (:
#energysky
time to reissue my SSL certs
January 7, 2026 at 12:10 PM
time to reissue my SSL certs
in my previous job, I ran out of space on the whiteboard walls so I started scribbling calculations on the window
January 4, 2026 at 12:45 AM
in my previous job, I ran out of space on the whiteboard walls so I started scribbling calculations on the window
I'm a broken record on this but we absolutely do not talk enough about the fact that ~20% of injected CO2 for EOR-CCUS can be microbially converted to methane. coupled with lax MVA regimes, EOR "storage" could easily produce a net increase in GHG emissions!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
December 23, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I'm a broken record on this but we absolutely do not talk enough about the fact that ~20% of injected CO2 for EOR-CCUS can be microbially converted to methane. coupled with lax MVA regimes, EOR "storage" could easily produce a net increase in GHG emissions!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by jo melville
Larger point: 45Q is arguably the most perverse energy subsidy from a climate pespective. Govt paying corporations to capture and store CO2, instead of actually reducing emissions, means incentivizing more extraction and combustion of fossil fuels because more emissions means more public $.
December 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Larger point: 45Q is arguably the most perverse energy subsidy from a climate pespective. Govt paying corporations to capture and store CO2, instead of actually reducing emissions, means incentivizing more extraction and combustion of fossil fuels because more emissions means more public $.
Reposted by jo melville
Like Kurt Godel on the way to his citizenship interview intent on explaining the logical flaws of the Constitution to the bureaucrat once he got there, and Albert Einstein having to talk him out of it
December 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Like Kurt Godel on the way to his citizenship interview intent on explaining the logical flaws of the Constitution to the bureaucrat once he got there, and Albert Einstein having to talk him out of it
Reposted by jo melville
🔌💡 I'm big on space-based fusion.
I believe that with a sufficient mass of fusible elements at the right altitude (around 93 million miles) we can attain self-sustaining gravitational confinement, producing radiative energy gain we can harness on Earth with cutting-edge optoelectronic PV devices.
I believe that with a sufficient mass of fusible elements at the right altitude (around 93 million miles) we can attain self-sustaining gravitational confinement, producing radiative energy gain we can harness on Earth with cutting-edge optoelectronic PV devices.
Fusion and space based solar
January 21, 2025 at 8:57 AM
🔌💡 I'm big on space-based fusion.
I believe that with a sufficient mass of fusible elements at the right altitude (around 93 million miles) we can attain self-sustaining gravitational confinement, producing radiative energy gain we can harness on Earth with cutting-edge optoelectronic PV devices.
I believe that with a sufficient mass of fusible elements at the right altitude (around 93 million miles) we can attain self-sustaining gravitational confinement, producing radiative energy gain we can harness on Earth with cutting-edge optoelectronic PV devices.
citogenesis: no longer limited to Wikipedia
December 16, 2025 at 1:39 AM
citogenesis: no longer limited to Wikipedia
unfun fact: far and away the #1 claim of the 45(Q) tax credit is for CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) — injecting it into a depleting oil well to force out more oil.
after the OBBBA updates to the IRA, EOR gets paid the same subsidy as Class VI sequestration (so why would you ever do the latter?)
after the OBBBA updates to the IRA, EOR gets paid the same subsidy as Class VI sequestration (so why would you ever do the latter?)
UPDATE: 3 things I learned today
1) Political leaders haven’t thought much about the health threats of CO2 capture and storage. Eg CO2 pipelines have kill zones. Leaks can acidify aquifers and mobilize heavy metals.
2) 45Q tax credits for CCS are now by far the biggest subsidy to oil and gas
AND…
1) Political leaders haven’t thought much about the health threats of CO2 capture and storage. Eg CO2 pipelines have kill zones. Leaks can acidify aquifers and mobilize heavy metals.
2) 45Q tax credits for CCS are now by far the biggest subsidy to oil and gas
AND…
Here at the US Capitol to talk with some senators about the risks and harms of carbon capture and storage, which is mostly used to extract more oil from ground, enjoys taxpayer subsidies, is prone to escape, threatens drinking water and public health, and is generally scammy.
Science belongs here.
Science belongs here.
December 11, 2025 at 8:10 AM
unfun fact: far and away the #1 claim of the 45(Q) tax credit is for CO2-enhanced oil recovery (EOR) — injecting it into a depleting oil well to force out more oil.
after the OBBBA updates to the IRA, EOR gets paid the same subsidy as Class VI sequestration (so why would you ever do the latter?)
after the OBBBA updates to the IRA, EOR gets paid the same subsidy as Class VI sequestration (so why would you ever do the latter?)
how did Palmer Luckey get an advance copy of my pitch to the UK government next week
December 4, 2025 at 12:48 PM
how did Palmer Luckey get an advance copy of my pitch to the UK government next week
every time the NIF lasers pulse, in that instant they are consuming >95% of all energy being used by all of humanity combined
the NIF's laser subsystems consume ~500 TW of power! ( ... for several picoseconds at a time)
November 26, 2025 at 10:09 AM
every time the NIF lasers pulse, in that instant they are consuming >95% of all energy being used by all of humanity combined
reupping this to commemorate the WSJ expose on the fabricated "AI for materials discovery" MIT economics paper. QM is an approximation to the furnace.
h/t @robertpalgrave.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
h/t @robertpalgrave.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
November 24, 2025 at 9:01 AM
reupping this to commemorate the WSJ expose on the fabricated "AI for materials discovery" MIT economics paper. QM is an approximation to the furnace.
h/t @robertpalgrave.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
h/t @robertpalgrave.bsky.social
www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
Reposted by jo melville
Like 70% because of the California Coastal Commission, maybe the best public agency in existence.
Why Bay Area parks are among the best in the world—Parks also wouldn’t exist here in such abundance if communities had not come together, in a very organic way, to protect favorite outdoor spaces… www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/22/b... @marthajross.bsky.social @mercurynews.com
Why Bay Area parks are among the best in the world
Alcatraz, Big Basin, Mount Diablo and more: A brief history of how visionaries and regular people made this metropolitan area home to a specular variety of stunning outdoor spaces
www.mercurynews.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Like 70% because of the California Coastal Commission, maybe the best public agency in existence.
ski pass prices are extortionate but have discounts for students, children, and military members. some discounts stack, so you can get a "teen military" or a "child military" pass. I assume this is for servicemembers with kids but it makes it sound like there is a special discount for child soldiers
November 23, 2025 at 8:53 AM
ski pass prices are extortionate but have discounts for students, children, and military members. some discounts stack, so you can get a "teen military" or a "child military" pass. I assume this is for servicemembers with kids but it makes it sound like there is a special discount for child soldiers