The Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder

[Episode #235] – China, India and Australia 2024 Update Oct 16, 2024

The energy transition in China is a complex picture. China is both the world’s largest annual greenhouse gas emitter and the largest market for electric vehicles. It’s the largest user of coal, and it deploys more wind and solar every year than the rest of the world combined. It’s both the largest worry in terms of rising CO2 concentrations, and the biggest hope for curbing emissions.

But in syndicated media, this complex reality tends to be boiled down to old tropes, generalized and unhelpful characterizations, and correct but irrelevant data, instead of any useful context and synthesis.

So you might be forgiven for not knowing that power sector emissions in China actually fell in the second quarter of 2024, and China’s CO2 emissions could be close to a peak in its CO2 emissions, which means the world probably is too.

The reporting on India and the rest of Southeast Asia is even worse, if not nonexistent.

So we are very pleased to welcome back Australian energy analyst Tim Buckley to the show. We sat down in person in Sydney for an hour and a half conversation about the trends and the data in all of those countries, as well as their trade relationships with Australia. And we begin to explore the potential for Australia to use its abundant and cheap wind and solar resources to produce green hydrogen, then use it to upgrade the ores and other materials that it exports to Asia and beyond.

After listening to this episode, we hope you’ll have a much better idea of the reality of the energy transition in Asia and Australia.

[Episode #234] – Transition in Australia 2024 Oct 02, 2024

In August 2024, Chris commenced a three-month research trip across Australia and New Zealand to explore their unique challenges and opportunities in the energy transition, and to conduct interviews with the people involved. This episode kicks off a miniseries based on those travels.

We start by speaking with Giles Parkinson, a journalist for more than 40 years who has arguably covered Australia’s energy transition more thoroughly and consistently than anyone else. Giles is the founder and editor of Renew Economy and the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast as well as the founder of two other websites: One Step Off The Grid, which provides information to consumers contemplating what they can do to support the energy transition, and The Driven, which is billed as “Australia’s most-trusted and well-read electric vehicle news site.”

In this roughly 90-minute conversation, we frame up the big picture on Australia’s energy transition, including the major themes and vectors of change. We discuss several significant energy transition projects as well as the politics of the energy transition in Australia, including the roles of various government agencies.

[Episode #233] – Ending the Monopoly Utility Sep 18, 2024

Can the energy transition happen fast enough if investor-owned utilities (IOUs) continue to operate the US grid under a regulated monopoly business model?

Our guest today says no.

These profit-driven utilities have used their monopoly status to protect their market position and undermine the energy transition. Their control over generation, transmission and distribution systems allows them to fend off competition and slow down progress toward a cleaner energy future.

That’s why John Farrell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) argues in a recent report that it’s time to break up these utility monopolies, shifting grid ownership and control to the public. In this episode, we discuss how today’s dominant monopoly utility model arose, why it persists, how it is an impediment to the energy transition, and what can be done to reform the utility business so that it serves the public, and not the other way around.

[Episode #232] – Smart Meters and Appliances Sep 04, 2024

Two decades ago, there was a surge of interest to make appliances, buildings, and utility meters smarter. Startups emerged to explore ways to monitor and manage electricity usage and optimize grid power, aiming to better align with the increasing supply of variable renewable energy.

At the same time, utilities began rolling out millions of so-called smart meters, promising to reduce costs for ratepayers. This advanced meter infrastructure would provide the information needed to use less electricity during peak times – shifting consumption to periods when renewable generation was abundant and prices were low.

However, the promise of a “smart” future didn’t exactly happen as expected, with many efforts fizzling out.

Now, with the advent of new technologies, making buildings and appliances smarter and more grid-interactive seems more achievable than ever. This shift can lower costs for everyone and make the grid more responsive to variable sources of renewable energy.

But to achieve this goal, we’ll need utility reform, proactive regulators, and leadership at the federal level. In this two-hour episode, we discuss the challenges that have held back the “smart home” vision with Mission:data founder Michael Murray. Michael has been on the front lines of this effort for 20 years, and has some clear ideas about what it will take to overcome the hurdles and turn this vision into a reality.

[Episode #231] – Five Times Faster Aug 21, 2024

Why have our climate policies failed to significantly reduce carbon emissions? What new strategies could help us decarbonize the global energy system five times faster — as is needed to avoid the worst climate scenarios?

Our guest in this episode believes he has some answers to these questions.

Simon Sharpe has been personally involved in the crafting of climate policy in the UK for over a decade. He designed and led flagship international campaigns for climate policy in 2020-2021, when the UK hosted COP26, and has held key roles in the UK Government, including as head of a private office to a minister of energy and climate change. His diplomatic experience includes postings in China and India. Currently, he is Director of Economics for the Climate Champions Team and a Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute. Simon has published influential academic papers and created groundbreaking international initiatives in climate change risk assessment, economics, policy, and diplomacy.

In his 2023 book, Five Times Faster—Rethinking the Science, Economics, and Diplomacy of Climate Change, Simon lays out why the institutions of science, economics, and climate diplomacy that should be helping us are holding us back. Chapter by chapter, he forensically analyzes why so many of our climate policies have failed to produce the desired results, demonstrating how science is pulling its punches, diplomacy is picking the wrong battles, and economics is fighting for the wrong side. More importantly, he outlines how to develop alternative policies that could actually work.

[Episode #230] – EV Charging Blues Aug 07, 2024

The transition from oil-burning vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) has hit a few speed bumps over the past year, sparking widespread media coverage, but not much insight. A confusing tangle of narratives has emerged: Are EV sales surging or stalling? What does it mean for Ford and GM to adopt Tesla’s charger connector when Elon Musk just laid off his entire charging network team? And if the new federal NEVI program is expanding public fast-charger networks, why are so many of those chargers broken?

In this comprehensive 2.5-hour episode, we untangle these narratives and bring some clarity to this ever-evolving picture.

Joining us for this conversation is Raj Diwan, an expert with many years of experience in trying to actually build and operate networks of high-speed public chargers. We take an exhaustive tour through the state of the EV charging business, including the costs and challenges of deploying and operating chargers; the changing standards for EV charging cable connectors; the implications of Elon Musk’s recent decisions about Tesla’s charging network; the various business model challenges for EV charging network operators; the challenges that utilities have in providing power to the chargers; the varying costs of charging for EV drivers; the state of the federal NEVI grant funding program; and the state of the EV market.

[Episode #229] – US Distributed Solar Potential Jul 24, 2024

What is the full potential for distributed solar power in the US?

Many models have been developed to explore how a decarbonized US energy system could look, consistently finding that solar power would be the dominant source of electricity. Yet, we don’t really know the full potential for distributed solar. Even the term “distributed solar” isn’t very well-defined, potentially referring to many different kinds of solar power installations.

In today’s conversation, we review the available estimates for small rooftop and ground-mounted systems typically found on buildings, solar panels on canopies over parking lots, and innovative floating solar arrays over bodies of freshwater. Additionally, we explore emerging options such as installations on brownfield sites, agricultural lands, and alongside roadways.

Then we add it all up to see how big of a role distributed solar could actually play in a fully decarbonized US electricity system—with a surprisingly large result! But you’ll have to be a premium member and listen to the end to find out what it is.

In this episode, we are joined by Robert Margolis, a Senior Energy Analyst with the Strategic Energy Analysis Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (or NREL), which is part of the US Department of Energy. With more than 20 years of focused research on solar in the US, and his deep familiarity with energy technology and policy and energy-economic-environmental modeling, he is one of the top experts on the potential for distributed solar in the US.

[Episode #228] – Public Persuasion Jul 10, 2024

Most climate communicators emphasize the risk of climate change, in the belief that if only people understood how dangerous it is, they would do something about it.

But what if terrifying messages about rising sea levels and life-threatening weather events have the opposite effect? What if they only serve to turn people off, rather than motivate them to act?

And what kinds of messages do resonate with people and get them interested in taking action on climate and participating in the energy transition?

In this episode, we are joined by the Jessica Lu, the Associate Director of Strategy and Analytics with Potential Energy’s Insights Lab. Her team has used established market research techniques to test various messages to unearth what motivates humans to care about climate change. The insights she shares with us are simultaneously surprising and obvious, suggesting much more successful strategies for climate communications.

Because we feel that this information is critically important for all climate communicators to understand, we decided to make this episode one of our occasional lagniappe shows and put it in front of the paywall so that subscribers and nonsubscribers alike can enjoy it. So, nonsubscribers, now you can see what you’ve been missing! And we hope you will all share this episode widely with your friends and colleagues.

[Episode #227] – FERC Order 1920 Jun 26, 2024

The United States faces significant challenges in deploying enough transmission capacity and interconnections to support a modernized grid. Approximately 2.5 TW of new clean wind, solar, and storage capacity is currently on hold — twice the country’s current generating capacity of 1.28 TW. These projects are just awaiting transmission interconnections. Building the necessary infrastructure and securing these interconnections would revolutionize the U.S. power grid, likely eliminating all fossil-fuel (and eventually nuclear) generation.

However, investor-owned utilities have historically obstructed the development of new transmission capacity, both within and between their regional transmission grids. In 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sought to address these barriers with Order 1000, but utilities resisted, attempting to undermine and weaken the order. Despite some progress within Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), no new transmission projects outside of these RTOs have been realized under Order 1000. This bottleneck has hindered the energy transition and state-level goals to expand clean energy use and phase out fossil-fueled power under their own renewable portfolio standards.

In response, FERC introduced Order 1920 in May this year, aimed at compelling utilities and regional transmission organizations to undertake long-term regional planning of transmission systems.

In this episode, we are rejoined by Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, to walk us through the history of Order 1000 and to explain the implications of the new Order 1920. He’s one of the top scholars in the country on transmission regulation and we’re very pleased that he was willing to share his expertise with us once again.

This 80-minute discussion gets quite technical, but after listening to it you will begin to see a clear picture of a future in which new transmission lines unlock the potential of the wind and solar resources in the US and help us completely decarbonize the power grid.

[Episode #226] – Load Growth Shenanigans Jun 12, 2024

In recent months, reports have circulated that data centers, cryptocurrency miners, and AI technologies are suddenly increasing electricity demand, allegedly straining power grids. These declarations have prompted calls for the hasty approval of new gas-fired power plants to bolster generation capacity. But should we believe these claims?

We remain skeptical.

As the energy transition progresses towards “electrifying everything,” there is little doubt that significant loads will transfer to the power grid. However, we have yet to see evidence that this shift is outpacing grid capacity. In fact, we have good reason to believe that much of the projected demand has been overestimated – in part because utilities have a long history of projecting demand that never materialized.

In today’s episode, we try to separate power demand fact from fiction with Mike O’Boyle, Senior Director of Electricity at Energy Innovation, a San Francisco-based energy transition think tank. Over the past several months, Mike and his colleagues have been urging regulators to resist the panicked rush towards new gas infrastructure and consider cleaner alternatives. We’ll explore the origins of the alleged cloud electricity demand surge narratives, assess the real picture of modern computing demand, and discuss viable solutions. As we will uncover, much of the prevailing discourse is not about a genuine power shortage but rather the efforts of certain political figures to boost tax revenues, often at the expense of public welfare — and is ultimately a lapse in regulatory oversight meant to protect the public interest.

[Episode #225] – Demand Side Solutions May 29, 2024

What is the role and potential of demand-side solutions in the energy transition?

[Episode #224] – US Hydrogen Tax Credits May 15, 2024

Will the final proposed rules for the US 45V hydrogen production tax credit stimulate a vibrant green hydrogen industry without increasing carbon emissions?

[Episode #223] – Fiscal Implications of the US Transition May 01, 2024

As we phase out fossil fuels, can the revenues they have supplied to some communities be replaced by revenues from clean energy projects?

[Episode #222] – Green Industrial Policy Apr 17, 2024

How can green industrial policy harness the tools of capitalism and growth to make the energy transition successful?

[Episode #221] – Fossilflation Apr 03, 2024

What causes inflation? And how is it connected to the energy transition?

[Episode #220] – Climate Capitalism Mar 20, 2024

Author Akshat Rathi shares key insights from his new book, Climate Capitalism, about how the private sector provides scalable solutions to climate change.

[Episode #219] – Nuclear Illusions Mar 06, 2024

Nuclear power’s long track record of failure, including that of small modular reactors (SMRs), shows why it will not contribute to the energy transition.

[Episode #218] – Accelerating Decarbonization in the US Feb 21, 2024

A new report details policies that can accelerate the decarbonization of the entire US economy, along with the risks and barriers to their implementation.

[Episode #217] – Passivhaus in Scotland Feb 07, 2024

Retrofitting buildings to the Passivhaus standard can make them far healthier and more comfortable, while consuming far less energy than conventional buildings.

[Episode #216] – COP28 and the Outlook for Oil Jan 24, 2024

What will cause global demand for oil to peak and decline until it reaches zero by 2050?

[Episode #215] – IEA’s New Oil & Gas Outlook Jan 10, 2024

How must the oil and gas industry prepare for the world to stop using their products entirely by 2050?

[Episode #214] – Countering Climate Doomerism Dec 27, 2023

Climate scientist Dr. Michael E. Mann answers some of the hottest questions today about climate science.

[Episode #213] – Offshore Wind in the UK Dec 13, 2023

Is offshore wind dead in the water, or just facing some temporary turbulence? Chris Nelder reports on the offshore wind sector from the UK.

[Episode #212] – Transition in Eigg Nov 29, 2023

A small island in Scotland became the world’s first community to launch an off-grid electric system powered by wind, water and solar. Here’s how they did it.

[Episode #211] – Doomers vs. Transitionistas Nov 15, 2023

Why do some people believe we should accelerate the energy transition, while others claim that it will never work and advocate for things like degrowth policies instead?

[Episode #210] – Transportation Transition Update Nov 01, 2023

Contra the new pro-nuclear zeitgeist that has bamboozled climate hawks, nuclear power is not at the dawning of a new age, but at the end of its old age.

[Episode #209] – End of the Nuclear Age Oct 18, 2023

Contra the new pro-nuclear zeitgeist that has bamboozled climate hawks, nuclear power is not at the dawning of a new age, but at the end of its old age.

[Episode #208] – Vernacular Architecture Oct 04, 2023

Can ancient architectural and building techniques be used today to help keep buildings comfortable without using energy?

[Episode #207] – 8th Anniversary Show Sep 20, 2023

Energy researcher Jonathan Koomey rejoins us to review the major stories we have covered over the past year and see how the energy transition has progressed.

[Episode #206] – Regulatory Capture in Texas Sep 06, 2023

Regulatory capture is rife in Texas, and it explains a lot about how the losers of the energy transition have rigged the state’s systems in their favor.

[Episode #205] – Rebuilding the Grid from the Bottom-up Aug 23, 2023

How can we maximize the role of distributed energy resources as we rebuild the power grid using a decentralized architecture?

[Episode #204] – Regulatory Reform Aug 09, 2023

What do regulators and governments need to do differently to lead the energy transition?

[Episode #203] – The Case for Climate Optimism Jul 26, 2023

Why does so much media focus on unlikely, pessimistic climate scenarios when our progress should make us optimistic about combating global warming?

[Episode #202] – UK’s Green Day Jul 12, 2023

Simon Evans of Carbon Brief reviews the highlights of the UK’s latest policy proposals, including how the government plans to meet its emissions-reduction goals.

[Episode #201] – India Update Part 2 Jun 28, 2023

In this second part of the interview from Ep. 199, we see how India’s energy transition is changing its oil and gas, grid power, cooling, and mobility sectors.

[Episode #200] – ETS Retrospective Jun 14, 2023

The Energy Transition Show marks its 200th regular episode with a look back at the progress of the energy transition and of the show since it launched in 2015.

[Episode #199] – India Update Part 1 May 31, 2023

In this first part of a 3.5-hour, two-part interview, we see how India is coming along with its energy transition, with focus on its coal, solar, and wind power.

[Episode #198] – The Coal Trap May 17, 2023

Why has West Virginia denied the reality of the energy transition and clung to coal for so long, especially when it’s against their own economic interests?

[Episode #197] – Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) May 03, 2023

Virtual Power Plants are finally ready to scale up, making it possible for the grid to do more with less as we “electrify everything.”

[Episode #196] – Unglamorous Solutions Apr 19, 2023

What if the most fundamental, transformative, and enduring aspects of the energy transition aren’t about technology at all, but rather policy and investment?

[Episode #195] – Permafrost and Climate ‘Tipping Points’ Apr 05, 2023

Is the Arctic permafrost in a warming feedback loop that will unleash a methane bomb and push the planet past a tipping point and into inevitable climate doom?

[Episode #194] – Materials Requirements of the Transition Mar 22, 2023

Does the availability of key minerals and materials—like “rare earth” metals—pose a fundamental limitation to the energy transition?

[Episode #193] – Harmonizing EU and US Climate Policies Mar 08, 2023

How will Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (or CBAM) avoid “carbon leakage,” and how can the EU and US harmonize their climate policies?

[Episode #192] – When is Hydrogen ‘Clean’? Feb 22, 2023

How should we measure and count the greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with producing clean hydrogen?

[Episode #191] – Shale’s Swan Song Feb 08, 2023

It looks like days of growth are over for US shale oil production. What does that portend for the US, the world, and for the project of the energy transition?

[Episode #190] – Financing Utility Scale RE in Developing Countries Jan 25, 2023

How can MDBs like the World Bank derisk utility-scale renewable energy projects in developing countries and motivate more private capital to participate?

[Episode #189] – Financing the Transition Jan 04, 2023

Why is it so much more expensive to finance clean energy projects than fossil fuel projects in emerging economies? And what can be done about it?

[Episode #188] – Getting to a 100% Clean Grid Dec 21, 2022

What are some of the pathways to a 100% clean power grid, and how can we meet the last 10% of the need even through winter weeks of low solar and wind output?

[Episode #187] – Transition in Vermont, Part 2 Dec 07, 2022

This show tells the story of the demand side of the energy transition in Vermont, based on interviews with local experts in October 2021.

[Episode #186] – Transition in Vermont, Part 1 Nov 23, 2022

This show tells the story of the supply side of energy in Vermont, based on interviews with local experts in October 2021.

[Episode #185] – Designing the Mid-transition Nov 09, 2022

Can we coordinate replacing fossil-fueled assets with clean, zero-carbon assets so that both systems remain functional and affordable during the transition?

[Episode #184] – EROI of RE Oct 26, 2022

Is the Energy Returned on Investment (EROI) of renewable energy high enough to power our modern world?

[Episode #183] – Global Energy Crisis Oct 12, 2022

How is the world managing the ongoing global energy crisis, and why is the energy transition the only real path out of it?

[Episode #182] – 7th Anniversary Show Sep 28, 2022

Energy researcher Jonathan Koomey rejoins us to review the major stories we have covered over the past year and see how the energy transition has progressed.

[Episode #181] – Command Capitalism Sep 14, 2022

Can free-market capitalism survive the energy transition? Or are we entering a new era of “command capitalism?”

[Episode #180] – Transition in Alberta Aug 31, 2022

What are the challenges and opportunities for energy transition in Alberta, and can it make a successful pivot away from its traditional fossil fuel industry?

[Episode #179] – Offshore Wind in the US Aug 17, 2022

How much clean energy could offshore wind provide in the US, and what do we need to do to develop the offshore wind sector?

[Episode #178] – How the Transition Will Unfold Aug 03, 2022

Can we confidently undertake the energy transition without knowing exactly all the answers or where the journey will take us?

[Episode #177] – Utility Corruption Jul 20, 2022

Many utilities are actively working against the energy transition and abusing their monopoly power, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

[Episode #176] – Climate Scenarios vs. Reality Jul 06, 2022

How well do integrated assessment models reflect the trajectory of the energy transition, and how can we make their scenarios more useful to policymakers?

[Episode #175] – Community Support and Opposition Jun 22, 2022

What motivates people to accept or reject a proposal to build a new renewable energy facility in their communities?

[Episode #174] – Decarbonizing Britain’s Grid Jun 08, 2022

How National Grid ESO, Great Britain’s transmission network operator, is enhancing its grid to ensure stability while integrating more variable renewable power.

[Episode #173] – IPCC AR6 Part 2 May 25, 2022

What does the IPCC Working Group III report say about the energy transition pathways and probabilities to limiting warming to 1.5 and 2°C? Part 2 of 2.

[Episode #172] – IPCC AR6 Part 1 May 11, 2022

What does the IPCC Working Group III report say about the energy transition pathways and probabilities to limiting warming to 1.5 and 2°C? Part 1 of 2.

[Episode #171] – Rejecting Russia Apr 27, 2022

How can the West stop funding the war on Ukraine by reducing their imports of Russia’s fossil fuels and minerals, and accelerating the energy transition?

[Episode #170] – Thermal Storage and District Energy Apr 13, 2022

Could thermal storage meet much of the demand for energy in a high-renewables future, and radically reduce the expected need for battery storage?

[Episode #169] – Is the Energy Transition Feasible? Mar 30, 2022

Has the world ever transitioned from one fuel to another as quickly as we need to do this transition in order to meet our climate targets?

[Episode #168] – Storage Futures Mar 16, 2022

How much and what kinds of storage will be needed as variable renewables become more dominant on the power grid, and when and where will it be needed?

[Episode #167] – Rating Green Bonds Mar 02, 2022

How are green bonds evaluated and rated to ensure that they’re really green and will have an impact on climate change?

[Episode #166] – IEA’s Climate Scenarios Feb 15, 2022

How can the world align with the IEA’s scenarios for limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, and how should the oil & gas industry proceed in the energy transition?

[Episode #165] – Oil & Gas in Transition Feb 02, 2022

What is the outlook for oil and gas, and how will the world manage the supply/demand balance as the energy transition proceeds?

[Episode #164] – Political Economy of Energy Transitions Jan 19, 2022

What is the political economy of energy transitions, and what do we need to understand about it in order to make the energy transition a success?

[Episode #163] – Transition in Russia Part 2 Jan 05, 2022

In this second part of a two-part interview, we look at Russia’s gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables, and ask how it will fare as the energy transition proceeds.

[Episode #162] – Transition in Russia Part 1 Dec 22, 2021

In this first part of a two-part interview, we talk with Professor Thane Gustafson about Russia’s oil sector.

[Episode #161] – Expanding Transmission Dec 08, 2021

What needs to happen to get new transmission projects moving in the US, and how can the provisions of the new infrastructure law help?

[Episode #160] – Coal Plant Buyouts Nov 24, 2021

How can the world shut down the coal industry faster and more equitably, while delivering the best outcomes for the public?

[Episode #159] – The Cost of Decarbonization Nov 10, 2021

A new approach to energy forecasting finds that the energy transition is feasible, affordable, and most importantly, inevitable.

[Episode #158] – Global Energy Crunch Oct 27, 2021

A global energy crunch is driving up the costs of all energy sources. But will it lead to renewed energy transition efforts, or reneging on climate commitments?

[Episode #157] – Market Design for the Energy Transition Oct 13, 2021

What are some of the reforms that can make electricity markets more friendly to the technologies and needs of the energy transition?

[Episode #156] – 6-Year Anniversary Show Sep 29, 2021

Energy researcher Jonathan Koomey rejoins us to review some of the major themes in energy transition over the past year.

[Episode #155] – Marine Energy Sep 15, 2021

What is the state of marine energy technologies, and how can we capture marine energy sustainably and safely while minimizing environmental damage?

[Episode #154] – Japan’s Nuclear Dilemma Sep 01, 2021

It’s been a decade since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but the future of Japan’s energy sector remains murky. We try to clarify it in this episode.

[Episode #153] – Grid-forming Inverters Aug 18, 2021

How can inverter-based resources integrate with synchronous generators as renewables become dominant on power grids? And is system inertia even necessary?

[Episode #152] – No Limits Aug 04, 2021

Will the energy transition be limited by the availability of land, or key minerals, or the cost of renewables? And how will it affect economic growth?

[Episode #151] – Best of ETS Vol. 1 Jul 07, 2021

This is Volume 1 of the Best of the Energy Transition Show, compiled from our five most popular shows of the past two years.

[Episode #150] – Resilient and Reliable Power Jun 23, 2021

What does “resilient” and “reliable” grid power mean from the perspective of grid planning, and what should bulk power system operators do to ensure it?

[Episode #149] – Green Hydrogen and Carbon Prices Jun 09, 2021

What carbon price is needed for Europe’s Emissions Trading System to make green hydrogen a viable part of meeting its goals under the Paris agreement?

[Episode #148] – Energy and Emissions after COVID May 26, 2021

What trajectory of global energy consumption and carbon emissions can we expect as the world starts to recover from the COVID pandemic? How much will energy consumption and emissions rebound, and what climate path are we now on?

[Episode #147] – Hydrogen Innovations and Applications May 12, 2021

In this episode we look at some significant projects that are under way to expand green hydrogen production capacity and use it to reduce carbon emissions.

[Episode #146] – Why Local Solar Costs Less Apr 28, 2021

Since utility-scale solar costs less than rooftop solar, shouldn’t we invest more in utility-scale? Our guest in this episode says no.

[Episode #145] – A Slow Take on the Texas Blackout Apr 14, 2021

What really happened during the Texas blackout of February 2021, who was really at fault, and what does Texas need to do to keep it from happening again?

[Episode #144] – Investing in Energy Transition Mar 31, 2021

Should investors be wary of a stock market bubble now, and how can various kinds of investors participate in the energy transition?

[Episode #143] – Hydrogen Economy 2.0 Part 2 Mar 17, 2021

In this first part of a two-part interview, we look at the global expectations for and production of hydrogen, and its potential role in energy transition.

[Episode #142] – Hydrogen Economy 2.0 Part 1 Mar 03, 2021

In this first part of a two-part interview, we look at the global expectations for and production of hydrogen, and its potential role in energy transition.

[Episode #141] – Making Climate Policy Work Feb 17, 2021

How should we design climate policies so they really reduce emissions, and why have carbon market strategies mostly failed?

[Episode #140] – Methane Leakage Feb 03, 2021

The first study to make granular estimates for methane leakage in a large number of US cities exceeds the previous estimate by 72%.

[Episode #139] – Vehicle-Grid Integration Jan 20, 2021

What is vehicle-grid integration, how are electric vehicles charged, and what are some of the best practices for managing EV loads on utility grids?

[Episode #138] – Transition in China Jan 06, 2021

Is China the greatest threat to the global climate, or our greatest hope for energy transition?

[Episode #137] – Energy and Climate in the Biden Administration Dec 23, 2020

What will the Biden-Harris administration mean for America’s energy transition, its relationship with the rest of the world, and for global action on climate?

[Episode #136] – The Economic Superorganism Dec 09, 2020

To what extent will economics and fundamental limits of energy resources guide and control the progress of energy transition?

[Episode #135] – Internalizing Climate Risk Nov 25, 2020

What risks does climate change pose to the financial sector and to various markets, and how should we recognize and internalize those risks?

[Episode #134] – Storage Grows Up Nov 11, 2020

Battery storage has grown ten-fold in the US over the past five years, but the storage sector is still just getting started.

[Episode #133] – Stranded Assets Oct 28, 2020

Investors need to reduce their exposure to fossil fuel assets as the world starts taking action on climate change.

[Episode #132] – The Future of Solar Oct 14, 2020

How did the solar industry get to where it is today, and what does the future hold for it?

[Episode #131] – Decarbonizing the US by 2050 Sep 30, 2020

According to modeling by the UN, decarbonizing the economy of the United States, and getting to net-zero emissions by 2050, is not only possible but affordable.

[Episode #130] – 5-Year Anniversary Show Sep 16, 2020

Jonathan Koomey returns to the show for another freewheeling discussion about some of the interesting developments in energy transition over the past year.

[Episode #129] – Deep Decarbonization Policy for the US Sep 02, 2020

What are the policies that the US needs to pursue in order to achieve its decarbonization targets?

[Episode #128] – Energy Basics Parts 7–9 – The Electricity Business and Power Markets Aug 19, 2020

In this part of our Energy Basics mini-series, we review the evolution of the electricity industry, and explain how wholesale and retail power markets work.

[Episode #127] – Hard-to-Decarbonize Sectors Aug 05, 2020

What are the solutions to reducing carbon emissions from the “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors that make industrial civilization possible?

[Episode #126] – Energy Basics Parts 4–6 – Electricity, Generation and Grid Management Jul 22, 2020

These episodes are part of our mini-series on the energy basics, and explain some of the essential concepts in electricity, including what electricity is, how we generate it, and how we manage power grids.

[Episode #125] – Beyond Planet of the Humans Jul 08, 2020

Why did the new film, Planet of the Humans, get so much about the energy transition wrong, and what are its filmmakers really trying to say?

[Episode #124] – Energy Transition Progress Report Jun 24, 2020

Will progress on the energy transition continue as the world gets back to work, or will it falter thanks to economies under pressure and vast unemployment?

[Episode #123] – Sustainable Energy Transitions Jun 10, 2020

What does “sustainability” really mean in the context of energy transition? We review a new textbook that explores these complex questions.

[Episode #122] – Hybrid Power Plants May 27, 2020

Why are utility-scale wind and solar farms increasingly being paired with integrated battery storage systems, and is that really the best way to deploy storage?

[Episode #121] – Winning and Losing the Policy Game May 13, 2020

What are the winning (and losing) tactics in crafting policy to support energy transition, and what do advocates need to do to win?

[Episode #120] – Carnage in the Oil Patch Apr 29, 2020

How much damage has the oil industry suffered from the coronavirus shutdown, how will it recover, and what are the implications for energy transition?

[Episode #119] – Energy Basics Parts 1–3 Apr 15, 2020

These first three episodes in our mini-series on the energy basics explain some of the essential concepts and terms in energy, including what energy is, why we convert it, and how we use it.

[Episode #118] – Open and Answered Questions Apr 01, 2020

The Energy Transition Show joins up with The Interchange for our first ever crossover episode!

[Episode #117] – Climate Science Part 12b – Improving Climate Modeling Mar 18, 2020

Two energy analysts ask an integrated assessment modeler to explain why the IPCC’s climate scenarios don’t seem to represent the progress of energy transition.

[Episode #116] – Climate Science Part 12a – Improving Climate Modeling Mar 04, 2020

Two energy analysts ask an integrated assessment modeler to explain why the IPCC’s climate scenarios don’t seem to represent the progress of energy transition.

[Episode #115] – Wildfire and Transition in Australia Feb 19, 2020

How is Australia dealing with the reality of climate change in this season of hugely destructive wildfires, and what is the outlook for its energy transition?

[Episode #114] – Cyber and Climate Risks Feb 05, 2020

What does cybersecurity on the grid mean, and what does it have to do with energy transition and climate change?

[Episode #113] – Coal Plant Self-Scheduling Jan 22, 2020

Fully-regulated utilities can choose to operate their plants at a loss when regulators give them a way to pass those losses onto their customers.

[Episode #112] – Climate Science Part 11 – Climate Confusion Jan 08, 2020

How likely are the various scenarios for global warming, what do they mean, and where is the current trajectory for climate change likely to take us?

[Episode #111] – No Coal in our Christmas Stockings Dec 25, 2019

Transitioning to renewables, and moving heating and transportation to the power grid, will save everyone money while reducing emissions.

[Episode #110] – Death Toll for Petrol Dec 11, 2019

The transition to electric vehicles powered by renewables is all but guaranteed by the massive energetic advantage they have over conventional oil-burning vehicles.

[Episode #109] – Big Oil’s Climate Denial Machine Nov 27, 2019

Exxon was doing some of the best research on climate change 40 years ago. Why did they then commit to a global climate disinformation campaign?

[Episode #108] – Will Energy Transition Be Rapid or Gradual? Nov 13, 2019

Fossil fuel incumbents think energy transition will be gradual, while the disruptors think it will be rapid. What can we learn from these contrasting narratives?

[Episode #107] – Macro-Energy Systems Oct 30, 2019

Energy transition is complex, and understanding it requires expertise in multiple disciplines, so a group of Stanford researchers proposes to study it that way.

[Episode #106] – Transition in South Africa Oct 16, 2019

South Africa could be one of the world’s greatest success stories in energy transition if it can shed its apartheid-era legacy of coal dependency.

[Episode #105] – Can Competition Decarbonize Electricity? Oct 02, 2019

How can electricity markets be used as a tool to decarbonize power supply?

[Episode #104] – 4-Year Anniversary Show Sep 18, 2019

Jonathan Koomey returns to the show for another freewheeling discussion about some of the interesting developments over the past year in energy transition.

[Episode #103] – A Return to Regionalism Sep 04, 2019

Unless energy transition is wildly successful, the world will have no choice but to depend on local resources when oil production begins its inevitable decline.

[Episode #102] – Transition as Wildfire Adaptation in California Aug 21, 2019

The energy transition provides some of the answers to wildfire risk, including how utilities deal with their own culpability.

[Episode #101] – What We Don’t Know About Energy Transition Aug 07, 2019

In this wide-ranging chat, Chris Nelder and Jonathan Koomey talk about the many things we don’t know about how the energy transition will proceed.

[Episode #100] – Teaching Energy Transition Jul 24, 2019

For our 100th episode, we thought we’d do a little something special: Interview professors from four US universities who are using the Energy Transition Show as coursework, and make the full show available to everyone, including non-subscribers. We ask these teachers about the specific topics they’re teaching, how they’re using the show in their classes, what concepts students find difficult, what misconceptions students have about energy, and how students are reacting to having study materials in podcast form. We also talk with two of the professors about their new energy transition textbooks, which are being published this year.

[Episode #99] – Metals Supply in Energy Transition Jul 10, 2019

Is the supply of certain key metals—like lithium, copper, nickel, and cobalt—and “rare earth” metals—like vanadium and indium—potentially a limiter on the progress of energy transition? Or is there enough of them to realize our ambitions? Are they being produced in a sustainable way? How will the geographic concentration of these metals affect geopolitics and trade as the energy transition progresses? How confident can we be about our assessments of their abundance? And how confident can we be about how much of them we’ll need in the future, given the rapid evolution of many of these technologies, and the many alternate ways of producing them? Our guest in this episode brings all of these questions into a whole new focus, and shows why these questions can’t be answered with some back-of-the-envelope calculation. Instead of asking whether there is enough of these metals in the Earth’s crust, he says, or about how they are mined, we should be asking much more sophisticated questions about the chemical industry, the opaque, illiquid markets in which these metals are traded, and the geopolitical implications of their trade.

[Episode #98] – Why Building Transmission is So Hard Jun 26, 2019

Building high voltage transmission lines has never been easy, but now it’s arguably both harder than ever, and more necessary than ever, as we seek to unlock the vast potential of wind and solar in the US and ship it to major population centers. But it’s not a business for the faint of heart, as we’ll hear in this incredible story by award-winning investigative reporter and author Russell Gold of the Wall Street Journal. His new book, Superpower, chronicles the story of Michael Skelly, a developer who spent a decade and a great deal of money trying to build five major transmission lines in the US to support the burgeoning wind industry, only to be undermined, deceived, shot down, and ultimately driven to giving up, by people who opposed the lines for their own selfish interests. It’s an amazing story and a great cautionary tale for any prospective transmission line developer, as well as a wellspring of crucial insights that will benefit all who work in energy transition.

[Episode #97] – How State Policies Can Drive Decarbonization Jun 12, 2019

As we continue looking for ways to decarbonize our energy systems, we often have to decide whether it’s better to try reworking our market rules so that the markets will do a better job of procuring clean energy, as we discussed in Episode #90, or whether it makes sense to just mandate the procurement of clean energy resources. The former is a job for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), but the latter is the domain of the states. In fact, our guest in this episode, a senior attorney with NRDC and the Sustainable FERC Project, argues that because states are really the only ones with the authority to regulate energy in order to obtain a more environmentally beneficial outcome and combat climate change, their mandates are a necessary pathway to decarbonizing the grid. And that, to some extent, market price distortion is in the mind of the beholder.

[Episode #96] – Sustainable Mobility May 29, 2019

Energy transition is happening quickly and disruptively in the transportation sector. But it is generally an open question whether the transition currently at hand is producing socially beneficial results. As we grapple with a sudden influx of new modes of mobility and business models, and contemplate the dawning of an entirely new mobility paradigm, are we just letting technology take us wherever it wants to go, or are we guiding technologies toward sustainable mobility? For that matter, what does sustainable mobility even mean? How can we weigh up all the pros and cons of new mobility modes—not just the social effects like safety and equity, but the environmental impacts, the total impact on the energy system, and the socioeconomic strategies we bring to our urban development and civic planning activities more generally? Can we hedge our bets against sudden and massive dislocations produced by autonomous vehicles? We explore all those questions and more in this episode with a researcher from Oxford University who has studied them deeply.

[Episode #95] – Powering the world with RE May 15, 2019

Can we run the world on renewables alone? Various researchers have tried to model how a given country might run a grid using mostly renewables, oftentimes finding that carbon-negative technologies, advanced nuclear power, and even coal power plants equipped with CCS will be a part of the solution set. But no one has produced a comprehensive model that shows how we can run the world on renewables alone, while accurately modeling the weather and grid conditions at a very discrete scale, at hourly resolution, using data on the renewable resources in each region, and determining how that would work while selecting the least-cost resources… until now. In this episode we speak with a researcher from Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland, one of an international team of 14 scientists who have spent the past four and a half years performing research, data analysis, and technical and financial modeling to prove that a global transition to 100% renewable energy is economically competitive with the current fossil and nuclear-based system, and could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the energy system to zero even before 2050. This first-of-its-kind study outlines how the world could limit warming to 1.5°C with a cost-effective, global, 100% renewable energy system that does not use negative carbon technologies, and provides all the energy needed for electricity, heat, transport and desalination by 2050.

[Episode #94] – Integrated Decentralized Power Systems May 01, 2019

As more distributed energy resources arrive unbidden onto the power grid, they are increasingly requiring us not to just think about new utility business models, but to radically rethink what a utility might look like. What if millions of distributed resources become the dominant resources, and the grid assumes a subordinate role as a residual supplier of energy? What if the control of the system is also decentralized, through the actions of millions of devices? What if the roles of transmission system operators and the distribution system are diminished as their responsibilities are distributed across all those devices? And how will utilities, power market operators, regulators, legislators, and local officials deal with a radical shift in their roles and responsibilities? These are the questions that our guest in this episode—an 18-year veteran of wholesale power market design at the California ISO—thinks about, and he shares those deep thoughts with us in this wonky yet heady discussion.

[Episode #93] – Energy Transition in India and Southeast Asia, Part 2 Apr 17, 2019

This is Part 2 of our two-and-a-half hour interview with Tim Buckley, of the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, based in Australia. We featured Part 1 in Episode 91, in which we primarily discussed the future of coal fired power in India. In this second part, we expand on the India story and look more broadly at energy transition across Southeast Asia, and consider the outlook for coal, renewables, and nuclear power in China, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Malaysia, among others. As he did in Part 1, Tim shares with us in this episode a fascinating set of data on the future of energy in Southeast Asia that is oftentimes at sharp variance with the projections that we hear from energy watchdogs like the International Energy Agency. Tim tells a much more hopeful story about energy transition in the developing world. For example: If you think that China’s building more coal plants means that its coal consumption is going to go up, think again! Energy transition is moving ahead, and will move ahead, much more quickly in Southeast Asia than any of our major agencies project, and that is great news for the climate.

[Episode #92] – Financing Coal Plant Retirements Apr 03, 2019

The coal power sector in the US is continuing to shrink due to poor economics, but this doesn’t mean we’re retiring coal fired power plants quickly enough to reduce carbon emissions at a rate that achieves our climate goals. So what’s the best way to get rid of coal plants before they reach the end of their expected lifespans, particularly while the Trump administration and the Republican party continue trying to find ways to keep coal plants open? Democratic state Representative Chris Hansen of Colorado has proposed a solution: Refinancing the debt that utilities still owe on their coal-fired plants with cheaper, public bonds, and then shutting down the plants. It’s an idea that would retire coal plants and reduce carbon emissions, save utility customers money, create better investment opportunities for the utilities, and replace that power with cheaper, clean, solar and wind power. Everybody wins! It’s a powerful idea whose time may have come in Colorado, where fossil fuels still make up 78% of the state’s electricity mix, and major utilities in the state, like Xcel Energy, have declared their intention to transition to 100% clean power in the coming decades. Will Hansen’s bill have the right approach to help achieve those goals? We dive into all the important details in this episode and find out!

[Episode #91] – Energy Transition in India and Southeast Asia, Part 1 Mar 20, 2019

It has long been assumed that India, China, and other developing countries of Southeast Asia would power their vigorous economic growth for decades to come with coal. We heard over and over that China is building a new coal-fired power plant every three days, and about plans for multi-gigawatt sized coal-fired power plants in India. As long as coal was the cheapest form of power, addressing our climate emergency seemed like a lost hope. But that nightmare is now evaporating thanks to the continuously declining costs for solar, wind, and battery storage. Although there are far too few policymakers (not to mention the major energy agencies, like EIA and IEA) who appear to be aware of it, the future of coal is fading by the day, as solar and wind take the lead as the lowest cost forms of power. And nowhere is this new reality more starkly evident than in India, where a remarkable pivot away from coal has been under way for about five years now, radically reshaping the outlook for India’s energy consumption, and stranding billions of dollars in investments in coal plants that will not be used as expected. At the same time, India is busily electrifying 18,000 villages, pushing forward on the electrification of transportation, and developing demand-side technologies that together are more likely to make India one of the world’s great success stories in energy transition than one of the world’s largest upcoming carbon emitters. Our guest in this episode has been closely watching these markets for three decades, and is one of the sharpest observers of what’s happening in India and Southeast Asia. This episode is Part One of our two-and-a-half hour conversation with him, which mostly covers India and coal. Part Two of this interview will be featured in Episode 93.

[Episode #90] – How Will Decarbonized Power Markets Work? Mar 06, 2019

This one is for the grid geeks! With the Green New Deal now a hot topic in the US Congress, while wholesale power markets still struggle to figure out how to accommodate new kinds of resources even as coal plants and nuclear plants continue to retire, the question of how wholesale power markets should work, and how they should value new kinds of assets and services, is becoming increasingly urgent. What would a power market look like if it consisted mainly (or totally) of wind and solar, with their zero-marginal-cost power? And if we continue to use out-of-market payments to keep clean but uneconomic nuclear plants operating, what will be the effect on power markets? Will power markets ultimately crash under the weight of accumulated patches and workarounds, or can their design be adapted to new social priorities—like combating climate change—and new kinds of resources, like large-scale storage systems? Can we replace the market construct of locational marginal pricing with something more suited to the new reality of grid power? What kind of policies can keep us on track to support transition and facilitate the evolution of the fuel and technology mix toward a high renewables future? Will FERC Order 841 succeed in opening the doors to storage on the grid? Are real-time prices the future of rate design? And as we move toward a deeply decarbonized grid, what are the implications for our economic system? In this episode, we delve into all those questions and more with an expert who has worked on power markets for over 30 years.

[Episode #89] – Energy Access and Health Feb 20, 2019

What kinds of energy solutions can really improve the health of people in developing countries, and how can energy transition support them?

[Episode #88] – Energy Trade in Transition Feb 06, 2019

The global energy trade is enormously complex, and its geopolitical implications are vast, but they are only made more complex by energy transition. If the US exports gas to Europe and Asia, might you expect it to largely displace coal in their power plants? Think again! What will be the geopolitical ramifications on our relationship with Russia, as we send more of our gas to China and India? And as the US weans itself off of coal, and seeks to export more coal abroad, will it be stymied by energy transition in foreign countries, as well as political impediments at home? And what of US “energy independence?” Does it mean that the US is actually self-sufficient in energy, or even just in fossil fuels, in the sense that we may not need imports anymore? And what is the value of it anyway, especially if it also means increased dependence on export markets abroad? Tune in as we explore some of the fascinating questions about the implications of energy transition on energy trade in this interview, and be prepared to be surprised by some of our guest’s answers!

[Episode #87] – The Value of Flexible Solar Jan 23, 2019

If utility-scale solar plants could be made to run more flexibly, they could avoid curtailment and play an even larger role in grid power supply.

[Episode #86] – Is Transition Worth It? Jan 09, 2019

Are investments in energy transition worth it, or do things like the rebound effect and dirty power grids nullify their value?

[Episode #85] – Foreign Aid for Microgrids Dec 26, 2018

The best way to build a renewably-powered microgrid using foreign aid in Africa may be exactly the opposite of what you’d expect.

[Episode #84] – Designing Climate Solutions Dec 12, 2018

We talk with an author of Designing Climate Solutions about the best policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, and how to design them.

[Episode #83] – Revisiting Germany’s Energiewende Nov 28, 2018

How is Germany’s Energiewende (energy transition) coming along, why did they decide to phase out nuclear at a time like this, and when will they get off coal?

[Episode #82] – The Business Case for Renewable Energy Nov 14, 2018

Can a large corporation, especially one involved in heavy industry like mining, use more renewable energy and become more sustainable? Ingersoll Rand thinks so.

[Episode #81] – Principles of Energy Transition Oct 31, 2018

Dr. David Murphy of St. Lawrence University interviews Chris about principles of energy transition, live from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

[Episode #80] – Building Infrastructure as a Service Oct 17, 2018

Forget buying HVAC and lighting systems for your commercial buildings. Building infrastructure-as-a-service offers an exciting new path to energy transition.

[Episode #79] – Community Choice Aggregations (CCAs) Oct 03, 2018

Community choice aggregations (CCAs) are rapidly taking over power procurement in California and elsewhere, with both advantages and concerns to consider.

[Episode #78] – 3-Year Anniversary on the Jonathan Koomey Omnibus Sep 19, 2018

Veteran energy researcher Jonathan Koomey rejoins us for our 3rd anniversary show covering a wide range of topics related to energy transition.

[Episode #77] – Perspectives of an Energy Transition Veteran Sep 05, 2018

Robyn Beavers shares some of her insights from a 15-year career in energy transition. How did we get here, and what’s next?

[Episode #76] – Carbon Clampdown Aug 22, 2018

Europe is about to fix its cap and trade system for carbon emissions. But will carbon prices rise high enough to meet the Paris targets?

[Episode #75] – Transportation Transition Aug 08, 2018

Is the transition of transportation to electric vehicles good for society, or just a new set of problems? We explore some common questions in this episode.

[Episode #74] – Climate Science Part 10: How to limit warming to 1.5°C without CCS Jul 25, 2018

Can behavioral changes and better delivery of services help us limit global warming to 1.5 °C without relying on negative emission technologies like CCS?

[Episode #73] – Regulatory Capture Jul 11, 2018

How can we ensure that utility regulators aren’t unduly influenced by the companies they’re supposed to regulate as we proceed with the energy transition?

[Episode #72] – The Future of Solar Jun 27, 2018

What’s next for solar, as it becomes the cheapest form of new power generation? Do we still need solar advocates and incentives, or can it now stand on its own?

[Episode #71] – Australia at the Cutting Edge Jun 13, 2018

Australia is at the cutting edge of energy transition, with the world’s largest grid battery and rapidly replacing coal with renewables. How are they doing it?

[Episode #70] – Who Should Control Wholesale Markets? May 30, 2018

Contests over the control of wholesale markets are a core feature of energy transition and raise complex legal questions, which we explore in this episode.

[Episode #69] – Western Grid Regionalization May 16, 2018

If 13 US states and parts of Canada and Mexico were to join the California ISO system, how would it affect power markets across the West?

[Episode #68] – Environmental Economics May 02, 2018

How can we count the uncountable in energy transition, and turn it into relevant data that can inform climate policy?

[Episode #67] – Transition’s Disruptors Part 2 Apr 18, 2018

What do disruptive companies like oil and gas frackers and Tesla have in common, and what can they tell us about energy transition? Part 2 of 2.

[Episode #66] – Transition’s Disruptors Part 1 Apr 04, 2018

What do disruptive companies like oil and gas frackers and Tesla have in common, and what can they tell us about energy transition? Part 1 of 2.

[Episode #65] – Climate Science Part 9 – Jet Stream Mar 21, 2018

The changing jet stream is associated with many of the extreme weather events in recent years, and tree-ring data shows that climate change is to blame.

[Episode #64] – Ask Eric Mar 07, 2018

Energy expert Eric Gimon answers questions submitted by Energy Transition Show subscribers.

[Episode #63] – Pathways to Deep Decarbonization Feb 21, 2018

As we transfer loads from transportation and space heating over to renewably-powered electricity, will we discover a limit to the “electrify everything” mantra?

[Episode #62] – How Advance Cost Recovery Swindled the South Feb 07, 2018

How did utilities in the South squander more than $40 billion on failed nuclear and coal plants, and how can such boondoggles be prevented in the future?

[Duke Energy Week extra #3] – Storage Potential, the Role of EVs, and Data Analytics Feb 01, 2018

How should we value storage services? Will CSP and EVs change the grid? How can machine learning and data analytics accelerate energy transition?

[Duke Energy Week extra #2] – Integration and Market Challenges in Grid Evolution Feb 01, 2018

How does utility resource procurement need to adapt to a changing world? Can wholesale markets survive the transition to more distributed resources? Is there a risk of becoming too dependent on natural gas to provide grid balancing services? And how does storage may need to be valued in order to fulfill its greatest potential on the grid?

[Duke Energy Week extra #1] – Energy and Environment Education Feb 01, 2018

Why motivates students in the Energy and Environment program at Duke, what topics do they find the most challenging, and why are they interested in energy transition?

[Episode #61] – Climate Science Part 8 – Melting Glaciers and Sea Level Rise Jan 24, 2018

How well do we understand the melting of our glaciers and ice caps, and how much sea levels might rise as a result…and when?

[Episode #60] – Demand Flexibility Jan 10, 2018

How can artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things turn demand flexibility into a core grid asset and displace fossil fuels?

[Episode #59] – Lifecycle Assessment Dec 27, 2017

What is lifecycle assessment, and how can it help us choose between various energy options during the transition? NREL’s Garvin Heath explains.

[Episode #58] – Solar with Storage Dec 13, 2017

NREL’s Paul Denholm explains how solar + storage systems participate in wholesale electricity markets, and when they can compete with natural gas peaker plants.

[Episode #57] – Climate Science Part 7 – Carbon Budget Nov 29, 2017

What do carbon budgets really say about the future warming of the planet, and how much warming should we expect? Climate scientist Dr. Glen Peters explains.

[Episode #56] – Blockchain in Energy Transition Nov 15, 2017

Could the blockchain be a powerful new enabler of energy transition, or is it just another overhyped solution in search of a problem?

[Episode #55] – Voltage Stability Nov 01, 2017

How can we maintain stable voltage and frequency on the power grid as we replace conventional synchronous generators with wind and solar?

[Episode #54] – Resource Limitations Oct 18, 2017

When humanity’s demands exceed Earth’s ability to satisfy them, is energy transition even possible? Father of ecological footprint analysis Bill Rees explains.

[Episode #53] – Electrifying Heating Oct 04, 2017

In space heating, “deep decarbonization” is about a lot more than just swapping old furnaces. It requires a complete understanding of human health and comfort.

[Episode #52] – 2-Year Anniversary – Destination Unknown Sep 20, 2017

For our two-year anniversary, we discuss some of the most interesting questions in energy transition today. And Chris muses on the lessons of Hurricane Harvey.

[Episode #51] – Climate Science Part 6 – Emissions Scenarios Sep 06, 2017

How does the IPCC climate modeling process work, and does any of it project a successful energy transition happening this century?

[Episode #50] – Siting Long Distance Transmission Lines Aug 23, 2017

To realize our renewable energy potential in the U.S., we’ll need more long-distance transmission lines. But there are a lot of obstacles, which we’ll discuss

[Episode #49] – Climate Science Part 5 – Business As Usual Aug 09, 2017

How should we think about the influence of the global energy system on the climate over the next century?

[Episode #48] – Climate Science Part 4 – Teaching the Carbon Cycle Jul 26, 2017

How does the carbon cycle work, and what’s its relationship to global warming? And what are the most effective ways of teaching climate science?

[Episode #47] – Transition in Europe Jul 12, 2017

Claude Turmes, a 15-year Member of the European Parliament, relates the history of Europe’s energy transition policies and his hopes for the future.

[Episode #46] – Is 100% Renewables Realistic? Jun 19, 2017

Can we run the world on 100% renewables? Is that even the right goal? A new critique of Prof. Mark Jacobson’s work on 100% renewables offers some insights.

[Episode #45] – Climate Science Part 3 – Paleoclimate Jun 14, 2017

What can the history of Earth’s climate tell us about its future, and what is the relationship between climate change and the economy?

[Episode #44] – Different Strokes May 31, 2017

Each state and country has its own unique set of resources and energy transition challenges, so there are different speeds and techniques for each one.

[Episode #43] – Legal Challenges of PURPA and FERC May 17, 2017

What is PURPA and why are utilities trying to change it in their fight against solar? What are the legal issues in around-market reforms?

[Episode #42] – Can Renewables Power the World? May 03, 2017

Is the net energy of renewables high enough to actually power human civilization? Or will low EROIs doom energy transition?

[Episode #41] – Generator Survival Strategies Apr 19, 2017

Utility Dive editor Gavin Bade explains how independent power producers are using around-market reforms and re-regulation to survive energy transition.

[Episode #40] – Climate Science Part 2 – Taking Planetary Temperatures Apr 05, 2017

This deep dive into ocean science reveals how we take the Earth’s temperature, the truth about the “Climategate” business, and the “Pausebuster” paper.

[Episode #39] – Transition in Australia Mar 22, 2017

How will Australia manage its energy transition, with both the most residential rooftop solar PV per capita, and the second-dirtiest power grid in the world?

[Episode #38] – Getting from Here to There Mar 08, 2017

What are the hard problems and interesting questions on the road to energy transition, and what are their solutions? An astronaut and professor has answers.

[Episode #37] – Corporate Buyers of Renewables Feb 22, 2017

Corporations have emerged as some of the top buyers of renewable electricity, even buying it from wind and solar farms in other states. But why are they doing that when they could just buy grid power? And how do “virtual PPAs” work, anyway? Erin Craig has the answers.

[Episode #36] – Climate Science Part 1 – Climate Change Overview Feb 08, 2017

We discuss the current state of climate science and rebut the arguments of climate change skeptics, and look ahead to what must be done to halt climate change.

[Episode #35] – Green Bonds Jan 25, 2017

What are green bonds, and how can they help mobilize private capital to fund energy transition and climate change mitigation measures? What kinds of things can green bonds be used to fund? What are the various roles for private, corporate, and sovereign issuers? Why does the green bond market need to grow by roughly 10x over the next few years to $1 trillion a year globally, and is there even enough capital out there willing to accept single-digit returns to buy that amount of green bonds? Are green bonds an answer to the stranded assets problem in the fossil fuel sector? And what can the appetite for green bonds tell us about monetary policy and appropriate discount rates for climate change mitigation measures? We get deep into all of these questions with the CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO working to mobilize debt capital markets for climate solutions.

[eLab Extra #7] – How NREL Supports Energy Transition Jan 18, 2017

This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) based in Golden, Colorado provides a wide range of research, guidance, and policy support to the whole government stack in the U.S., from the local and city level all the way up to the federal and tribal level. From supporting the rebuild of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to informing policies with things like calculating the Value of Solar (VOS) and figuring out better ways of doing demand response, NREL is helping to lead the way on energy transition. We interview Elizabeth Doris of NREL at RMI’s eLab Summit 2016. Disclaimer The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and those providing comments on these podcasts are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of Rocky Mountain Institute or any employee thereof.

[eLab Extra #6] – Building EV Charging Infrastructure Jan 18, 2017

This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. Should utilities be allowed to own EV charging infrastructure, or should that be reserved for private charging companies? How many Level 3 high-voltage chargers do we need at workplaces and shopping areas? And how do we build charging infrastructure now that won’t become stranded assets if and when we transition to fleets of autonomous vehicles? We interview Jonathan Levy of Vision Ridge Partners at RMI’s eLab Summit 2016 to find out. Disclaimer The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and those providing comments on these podcasts are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of Rocky Mountain Institute or any employee thereof.

[eLab Extra #5] – EVs and More in Austin, TX Jan 18, 2017

This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. Through a variety of programs, Austin Energy, the eighth largest publicly-owned electric utility in the U.S., has led the way to an EV future in Texas, installing the first EV charging infrastructure in the region, offering rebates for installing charging stations and the ability to charge up at 250 charging stations throughout the city for a low flat rate using 100% renewable energy. Karl Popham, the Electric Vehicle & Emerging Technologies Manager at Austin Energy, explains how he did it and what other similarly positioned utility leaders can do in an interview from RMI’s eLab Annual Summit 2016. Disclaimer The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and those providing comments on these podcasts are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of Rocky Mountain Institute or any employee thereof.

[eLab Extra #4] – Transition in New York and the World Jan 18, 2017

This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. What are some of the ways that New York is building its resilience capacity while executing its Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) energy transition plan, particularly as a response to the damage it suffered in Superstorm Sandy? Is it possible to have a successful energy transition without also securing justice and equity, particularly for the underserved and disadvantaged among us? And what is the future for energy transition in the U.S. in the era of President Trump? Eleanor Stein of America’s Power Plan, who was Project Manager for New York’s REV initiative, shares her insights from a lifetime of work on climate and justice issues at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit 2016. Links Disclaimer The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and those providing comments on these podcasts are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of Rocky Mountain Institute or any employee thereof.

[Episode #34] – Transition in the North Sea and Netherlands Jan 11, 2017

The North Seas Countries’ Offshore Grid Initiative would knit together the power grids of the countries adjacent to the North Sea, and enable a far greater share of renewables—especially offshore wind—on the northern European grid than would be possible otherwise. It would also make it possible to use Norway’s substantial hydro capacity as a giant battery to balance out the variability of wind and solar on the grid. And in the longer term, it could be a key part of a European “supergrid” that would connect the transmission grids of all of Europe, and potentially even tap the massive solar capacity of the Middle East and northern Africa. These are big, bold ideas, and implementing them won’t be easy or cheap, but the benefits would be enormous… so much so that building these transmission links might be inevitable. But the planning alone has already gone on for at least seven years, and while some of the countries that would connect to the North Seas Offshore Grid are already building parts of their contribution to it, there is still much work to be done…and building the physical infrastructure might be the easy part! In this episode we talk with a Dutch expert who has been directly involved in evaluating and planning for these supergrids to see where they now stand, what their potential costs and benefits are, and what we might expect in the future.

[eLab Extra #3] – Grid Modernization and DERPs Jan 04, 2017

This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. Grid architecture is evolving, with loads becoming increasingly indistinguishable from generators, and local generators and other distributed resources increasingly supplying the services that were always provided by large central generators in the past. Meanwhile, an ever-evolving set of regulations for wholesale market operations is both enabling new market participants and challenging the security of old market participants. Lorenzo Kristov of the California Independent System Operator returns to the Energy Transition Show to share more of his view of the future in an interview from RMI’s eLab Annual Summit 2016. Disclaimer The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and those providing comments on these podcasts are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of Rocky Mountain Institute or any employee thereof.

[eLab Extra #2] – Hawaii’s Energy Transition Jan 04, 2017

This is a special, free "extra" episode recorded at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in December 2016 in Austin, Texas. How is Hawaii managing one of the most rapid energy transitions in history to variable wind and solar generators, while maintaining a balanced, isolated grid and actually reducing long-term costs? It’s no accident: They have developed a transition roadmap and they are working hard to adopt the latest technology while preserving social equity…not just for grid power, but for electric vehicles as well, toward a goal of reaching 100% renewable electricity by 2045. Lorraine Akiba of the Hawaii PUC shares her perspective in an interview from RMI’s eLab Annual Summit 2016. Disclaimer The views, opinions, and positions expressed by the author and those providing comments on these podcasts are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of Rocky Mountain Institute or any employee thereof.

[eLab Extra #1] – Next Generation Demand Response Jan 04, 2017

This is a special edition of the Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder, recorded in December 2016 at RMI’s eLab Annual Summit in Austin, Texas. Can utilities disrupt themselves, or does it take an outside force? How can demand response technologies—including simply informing customers of their electricity usage—help reduce demand peaks on the electricity system and reduce costs for all ratepayers? And what kinds of infrastructure, like Advanced Metering Infrastructure, are needed to enable a highly efficient grid and an informed customer base. Richard Caperton of Opower (a business unit of Oracle) shares his perspective on all of these questions in an interview from RMI’s eLab Annual Summit 2016.

[Episode #33] – Fracking Follies Dec 28, 2016

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) regularly updates its estimates for how much oil and gas might be recovered in the future, and at what rate. With the application of new technology from year to year, those estimates generally keep going up. But it’s important to remember that they are just estimates — and the devil is always in the details. Our guest in this episode is a career geoscientist who has diligently delved into those devilish details. In his new reports, he finds that EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2016 seems to significantly overstate how much oil and gas might be recovered using fracking technology, with estimates for shale gas and tight oil production that exceed the estimates for how much of those resources are even technically recoverable. In this extended and technically detailed interview, we discuss EIA’s most recent forecasts and try to understand what’s realistic for future US hydrocarbon production.

[Episode #32] – Resources and Economy Dec 14, 2016

The notion of “decoupling” energy consumption from economic growth has become vogue in policy circles, but how much evidence is there that it’s really happening? If the energy intensity of our economy is falling, are we sure that it’s becoming more efficient, or might we just be offshoring energy-intensive industries to somewhere else…along with those emissions? If energy reaches a certain percentage of total spending, does it tip an economy into recession? Is there a necessary relationship between energy consumption and monetary policy? Is there a point at which the simple fact that we live on a finite planet must limit economic growth, or can economic growth continue well beyond our resource consumption? Can the declining EROI of fossil fuels tell us anything about the future of the economy? And can we have economic growth using clean, low-carbon fuels, or might transitioning to an economy that produces zero net new carbon emissions put the economy into recession and debt? To help us answer these thorny questions, we turn to an expert researcher who has looked at the relationship between energy consumption and the economy over long periods of time and multiple economies, and found some startling results with implications for the Federal Reserve, for economic policymakers, and for all those who are involved in energy transition.

[Episode #31] – Transition in Ireland Nov 30, 2016

Ireland is one of the most advanced countries in energy transition, getting over a quarter of its electricity from renewables. It also has one of the most ambitious targets—to obtain 40% of its electricity generation from renewables by 2020—and the resources to be more than 100% powered by renewables, given time and technological development. On the flip side, it also has a severe dependence on imported fossil fuels, and relies on some of the dirtiest power plants in the world. In this episode, we explore this curious mix of reality, ambition, and potential with the leader of Ireland’s Green Party, a bona fide energy wonk and a longtime supporter of energy transition. From Ireland’s domestic renewable resources to the tantalizing possibility of the North Seas Offshore Grid initiative, it’s all here.

[Episode #30] – The Future of Wind Nov 16, 2016

The cost of wind power has been falling steadily again since the 2008 price spike, and newer projects have been coming in at 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, making them very competitive with natural gas fired power and ranking among the very lowest-cost ways to generate electricity. But can wind prices keep falling, or have they bottomed out? A recent report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and other organizations offers some clues. Based on a survey of 163 of the world’s foremost wind energy experts, it examines in detail what factors have led to wind’s cost reductions in the past, and attempts to forecast what will drive further cost reductions in the future. It also looks at some of the reasons why previous forecasts have underestimated the growth and cost reductions of wind, and suggests that many agency forecasts may be underestimating them still. In this episode, one of the report’s principal authors explains the findings and offers some cautionary words about how much confidence we can have in our forecasts.

[Episode #29] – Grid Simulation and Wind Potential Nov 02, 2016

What combination of power generators on the U.S. grid produces reliable power at the lowest cost? Or, what’s the most renewable energy that can be deployed at a given grid power cost, and what kind of transmission capacity is needed to support it? How would the U.S. grid be different if it were one, unified grid with more high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission capacity? What’s the most productive design for a wind farm? How might weather and a changing climate affect future electricity production from wind and solar farms? And how much renewable power is really feasible on the U.S. grid? These have been devilishly difficult questions to answer, but now advanced mathematical simulations are beginning to make it possible to answer them much more quickly…and if quantum computing becomes a reality, we could answer them instantly. In an homage to Comedy Central’s Drunk History, this episode features a conversation conducted over several pints of IPA with a mathematician who recently developed such a simulator while he was working at NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in Boulder, CO. His insights on how the grid of the future might actually function are fascinating, and will likely shatter some of your pre-existing beliefs. It also contains a few nuggets for the serious math geeks out there.

[Episode #28] – Transition in Cities Oct 19, 2016

It is widely assumed that the ongoing migration of rural peoples to mega-cities all over the world will help reduce humanity’s per-capita energy footprint, while giving people a higher standard of living and accelerating energy transition. But the world is full of old, inefficient cities in desperate need of an eco-makeover, and of experts who understand the principles of “smart urbanization” and who can help identify how to transform a city from brown and dumb to smart and green. What’s the potential for replacing concrete with living things in cities? How can autonomous and electric vehicles help make cities cleaner and more livable? Why isn’t China promoting its phenomenal success with e-bikes to the rest of the world? Is China’s commodity demand going to continue to weaken as it moves away from a manufacturing economy? And will the emissions it was generating just move elsewhere when it does? All these questions and more are answered in this wide-ranging conversation with an expert on smart urbanization and China.

[Episode #27] – Better Grid Modeling Oct 05, 2016

Although it’s clear enough that energy transition is necessary and reasonable, and although we know that transition is mainly happening on the grid at first, there is still much uncertainty about exactly where on the grid different strategies can be tried, how much they can accomplish, and what they’ll cost, relative to the alternatives….not to mention how the rest of the grid will respond as different measures—like storage, demand response, rooftop solar, controlled dispatch, and so on—are implemented. What’s needed to answer all these difficult questions? Better models, including serious math, by serious researchers. Fortunately, one of those researchers is willing and able to explain several years of her work in grid modeling at NREL and elsewhere. So tune in and put on your thinking caps, because this episode (Geek Rating 10!) is not for the faint of heart.

[Episode #26] – Geoengineering Sep 12, 2016

As the world continues to struggle with the effects of climate change, energy transition is more important than ever as a key pathway to stopping global warming. But will it be enough? Many serious climate researchers think it won’t be, and urge deliberate attempts to directly alter the Earth’s climate by using a number of technologies, loosely grouped under the heading of geoengineering. But geoengineering has not won much support from the climate and environmental communities, and still struggles to gain enough legitimacy to attract sufficient research funding to attempt serious pilot projects that might tell us whether geoengineering holds real promise as a safe, cost-effective, and powerful tool in a portfolio of climate change mitigation strategies. So what is the real potential of geoengineering to address climate change? How much would it cost? How risky is it, and what justification might there be for taking that risk? And what sorts of attitudinal shifts might be needed within the climate and environmental communities to embrace geoengineering as one of a portfolio of strategies? We attempt to answer all of those questions and more in this interview with a veteran science journalist and author of a recent book on geoengineering.

[Episode #25] – The Energy-Water Nexus Sep 07, 2016

Energy and water are inextricably linked: It takes energy to supply water, and it takes water to supply energy. And those processes consume vast amounts of both. Yet we have only really begun to study the energy-water nexus and gather the data that policymakers will need to understand the risk that climate change poses to both power and water. As rainfall and temperatures continue to depart from historical norms, forcing conventional power plants to throttle back or shut down, we may need to invest more heavily in wind and solar PV just to keep the lights on. Even more radical solutions may become necessary, like switching to more dry-cooled power plants, and desalinating brackish groundwater. Ideally, we would treat the challenges of the energy-water nexus in an integrated way, deliberately reducing our energy and water demands simultaneously as part of our energy transition strategies, but our governments aren’t typically set up for that, and much more basic research and analytical work is needed.

[Episode #24] – Starting Over Aug 24, 2016

What if we didn’t have to work around the grid we have today, with all of its inertia and incumbents and inflexibility? If we could start over and design the grid from scratch, what would it look like? And once we understood that, how might it change the way we are going about energy transition now, in order to reach that goal more quickly and directly? If what we really want is a grid that is fair, equitable, reliable, efficient, resilient, sustainable, and which serves our climate and social goals, what are the first principles we might work from, and what mechanisms might get us where we want to go? This freewheeling conversation aims to help all of us “think outside the box” a bit more, and imagine what the possibilities might be if we could just start over.

[Episode #23] – Facts and Falsehoods in Energy Transition Aug 10, 2016

Should we tweak our markets to keep nuclear plants alive, or forget about markets and pay for them another way… and do we really need them at all to keep the grid functioning? Is nuclear power really declining because of overzealous environmentalists, or are there other reasons? Is it possible to balance a grid with a high amount of variable renewables and no traditional baseload plants? Is cost-benefit analysis the right way to approach energy transition? How much “decoupling” can we do between the economy and energy consumption, and how can we correctly measure it? Why are we so bad at forecasting energy and economic growth, and how can we do it better? How will energy transition affect the economy? We explore all of these questions and more, and try to separate fact from falsehoods in this wide-ranging interview. It might even change your mind about a few things.

[Episode #22] – Can Economics Guide the Energy Transition? Jul 27, 2016

Is conventional, free-market economic theory really up to the task of energy transition and combating climate change? Can we let the so-called invisible hand of the market guide us through the troubled waters ahead, or will we need firm policy direction and deliberate, top-down planning to secure the best outcomes? How useful can free markets be, in transitioning us away from coal, and meeting our climate targets and securing enough carbon-free power to run our societies? Will they be any help at all in supporting technologies like carbon capture and sequestration, or geoengineering? Can negative discount rates help us pay for climate change mitigation projects? And what does the future hold for oil? We discuss all of these questions and more with veteran energy editor Ed Crooks of the Financial Times.

[Episode #21] – The Role of Development Banks in Energy Transition Jul 13, 2016

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank are publicly committed to ending energy poverty and enabling energy access to the developing world. But their conventional processes and approaches to risk management make it difficult for them to invest in the decentralized renewable energy solutions that have the best chance of lifting people out of energy poverty. So what can be done about it? To find out, we talk with a pioneer in the energy investment and energy access space and ask her some pointed questions about how development bank funding works, and how it needs to be changed.

[Episode #20] – Grid Evolution Jun 29, 2016

Utilities face a host of rapid changes in a what used to be a staid business: new business models, changing supply and demand forecasts, new distributed architectures, new types of resources, new participants in the power grid that they don't control…yet they still must maintain a highly reliable power grid that operates within fairly narrow parameters. Meanwhile, difficult questions remain to be solved, about how we’re going to manage our grid power transition, who the winners and losers will be, what destination we’re headed for, what role consumers and “prosumers” will play in the future, and what our reasons are for executing transition the way we do. We tackle all of these issues in this wide-ranging, very geeky conversation about the “blocks and squiggles” of the grid of the future. Grid power transition, the rebound effect, energy efficiency, utility business models, cutting-edge grid power management considerations, regulation and rate design, electric vehicles as distributed energy resources… they’re all here.

[Episode #19] – Distributed Renewables in Latin America and Beyond Jun 15, 2016

Finance geeks, this episode is for you! Latin America has had one of the fastest-growing renewable energy markets on the planet for the past several years, but nobody ever talks about it. We aim to correct that in this wide-ranging interview with Adam James, Deputy Director of Global Strategy and Policy with SolarCity. Who’s got the hottest auction design? Who’s growing at eye-popping rates? Who screwed up their incentive program so badly that nobody wants to invest there anymore? And what are some outside-the-box ideas about how to get capital flowing into distributed energy systems in the developing world? Plus: oblique Prince references! (RIP)

[Episode #18] – The Collapse of Coal Jun 01, 2016

The last of the big-time U.S. coal companies has gone bankrupt, and in the hills of Appalachia, they’re looking for their next move. How will the former coal miners find new careers and build new industries? How will the liabilities of coal companies ever get paid? And how did we get into this situation in the first place? We talk with one of the best coal reporters in the business (and a West Virginian native) to find out.

[Episode #17] – Denmark’s Energy Transition May 18, 2016

In percentage terms, Denmark is the world leader in energy transition, as well as the king of wind power. Wind now supplies 42% of all Denmark’s electricity, and by 2020, the country plans to get fully half of its power from wind. It’s also the only developed country in the world with a serious plan to achieve 100% of its energy – just not electricity, but all energy – from renewables, and plans to do it by 2050. In this episode we talk with energy journalist Justin Gerdes about his new e-book on Denmark’s energy transition, Quitting Carbon: How Denmark Is Leading the Clean Energy Transition and Winning the Race to the Low-Carbon Future.

[Episode #16] – Energy Efficiency Markets May 04, 2016

Improving efficiency is almost always easier and cheaper than generating new power, so efficiency should be our first target in energy transition. But it’s usually the last. And while there are very effective incentives for renewable energy, the incentives and programs for efficiency have been far less effective. In this episode we talk with efficiency guru and innovator Matt Golden about how to get away from efficiency incentive programs, and switch to performance-based markets for energy efficiency, plus how to standardize efficiency projects so that they are easier to understand, trust, and finance. Thanks to ideas like these, energy efficiency may be about to hit the big time.

[Episode #15] – The Outlook for Electric Vehicles Apr 20, 2016

Electric vehicles are all the rage right now, and hopes are high that we might finally be able to transition off of oil and on to electric cars…preferably, cars powered by clean renewable electricity and not by coal-fired grid power. But they’re still less than 1% of the new vehicle market, and they still face real challenges in consumer acceptance, a lack of charging infrastructure, and a dearth of options at the dealership. So what should we really expect from EVs in the near- and medium-term, and how realistic are the high hopes for switching a nation like the US, with nearly 260 million conventional light vehicles on the road today, over to EVs? We talk to EV expert Matthew Klippenstein to find out.

[Episode #14] – China’s Energy Future Apr 06, 2016

China is always a bit of an enigma to the West: It is the world’s largest user of coal and the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide; the world’s largest car market; it has the world’s largest shale gas resources; and it has been building entire “ghost cities” with no one living in them. But it is also the world leader in energy transition, with more wind and solar deployment than any other nation; it has a massive grid construction program and the world’s largest and most rapid high-speed rail construction program; and before long, it will probably have the world’s largest market for electric vehicles. To understand the trajectory of the world’s energy transition effort, we have to understand what’s happening in China. But its official data are unreliable, and official statements can vary wildly from the facts on the ground. That’s why in this episode we talk with James West, a senior digital editor for Mother Jones and former senior producer for Climate Desk, who has traveled to China to get those stories firsthand.

[Episode #13] – The Oracle of Oil Mar 23, 2016

Many have heard of peak oil, but few seem to understand what it really means, and fewer still know much of anything about the father of the idea, M. King Hubbert. In this episode we interview science journalist Mason Inman, who has written the first biography of Hubbert: The Oracle of Oil: A Maverick Geologist's Quest for a Sustainable Future, which hits the shelves April 11. Deeply researched and rich with detail about the debates over our energy future (and energy transition) from the 1940s through the 1980s, the book is a terrific read for anyone interested in peak oil theory, what it is about, and what it is not about (for example, oil prices!). Today’s debates about the future of energy aren’t too dissimilar from the debates of 60-70 years ago…and that should make us think hard about where we’re going. Check out the interview that critics are calling “way too long!” with the author of the book that Publisher’s Weekly called “tedious!” No, seriously: Check it out. It just may be the best material you’ll ever find on what “peak oil” really is. Plus: I explain why I’m skeptical about IEA’s new report on the decoupling of carbon emissions and economic growth.

[Episode #12] – Energy Access for the Developing World Mar 09, 2016

What’s the best way to bring energy to those in the developing world who lack it? Why do forecasts by agencies like IEA always seem to overstate the cost of solutions in the developing world? Why do big expensive programs run by NGOs and the World Bank so often fail to achieve their aims of alleviating energy poverty? Why do those programs always seem to favor big coal plants, nuclear plants, CCS projects, and other big-ticket items that never seem to get built? And what’s actually getting the job done, right now, in places like sub-Saharan Africa? What are the prospects for those efforts in the future? We answer these questions and more…like where Bill Gates goes wrong with his zero-carbon equation.

[Episode #11] – India and Coal Feb 24, 2016

Everyone knows that India is the second-largest coal importing nation in the world, after China, and that it is the fastest-growing source of global CO2 emissions thanks to its rapid adoption of coal. And it is widely believed that India will remain the world’s fastest-growing market for coal for years to come. But sometimes what “everybody knows” is wrong. Renewables are now hitting grid parity, and are poised to snatch the lead away from coal in India. Plus: We round up the cheapest solar projects ever in the US and the world.

[Episode #10] – Grid Architecture of the Future Feb 10, 2016

What kind of grid architecture and markets will we need in order to actually operate the distributed, decentralized grid of the future? What sorts of regulatory models will be needed? And what does it all mean, from a philosophical point of view, about how human society is organized? How can mere mortals begin to understand these subjects? Never fear: We’ve got you covered, in this ultra-geeky yet accessible episode.

[Episode #9] – Macro Outlook for 2016 Jan 20, 2016

A full-spectrum romp through the macroeconomic context: Stock markets; oil and gas prices; coal's collapse; the difficult LNG export market; what commodities are telling us about the health of the global economy; trends in oil and electricity demand and electric vehicles; currency valuations and trends; the outlook for renewables; and much more!

[Episode #8] – Storage on the Grid Dec 02, 2015

All about storage on the grid -- in front of the meter -- with a little bit about behind-the-meter storage. How to value storage, how storage complements and replaces generation, and some geeky excursions into locational marginal pricing, PURPA, non-market uplift payments, and FERC Order 819! And in the news segment: Comments on the COP 21 United Nations Climate Change Conference and an update on carbon capture and storage (CCS).

[Episode #7] – EROI Nov 18, 2015

All about EROI (Energy Return on Investment), the state of biophysical economics, the relationship between energy and ecology, and what EROI could and should tell us about the outlook for a fuel -- for example, can we run a society on renewables? And in the news segment: LNG's troubled future, how low oil prices are causing surging gasoline consumption, and the risk of the next oil price spike.

[Episode #6] – Transition from Oil Oct 28, 2015

In this episode we talk with a longtime energy analyst about why it's risky for the oil industry to assume that future demand for petroleum will remain as strong as they forecast, given the favorable economics of switching to EVs. We also discuss the recent history of oil production and prices, the future of the oil industry, the potential for transitioning away from oil and the opportunity for EVs, and ERCI - the Energy Returned on Capital Invested. And in the news segment: the oil industry's latest moves and announcements about climate change; three important trends we should recognize in the retirement of yet another US coal plant; and a new report from Carbon Tracker calls IEA and EIA on the carpet for consistently overestimating future demand for fossil fuels, and consistently underestimating the growth of renewables.

[Episode #5] – Winning the Carbon War Oct 21, 2015

One man's sweeping ride through three decades of campaigning for action on climate and deploying solar from a veteran of the "carbon wars," plus his pithy observations on what our leaders in government and in the energy industry really think. And in the news segment: New studies are finding that renewables are getting cheaper than any other grid power; the continuing death of "baseload power" and the rise of flexible grids; more coal and nuclear power plants are being closed; and why deregulation and consumer choice isn’t necessarily the fastest path toward grid power transition.

[Episode #4] – Energiewende Oct 14, 2015

All about Germany's famed energy transition effort, the Energiewende. What it is, what it isn't (with a strong dose of mythbusting), and what the future of grid power looks like from one of the countries on the leading edge. And in the news segment: US LNG export terminals could be in trouble; China's massive push for renewables; and the latest action in oil prices.

[Episode #3] – Limits on the Grid – Part 2 Oct 07, 2015

How energy markets need to change to level the playing field for renewables, how renewables should be valued, and whether wind and solar must "eat their own lunch" by virtue of having a free marginal cost, or whether markets can be adjusted to prevent that. And in the news segment: Shell gives up on the Arctic; the new premier of Alberta does an about-face on fossil fuels; and solar is even cheaper than most energy analysts think (because the data is old).

[Episode #2] – Limits on the Grid – Part 1 Sep 30, 2015

What the modeling work of our national renewable energy lab tells us about how far renewables can go on the grid under various scenarios, and their real technical limits.

[Episode #1] – The Real War on Coal Sep 23, 2015

How the real war on coal is about economics, geology, and little skirmishes in local courts, not a national or presidential campaign; and the tragic failing of politics to address the phasing-out of coal that has been going on in the US for many years. And in the news segment: More calls to kill the UK's planned Hinkley Point C nuclear plant; shale drillers' dirty little debt secret; the latest in the battle over the US oil export ban; and what the Fed's inaction says about energy transition.

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