Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
Covering breaking news in clean tech, going deep on global energy policy, and debating the levers that need to move to accelerate the energy transition. Energy Gang is the podcast covering clean energy technology, renewable energy, and the environment. The world of clean energy moves fast, and you need a reliable source to stay on top of the news that matters. You’ll find it on Wood Mackenzie’s Energy Gang.How will changes to the US government affect decarbonisation and energy security? When will hydrogen, nuclear and carbon capture deploy at scale? Where’s the money for the energy transition green finance coming from and how much more is needed? What’s the outlook for EVs? What are the energy predictions for solar energy? What's the latest on climate change?Get answers to questions like these, bi-weekly on Tuesdays at 7am ET. Plus, get special live episodes recorded at the biggest climate and energy events throughout the year, like COP30 and Climate Week NYC. Don’t worry if you can’t make it in person, Energy Gang brings you all the updates on energy policy, energy finance and energy innovation you need to hear.Energy Gang is presented by Wood Mackenzie and hosted by Ed Crooks, Vice-Chairman of Energy at Wood Mackenzie and a former Financial Times and BBC News journalist. Regular guests are Amy Myers-Jaffe (Director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab), and Dr Melissa Lott (Partner at Microsoft) – plus a roster of industry leaders and policy influencers, like Jigar Shah (Industry figurehead and former director of the Loan Programs Office in the US Department of Energy), Caroline Golin (Head of North America, Global Energy Market Development and Policy at Google) and Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt (Former Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources).If you like The Energy Transition Show, Catalyst with Shayle Kann, The Big Switch from Columbia University, Open Circuit with Stephen Lacey or The Green Blueprint, you’ll enjoy Energy Gang.Want to get involved with the show? Reach out to podcasts@woodmac.com to:Bring Energy Gang to your eventBe a guest on the showSponsor an episodeAsk a question to Ed Crooks or one of our guestsCheck out another leading clean tech global podcast by Wood Mackenzie, Interchange Recharged: https://www.woodmac.com/podcasts/the-interchange-recharged/Wood Mackenzie is the leading global data and analytics solutions provider for renewables, energy and natural resources. Learn more about Wood Mackenzie on the official website: https://www.woodmac.com/
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 22, 2017 • 52min
The Fight Over 100% Renewables
A bitter dispute. A clash. A battle royale.
Those are just a few descriptions of a new study countering Mark Jacobson's 2015 report showing that we can source 100 percent of America's energy from wind, solar and water.
Jacobson's study is controversial. Celebrities like Mark Ruffalo and Bernie Sanders have lauded his work. Other experts have long questioned his assumptions. Jacobson himself has called it the "only moral choice."
This week, Twitter erupted with debate over Jacobson's assumptions -- resulting in personal attacks, a litany of tweet storms and wide press coverage.
In this episode, we're going to dig into the dispute over 100 percent renewables that has spilled out of academia and into the mosh pit of Twitter and politics.
In the second half of the show, we'll focus on reliability and renewables. Does Europe’s better outage record tell us anything about variable wind and solar and the health of the grid?
Finally, America just got 10 percent of its electricity from non-hydro renewables. What does that tell us about where we are headed?
This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 16, 2017 • 1h 1min
Inside the Minds of Top Utility Executives
Utility executives poured into Boston from across the country this week for the Edison Electric Institute’s annual conference. They talked about everything from crazy national politics to rate design to artificial intelligence and the future of workers.
We brought our recording gear and tracked down some top names in the industry. In this episode, we hear what's on the minds of utility executives.
Here are some highlights from the interviews:
Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, on why decarbonization will continue under Trump: "We don't chase fads. Our business approach, our strategies, our models, have a much longer life than any political party or any particular administration."
Pat Vincent-Collawn, PNM Resources CEO, on automation and the future of work: "We're not thinking about that enough yet."
Julia Hamm, the CEO of SEPA, on how distributed energy is wrapped up in smart cities and artificial intelligence: "Utility executives are really starting to think about how does that suite of distributed energy resources fit into an even bigger picture."
David Owens, retiring VP of regulatory affairs at EEI, on the new priorities for investor-owned utilities: We've gotten very aggressive in the industry's vision. And that vision is focused around cleaner energy, a smarter energy infrastructure, and providing customized or individualized solutions so we can respond to customer needs."
And here's our reading list mentioned at the top of the show:
R Street Institute report on why baseload retirements don't necessarily mean unreliability: bit.ly/2sA7uAH
Rocky Mountain Institute piece on outdated notions of baseload power: bit.ly/2swyRdY
Researchers debunk the premise of Rick Perry's baseload report in The Conversation: http://bit.ly/2rnBH1k
GTM article summarizing a report on why ARPA-E is a success so far: http://bit.ly/2sGFevU
Wall Street Journal article on oil giants shifting their focus to electricity: http://on.wsj.com/2tuE2bL
The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://bit.ly/2oxZ5dT
Make sure to subscribe to The Interchange podcast via iTunes, SoundCloud or Stitcher, or integrate our RSS feed into the podcast app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 8, 2017 • 48min
Covering America's Climate Troll-in-Chief
We’ve had a week to let the media digest Trump’s climate trolling. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has been all over the airwaves defending the decision to withdraw from Paris, and journalists have been all over the administration for its loose relationship with the facts. We’ll look at how Paris has played out in the press.
Then, after killing net metering, Nevada is suddenly back on the table as one of the most important solar markets –- and now one of the most important storage markets. We'll have an overview of the stunning reversal in the Silver State.
And finally, we’ll talk about a new report warning of a coming auto-industry death spiral.
This podcast is brought to you by Kaco New Energy: http://kaco-newenergy.com/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Jun 2, 2017 • 27min
Trump's Paris Ruse
We all just became actors in Donald Trump’s reality TV show. After an elaborate tease over the Paris climate deal in recent weeks, the president finally revealed that he’s walking away from the historic agreement.
Soon after Trump’s speech, world leaders issued bold statements: It’s not going to happen. There is no renegotiation process. The deal is the deal.
Then local officials spoke up. It didn’t take long for dozens of U.S. mayors and governors to adopt the targets set by the climate accord.
And then the corporate fallout started. Already, Elon Musk and Disney CEO Bob Iger have quit Trump’s business advisory council. Many more executives have publicly rebuked the president.
The international and domestic consequences of this decision are still playing out. In this episode of the Energy Gang, we grapple with in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s speech.
What should we take seriously?
This episode is sponsored by KACO New Energy: kaco-newenergy.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 25, 2017 • 58min
California's Grid Is Facing an Existential Crisis
California released a white paper last week documenting the stunning decline of the customer base for investor-owned utilities in the state. Meanwhile, the state is facing more and more curtailments, negative electricity pricing, and, on top of it all, a looming solar eclipse. What can we learn about market design from the nation’s solar leader?
Then, getting to terawatt-scale PV. Researchers and policymakers are getting serious about thousands and thousands of gigawatts of solar in the coming decades. And they’re asking some hard questions about market design. What does the world look like under that scenario?
Finally, we'll end with a fast cycle through some of the top news stories. How worried should you be?
This week's podcast was recorded live at GTM's Solar Summit. For access to videos of all our sessions -- featuring First Solar, Sunpower, Sunshot, Google, SEIA, Sunrun and more -- sign up for GTM Squared.
This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 11, 2017 • 42min
Is Tesla's Solar Roof a Good Deal?
Now that Tesla has unveiled pricing details for its solar roof, everyone is trying to figure out if it's a good deal.
Depending on what your assumptions are -- what kind of roof you're replacing, what kind of market you live in, how much in subsidies you're earning, and what kind of solar system you're competing with -- the value can vary wildly. Some say it's a surprisingly good deal. Others say it's far more expensive than Tesla claims.
In this week's podcast, we'll discuss the economic viability of the Tesla solar roof. We'll also look at growth prospects, potential barriers to adoption, and where the product might fit into Tesla's long-term solar strategy.
Then, Walmart’s Project Gigaton: A look at the mega-retailer’s new plan to slash emissions deep in its supply chain.
Finally, FERC nominees: After 4 months, we have some candidates for America’s top energy regulatory body. We’ll talk about how they could shape the country’s energy landscape over the next few years.
This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service: kaco-newenergy.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 8, 2017 • 24min
Bringing the Smart City to Life [SPONSORED CONTENT]
In this show, sponsored by Itron, we discuss the emergence of the smart city. Itron has been at the forefront of developing smart city infrastructure. We speak with Sharelynn Moore, the VP of Marketing at Itron, about how the company is using sensors and software to make the smart city come alive.
Learn more about Itron's smart cities work: http://www.itron.com/na/industries/smart-cities
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
May 4, 2017 • 1h 2min
Tesla's Grid Storage Architect
Since the day Tesla was founded, executives saw stationary storage as a compliment to the electric car business.
That was Martin Eberhard's plan when he co-founded the company and envisioned the Tesla Energy Group. Years later, after launching the Powerwall, CEO Elon Musk said the storage business could soon eclipse automobiles. Today, storage is an integral part of Tesla's package of offerings for consumers, and its development plans for utilities.
In 2009, Mateo Jaramillo was hired to execute Tesla's storage strategy. Well, eventually.
First, he was responsible for developing the company's powertrain. Over time, he became more heavily involved in stationary storage -- eventually building Tesla's in-house storage development arm and the team that designed the Powerwall and Powerpack. He drew on his years of experience at Gaia Power Technologies, where he worked on some of the earliest behind-the-meter battery systems in New York.
Last December, Jaramillo left Tesla to focus on his next career move in storage. The LinkedIn description of his new job job reads: "The Next Thing."
This week, we caught up with Jaramillo to talk about what that "next thing" might be. We talked about the history of behind-the-meter storage, the evolution of Tesla's approach to the market, and where storage business models and applications are headed.
Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. The grid is changing. Fast. And AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more.
Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange
Make sure to subscribe to the Interchange:
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Apr 27, 2017 • 47min
France's Presidential Election and the Future of Nuclear
To many, France’s ongoing elections are the latest showdown between the liberal world order and a new brand of right-wing populism. That narrative follows a similar path in energy.
France’s elections are pitting nuclear versus renewables, closed markets versus open, and disruption versus protectionism.
France is going through a quite radical revaluation of its electricity mix. It gets about 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear. However, in 2015, President François Holland set a policy that would phase out aging nuclear plants, and reduce nuclear generation to 50 percent by 2025. He wants to fill in the gap with more renewables and efficiency.
Now the two presidential candidates -- Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen -- are sparring over what to do with nuclear. It’s part of a broader debate over nationalizing the energy giant EDF, expanding or limiting energy trading with the E.U., and mixing variable renewables with a really high nuclear grid.
On this week's podcast: As we near the May 7 run-off election between Macron and Le Pen, we consider the future of the world’s leading nuclear energy power during a time of political volatility and electricity market transformation.
Then, are we at the start of a new solar trade war between America and the rest of the world? We'll discuss Suniva's wide-ranging trade complaint to the government.
Finally, the U.K. recently went coal-free for a day. We place its significance.
This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service: http://kaco-newenergy.com/
Make sure to subscribe to our other podcast, The Interchange.
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-interchange/id1221460035?mt=2
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Apr 20, 2017 • 50min
Is Cheap Offshore Wind Coming to America?
We've heard a lot about record low prices in utility-scale solar. Get ready for more records in offshore wind. In the last two months, we've seen offshore project developers in Europe bidding for pennies per kilowatt-hour -- easily beating 2020 price estimates.
Now the Europeans want to export that learning to America. In this week's episode, we'll look at how the two markets compare -- and why some of the market and policy conditions that favor offshore wind in Europe don't exist in the U.S.
Then, Energy Secretary Rick Perry wants to know if renewable energy is a danger to America’s grid. His recent memo on energy markets was only a page and a half long, but it was packed with a lot of assumptions –- and we'll unpack them ourselves.
Finally, we'll discuss Plug Power’s deal with Amazon. It’s not just about fuel cells -- it’s about finding any cost advantage in the ultra-competitive retail sector.
This podcast is sponsored by KACO New Energy, a leading solar inverter company with superior engineering and unmatched customer service: http://kaco-newenergy.com/
Make sure to subscribe to our other podcast, The Interchange!
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-interchange/id1221460035?mt=2
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
