Energy Gang

Exploring the potential of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia in the energy transition. The UK government's goals for hydrogen production. Decarbonizing the fertilizer industry with low carbon ammonia. Policy landscape and international trade for low carbon fertilizers. The established market for ammonia as a low carbon fuel. The role of blue hydrogen in carbon capture and reducing carbon intensity.

This podcast delves into the potential of hydrogen in the energy mix and the challenges it faces. It explores China's role in the renewable energy industry and the importance of healthy competition in the global supply chain. Other topics include government incentives for low carbon hydrogen production, high temperature solid oxide electrolysis technology, scalability of electrolyzer plants, Europe's position in the electrolyzer industry, the feasibility of reaching a 200 GW electrolyzer capacity, and the possibility of reaching a tipping point in adopting green energy.

Experts discuss US energy policy and the energy transition, emphasizing the need to strengthen the power grid, efficient permitting for new infrastructure, and clean energy deployment. The podcast also explores the Inflation Reduction Act's impact, progress in offshore wind, vanadium mining, and geothermal energy, NEPA amendments, and the impacts of solar farms. The chapter concludes with discussions on Department of Energy comments and efforts to build EV infrastructure.

The podcast explores the viability and scalability of direct air capture (DAC) and carbon sequestration. It discusses the U.S. Department of Energy's decision to invest $1.2 billion in DAC facilities and the criticism it has faced. The tension between DAC and oil demand is analyzed, along with alternative methods for decarbonizing industries. The cost analysis of leasing and purchasing electric vehicles is also discussed. Other topics include draft environmental assessment, climate events, and confusion in energy policy.

The podcast discusses the recent fall in investor interest in the solar sector, the bankruptcy of electric bus company Proterra, the challenges facing solar and electric vehicle industries, the decline of ESG investing, legal victories for climate change advocates, and the need for government action to support EV charging infrastructure

On the last Energy Gang we looked at the impact of record temperatures on the energy sector. This week, we discuss another impact of climate change: its effect on human psychology. We discuss how the way we talk about global warming affects how we respond to it.A recent study in the journal Global Environmental Change argued that scientists and media organizations need to rethink the way they talk about climate change. The study’s authors called on the media to emphasise potential solutions to rising temperatures, rather than focusing solely on the dire consequences. This shift towards solutions-oriented thinking could help prevent a pervasive sense of fatalism: the idea that humans can do nothing useful to mitigate climate change. Doomerism, as it is sometimes known, seems to be creeping more and more into the conversation. Is it an inevitable consequence of the way we talk about climate change? One point that researchers have found is that using the term “climate emergency” reduced the perceived credibility of news reports, and the likelihood that people would take action, compared to using “climate change.” News about climate impacts leads to increased fear and decreased hope, relative to the impact of news about climate action. Are the media inadvertently encouraging people to believe that our civilization is fated to end in disaster, and we are all going to burn if we live long enough, so we might as well just live for the moment and enjoy the ride any way we can?To discuss the impact of climate doomerism on our mental health, and more, host Ed Crooks is joined by Dr Melissa Lott, Director of the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Melissa argues that the evidence shows there are in fact workable solutions to climate change, and that “everything we do to try to reduce emissions to any degree, already protects health.” So doomerism is not based on reality.Also on this episode is Amy Harder, who is the Executive Editor of Cipher, a news outlet supported by Breakthrough Energy, the climate investing and policy organization backed by Bill Gates. She has some new polling data on public attitudes to climate change, published by Pew Research.Looking for solutions led us to one answer to emissions that has made the news in recent weeks: carbon utilization. Amy’s outlet Cipher recently published a story looking at the debate in the US over tax breaks for carbon capture, and what happens to the carbon dioxide after it is captured. Amy explores with Ed and Melissa what this means for energy and the potential for carbon utilization as a whole.As always, please subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.You can find the report from Pew Research on US attitudes to climate change here: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/08/09/why-some-americans-do-not-see-urgency-on-climate-change/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New challenges for our power supplies in a warming world.Global temperatures have been breaking records this summer. On some estimates, the earth is the hottest that it has been for about 125,000 years. In Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures have consistently reached over 110 degrees Fahrenheit, and people are being hospitalized with severe burns after falling on the ground. The heat is bringing other threats, including the wildfires that have been burning out of control in parts of southern Europe and Canada.  Extreme heat inflates the demand for energy, particularly power for cooling and air conditioning, putting new strains on the power grid. In the US, electricity demand has been shattering records in Texas and Phoenix, and it's on a similar trend in other arts of the world, too. India's power demand, for instance, has been hitting new record highs due to the scorching temperatures and a steadily expanding economy.To explore the impacts of the extreme weather we’ve been seeing, host Ed Crooks is joined by Energy Gang regulars Dr Melissa Lott of Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy, and Amy Myers Jaffe, from NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab. The gang discusses the ramifications of a warming world, and the stresses that it creates. To take just one example, to cope with extreme temperatures more people use air-conditioning, which often means increasing the use of fossil fuels, adding to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In China, coal-fired power output in June was up 14% from the same month in 2022.The gang discuss the huge global disparities in energy usage around the world. In the US, about 90% of households have air-conditioning, while in the lower-income economies of Asia and Africa, it is 10% or less. Melissa and Amy discuss how the transition to a lower-carbon world will be viable only if it acknowledges the rest of the world’s demand for the comforts enjoyed in rich countries today.Climate change also causes problems for energy production. In Africa, hydropower plays a large role in electricity generation. As weather patterns shift, regions that rely on particular patterns of rainfall can struggle. Parts of China have been suffering blackouts this summer because of low hydro power generation, while California has been helped by relatively high snow and rainfall over the past winter. Picking up a theme from a previous episode of the show, when Dr Sarah Kapnick of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration was a guest, the gang discuss the need for more advanced climate modelling to understand the factors shaping energy demand and supply. Finally, there is news of a potentially exciting breakthrough in what could be an important source of dispatchable power with zero emissions: geothermal energy. A company called Fervo Energy, led and staffed by people with backgrounds in both low-carbon energy and oil and gas, has reported a successful test of its first pair of geothermal wells drilled horizontally for more than 3,000 feet, using techniques pioneered in the shale industry. Could this technology eventually be a big piece of the energy transition puzzle? It’s all examined on this week’s show. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, and follow the discussion on Twitter – we’re @theenergygang.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bidenomics’ is the new buzzword that the US administration is using to brand its industrial strategy. What does it mean for energy in the US, and around the world?Last week, President Joe Biden spoke in South Carolina about his economic vision: a strategy that he is calling “Bidenomics”, with the energy transition is right at the heart of it. By “turning the climate crisis into an opportunity”, the White House says, the US can create good-paying jobs in clean energy while also bringing down consumers’ energy costs. When the president and his administration talk about their energy policies, the focus is generally on jobs, investment, and the international race to lead in the technologies of the future, not the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.The Inflation Reduction Act was the legislative core of this plan, with its array of incentives for low-carbon-energy, and for US-produced equipment in particular. As we approach a year since it was passed, there is plenty of evidence that it is contributing to upturn in US manufacturing. Spending on new factories has been tracking at a rate of about $190 billion a year, triple the average rate of the 2010s. But are there dangers in the administration’s drive to create new domestic industries in low-carbon technologies?To discuss that question and more, host Ed Crooks is joined by regulars Melissa Lott and Amy Myers-Jaffe. Melissa is Director of Research at Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy, and Amy is Director of the Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab at New York University.One of the biggest issues in terms of international tensions around renewable energy manufacturing is China, which is currently the dominant producer for products and components such as batteries and solar panels. At the same time as it is trying to wrest global leadership from China in some of those key sectors, the US is also arguing that the two countries need to work together to tackle the threat of climate change. Melissa was in China last week – as was US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen – and shares her insights on the implications of two countries’ energy strategies.One new development is that China is restricting exports of gallium and germanium, which are used in semiconductors, fibre-optic cables, and some electrical equipment. Amy discusses what these restrictions might mean for energy producers. And the gang discuss the question: what does this new trade flare-up teach us about how much countries need to work together to make the progress we need in developing clean energy? If our world’s greatest challenges, including climate change, can only be solved through co-operation, does competition between countries risk pushing us off course?Join the discussion on Twitter – we’re @theenergygang, or visit woodmac.com/podcasts for more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This year’s climate talks have already drawn widespread criticism. Can they make progress?COP28, this year’s Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is still five months away, but the discussion around it is already intense. The conference is being held in Dubai, a choice that has drawn criticism because the United Arab Emirates is one of the world’s leading oil-producing countries. Last year’s COP27, held in Egypt, was widely considered a failure. There was a lack of new commitments to cut emissions, and many analysts have concluded that the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees C is now slipping out of reach. Environmental groups have warned that the influence of fossil fuel producers could mean that COP28 marks another year without real progress.On the other hand, there is an argument that the effort to tackle climate change has to be global, involving every country in the world, even if not every country makes the same contribution. Oil-producing countries, and the countries that use that oil, have to be included in the negotiations. If they are not, the effort to cut global emissions will fail.Joining host Ed Crooks to explore the issues around COP28 is Emily Grubert, Associate Professor of Sustainable Energy Policy in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. They are joined by Joseph Majkut, Director of the Energy, Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.  The gang also discuss battery technologies for long duration energy storage. As wind and solar now, there’s a greatly increased need for more solutions to help manage the stability of the grid, and companies are now coming forward with commercially viable long duration batteries to meet that need.What are the new technologies beyond the lithium ion batteries used in everything from phones to EVs? How can our electricity systems be made more resilient with the help of batteries that can deliver power not just for a few hours, but for several days? As grids across North America are challenged by heatwaves and wildfires, it is an increasingly urgent question.Follow the show on Twitter – we’re @theenergygang and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The north-eastern US has taken on a post-apocalyptic appearance recently, blanketed by smoke from wildfires in Canada. Host Ed Crooks and regular guest Melissa Lott, Director of Research at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, are both based in New York and saw first-hand the extent of the fires that have been burning in Quebec. In recent years we have seen huge fires up and down the west coast of North America, in Siberia, in central Greece, to name just a few regions that have been affected. The gang discuss the implications of the fires for human health, for the energy system, and for our understanding of climate change.The big news from Washington has been that the US has averted a global financial crisis, thanks to Congress and President Joe Biden coming together to make a deal over the ceiling on the country’s national debt. The agreement suspends the debt ceiling to January 2025, meaning the US can avoid defaulting on its debts, at least for a while. The legislation also had some important implications for energy. The generous tax credits for low-carbon energy included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act had been in danger, as Republicans in the House of Representatives moved to repeal them, but in the final deal they were saved.One initiative with plenty of support from both Republicans and Democrats did make progress: the legislation included moves to streamline permitting for infrastructure projects, which could help clear a path for low-carbon energy investments. To make sense of it all the Energy Gang enlisted Robbie Orvis, Senior Director for Modelling and Analysis at the Washington-based think-tank Energy Innovation. Is the legislation that’s just been passed going to make a significant difference to the speed at which we can build put low-carbon infrastructure? Robbie’s initial reaction is that it’s a small step on the way, but it’s incremental. Meanwhile, there is a raft of new regulations coming from the Environmental Protection Agency, intended to cut emissions from light and heavy road vehicles, and from power generation. Together the gang examine the proposed rules. What impact will they have? And are new regulations basically an irrelevance in industries that are changing dramatically anyway? Plus: the inauguration of the first ever Energy Gang Book Group. We are picking a book to read together, and the gang will discuss it at the end of the summer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.