Watt Matters: The FORESIGHT energy transition podcast

A growing trend within the energy transition is the use of energy communities – collectives of neighbours or nearby residents and end-users coming together to promote and source renewable energy for their own benefit.Yet this shift away from the traditional centralised energy system brings with it its own set of challenges.Our guest on the podcast this week is Anna Francis, a project manager with a particular interest in energy communities from Energy Cities—a European Association of local authorities working on the energy transition.Enjoy the show.If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Anna Francis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-francis-5392955Michaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep34/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The decarbonisation of heating is as important as any other sector in the energy transition but is perhaps sometimes a little overlooked.The sector’s main tools to help remove carbon emissions from space heating are heat pumps and the rollout of the technology is quickly gathering pace, particularly in Europe, but regulatory and technological barriers remain.The guest on the podcast this week is Thomas Nowak, secretary general of the European heat pump association. Nowak describes what the sector needs to see happen to fully unleash its potential, while he and Michaela debate the European Commission’s revised F-Gas directive.Enjoy the show.If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Thomas Nowak: https://twitter.com/ThomasNowakEUMichaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep33/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greenhouse gas emissions are a global problem as carbon dioxide, and the heating side-effects caused by it do not respect national frontiers. This means that a country or region that may have the best decarbonisation intentions will only partly achieve its objectives if the rest of the planet is not playing by the same rule book.An innovative and, in some circles, controversial new climate superweapon designed by the European Union is coming into frame. The carbon border adjustment mechanism, known as CBAM, is a variant of a carbon border tax that will soon be deployed at the EU’s trade borders.A select list of imports that do not respect certain green criteria will be slapped with extra charges, in a bid to get trade partners to follow the EU’s lead and get serious about the energy transition. The mere idea of CBAM has already prompted some governments to start designing their own systems to avoid the anti-climate-dumping regime, while others are crying foul and threatening to lodge complaints at the highest level.Watt Matters is joined by one of the architects of CBAM, MEP Mohammed Chahim, in order to delve into the detail of the new tool in the EU’s green arsenal. The discussion with one of the European Parliament’s most intelligent and thoughtful energy lawmakers looks at what the complex negotiations settled on, what was rejected and what the future holds for the new rules.Also, don’t miss why today’s guest was chased into a public toilet by overly enthusiastic lobbyists.Enjoy the show.If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Mohammed Chahim: https://twitter.com/MChahimOliver Sartor: https://twitter.com/ojsartorSam Morgan: https://twitter.com/SamJamesMorganMichaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep32/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Any discussion of energy efficiency immediately conjures images of how our homes can use power better or more economically. But this ignores the whole commercial and industrial sectors and how businesses and corporations can improve the efficiency of their activities.This week's guest is Toby Morgan from Climate Group, a non-profit organisation that helps businesses in their decarbonisation quest. Climate Group have published a new report, which looks at why there has never been a better time for businesses to invest in energy efficiency and to improve their energy resilience.Enjoy the show.If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week's episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Toby Morgan: https://twitter.com/Toby__MorganMichaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep31/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world of PPAs is complex, particularly for corporations seeking to secure and decarbonise their power sources.But as demand for clean capacity from businesses grows, so must the PPA market. Maintaining the fluidity of the market and ensuring everyone can get a slice of the pie if they want to is a challenge for operators, developers and regulators.In a special live recording of the podcast at the SolarPower Summit in Brussels in early March, the Watt Matters team are joined by an esteemed panel of experts from across the corporate sourcing world to discuss these challenges and how the market is also providing some of the solutions. This week’s guests are:Ruud Kempener from DG Ener at the European CommissionAnnie Scanlan, Policy & Impact Director from RE-Source, a forum for corporate renewable energy sourcingMaria Flora Middelboe Andersen, Reel Energy, a Danish digital power market aggregation companyToby Ferenczi, CEO and co-founder of Granular Energy, a software company that helps utilities, traders and large energy buyers to manage their portfolio of energy certificatesJaime Gorjon Piquer, PPA Origination Director at Portugese utility EDPRNick Keramidas, Executive Director of EU & Regulator Affairs, Mytilienos, a Greek electro-intensive metallurgical companyEnjoy the show.If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Ruud KempenerAnnie ScanlanMaria Flora Middelboe AndersenToby FerencziJaime Gorjon PiquerNick KeramidasMichaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep30/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wind industry should be experiencing a golden age. As one of the world’s cheapest forms of new generation, with a renewed global focus on energy security, and the need to decarbonise, wind energy is often the go-to technology of choice.But orders for new machinery were down in 2022, and western original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have issued warnings for a difficult 2023. A similar story is seen along the whole supply chain.Many fingers point to permitting, particularly in Europe, as the main bottleneck for the deployment of new wind capacity. But there are other issues the sector is facing that it must also overcome.In this week’s Watt Matters, Ben Blackwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), and Morten Dyrholm, Vice President and Global Head of Marketing and Public Affairs at Danish OEM Vestas Wind and chair of GWEC, discuss with the team why the wind manufacturing sector is struggling, what the solutions could be and why there is still cause for optimism.Enjoy the show!If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Morten Dyrholm: https://twitter.com/MDyrholmBen Backwell: https://twitter.com/benwindstrategyMichaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep29/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The branches of the burgeoning green hydrogen sector are spreading slowly around the world. This creates huge uncertainty but also significant opportunities for businesses and governments the world over to leverage a whole new industry.The guest on this week’s podcast is Sara Edmonson from Australia-based developer Fortescue Future Industries—a company that solely focuses on green hydrogen and ammonia production.Edmonson believes green hydrogen technology is ready to scale up, but issues around permitting of renewables and new other projects need to be sorted out. Meanwhile, the green hydrogen sector offers export opportunities for emerging markets that have significant renewables potential but not the grid infrastructure to support it.Enjoy the show!If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Sara Edmonson: https://twitter.com/FortescueFutureMichaela Holl: https://twitter.com/CitizenSane1Jan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep28/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Europe emerges from the long dark winter days, many grid operators around Europe are breathing a sigh of relief. A milder winter than expected meant there wasn’t the need for increased levels of fossil fuel generation to meet heightened demand.A new report by environmental think-tank Ember found wind and solar technologies generated a fifth of EU electricity in 2022—a new record—and for the first time overtook fossil gas.Coal power share increased by just 1.5 percentage points to generate 16% of EU electricity in 2022, with year-on-year falls in the last four months of 2022 as Europe prevented a threatened return to coal power in the wake of the 2022 energy crisis.Joining the team this week is Ember’s head of data insights and lead author on the report, Dave Jones. We discuss what to look out for in 2023 and how Europe can avoid returning to old habits.Enjoy the show!If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week’s episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Dave Jones: https://twitter.com/CoalFreeDaveJan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHT@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep27/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

European energy markets are at a crossroads: on the one hand, they need to face the immediate shocks posed by the ongoing energy price crisis. On the other hand, the EU’s electricity market is gearing towards reform in 2023, which should make it fit to deliver a decarbonised power system by 2035.The need for a strong, stable and resilient energy market in the short term must also consider long-term decarbonisation goals.Join us in this live recording of the Watt Matters podcast, hosted at Eurelectric's offices in Brussels, with support from Siemens and Linde, where we dive deep into the EU’s electricity market reforms.First, we hear from the European Commission’s Director-General for Energy, Ditte Juul Jorgensen, as she explains how Brussels has been addressing the many challenges of the past 12 months. Then, we are joined in a debate with representatives from three of the EU’s most prominent energy trade associations: Kristian Ruby (Secretary General at Eurelectric), Walburga Hemetsberger (CEO at SolarPower Europe) and Giles Dickson (CEO at WindEurope). They tell us how the clean energy sector is preparing to take up the challenge and what it needs to see happen to accelerate the energy transition.Enjoy the show!If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week's episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Kristian Ruby: https://twitter.com/kristianrubyWalburga Hemetsberger: https://twitter.com/SolarWalburgaGiles Dickson/WindEurope: https://twitter.com/WindEuropeJan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHTAnna Gumbau: https://twitter.com/AnnaGumbau@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva. Art director: Trine Natskår.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep25/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest climate and energy package in the history of the United States. It will unleash some $370 billion for energy and climate, and it will touch every sector of the economy, from manufacturing to renewable energy communities or environmental justice.The IRA could launch America back into international leadership in climate mitigation, says Katherine Hamilton, longtime host of The Energy Gang podcast and our guest in today’s episode – our 25th, marking one year since the launch of Watt Matters.The EU is watching the US’ steps and is highly concerned about the protectionist nature of the Inflation Reduction Act. However, the tax incentives envisioned in the IRA could scale up clean energy technology and provide real carbon reductions – and that “will allow the US to become a much better global neighbour,” said Hamilton.Katherine Hamilton is Chair of 38 North Solutions and is now a regular contributor to The Carbon Copy podcast. Hamilton has led several councils of the World Economic Forum as a global policy and technology thought leader and is currently Chair of the Global Future Council on Clean Electrification. She served as President of the GridWise Alliance, advocating for smart grid funding in the Obama Administration’s Recovery Act.Enjoy the show!If you have any thoughts or questions about anything that has been discussed in this week's episode, you can reach us at our Twitter accounts:Katherine Hamilton: https://twitter.com/CleanGridViewJan Rosenow: https://twitter.com/janrosenowDavid Weston: https://twitter.com/DaveW_FORESIGHTAnna Gumbau: https://twitter.com/AnnaGumbau@WattMattersPod: https://twitter.com/WattMattersPodFORESIGHT Climate & Energy: https://twitter.com/FORESIGHTdkListen and subscribe to Watt Matters wherever you get podcasts. Follow us on Twitter at @WattMattersPod or email us at show@wattmatterspodcast.com. You can also find FORESIGHT Climate & Energy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foresight-climate-energy/.Illustration: Masha Krasnova-Shabaeva. Art director: Trine Natskår.Show notes via this link: https://foresightdk.com/wm-ep25/.TRY FULL ACCESS TO FORESIGHT CLIMATE & ENERGY FOR €1 A DAYJoin over 100,000 policymakers, energy experts in business, finance, and academia, city leaders, and leading NGOs in having access to FORESIGHT Climate & EnergyGET YOUR 30 DAY TRIAL: www.foresightdk.com/subscribe/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.