Watt Matters: The FORESIGHT energy transition podcast

With the current trio of crises facing many consumers around the world—high energy prices, the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and climate change—energy efficiency is on everyone’s lips. But to actually make these changes necessary, a greater level of dialogue is required to strengthen the narrative around energy efficiency.Recorded at the IEA’s conference on energy efficiency in Sønderborg, Denmark, our guests this week are Paula Glover, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, Melanie Slade, senior programme manager for energy efficiency in emerging economies at the International Energy Agency, and Andrea Voigt, head of global public affairs at Danfoss.The panellists agree the key to upgrading energy efficiency with consumers is selecting the correct narrative with the arguments—and policies—that work each region.Listen 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.Show notes:- MEPs vote down EU climate laws in dramatic upset: https://euobserver.com/green-economy/155162#:~:text=In%20a%20high%2Dstakes%20political,least%2055%20percent%20by%202030- Efficient cooling for global development: https://www.iea-events.org/energy-efficiency/eventagenda- Ærø's electric ferry Ellen: https://www.visitaeroe.com/ellen- Enel Group post on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/enelgroup_wattachange-repowereu-fitfor55-activity-6937757171749158912-JxFz/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=ios_appTRY 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 energy transition will only work if we engage consumers. The energy price crisis has made it clear that energy poverty is not a niche issue anymore, as more households are struggling to keep their homes at a comfortable temperature and use their electric appliances.Measures to alleviate consumers from high price hikes are featuring prominently in the political agenda of several EU member states. Monique Goyens, director-general at the European consumer organisation BEUC, says that tackling energy poverty requires systemic thinking. Social measures are needed in the short term, but a massive change in energy efficiency support and the rollout of renewables are crucial.We discuss with Monique Goyens how consumers are taking an increasingly active role in our energy systems. She has been at BEUC since 2007 and previously worked as secretary-general at the University Commission for Development. Listen 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.Show notes:- East Oxford low traffic neighbourhoods: https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/roads-and-transport/active-travel/east-oxford-ltns- Tinne Van der Straeten Twitter post: https://www.twitter.com/TinneVdS/status/1526977562441818112- Netherlands to ban fossil heating from 2026, make heat pumps mandatory: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/netherlands-to-ban-fossil-heating-by-2026-make-heat-pumps-mandatory/- Climate graphic of the week: Historic blaze in New Mexico as extreme global weather events rise: https://www.ft.com/content/86a714e7-1513-489b-8318-7f167c5e51d0TRY 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 complex nature of our energy systems requires all sectors and actors to stop thinking in silos and develop a “whole system” approach to make the energy transition happen.This week, we dive deep into how more governments are putting forward system-wide approaches in energy policymaking and whether policy and regulation are keeping up with the fast-paced developments in technologies that can help us build a more integrated energy system.The team is joined by Ditlev Engel, CEO of Energy Systems at DNV, to discuss how to apply systems thinking to the energy transition. Engel was also Denmark’s Special Envoy for Climate and Energy in the lead up to UN Climate Summit in September 2019 in New York.Listen 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.Show notes:- Europe’s Missing Plastics: https://www.agora-energiewende.de/en/publications/europes-missing-plastics/- Germany’s ‘summer package’ to focus on heating sector revamp: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/germanys-summer-package-to-focus-on-heating-sector-revamp/- Norway Launches 30 GW by 2040 Offshore Wind Investment Plan: https://www.offshorewind.biz/2022/05/11/norway-launches-30-gw-by-2040-offshore-wind-investment-plan/- Green power needs more than just solar panels and wind turbines: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/green-power-needs-more-than-just-solar-panels-and-wind-turbines/21809104TRY 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.

Lawmakers around the globe have spoken extensively about energy efficiency. However, there is an increasing interest in policy and academic circles around sufficiency: these are often labelled as demand-side measures or changes to individual habits that reduce our use of energy and natural resources.In this episode, we look into how governments and EU policy instruments are addressing sufficiency measures and to which extent they are successful or not. While Europe has made progress in unrolling technical energy efficiency measures, there is still a clear lack of sufficiency measures needed to tackle the climate crisis.Sufficiency efforts have often faced resistance as individual behavioural change is sometimes seen as a loss of quality of life, particularly for the most vulnerable consumers. This requires a fundamental change in the narrative, says this week's guest Yamina Saheb. Saheb is a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest report, senior Energy Policy Analyst at OpenExp and lecturer at Sciences Po in Paris.Listen 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.Show notes:- Germany stops renewables funding via power bills to make electricity cheaper: https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germany-stops-renewables-funding-power-bills-make-electricity-cheaper- Finnish firm floats new version of gravity-base foundation for offshore wind: https://www.rivieramm.com/news-content-hub/finnish-firm-floats-new-version-of-gravity-based-foundation-for-offshore-wind-70625TRY 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.

Much of the power across Eastern Europe is still supplied by destructive coal power plants. However, many of these markets across the region also have considerable renewables potential. Untapping this resource would unleash the energy transition for these countries but it remains complex and costly.Until the start of 2022, natural gas was seen as a vital stepping stone for the region to begin decarbonising before shifting entirely to renewables, but the war in Ukraine has placed a spotlight on this assumption.In this episode, we are joined by Monica Morawiecka from the Regulatory Assistance Project, who previously spent very many years at Polish utility PGE, and by Julian Popov, a fellow of the European Climate Foundation, chair of the Buildings Performance Institute Europe, a member of European Council on Foreign Relations and who previously served as Minister of Environment and Water for Bulgaria.Listen 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.Show notes:- UK Energy Security Strategy: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1067835/british-energy-security-strategy-web.pdf- Germany “Easter Package”: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2022/04/20220406-federal-minister-robert-habeck-says-easter-package-is-accelerator-for-renewable-energy.html- IPCC Mitigation options graph: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/figures/summary-for-policymakers/figure-spm-7- Low-carbon inertia: https://www.nationalgrideso.com/news/scotlands-wind-success-story- Popov FORESIGHT op-ed: https://foresightdk.com/coal-regions-could-drive-european-competitiveness/- Popov FORESIGHT op-ed: https://foresightdk.com/eu-green-deal-carbon-austerity-or-economic-boost/- And about the risks for the east-west divide: https://www.sieps.se/en/publications/2021/the-european-green-deal-and-the-risk-of-widening-the-east-west-gap/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 use of hydrogen as part of our future energy mix has been debated for several years. For it to have any future, in a decarbonised economy, hydrogen must come in its “green” guise—produced using renewables-powered electrolysis.While there has been a lot of noise, investment and even some pilot projects launched, green hydrogen’s role in a decarbonised economy of the future has yet to be truly defined and it is a topic that creates strong views.In this week’s episode, the team is joined by Gniewomir Flis from Energy Revolution Ventures who has previously worked alongside Michaela as project manager for Hydrogen at Agora Energiewende. In our discussion, we examine what is behind the hype that surrounds green hydrogen, its future in the energy landscape and what it means for the renewables sector.Listen 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.Show notes:- Agora Energiwende’s 12 insights on hydrogen: https://www.agora-energiewende.de/en/publications/12-insights-on-hydrogen-publication- GWEC annual report: https://gwec.net/global-wind-report-2022/- IPCC Working Group III report: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/- “A file of shame” – António Guterres on IPCC report: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2022/apr/04/world-on-fast-track-to-climate-disaster-say-un-secretary-general-video- 12 kg tank stores 150 kg of liquid hydrogen: https://twitter.com/gnievchenko/status/1510586789928517637- Gniewomir Flis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gnievchenkoTRY 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.

Energy efficiency has often been overlooked as a key tool in the energy transition. Talk instead frequently focuses on how to add more renewables or remove polluting forms of power generation but never on what can we do to reduce demand in the first place.By using energy more efficiently, we can reduce our demand. This immediately cuts emissions but also makes reaching renewable energy targets significantly easier and cheaper.This week we are joined by Peter Sweatman, chief executive at Climate Strategy & Partners. Peter is a former JP Morgan executive but has worked in the energy efficiency sector for over a decade.In our discussion, we touch on why energy efficiency is a vital element of the energy transition and how best to mobilise investment to energy efficiency solutions so that everyone can benefit. We hope you enjoy the show.Listen 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.Show notes:- Stiesdal: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stiesdal_carbonnegative-carbonfarming-greentransition-activity-6909205857842937856-dSvG- World Economic Forum: https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum/videos/- Twitter post: https://twitter.com/CarbonWrangler/status/1502749932062580739?s=20&t=zYBZG5nvwbOOTbdlO955Sw- REPowerEU: Joint European action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1511TRY 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 the heating sector is subject to serious debate. With lots of potential options on the tables, choosing the correct pathway is difficult. Heat pumps, powered by renewables, seems to be the favoured option for the majority of Europe’s buildings, but their rollout is slow.District heating and combined heat and power generation are proven alternatives, while the role of the incumbent natural gas is unclear. If it cannot be part of our energy future, is there an effective substitute?In this week’s episode of Watt Matters, the team are joined by Alix Chambris, vice president of global public affairs and sustainability at Viessmann, a German manufacturer of heating and cooling systems, and Brian Vad Mathiesen, professor of smart energy systems at Aalborg University in Denmark.We discuss the best ways to decarbonise heating, whether it is a good idea that green hydrogen technologies take on some of the heating demand and how the war in Ukraine is changing perceptions.Listen 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.Show notes:- Renewable energies are freedom energies: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Reden/2022/2022-02-27-bundestagsrede-lindner-ukraine.html- New gas heaters “politically wrong”: https://www.rnd.de/politik/habeck-haelt-einbau-neuer-gasheizungen-fuer-politisch-falsch-CEZRRPMQN2DFOQ75DI42HNRMVM.html- Heat pumps for heat and freedom: https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/heat-pumps-for-peace-and-freedom- Offshore wind sets records in latest US auction: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-offshore-wind-auction-nears-4bln-third-day-bidding-2022-02-25/- Concerns of the thawing permafrost: https://bit.ly/3CT1vIjTRY 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.

Our guest this week is Kristian Ruby, secretary-general of Eurelectric, to discuss what role the energy market can play in shutting off Russian influence, what that means for energy consumers across Europe and the energy transition.The fallout from Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine will be felt for many years to come across all areas of society.While the questions over Europe’s dependency on Russian oil and gas—and whether it has been a millstone around the neck of the energy transition—have been around for many years, there is now new political momentum to shut off the supply and end this dependency.Can Europe go it alone and what does it mean for the shift to a decarbonised economy – and the economy in general?Listen 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.SHOW NOTES:- Australia sets offshore wind ambition: https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news/victoria-puts-offshore-wind-at-the-centre-of-its-clean-energy-future- Fossil fuels are a dead end, says António Guterres: https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1500443576668495873- The IEA’s ten-point plan to reduce the reliance on Russian natural gas: https://www.iea.org/reports/a-10-point-plan-to-reduce-the-european-unions-reliance-on-russian-natural-gas- The Amazon is at a tipping point: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/03/07/americas/amazon-tipping-point-climate-scn/index.htmlTRY 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.

This week, Jan, Michaela and David are joined by Jorge Vasconcelos, chair of New Energy Solutions (NEWES) and part of the Florence School of Regulation. Jorge tells us how electricity market design is essential in getting clean energy to where it is needed.In today’s episode, we are looking into electricity market design. A vital part of the energy transition, market design can make or break a country’s decarbonisation efforts.You can have all the renewable energy you need, but without an effective market in which to sell the power, this time, effort and investment would be wasted leaving the energy transition to grind to a halt.Meanwhile, the last few months have seen huge increases in power prices across Europe. Is this the sign of a broken market or a symptom of something much bigger? Paired with more distributed energy resources, the rise of the prosumer and digitalisation, the electricity market is having to adapt rapidly.Listen 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.SHOW NOTES:- Boosting biodiversity at offshore wind projects: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gemini-windpark_derijkenoordzee-offshorewind-sustainability-activity-6895290225942257664-oNpw/- Germany's opposition leader claims renewables are too expensive: https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/02/19/germanys-plans-for-wind-power-are-dauntingly-ambitious- Electrification of heating is more advantageous because of high gas prices: https://www.raponline.org/knowledge-center/analysis-running-costs-of-heat-pumps-versus-gas-boilers/- Is the energy sector due a major cyber attack? https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-pulls-back-view-western-sanctions-russia-wont-choke-supply-2022-02-23/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.