Energy Evolution

As U.S. utilities and power providers explore numerous new technologies in their pursuit of a cleaner energy future, industry experts believe it is important not to lose sight of the evolution of an existing carbon-free resource. Darren Sweeney, a senior reporter at S&P Global Commodity Insights, joined Energy Evolution for this episode to share interviews about nuclear energy with Xcel Energy Chairman, President and CEO Bob Frenzel and John Kotek, a Senior Vice President of Policy Development and Public Affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. In addition, Camellia Moors and Camilla Naschert, reporters who write about mining and power issues, are correspondents for Energy Evolution and regularly contribute to the show. Subscribe to Energy Evolution on your favorite platform to catch our latest episodes! We want to hear about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our podcast survey here and share your thoughts: https://www.surveylegend.com/s/4xyz

This episode takes you into the German Solar Valley, which was once the world’s largest production hub but was abandoned in the 2010s as China became solar powerhouse Number One. Now, companies like Meyer Burger Technology are ramping up the old factories, gunning for a revival of European production. But, CEO Gunter Erfurt tells the podcast, panels have evolved from commodity to geopolitical poker chip, and Europe risks losing the game without injecting more money into the sector. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, solar expert Edurne Zoco of S&P Global Commodity Insights also sees more incentives for U.S. factories than European ones. Still, ESG considerations and shorter supply routes could increasingly make the case for home-grown products, too. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. In addition, Camellia Moors and Camilla Naschert, reporters who write about mining and power issues, are correspondents for Energy Evolution and regularly contribute to the show. Subscribe to Energy Evolution on your favorite platform to catch our latest episodes! We want to hear about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our podcast survey here and share your thoughts: https://www.surveylegend.com/s/4xyz

Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) were born out of Europe's desire to wean itself off renewable energy subsidies.  PPAs are now becoming more common across the region as more companies use them as a key risk hedging and decarbonisation tool.  From a very niche industry, PPAs are becoming mainstream, with companies now having entire PPA departments, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Henry Edwardes-Evans, Head of Gas and Power News, discusses the fundamentals and potential of the European PPA market with Kira Savcenko, Senior Power Editor, and Diego Ortíz, Principal Research Analyst in the Gas, Power and Climate Solutions team. Related analysis by speaker Diego Ortíz: European PPA market continues to grow in the first quarter of 2023 Related interview with Pexapark: European PPA market could see record deals in 2023 Price assessments: Platts-Pexapark Germany Solar 10 Year Pay-as-Produced PPA Index Platts-Pexapark Germany Onshore Wind 10 Year Pay-as-Produced PPA Index Platts-Pexapark Spain Solar 10 Year Pay-as-Produced PPA Index Platts-Pexapark Spain Onshore Wind 10 Year Pay-as-Produced PPA Index We want to hear about your podcast preferences so we can keep improving our shows. Take our podcast survey here and share your thoughts: https://www.surveylegend.com/s/4xyz

This Energy Evolution episode features three guests from across the electric vehicle supply chain. Our first guest is David Slutzky, the founder and CEO of Fermata Energy. The company hopes to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and the transition to renewable energy. Fermata's bidirectional charging technology enables customers to earn revenue from their electric vehicles while combatting climate change and supporting grid resilience.  Our second guest is Kulr Technology Group CEO Michael Mo. Kulr is also accelerating a transition to broader electrification. The company's technology ensures that batteries stay cool and safe.  We also chat with Volt Lithium President and CEO Alex Wylie about his company's efforts to extract lithium from oilfield brines in Canada. The company recently announced a resource report indicating 4.3 million tonnes of lithium resources at its Rainbow Lake project. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. They are joined by correspondents Camellia Moors and Camilla Naschert, reporters who write about mining and power issues for S&P Global Commodity Insights. Subscribe to Energy Evolution on your favorite platform to catch our latest episodes!

With investors, importers, and the public paying more attention to greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel production, US natural gas producers have increasingly turned to third-party certifiers to attest that they are responsible operators. Wyoming gas producer PureWest Energy has been on the forefront of the emerging certified gas market, having certified 100% of its production through Project Canary and as a founding member of the Differentiated Gas Coordinating Council.   PureWest CEO Chris Valdez joins S&P Global Commodity Insights’ Kelsey Hallahan to share his insights on the development of a certified gas market and the state of emissions transparency in the US gas industry. Afterward, SPGCI senior emissions analyst Emmanuel Corral and low carbon pricing analyst Hope Raymond share some key highlights from a new report on this emerging market. Learn more about the market origins of certified gas, the current state of affairs, and where it could go from here with SPGCI’s Producer Certified Gas Special Report. Subscribe to Platts Dimensions Pro

Last year, Duke Energy and Amazon Web Services announced they would be collaborating to build out cloud technologies to support Duke's Intelligent Grid Services. The technology is aimed at helping the utility anticipate energy demand and identify where and how it should update its power grid. The use of the cloud opens up a wealth of opportunities for data collection and analysis and is essential to Duke's efforts to transform the grid. For this episode, Energy Evolution spoke with Sarah Cooper, the general manager of AWS industry products, and Bonnie Titone, the senior vice president and CIO of Duke Energy, one of the nation's largest energy holding companies, serving 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Duke has targeted a 50% carbon reduction from its electric generation by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. They are joined by correspondents Camellia Moors and Camilla Naschert, reporters who write about mining and power issues for S&P Global Commodity Insights. Subscribe to Energy Evolution on your favorite platform to catch our latest episodes!

Demetrios Papathanasiou, the global director for energy and extractives at the World Bank, discusses the organization's vital new framework for financing the transition to cleaner energy in developing countries. He highlights the challenges of high capital costs and the dangers of relying on fossil fuels. Papathanasiou emphasizes the crucial role of both public and private investments in this shift and shares a successful case study from India. The conversation also touches on innovative clean energy technologies and policies needed to attract investment.

Some members of the steel industry, which is known for being carbon-intensive, are looking toward cleaner primary steel production pathways to cut down on carbon emissions. One avenue is the production of “green steel,” which uses hydrogen instead of fossil fuels in the iron ore smelting process. Energy Evolution correspondents Camellia Moors and Camilla Naschert spoke with Chathu Gamage, a manager in the Climate-Aligned Industries Program at RMI, and Kajsa Ryttberg-Wallgren, head of hydrogen at H2 Green Steel, about the green steel production process and how views about the product are changing in response to the energy transition. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. Subscribe to Energy Evolution on your favorite platform to catch our latest episodes!

Energy Evolution co-host Taylor Kuykendall shares one last interview from this year's CERAWeek by S&P Global conference. Sunny Elebua, the senior vice president and chief strategy and sustainability officer at Exelon Corp., joined the show to talk about some of the problems and solutions associated with the rapid rise of electric vehicles. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. They are joined by correspondents Camellia Moors and Camilla Naschert, reporters who write about mining and power issues for S&P Global Commodity Insights. Subscribe to Energy Evolution on your favorite platform to catch our latest episodes!

Battery production offcuts and end-of-life batteries are collected, dismantled and shredded to produce black mass from which critical materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese can be extracted. The recycling of black mass has become increasingly important as a supplement to virgin material supply and to reduce the carbon footprint of the battery supply chain. Platts, part of S&P Commodity Insights, has launched the publication of daily black mass assessments, which will provide greater transparency and understanding of how the market actually operates, especially as there is currently a lack of standardisation and comprehensive coverage in the black mass market. This episode of the Platts Future Energy podcast aims to explore the challenges and opportunities facing the market, unpack these new price assessments, and answer the question of whether black mass has the potential to address the looming supply deficits.   Click here to learn more about Platts nine new daily black mass spot price assessments for China and Europe.