The Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder

The Energy Transition Show with Chris Nelder episodes:

• 05.01.2024

  [Episode #223] – Fiscal Implications of the US Transition

  The dialogue surrounding so-called 'just transition' initiatives in the US has primarily focused on the workforce: How can communities reliant on well-paying fossil fuel sector jobs find new opportunities for those facing unemployment? Are there state or federal retraining programs...

  
• 04.17.2024

  [Episode #222] – Green Industrial Policy

  In this final episode of our three-show miniseries on green industrial policy (Episodes #220, #221 and #222), we look at it from the perspective of an economist who has written a book on the subject and advocated for it in...

  
• 04.03.2024

  [Episode #221] – Fossilflation

  What causes inflation? And how is it connected to the energy transition? Standard business press narratives often discuss inflation as if it has a mind of its own, seldom exploring its root causes. However, the connection between inflation and fossil fuel...

  
• 03.20.2024

  [Episode #220] – Climate Capitalism

  What is the recipe for an energy transition at the scale needed to limit global warming below the crucial 2°C threshold? Bloomberg journalist Akshat Rathi has identified some of the key ingredients, based on his interviews with ten of the world’s...

  
• 03.06.2024

  [Episode #219] – Nuclear Illusions

  In Episode #209, we peeled back the layers on civilian nuclear power, revealing its history as a facade for the nuclear weapons industry with a corresponding legacy of deception. Yet, the allure of small modular reactors (SMRs) has recently been touted...

  
• 02.21.2024

  [Episode #218] – Accelerating Decarbonization in the US

  How can we accelerate the decarbonization of the entire US economy? In this episode, we discuss the energy-related decarbonization strategies outlined in a new report from the National Academies, titled “Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions,”...

  
• 02.07.2024

  [Episode #217] – Passivhaus in Scotland

  Discussions about energy transition often overlook the crucial role of reducing the energy consumed to maintain comfortable temperatures in the spaces where we live and work. Remarkably, generating heat, the largest end-use of energy, accounts for 40% of global fossil...

  
• 01.24.2024

  [Episode #216] – COP28 and the Outlook for Oil

  Following from the December COP28 climate summit, we find ourselves at a pivotal juncture with the world’s governments clearer than ever about “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” Now, what is next for the oil sector and for all of us—the...

  
• 01.10.2024

  [Episode #215] – IEA’s New Oil & Gas Outlook

  In December 2023, a landmark declaration emerged from the COP28 climate conference: For the first time, the world’s climate delegates agreed that a global "transition away" from fossil fuels is essential. This historic pronouncement marked a significant shift in tone...

  
• 12.27.2023

  [Episode #214] – Countering Climate Doomerism

  Renowned climate scientist Dr. Michael E. Mann joins us to discuss his new book, Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth's Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis, and to answer...

  
• 12.13.2023

  [Episode #213] – Offshore Wind in the UK

  It’s been a difficult year for the offshore wind sector, with numerous projects and power purchase agreements getting canceled. Contracts and incentives simply haven’t kept pace with rising costs, forcing developers to shelve money-losing projects. So is the offshore wind sector...

  
• 11.29.2023

  [Episode #212] – Transition in Eigg

  Twenty-six years ago, on a wee island with just 65 residents off the west coast of Scotland, the seeds of a fascinating energy transition project were planted. That began a long process which ultimately made it possible for the island’s...

  
• 11.15.2023

  [Episode #211] – Doomers vs. Transitionistas

  Should our response to global warming focus on technologies that reduce emissions, or on embracing simpler lifestyles? Why do some believe that deploying more renewables and accelerating the energy transition is essential, while others advocate for ‘degrowth’ instead, and claim...

  
• 11.01.2023

  [Episode #210] – Transportation Transition Update

  Are EV sales about to hit an inflection point and rapidly take majority market shares for new vehicles? And if they are, does that portend a peak in global oil demand before the end of this decade? The transportation team at BloombergNEF...

  
• 10.18.2023

  [Episode #209] – End of the Nuclear Age

  If we genuinely need nuclear power—be it older conventional designs or new, unproven small modular designs—to make the energy transition a success, then that case has not been demonstrated. Instead, nuclear advocates have primarily used political argument to support continued...

  
• 10.04.2023

  [Episode #208] – Vernacular Architecture

  Can ancient architectural and building techniques help us create comfortable spaces without consuming energy in today's world? Our guest in this episode thinks so. Dr. Sandra Piesik is an award-winning architect, author, and scientist with extensive experience in what is now called...

  
• 09.20.2023

  [Episode #207] – 8th Anniversary Show

  For the Energy Transition Show’s eighth anniversary, we welcome back energy researcher Jonathan Koomey, a veteran guest who shares invaluable insights with us in our annual reviews. We kick off the episode by analyzing the impact of the global response to...

  
• 09.06.2023

  [Episode #206] – Regulatory Capture in Texas

  As we have discussed in previous episodes of the show (like Episodes #73, #177, and #198), state regulators and legislators can be ‘captured’ by the industries they are supposed to regulate and wind up serving those industries instead of the...

  
• 08.23.2023

  [Episode #205] – Rebuilding the Grid from the Bottom-up

  A tsunami of distributed energy resources (DERs) is starting to arrive on the grid. Customers are adopting millions of EVs, rooftop solar systems, battery backup units, and other devices that can dynamically respond to grid conditions. But most utilities are...

  
• 08.09.2023

  [Episode #204] – Regulatory Reform

  Whose job is it to lead the energy transition? In previous episodes, we’ve talked about how markets can guide the transition, especially after targeted reforms. We’ve considered the role of regulators, and the problems of regulatory capture and corruption. We’ve asked...

  
• 07.26.2023

  [Episode #203] – The Case for Climate Optimism

  Why does so much media coverage of climate change emphasize the worst-case scenarios and the slow speed of the energy transition? Why don't more stories highlight how the energy transition is working and accelerating, reducing expected increases in carbon emissions...

  
• 07.12.2023

  [Episode #202] – UK’s Green Day

  On March 30th, in what some have dubbed its ‘Green Day,” the UK government released a package of plans to advance its action on climate and the energy transition. A centerpiece of the package detailed how the government’s plans will...

  
• 06.28.2023

  [Episode #201] – India Update Part 2

  This is part two of our interview with Mohua Mukherjee, a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Previously, she was a development economist and project manager with the World Bank, working in over 40 countries. In this...

  
• 06.14.2023

  [Episode #200] – ETS Retrospective

  To mark the milestone of our 200th episode, we’re taking a look back at how the energy transition has progressed since we launched this podcast in 2015. We revisit the “war on coal”, the concept of the “energy transition,” advances...

  
• 05.31.2023

  [Episode #199] – India Update Part 1

  This is part one of our interview with Mohua Mukherjee, a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Previously, she was a development economist and project manager with the World Bank, working in over 40 countries. In this...

  
• 05.17.2023

  [Episode #198] – The Coal Trap

  Why have coal-mining communities continued to white-knuckle their interests in coal long after it was clear the industry was well into decline and would never come back? How were politicians able to misdirect blame toward a “War on Coal” narrative...

  
• 05.03.2023

  [Episode #197] – Virtual Power Plants (VPPs)

  The time may have arrived for Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) to fully realize their potential. In a VPP, groups of distributed energy resources (DERs) like EVs, batteries, and heat pumps can be managed to consume power when it is inexpensive,...

  
• 04.19.2023

  [Episode #196] – Unglamorous Solutions

  Most energy transition reporting narrowly focuses on technology stories. When journalists do occasionally write about energy transition policy and politics, they tend to limit the framing to a particular type of energy technology, such as drilling for oil or putting...

  
• 04.05.2023

  [Episode #195] – Permafrost and Climate ‘Tipping Points’

  Is the Arctic permafrost in a warming feedback loop that will unleash a methane bomb, pushing the planet past a tipping point and into inevitable climate doom? Not precisely. But the warming permafrost does release greenhouse gases, and they do matter. Understanding...

  
• 03.22.2023

  [Episode #194] – Materials Requirements of the Transition

  Energy transition skeptics continue to argue that certain critical minerals and materials, such as "rare earth" metals, place a fundamental limitation on scaling up wind, solar, storage and EVs. But is that true? Or, are these material availability doubts being...

  
• 03.08.2023

  [Episode #193] – Harmonizing EU and US Climate Policies

  As the European Union and the United States work toward stronger climate policies, their two divergent approaches are creating tension. The EU has opted for a mix of rewards and penalties to incentivize green industries while also taxing carbon emissions...

  
• 02.22.2023

  [Episode #192] – When is Hydrogen ‘Clean’?

  The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 introduced two tax credits to encourage the development of a domestic clean hydrogen industry in the United States. These tax credits can potentially be worth billions of dollars and are based on a sliding...

  
• 02.08.2023

  [Episode #191] – Shale’s Swan Song

  Since 2007 the US transitioned from an oil production has-been that was more than four decades past its previous peak, to the world's top oil and gas producer, and the top exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The shale boom...

  
• 01.25.2023

  [Episode #190] – Financing Utility Scale RE in Developing Countries

  Multilateral development banks (MDBs) like the World Bank are increasingly under pressure to invest more in renewable energy projects in emerging markets. The lack of financing for such projects is a problem at the small, distributed scale as we discussed...

  
• 01.04.2023

  [Episode #189] – Financing the Transition

  According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), almost all of the growth in global clean energy spending is happening in advanced economies and China, while the two-thirds of the global population that live in emerging market and developing economies are...

  
• 12.21.2022

  [Episode #188] – Getting to a 100% Clean Grid

  How much of a role might wind, solar, nuclear, transmission, power plants equipped with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology, or direct air capture of CO2 play on a 100% clean power grid? Which mix of those technologies would provide...

  
• 12.07.2022

  [Episode #187] – Transition in Vermont, Part 2

  This is Part 2 of the first series in a new format we are piloting for the Energy Transition Show. Instead of exploring a particular topic with one guest who has a non-commercial perspective, as most of our shows so...

  
• 11.23.2022

  [Episode #186] – Transition in Vermont, Part 1

  This is the first show in a new format we are piloting for the Energy Transition Show. Instead of exploring a particular topic with one guest who has a non-commercial perspective, as most of our shows so far have done,...

  
• 11.09.2022

  [Episode #185] – Designing the Mid-transition

  Phasing out the old while simultaneously building up the new is always a challenge, and perhaps never more so than with the energy transition. Can we coordinate replacing fossil-fueled assets with clean, zero-carbon assets so that both systems remain functional...

  
• 10.26.2022

  [Episode #184] – EROI of RE

  Do renewable energy sources generate enough energy ‘profit’ to make them worth continued investment? And is any energy profit large enough to run our modern world, as renewables displace fossil fuels? Some skeptics of the energy transition have claimed that renewables...

  
• 10.12.2022

  [Episode #183] – Global Energy Crisis

  What began as a “global energy crunch” one year ago, as we discussed with Will Kennedy in Episode #158, has now become a global energy crisis. It is putting energy consumers into severe financial distress and forcing governments around the...

  
• 09.28.2022

  [Episode #182] – 7th Anniversary Show

  For our Seventh Anniversary show, energy researcher Jonathan Koomey rejoins us to review major stories over the past year, and to take stock of how the energy transition has progressed. We talk about how the global energy crunch we covered in...

  
• 09.14.2022

  [Episode #181] – Command Capitalism

  2022 has brought an unprecedented series of energy market interventions as leaders try to stave off domestic unrest in the face of numerous energy supply shocks. Some of the tumult we’ve seen in energy markets this year can be pinned...

  
• 08.31.2022

  [Episode #180] – Transition in Alberta

  Alberta is the seat of the Canadian oil & gas industry, as well as a major coal producer, so it has historically struggled to align with the energy transition - focusing more on pipelines than turbines. But Alberta is changing....

  
• 08.17.2022

  [Episode #179] – Offshore Wind in the US

  Although offshore wind has been booming for decades in Europe, it has gotten a slow start in the US. But that’s about to change. From a single 30 MW offshore wind farm today, offshore wind capacity in the US is...

  
• 08.03.2022

  [Episode #178] – How the Transition Will Unfold

  The energy transition is an extremely complex undertaking, with every country, company, and individual taking action in various, largely uncoordinated ways, and often in pursuit of different targets. This has led some observers to warn that the transition will be...

  
• 07.20.2022

  [Episode #177] – Utility Corruption

  Many people don’t know their local utility could be actively working against the energy transition and in opposition to public interests. In this episode, we review the manifold ways some utilities used customer money to distort public perceptions of the...

  
• 07.06.2022

  [Episode #176] – Climate Scenarios vs. Reality

  Why do so many decarbonization scenarios rely on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to play a major role in the world's energy transition portfolio when it really doesn’t even exist as a commercial technology? Why does the IPCC's climate mitigation...

  
• 06.22.2022

  [Episode #175] – Community Support and Opposition

  Why do people take a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude toward hosting energy transition solutions like wind, solar farms, and transmission lines in their communities? And what can be done about it? What do project developers and community...

  
• 06.08.2022

  [Episode #174] – Decarbonizing Britain’s Grid

  As the energy transition proceeds and variable renewable power from wind and solar displaces conventional generators, strict operational limits for the grid's voltage, frequency, and inertia must be maintained. To do this, grid operators are increasingly procuring so-called “stability services”...