Energy Evolution

The US Department of Energy is on a roll when it comes to backing the US domestic battery industry. 

In July, the agency’s Loan Programs Office announced a conditional commitment of up to $1.2 billion for a direct loan to battery separator, extruder, and engineering services company ENTEK to finance a lithium-ion battery separator facility in Indiana. 

In June, the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, announced it would give $20 million to solid-state battery company ION Storage Systems for the development and commercialization of the company’s solid-state lithium-metal batteries. 

In this episode, correspondent Camellia Moors speaks with Chelsea Sexton, director of the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program; Kim Medford, president for manufacturing at ENTEK; and Ricky Hannah, CEO and board director of ION, about what the federal government’s support means for the industry and US energy transition goals. 

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

On this week’s episode of Energy Evolution, S&P Global Commodity Insights hydrogen specialists Shankari Srinivasan and Catherine Robinson discuss their research on the current state of the hydrogen industry just a few weeks before World Hydrogen Week, which will take place Sept. 30- Oct. 4 in Copenhagen. 

While the mood has been dampened by project cancellations, the industry is now moving from planning to delivery, Srinivasan tells podcast correspondent Camilla Naschert.

Blue hydrogen, made using gas and carbon capture, will play a major role, especially in Asia and the US, leveraging lower cost differentials and existing infrastructure, Robinson says.

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications.

Today's episode of Energy Evolution is all about the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project in Delta, Utah. ACES will use electrolysis to convert renewable energy into hydrogen and store it so that the otherwise intermittent resources will be dispatchable on demand from storage in large salt caverns underground. The first project will convert and store up to 100 metric tons per day of hydrogen and is expected to enter commercial-scale operations in mid-2025.

Chevron recently acquired Magnum Development LLC and a majority interest in the project, which is a joint venture with Mitsubishi Power Americas.

Our guests discussing the topic are Austin Knight and Michael Ducker. Knight is the vice president of hydrogen for Chevron New Energies, a division of Chevron USA Inc. Ducker is the President & CEO of MHI Hydrogen Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Power Americas and a power solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

This week's episode of Energy Evolution features a conversation with Deise Yumi Asami, the founder of Maximo, an AI-powered robot that automates the heavy lifting for placing and attaching solar modules. The project is being run by AES Corp., a Virginia-based utility and power generation company. 

In the episode, Asami explains how the robot uses AI to improve its own performance, how it is changing the way solar is installed and the broader implications of AI and automation in the energy transition. 

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

This week on Energy Evolution we hear from Lord Adair Turner, British businessman and former chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority.

Turner is now heading up the Energy Transitions Commission, an industrial collective. He tells Taylor Kuykendall and Camilla Naschert about the risks he sees for America's climate goals if Donald Trump is re-elected, the challenges of deindustrialization in Europe and why a carbon border is needed.

Turner also argues that concerns over dependence on Chinese cleantech are overblown and that AI datacenters may need regulatory guardrails.

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

Solar power is the fastest growing source of electricity in the US. But as adoption of solar and other renewable power generation grows, developers are facing new realities when it comes to financing projects and setting expectations about their returns.  

In this episode, guest Sheldon Kimber, founder and CEO of independent power producer Intersect Power, speaks with correspondent Camellia Moors about the business case for solar power development in the US, some of the policies surrounding the industry, and solar power’s role in the US energy transition. 

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

“Green steel” is becoming an increasingly desirable product around the world as more end users establish decarbonization goals and legislation like the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) goes into effect. But with no single definition, steel market participants are having to come up with their own standards as they pursue lower-carbon steelmaking.   

In this episode, Laura Varriale, managing editor of the ferrous metals team, EMEA, at S&P Global Commodity Insights and Guido Kerkhoff, management board chairman and CEO of the European unit of German steel service company Klöckner & Co., talk about the state of the European and US green steel markets, challenges and advancements, and how steel trading might be affected by CBAM and the decarbonization drive.  

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

Vacuuming CO2 out of the atmosphere may be possible, but at a cost of nearly $1,000 per metric ton of carbon captured and stored. Nevertheless, direct air capture is attracting serious investment from the US government, oil and gas companies and Microsoft. In this episode of Energy Evolution, hosts Taylor Kuykendall and Dan Testa and reporter Siri Hedreen discuss what the public and private sectors are doing to make this nascent technology a large-scale commercial reality.

First, they hear from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Sasha Mackler on why direct air capture is a worthy investment, and why now. Next, Heirloom Carbon Technologies’ Max Scholten tells S&P Global Commodity Insights what the company is doing to lower the cost of carbon removal. Scholten also explains how clean electricity is a limiting factor, and how Heirloom’s technology design attempts to solve for the intermittency of wind and solar energy.

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

In this episode of Energy Evolution, host Taylor Kuykendall and S&P Global Commodity Insights climate and energy reporter Karin Rives discuss the increasing involvement of state lawmakers in electric utility regulations and their impact on the power industry and ratepayers.

Guests on today's show are Lillian Federico, a research director with Commodity Insights, California state Senator Josh Becker and Paul Alvarez with the consulting firm Wired Group.

They highlight how the energy transition and concerns over climate change have prompted lawmakers to shape energy policy, disrupting the traditional relationship between regulators, politicians and ratepayer advocates.

The episode explores various cases where legislators have pushed for utility investments, resulting in unintended consequences and financial burdens for ratepayers. It also examines the challenges of regulatory lag and the uncertainty created by swings in policy. 

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. Veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall co-host the show, which routinely features regular correspondents Camilla Naschert and Camellia Moors. 

In this episode of the Energy Evolution podcast, host Taylor Kuykendall interviews William "Bill" Daley, who was White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama and Commerce Secretary during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Daley joined Taylor to discuss the role of climate technologies in driving economic growth and job creation. Daley explained the work of Crux Climate, a sustainable finance technology company, and how they facilitate the transferability of energy credits. He also emphasized the need for government support and investment in advanced manufacturing and new energy sources. Daley also highlighted the opportunities for economic development in various sectors, including solar, wind, batteries, hydrogen and nuclear energy. Daley also addressed the role of large organizations in the climate technology space and the importance of a balanced approach to energy sources. 

Subscribe to Energy Evolution to stay current on the energy transition and its implications. The show is co-hosted by veteran journalists Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall.