The US is entering a new era of electricity demand growth, after two decades of flatlining consumption. It is a shift that has huge implications for consumers, the industry and climate goals. Ed Crooks hosts a special live edition of the podcast, recorded at NYU for NY Climate Week, to debate the risks and opportunities in this new world for US power. On the panel:

• Caroline Golin, Global Head of Energy Market Development and Innovation at Google
• Kate Gordon, Chief Executive of California Forward
• Amy Myers Jaffe, Director of NYU's Climate and Sustainability Lab
• Xizhou Zhou, Head of Power Renewables at Wood Mackenzie

Together they discuss the double-edged sword that is AI. It can drive increased efficiency throughout the energy industry, but also creates greatly increased demand electricity. Caroline discusses Google's commitment to achieving 24/7 carbon-free energy for its data centers, and advocates for innovative business models to support clean energy goals.

Kate explains how extreme heat, electrification, and the push for decarbonization are reshaping energy needs. Balancing economic growth with climate resilience, job creation, and community engagement is a difficult challenge. How can it be done?

Xizhou argues that the US has been unprepared for the recent surge in energy needs. How can the nation build out new infrastructure to alleviate the tensions and bottlenecks that are emerging?

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We kick off our series of podcasts at Climate Week, by looking at the role that the oil and gas industry can play in the energy transition. Host Ed Crooks is joined by Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, who chairs the executive committee of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a group backed by 12 of the world’s largest oil companies that works on ways to reduce emissions. 

Oil and gas companies play a crucial role in providing the energy the world needs today. But the transition means shifting to lower-emitting sources and technologies. So can the oil and gas industry really play any constructive role in our energy future?

Bjorn says the industry's challenge is twofold: using its capital and capabilities to develop new, lower-carbon energy solutions, while at the same time work to improve the existing energy system to reduce emissions. In the short term, reducing methane emissions is one of the most important actions the oil and gas sector can take to combat climate change. 

Also joining the show is Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia university. He argues that while getting methane emissions down is important, there’s a need for more long-term, large-scale, thinking. Immediate emissions reductions of 5% or 15% may be great, but not if they distract from the more ambitious goals of getting to 90% or 100% reductions. Switching to a more efficient gas furnace may cut emissions now, but it locks in fossil fuel dependence for decades. Instead, transitioning to electric solutions such heat pumps is essential to achieve the full reduction needed over the coming decades. 

The gang open the Climate Week discussions with a debate on this short-term versus long-term goal-setting. What short-term fixes make sense? Are we letting the perfect be the enemy of the good? What kind of price on carbon do we need? And what exactly is the long-term role of the oil and gas industry as we move to net zero?  

Let us know what you think. We’re on X, at @theenergygang. Subscribe to the show so you don’t miss any of the Climate Week discussions. 

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There’s no transition without transmission, they say. It’s a cliché because it’s true. The US Department of Energy says that the nation will need to expand transmission capacity by 60% by 2030 to meet growing clean energy demand. A recent study found that delays in transmission development are adding $2.5 billion annually in additional costs to consumers due to the inefficiencies of the current grid. So why is building transmission lines in the U.S. so hard? 

To find out, host Ed Crooks and regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe of NYU are joined by Christina Hayes, Executive Director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. Her organization, which is backed by clean energy and tech companies and environmental groups, works to “expand, integrate, and modernize the North American high-voltage grid.”

Christina explains some of the complexities of building new transmission lines in the US, taking us through the regulatory, local, and state barriers that slow down the development of new capacity that is essential for the growth of renewable energy.

The Manchin-Barrasso Bill, legislation proposed in the Senate to expedite the construction of new energy infrastructure in the US, has been generating some heated debate. Could the proposals be a game-changer for infrastructure development that will accelerate deployment of clean energy and help cut emissions? Or do they give too much to fossil fuel interests relatives to the potential gains for renewables? The gang debate the pros and cons of the bill, and how much impact federal legislation can have when so many barriers exist at the local level. 

They also discuss some of the other key issues for the grid. FERC Order 1920 was issued in May: what is it, and why is it so significant for transmission planning? And advanced transmission technologies: how can innovations such as reconductoring and grid-enhancing technologies make the grid stronger and more flexible, and what obstacles are in the way of these investments?

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The article Ed mentions early on in the show is here: https://www.cleanenergygrid.org/fewer-new-miles-2024/

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The need to meet increased demand while cutting emissions is exposing some fundamental issues in the industry.

It’s common knowledge that data centers use a lot of energy, and will use even more in the future as AI applications develop. One thing is not clear, though: who will end up paying for all that extra electricity?

US utilities typically used to receive perhaps one or two large customer requests – meaning 20 megawatts or more – each year. Now, they may be receiving one or two of those requests every week. The need for increased electricity supply means increased investment in generation, transmission and distribution. And that investment has to be paid for. So who is going to end up picking up the tab?

To find out more, Ed Crooks is joined by regular guest Dr Melissa Lott, a professor at the climate school at Columbia University, and Brian Janous, co-founder and CEO of Cloverleaf Infrastructure, which develops sites that can support large energy-dense users such as AI data centers and chip manufacturing plants. With 12 years previously leading energy strategy for Microsoft, Brian is well placed to answer the big questions on energy demand, investment and customers’ bills. 

With Melissa and Ed, he explains how the industry can balance the need to increase supply with the need to achieve decarbonization targets. What role does flexibility play in a highly electrified system, and how can it be leveraged to enhance grid reliability and resilience? Can the ambitious sustainability goals of tech companies like Microsoft and Google be achieved in the face of their rapidly growing demand for power, and what compromises might need to be made? And is nuclear power a source of 24/7 clean energy that could plug the demand gap? The gang debate its efficacy as a long-term solution to the energy needs of Big Tech. 

Meeting the energy demand for AI is a complex topic. The Energy Gang will be exploring it further in a special episode recorded live at New York Climate Week, September 22-29. If you can’t make it to New York for what is one of the energy industry’s biggest events of the year, subscribe to the show so you don’t miss the discussion.

Ed and regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe of NYU will be speaking with Caroline Golin, Global Head of Energy Market Development and Innovation at Google, and Kate Gordon, the CEO of CA FWD, a statewide organization dedicated to building a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive economy in the state of California.

Subscribe to the show so you don’t miss an episode. Find us on X – we’re @theenergygang

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The (shrewdly named) Inflation Reduction Act has been called the most significant climate legislation ever passed in the US. When it did pass, in 2022, the critical vote was cast by senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. Now in office as an independent, he and Republican senator John Barrasso from Wyoming came together to put forward a bill which advanced out of the Senate committee stage earlier this month. It’s meant to clear away some of the regulatory and legal obstacles that delay and deter infrastructure projects, including renewable energy and power transmission lines. It’s faced criticism from environmental groups but support from the American Clean Power Association and the oil and gas industry.  

To unpack what it means for the rollout of renewables, Ed Crooks is joined by Melissa Lott, professor at The Climate School at Columbia University in New York, and Emily Grubert, an Associate Professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs at Notre Dame University. Together they examine the bill, and discuss the impact it could (if passed) have on production targets for wind and solar on federal lands.  

In January President Biden paused approvals for pending and future applications to LNG exports. The proposed Manchin/Barrasso bill would end this pause. Emily gives her take on this; she wrote recently that the US needs a ‘a coherent national strategy for the role of natural gas in the US energy system’. What does that strategy look like?

Plus, the gang debate what needs to happen for carbon removal to make a real impact on net zero goals. Emily says that ‘market-based, unconstrained, and for-profit CDR presents fundamental and predictable risks for climate and justice goals.’

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Proposed permitting reforms could accelerate both renewable energy projects and new fossil fuel infrastructure. Is that a good deal for the climate?

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is seen as the most significant climate legislation ever passed in the US, because of the array of new, expanded and extended tax credits it offers for low-carbon energy. But when it was passed in 2022, the critical vote in the Senate was cast by Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, and he always saw the IRA as just Part One of a two-part strategy. The second part would be to reform the processes for approving new infrastructure projects, to make it quicker and easier to deploy low-carbon energy technologies. The quid pro quo would be that the reform would also expedite the production and processing of fossil fuels.

Senator Manchin is co-sponsoring a bill to deliver those reforms with Senator John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, and their proposed legislation has been making progress in the Senate. It has faced criticism from environmental groups, but found support from both the renewables and oil and gas industries: the American Clean Power Association and the American Petroleum Institute. 

To unpack what the proposal could mean for the future of energy in America, Ed Crooks is joined by Melissa Lott, professor at the Climate School at Columbia University in New York, and Emily Grubert, an Associate Professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs at Notre Dame University. Together they examine the bill and discuss the impact it could have both on wind and solar power, and on gas pipelines and LNG plants.

One provision in the bill would end the Biden administration’s “pause” on new approvals for LNG exports. Emily has been studying the issue, and shares her views. She wrote recently that the US needs a new “national strategy” for the role of gas in the energy system. What might that strategy look like?

Plus, the gang debate what needs to happen for carbon removal to make a real difference to achieving our net zero goals. Emily warns that for-profit carbon dioxide removal “presents fundamental and predictable risks for climate and justice goals”. What are those risks, and – given that carbon removal looks likely to be needed – how can we minimize them?

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Complex, outdated, expensive: concentrating solar power used to be a clunky way of harnessing the sun. What’s changed to now make it viable? 

Concentrating Solar Power, or CSP, takes energy from the sun, converts it to heat, and uses it to drive a turbine to provide renewable electricity. It has more moving parts than photovoltaic (PV) solar – which has none – so there is more that can go wrong. But it has the big advantage that the heat can be stored for days, weeks and even months, meaning that CSP can support grid stability even when the sun isn’t shining. Its real competition isn’t PV solar, but other “clean firm” power sources such as geothermal. 

The US Department of Energy is funding 25 projects in this area, with almost $100 million to research and develop CSP technologies. To discuss the technology and the viability of a process that’s been trying to get off the ground in the US for decades, Melissa Lott and Amy Myers-Jaffe are joined by Dr Matt Bauer from the Solar Energy Technologies Office.

They explore the different generations of CSP technology, with Gen 3 focusing on higher temperature heat and more efficient power cycles. The steep learning curve and capital intensity of CSP plants is a particular barrier to deployment at the moment, as is the risk associated with building large thermal plants. The potential for CSP to bridge seasonal energy storage gaps is there; unlocking it is the problem.

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As the world struggles to co-operate on the energy transition, international trade rules can be a foundation for the new low-carbon economy.  

Ed Crooks is joined by regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe, Director of New York University’s Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab, and new guest on The Energy Gang: Dan Esty, who is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. Dan goes a long way back in clean energy: he was on the US delegation that negotiated the original Framework Convention on Climate Change back in 1992. And he has recently been working for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, to develop a sustainability strategy for the global trading system.

Dan argues that the trade system may be the best way to get everyone in the world, and businesses in particular, to “lock arms and move together” to decarbonize the global economy. The goal is to make sure that “no one's competitively disadvantaged by stepping out in front of the pack when it comes to this movement to a clean energy future."

Ed, Amy and Dan explore this concept in this week’s show. The trade system provides a structured framework of rules that can enforce environmental standards globally. By integrating these standards into trade policies, countries can be encouraged to adopt low-carbon technologies without fearing competitive disadvantages. Businesses and countries are reluctant to switch to clean energy if they think their competitors won't do the same. Trade rules can make sure everyone plays fair. 

What’s more, a reformed trade system that promotes clean energy technologies can also create economic opportunities around the world. The gang discuss how new rules could help developing countries.

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Author of ‘The Price Is Wrong’, Brett Christophers, joins the show to discuss the theories in his book.

On a recent episode of the show, host Ed Crooks was joined by Melissa Lott and Joseph Majkut to discuss two books that were generating a lot of interest in energy circles. One of those, The Price Is Wrong, argues that inadequate profitability is the key reason why the transition to low-carbon energy is not moving fast enough to address the threat of global warming.

There are plenty of interesting and provocative points raised in the book, so it made sense to hear them direct from the source. Ed and Melissa are joined by author and academic Brett Christophers to dissect the main points: the challenges and obstacles faced by renewable energy projects in terms of profitability and investment, and the true impact of these on progressing the energy transition.

Christophers says that low returns in renewables are a result of competition, volatility in wholesale power markets, and the design of energy markets – ‘returns are lower in renewables because there’s too much money chasing too few projects.’ Ed and Melissa weigh in with their thoughts on this. Plus, they discuss the importance of market design, the role of power purchase agreements, and the need for stability in renewable energy projects. There’s a definite need for more stability-providing sources to make renewable energy projects bankable on a larger scale. Are PPAs the answer?

Listen back to the review of The Price Is Wrong with Ed, Melissa and Joseph here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/can-capitalism-save-the-planet/id663379413?i=1000658599656

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In this third special episode of the Energy Gang from the Reuters Global Energy Transition 2024 conference in New York, we focus on the crucial theme of financing the energy transition. We discuss how various stakeholders are addressing the financial challenges and opportunities presented by the shift to renewable energy.

Our first guest is Utopia Hill, the Chief Executive of Reactivate, a Chicago-based company developing renewable energy projects for low to moderate-income communities in the US. Utopia shares insights into how Reactivate is creating inclusive solutions that ensure the benefits of the energy transition reach underserved populations.

Next, we speak with Nia Jones, the Environment and Climate Director of the African-American Alliance of CDFI CEOs. Nia emphasizes the importance of partnerships and cooperation among businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations in advancing the energy transition. She discusses how her organization is working to deliver renewable energy to people who might not otherwise have access to it.

The scale of the financing required for the energy transition means that the private sector will have to play a key role. Valerie Smith, Chief Sustainability Officer at Citi, joins us to explore what this means for a major international bank. She tells us how Citi is contributing to sustainable finance initiatives around the world.

For additional perspectives on the role of finance, we hear from Eric Cohen, Head of Green Economy Banking at JP Morgan Chase, and Greg Randolph, Managing Director of New York State’s NY Green Bank. They share their views on how financial institutions to supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, and what more could be done to accelerate that progress. Many thanks to Utopia Hill, Nia Jones, Valerie Smith, Eric Cohen, and Greg Randolph for their invaluable contributions to this discussion.

You can find Ed and the show on most social media platforms: we’re @theenergygang on X. Subscribe to the Energy Gang on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don’t miss the next show.

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