In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou engages in a discussion with Charlie Wilson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and Dr. Yee Van Fan, Senior Research Associate at the same institute about their latest paper titled “AI’s Indirect Impacts On Climate Outweigh Concerns Over Its Direct Energy Footprint” which was part of the recent Oxford Energy Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Its Implications For Electricity Systems. Charlie opens the discussion by presenting a taxonomy of AI’s impacts on energy systems, categorising them into direct, indirect, and systemic effects. We then elaborate on the direct impacts of AI on electricity systems, highlighting potential localised challenges that may emerge. The focus then shifts to the indirect impacts of AI, i.e., the energy consumed or saved by using AI in various domains, where Yee Van talks about the challenges of quantifying them. The podcast concludes with a reflection on the further research and strategic actions needed to enhance understanding and governance of AI’s indirect contributions to the energy transition.

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In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Paulo Carvalho about key takeaways from their forthcoming OIES research paper on green steel standards and definitions. The podcast provides an overview of different terminology and examples used to describe low-carbon emission steel in the market today and evaluates reasons why complexity and divergence exist between different standards and regions. The authors also discuss results of interviews held with key industry experts including steel buyers over perception and demand for the green product, before concluding with recommendations for industry to overcome challenges and enable investment in low-carbon technologies.

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In this latest podcast Michal Meidan talks to Anders Hove about some of the latest developments in China’s power sector. They discuss impressions from Anders’ recent trip to Beijing, insights on electricity demand and the latest (rather confusing) moves in power sector reforms. Michal and Anders also talk about the outlook for renewable deployment in China as well as the implications of electrification on oil demand.

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In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Senior Research Fellow David Robinson and Independent Researcher Plutarco Naranjo about the Oxford Energy Forum (OEF) issue titled “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Its Implications for Electricity Systems”. In this podcast, we provide an overview the OEF and discuss David’s and Plutarco’s paper titled: “The AI arms race and electricity needs”. The conversation begins with a summary of what AI is and how Large Language Models (LLMs) contribute to an increase in data centre energy needs with their training and inference phases. Building on this, David discusses how renewable energy and other sources, such as nuclear, can mitigate the direct impacts of AI and power the surge in data centre demand. The discussion then broadens to examine AI’s indirect influence on climate change, followed by insights into how AI could improve the operation of decarbonised and decentralised power systems. Plutarco also addresses the cybersecurity risks associated with these increasingly complex systems. Finally, the conversation turns to the role of policy in guiding the sustainable development of AI to support the broader energy transition.

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In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Jonathan Stern and Maria Olczak about their latest research on methane emissions in the energy sector. Firstly, Jonathan outlines his thoughts on what progress has, or has not, been made since methane emissions became a focus of industry attention five years ago. He summarises his thoughts by outlining his four “A”s – awareness of the issue has improved, agreements have been signed underlining its importance, aims to improve the situation have seen targets created but achievements have been somewhat more limited and disappointing. Jonathan also discusses the impact of the Trump administration on US methane emission targets and incentives and considers the impact on the LNG industry. Maria then picks up the topic from an EU perspective, discussing how the EU methane regulation could be transformative for the global gas market and could change the way that the EU selects its sources of gas supply. She looks at the biggest practical and technical hurdles ton its implementation and considers whether the Commission’s new focus on competitiveness and affordability could dilute the impact of the regulation in the years ahead.

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In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Nnaziri ihejirika about carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as a carbon management tool and its role in the energy transition. The podcast discusses different definitions of CCU and of emerging carbon utilisation pathways, including biochar production, manufacture of concrete and aggregate materials, and production of e-fuels and e-chemicals. The podcast also highlights issues around storage permanence and interactions with CCS and carbon removal developments.

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In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price and Jack Sharples about their latest research on the future of Russian gas flows. Bill first provides some context for the discussion in terms of the search for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the development of US-Russia relations, highlighting the possibility of sanctions being removed on Russian LNG. He discusses the potential impact of the arrival of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which has been hardest hot by sanctions to date, and considers the various incentives and price outcomes. Jack then considers pipeline flows, looking at the various routes for Russian gas to Europe and discussing the practical, regulatory and contractual challenges that would face any rebound in gas exports. His overall conclusion is that it will be difficult to see any significant short term increase, and that by the time Russian gas could return it will be encountering a much more competitive gas market as new LNG projects come online.

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In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price, Jack Sharples and Anouk Honore about the latest Gas Quarterly and their thoughts on the current state of the global gas market. Bill opens the podcast with a review of the current market drivers and the main catalysts of the recent decline, with a focus on the impact of US tariffs as well as more fundamental gas supply and demand. Anouk picks up the story with a review of Europe gas demand over the winter of 2024/25, highlighting the increasing volatility of gas demand in the power sector, the struggle for demand recovery in the industrial sector and the impact of cold weather on residential consumers. Finally, Jack reviews global LNG supply, the main shifts in demand in Asia and the impact on LNG availability to Europe. He then looks at how LNG fits into the overall European supply picture before concluding with a look at the storage market and what it implies for future prices.

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In April 2025, the China Programme published an issue of the Oxford Energy Forum on the topic of EV and battery supply chains. The aim of the Forum was to think about how other world regions are seeking to react to the rapidly increasing dominance of China in global battery and EV supply chains. In this podcast Bill Farren-Price talks to Anders Hove to get an overview of the key themes of the Forum. In particular, they discuss the implications of the Trump administration’s tariffs for EV supply chains in the US and Mexico, how developing world economies are navigating the need to work with China while not becoming overly dependant on new technology imports, and how European countries are facing difficult choices when attempting to localize battery production while protecting home industries. A common theme is diversity: while all countries face similar challenges, and are deploying well-established policy tools, their different starting conditions and resource endowments makes a common approach unlikely. Fragmentation is even evident in Europe, where EU efforts at localizing manufacturing and encouraging tech transfer run up against differing priorities of automakers and member states like Hungary. The strategic and economic importance of the car industry makes it inevitable that countries will continue to search for ways to localize production and compete with China. But China’s first-mover advantage and the immense scale of China’s domestic EV market will make it difficult to replicate China’s success.

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In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Doctoral Fellow Anas Damoun about his latest paper co-authored with Rahmat Poudineh titled “Economics of Electricity Grid Interconnections: A Heterogeneous Markets’ Design Context”. In this podcast, we discuss the critical role of interconnections in the energy transition as well as analyse the numerous benefits, e.g., technical, commercial and economic, they entail. We differentiate between homogeneous and heterogeneous interconnections since they connect countries with different market structures. We provide insights into the magnitude of interconnection benefits that depend on their efficient utilisation, which is harder to achieve in the heterogeneous case. Next, Anas discusses ways of improving the utilisation of heterogeneous interconnections with the use, among others, of long-term cross-border contracts and distancing cross-border scheduling from real-time dispatch. Last, we discuss the overall challenges that interconnections face and ways to overcome them.

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