In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Senior Research Fellow Malcolm Keay about his latest paper titled “The UK’s Decarbonisation Objectives and the Role of Great British Energy” and the latest developments and key challenges of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA). We start our discussion with the great progress the UK has made in its decarbonisation targets. We continue diving into the challenges of scaling up investments in renewable generation, storage resources, and demand-side flexibility, as well as the role of Great British Energy. We then focus on REMA and discuss the latest developments, such as locational pricing. Last, we discuss REMA’s main missing components, such as policy alignment, retail markets, nuclear generation and interconnections. An example of policy misalignment is the UK’s goal to become an artificial intelligence (AI) superpower and the rising electricity prices. AI is very energy-intensive, and countries with lower electricity costs will likely enjoy a competitive advantage compared to the UK.

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In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Anne-Sophie Corbeau about the EU’s plans for renewable hydrogen, with a particular focus on the industrial sector. The discussion starts with a description of the current state of the hydrogen market in Europe before defining the nature of renewable hydrogen in particular and explaining why it is being given such a high priority by the EU. The targets set in the RED III directive are then discussed, before we move on to the actions being taken by individual member states to implement them and the implications of the divergences that are emerging between countries. We then look at particular sectors which are being affected by the new initiatives and look at the question of cost competitiveness and the need to incentivise demand in order to support the transition process. Finally, we examine the need for new infrastructure and assess whether enough is being done to ensure that the full hydrogen value chain is in place.

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In this latest OIES podcast, brought to you by the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Kong Chyong about his latest paper on the EU’s decarbonisation plans and the implications for natural gas. Kong talks through five scenarios which he has modelled in detail and which focus on targets for future emissions, the implied carbon prices and the impact on gas demand in the region. The scenarios range from an aggressive “Accelerated Path to Net Zero”, mirroring the EU’s current plan to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040 before reaching net zero in 2050, to a much more conservative “Low Carbon Price” scenario. Kong highlights that the more rapid decarbonisation scenarios have a dramatic impact on gas consumption but also imply a very high carbon cost. He outlines his policy recommendations which largely involve finding a balance between achieving climate goals and avoiding the imposition of an excessive cost on the European economy.

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In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Dan Maleski about developments around the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), specifically discussing how the mechanism would be enforced in practice and concerns that importers into the EU and exporters in non-EU countries have. The podcast also reflects on on-going policy changes in CBAM that are aimed at mitigating risk of circumvention and resource shuffling by exporters into the EU.

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In this latest OIES podcast Michal Meidan talks to Bryan Bille from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence about Europe’s need for cobalt as part of its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and grow its lithium-ion battery industry, and the role of the DRC within that. Michal and Bryan talk about Europe’s growing demand for cobalt, how policies aim to develop new sources of cobalt and encourage domestic processing. They also discuss the challenges associated with market concentration in the DRC for mining and in China for processing the trade-offs European countries will have to make as they balance supply chain diversification with decarbonisation targets.

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This OIES podcast is based on two articles in the Oxford Energy Forum No.143 on Green Industrial Policy. James Henderson talks to Michal Meidan and Anders Hove about their thoughts on China’s position in the energy transition and the role of innovation as part of its green industrial strategy. In the first part of the podcast Michal outlines her thoughts on why China now sits at the heart of the global energy transition and how countries in the West could, and perhaps should, address the questions of China’s dominance in certain green technologies and the minerals required in their implementation. Anders Hove then considers how innovation, when linked with industrial policy, has played a major role in the rapid development of technologies in China, with technology transfer, local content rules and the use of government-supported pilot projects and industrial clusters all being used as part of the process. Anders discusses whether other countries can learn from this combination of strategies and Michal concludes with thoughts on how the West can avoid dependency on China while still pursuing ambitious climate goals.

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In this podcast Anders Hove talks to Tom Moerenhout and Victoria Barreto Vieira do Prado about how Latin American countries are navigating the geopolitics of clean energy supply chains.

Moerenhout and Vieira do Prado, scholars at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), discuss the challenges Latin American countries face in moving upstream from minerals extraction to higher-value parts of the supply chain. While most countries with critical minerals are seeking to localize processing or battery materials production, this is likely to prove difficult in practice. In particular, minerals processing and cathode or anode production are highly specialized fields, and depend heavily on access to key technologies and skills. However, there are reasons for optimism. The authors note that Latin American countries offer several advantages for Chinese, European and other clean energy players, in terms of stability and ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards, that could give them a leg up in attracting clean energy manufacturing.

This podcast is the second in a series on ‘Responding to the China challenge: Diversification and de-risking in new energy supply chains.’ Moerenhout and Vieira do Prado’s article, ‘Latin America’s Positioning in Critical Minerals Geopolitics,’ is available in the Oxford Energy Forum Issue 142 on our website.

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In this latest OIES podcast, brought to you by the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Jack Sharples and Anouk Honore about the analysis which they contributed to the latest Gas Quarterly, which is available on the OIES website. The podcast starts with a discussion of current pricing trends before moving on to consider key issues around gas supply via pipeline and LNG to the European market, in particular the impact of the shutting of the Ukraine transit route. Anouk then talks about the main drivers of European gas demand, with a particular focus on the increased volatility in gas demand in the power sector as a result of the expansion of renewables in the electricity system. Having then discussed industrial and residential demand, we turn back to Jack who looks at the current state of storage and expectations for the rest of winter, including the impact of gas demand in Asia. The podcast concludes with both fellow giving their views on the outlook for the remainder of 2025, looking at the overall global gas balance and reflecting on the fact that 2025 may well be the last year of tight gas supply before the anticipated wave of new LNG projects starts to arrive in 2026.

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In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price about some of the key themes that will influence energy markets in 2025. They start by discussing the potential impact of the arrival of President Donald Trump in the White House for a second term, focussing on likely geopolitical and economic outcomes and how they might affect energy markets. Following on from that theme they look at how US LNG might emerge as an even greater force in global gas markets and whether it may be used as a geopolitical tool. The discussion then moves onto the broader outlook for the gas market in 2025 and the likely direction of prices in a relatively tight market. The future of Russian gas, and the possibility of a return to Europe if the war in Ukraine ends this year, is another potentially important theme, while Russia’s interaction with the OPEC+ group will also be key. The podcast looks at the outlook for oil markets and considers the ability of OPEC to manage price volatility during the year, before moving onto the ever-growing influence of China as a major source of hydrocarbon demand but also as a driver of energy transition technology and development. This leads to a discussion about the role of China in energy diplomacy, particularly as the US has once again pulled out of the Paris Agreement, which more broadly raises the question as to whether the COP process can retain its influence, with COP30 being a critical marker when countries should confirm greater ambition to reduce emissions.

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In this latest podcast from the OIES China energy programme, Michal Meidan talks to Philip Andrews-Speed and Anders Hove about the policies and corporate strategies that have led to China’s centrality in new energy supply chains.

This podcast is the first in a series drawing on contributions to the December 2024 issue of the Oxford Energy Forum, Responding to the China challenge: Diversification and de-risking in new energy supply chains. The aim of the Forum was to unpack China’s dominance in new energy supply chains, assess how effective efforts to diversify away from China have been and think through the risks associated with dependency on China.

In this first episode, Michal, Philip and Anders discuss the China play book, both the policy support that the Chinese government has offered in mining and refining as well as the various commercial approaches of vertical integration and intense innovation.

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