The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) recently released a widely publicized report titled “The Climate Paradox”, which has garnered significant positive attention from outlets such as the Guardian, the BBC, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and much of the European press.

Beginning with the statement, “Climate action has reached an impasse,” the report, authored by Lindy Fursman (who holds a PhD in Sociology from UC Berkeley), outlines several key “facts” that have been effectively debunked by experts like Michael Liebreich in his Substack and Michael Barnard in Cleantechnica.

The TBI concludes with a series of recommendations, the most prominent being the call to “accelerate and scale technologies that capture carbon, alongside significant investments in engineered carbon-dioxide removal technologies, including direct air capture (DAC) solutions”. To emphasize this message, the cover of TBI’s report features an image of Climeworks’ plant in Iceland. Climeworks, a Swiss engineering company with 500 employees, has received $800 million in equity and subsidies from major players such as Partners Group, the GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund), Baillie Gifford (an early investor in Tesla), Swiss Re, and Microsoft.

However, last week, Climeworks faced a major setback when it was revealed that despite receiving substantial funding, the company had only captured 105 tonnes of CO2—not 105,000, but just 105 tonnes (less than a single flight London – New York) —despite the strong backing of tech giants like Stripe, Microsoft and Shopify.

This revelation has sparked widespread concern and warranted a prompt discussion with Laurent Segalen, Gerard Reid and Michael Barnard to assess the implications. The conversation will explore the credibility of the TBI’s stance on energy, the broader potential of DAC, and whether this technology is, in fact, a case of "Deception, Amateurism, and Con."

Links:
Michael Liebreich substack:
https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/why-tony-blair-needs-to-reset-his
Michael Barnard Cleantechnica
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/05/tony-blairs-new-climate-reset-report-promotes-delay-not-action/
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/15/climeworks-dac-fiscal-collapse-the-brutal-reality-of-pulling-carbon-from-the-sky/

KKR is a Private Equity giant whose involvement in the Energy/Infrastructure sector has grown bigger over the decades. Energy/Infrastructure investments now represents approx 10% of their global Asset under Management of c.700bnUSD.

KKR’s approach combines several strategies which are developed in different vehicles from run of the mill yield funds to more risky platforms. Since the beginning of the decade, KKR has invested billions in the acquisitions of assets in the sector (Zenobe, Avantus, Albioma, Contour Global, Actis, Ignis, SMS, Acciona, Encavis, EGC, Eni biofuels) plus a special agreement to develop AI with ECP.

Laurent and Gerard have the pleasure and privilege to invite Emmanuel Lagarrigue, Partner and co-head of Global Climate at KKR, who co-runs this global effort. Prior joining KKR in 2022, Emmanuel had a 27 years stellar career at Schneider Electric where he ended up leading the Group Strategy. Under his tenure, Schneider Electric’s shares grew tenfold.

What is KKR’s strategy, how can it provide returns in this volatile environment, how to foster synergies inside its portfolio, where are the next big trends they are looking at? Emmanuel also discusses how private markets and public markets differ when it comes to asset valuations, how to deal with volatility, how much energy growth will be triggered by datacenters and finally what he thinks about Hydrogen and ”Green Premiums”.

A ”tour de force” from one of the most prominent Energy investor on the planet.

On one hand, tariffs are causing significant disruption in the global automotive industry. On the other, the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to surge, seemingly unaffected. According to the latest Q1 2025 data from Rho Motion, 4.1 million EVs were sold globally in Q1 2025—a 29% year-over-year increase compared to Q1 2024. Growth is particularly strong in China (+36%), followed by Europe (+22%) and North America (+16%).

To help make sense of these opposing dynamics—and to assess which OEMs are likely to lead or fall behind—Laurent and Gerard have brought in a top-tier expert: Michael J. Dunne. Michael is the CEO of Dunne Insights LLC, a San Diego-based firm specializing in electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and battery supply chains. With over three decades of experience, Michael has held prominent roles including President of General Motors Indonesia and Managing Director of JD Power China. He is also the author of American Wheels, Chinese Roads (2011), and the host of the podcast Driving With Dunne.

Key Insights from Our Conversation:

• China: BYD reigns supreme, followed by legacy brands, tech giants, and emerging players.
• Japan: Toyota, the shogun of the market, stands tall—while the rest struggle to keep up.
• Korea: A tale of strong potential under threat.
• Germany: VW appears stuck in reverse, Mercedes feels increasingly "Chinese," and BMW navigates a narrow path.
• USA: Stellantis, Ford, and GM—industries in limbo, often described as “zombies.”
• The Wild Card: Tesla. With Elon at the helm, anything is possible—genius or chaos.

Across all regions, we forecast who the likely winners are, who may barely survive, and who seem destined for the dustbin of history.

Laurent and Gerard sit down for an in-depth (and at times fiery) conversation with Ben Backwell, Chair of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), to unpack the current state of the wind industry. Ben joins from Brazil, where preparations for COP30 are already underway.

As GWEC has just released its flagship Global Wind Report 2025—a must-read for anyone serious about the energy transition—they reflect on wind power’s progress. While the sector has continued to grow, it's been outpaced by solar and storage, grappling with supply chain bottlenecks, technical hurdles, and an all-out culture war driven by fossil fuel interests and political headwinds.

The discussion covers the recent struggles of the U.S. offshore wind sector.

We also dive into China’s meteoric rise, now dominating two-thirds of the global wind market with players like Goldwind, Envision, Windey, and Mingyang—now surpassing Western stalwarts such as Vestas, Siemens Energy, and GE Vernova.

Despite the noise and negativity—what Laurent refers to as “the enemies of freedom”—there’s reason to stay hopeful. Wind remains a cornerstone of clean, secure, and locally sourced energy in many regions.

Check out the full Global Wind Report 2025 from GWEC here: https://www.gwec.net/reports/globalwindreport

There's been a great deal of excitement and curiosity surrounding the idea of a Transatlantic Interconnector. So, as co-founders, Laurent Segalen, Gerard Reid and Simon Ludlam have decided to release a special episode to bring our listeners up to speed on where things currently stand.

While we can’t dive into our discussions with governments and system operators—those are protected by NDAs—rest assured, those conversations are very much underway, as you might expect. To put this episode together, we have brought in a range of perspectives:

• First, you'll hear an excerpt from a conversation with John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, on the Aurora Unplugged podcast last October, where he discusses the potential of ultra-long interconnectors.
• Next, we feature an interview with Laurent on the Jolts podcast from this February.
• That’s followed by a deep dive into the technical aspects with Cornelis Plet, Global Head of HVDC at DNV.
• We then explore the legal landscape with Silke Goldberg, partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and one of the world’s foremost legal experts in this area.
• And finally, we wrap up with a conversation between the three co-founders, where Simon Ludlam lays out the key steps ahead in the coming months and Gerard engages with investors.

We hope this gives you a clearer picture of what has been accomplished so far—and what lies ahead on this ambitious journey.

A lot of information, reports and data are available on www.nato-l.org

As we start receiving data for the year 2024 in terms of Energy Production and Consumption, it is time to have a forensic analysis of the global Energy Complex in 2024.

Last month we had the always comprehensive IEA Global Energy Review, and now to go deep into Electrification, we just received the Ember's sixth Global Electricity Review. We brought in two of its three authors: Dr Katye Altieri and Nicolas Fulghum to discuss the main finding. We’re sorry Euan Graham, the third author, could not join.

Here are the key findings:

• Electricity growth is twice as fast as Energy Growth
• The world electricity consumption grew by the size of Japan (last decade it was annually the size of Brazil)
• 80% of that additional demand is met by renewables
• Demand drive is led by Cooling, Heating, Transportation and Datacenters
• World surpasses 40% clean power as renewables (incl. hydro and nuclear) see record rise
• Solar is the main driver of renewables growth, with generation doubling in three years 

And more findings in this comprehensive episode.

Thank you, Ember Energy.
Link to the report: https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2025/

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Other reports mentioned during the show:
IEA Report: https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2025
IRENA Report: https://www.irena.org/Publications/2025/Mar/Renewable-capacity-statistics-2025

Capitalizing on the Infrastructure giants’ Blind Spots: How can a specialised PE fund thrive under the new US Administration?

The Energy Transition encompasses more than just power and AI. We have chosen to explore the niche yet crucial areas of waste gas, biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and emissions capture.

At the heart of this journey is Cresta, a $2 billion specialist fund positioned at the intersection of Private Equity and Infrastructure. Chris Rozzell, the fund's Managing Partner, shares insights on how a fund focused on industrial sectors can thrive in underappreciated sub-sectors like mid-stream infrastructure—areas often overlooked by larger, more traditional funds.

By adopting a strategy akin to a scavenger's approach, Cresta has capitalized on these opportunities. Chris also discusses the impact of the new US administration on his investment thesis and why choosing the Zag when everyone else is choosing the Zig has proven to be highly profitable.

While the Energy Transition is multifaceted, it is also fraught with blind spots. Cresta stands as a prime example of how industrial expertise can drive meaningful decarbonization efforts.

The discussion in this podcast is for informational purposes and should not be relied on as investment advice or an offer to sell or a solicitation for an offer to buy any securities. Any opinions expressed are those of the speaker and are subject to change. Listeners should not make investment decisions based solely on the information in this podcast.

Early March, Gerard and Laurent were invited by the Cambridge University Energy Technology Society (CUETS) for a live session of Redefining Energy.

In front of hundreds of attentive students, they had a comprehensive debate with Pr. David Cebon about the Electrification of Trucks. What are the issues (technical, economic) and what are the proposed solutions from Electric roads to batteries?

We enjoyed sharing with an enthusiastic crowd at St John's College, Cambridge and give a special thanks to Max Krefting for the flawless organisation.  

A memorable evening for all participants.

The XXIst century economy will be powered by 'critical minerals' such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earths. China has spent the past 20 years building a dominant position across the supply chain for these metals.

The rest of the world is finally waking up to the economic and geopolitical challenges that this presents and is actively trying to secure the supplies of critical minerals by creating non-Chinese supply chains.

Gerard and Laurent sat down with Richard Tite, Chief Investment Officer of TechMet, a critical minerals investment company that is partially owned by the U.S. Government through a series of equity investments by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). TechMet’s portfolio currently includes 10 projects across North America, South America, Africa, and Europe, that produce, process, and recycle critical minerals.

How does it work? What are the costs? Can China be countered? Does it succeed?

Are Critical Minerals truly critical? They are certainly polarizing.

Laurent welcomes Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric, to discuss Energy Security, Resilience and Flexibility though the impact of E-Mobility.

Energy Security has become a critical issue, especially with the recent sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea by Russian and Chinese vessels, extreme weather events knocking out a third of the Irish Grid, and Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Kristian shares the story of his harrowing visit to a power plant in Ukraine, where DTEK engineers are bravely working through air raids every day to keep the lights on. The conversation expands to cover all aspects of Energy Security as we enter the Age of Electricity, exploring both cyber and physical measures that can be taken to protect energy systems.

The discussion also touches on the latest advancements in E-Mobility, including how Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology can provide additional security and offer consumers a chance to earn more revenue.

Eurelectric represents a strong, forward-thinking industry that exemplifies resilience and solidarity in the face of challenges.  

Join us at Power Summit Brussels 3 and 4 June to discuss those topics and many others
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