The second wave of the energy transition is already happening: Since 2022, developing countries have been rapidly ramping up their use of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. And the subsequent energy crisis of 2026 makes cleaner, electrified energy even more compelling. This episode explores how a surge of affordable, high quality clean tech is rewiring global energy; and why China is making all of this happen.

Guests: 

• Haneea Isaad (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, Pakistan) 
• Kyle Chan (Fellow at the John L. Thornton Center for China Studies, Brookings Institution; author of the newsletter, “High Capacity”)

Hosted by energy and climate finance expert Kate MacKenzie, and Tim Sahay from the net zero industrial policy lab at Johns Hopkins University. They co-author The Polycrisis newsletter, which explores connections between energy, geopolitics, climate change, finance and industry. 

• Produced by Sarah Allely
• Original music by Russell Stapleton
• Mixed by Bethany Stewart

Contact us at: [email protected]

This first season of The Polycrisis podcast tells the story of the clash between new and old energy regimes.

Just like other energy transitions before it, this is a geopolitical story - not a climate one. Developing countries are leapfrogging their wealthy counterparts by rapidly deploying cheap solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles imported from China. This gives them a low-cost supply that’s immune to wars and other disruptions. 

This energy transition is deeply connected to shifts taking place in the world, especially since the US-Israel attacks on Iran: the reconfiguration of world power, US-China rivalry and the deterioration of US hegemony. 

Hosted by energy and climate finance expert Kate MacKenzie, and Tim Sahay from the net zero industrial policy lab at Johns Hopkins University. They co-author The Polycrisis newsletter, which explores connections between energy, geopolitics, climate change, finance and industry. 

• Produced by Sarah Allely
• Original music by Russell Stapleton
• Mixed by Bethany Stewart

Contact us at: [email protected]

The Polycrisis Podcast original theme music. Composed by Russell Stapleton