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The energy transition is gaining momentum. For our Watt Matters series on Energy in 2030, we’ve seen growing interest in new ways to decarbonise our world and tackle climate change.

We’ve looked at carbon removals, industrial electrification, ground source heat pumps, and other innovations vital for transitioning our energy systems and economies to net zero emissions by 2050.

Across the series, energy efficiency has kept cropping up as a critical transition component, often underestimated but essential for reducing energy demand and enhancing system flexibility.

In the series's final instalment, the Watt Matters team reflect on the key takeaways from each episode, the need for tailored approaches and clear communication, and highlights the need for ongoing ambition to reach the world’s 2030 climate and energy targets.

Watt Matters will return for a new series in the Spring of 2025, so keep an eye out. And let us know what areas we should be talking about in the contribution section below. 

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Digitalisation holds big benefits for energy systems, including allowing more renewables to be integrated and providing a picture of what’s happening across the entire system without requiring any physical upgrades.

When it comes to asset management, digitalisation can help companies better understand assets like power plants and allow them to provide more information to their customers.

On this special episode of Watt Matters, recorded live at asset management company 3E’s SynaptiQ Connect Days conference, Kira is joined by a panel of experts to dive into the benefits these technologies can provide. 

Kira welcomes Werner Coppye, 3E’s co-founder and chief technology officer; Ludovica Rosato, digital transformation manager at renewables developer BayWa; and Margarida Correia Pires, head of business development at utility EDP to find out how it works and how to roll it out.

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Carbon removals technologies go beyond the more traditional carbon capture or tree-planting. They look at how to draw carbon directly out of the air so it can no longer cause the damaging greenhouse effect. 

Research into this area is ramping up, with a number of options on the table from Direct Air Capture to enhanced rock weathering. As with many aspects of the energy transition, the funding is growing but still the regulatory landscape is playing catch up.

Joining Watt Matters to discuss this emerging sector is Dr Steve Smith, executive director of Oxford Net Zero and CO2RE—the UK's national research hub on greenhouse gas removal—at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, part of the University of Oxford. 

Steve and the Watt Matters team examine where the sector stands today, what its impact could be in the 2030s, and whether it could risk becoming a distraction from carbon reduction efforts.

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Electrifying as many sectors as possible will play a significant role in reducing emissions to net zero by mid-century. 

While many industrial processes can be easily switched to an electricity-based system, some are proving more difficult. As 2030 approaches, efforts to electrify are accelerating, and many businesses are exploring electrification opportunities. 

In this episode of Watt Matters, Richard Hart, industry director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, joins David, Jan and Kira to discuss the low-hanging fruit of electrification that remains unutilised and how different industries can reach harder to decarbonise technologies in the next decade.

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We ask every guest who enters the Watt Matters studio to look into their crystal ball and give their vision of the energy sector in ten-to-twenty years. Their answers are often aspirational but always revealing.  

Many market observers provide their own visions for the future by publishing “scenarios” and “outlooks”. One thing they all have in common is showing the complexity of the energy transition.  

Rystad Energy’s latest forecast, Global Energy Scenarios 2024, tries to simplify the transition by highlighting the three key tasks for a successful energy transition: growing the clean power sector, increasing electrification, and addressing residual emissions. 

Jon Ødegård Hansen, vice president of energy systems research at Rystad Energy, joins David, Jan and Kira to talk about the three steps and how important scenarios like this are in the conversation around decarbonisation.

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By minimising our energy needs, we can accelerate our journey to net zero, making the energy transition not only quicker but also more affordable. 

The COP28 climate negotiations in 2023 saw the successful “triple-up, double-down” campaign, which included the promise to double the energy efficiency improvement rate by 2030. 

To discuss how to ensure energy efficiency remains a top priority for governments and businesses up to 2030 and beyond, our guest this week is Rob Murray-Leach, a founder and former CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council in Australia.

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Wind and solar energy tend to be the main focus when we talk about renewable energy, but geothermal energy also offers many benefits; it is a constant energy source and offers the potential to decarbonise heating and cooling.

Ground-source heat pumps take advantage of the heat underground and can support the transition away from gas boilers, reducing a building's carbon footprint and cutting down on energy costs.

For the third episode of this series, Tamsin Lishman, CEO of Kensa Group, which is rolling out ground source heat pumps in the United Kingdom, joins the Watt Matters team to discuss the benefits of the technology and what is needed to boost its use into the 2030s.

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The energy transition needs to happen across society, including in our homes. Big shifts are expected in consumer demand and the technology we use, including electric vehicles and heat pumps.

To make the transition a success, it’s key that these elements work in the real world, and that households are involved in the transition and experience the benefits of a decarbonised society.

For the second episode of this series, Lucy Yu from the Centre for Net Zero joins the Watt Matters team to discuss what changes we can expect in our homes and the research her team is doing into consumer behaviour trends.

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Last year’s COP28 climate conference saw some big pledges, including tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 and agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels. With COP29 and COP30 on the horizon, it’s important to look at what is needed in the run-up to 2030 to get the world on track to meet its energy and climate goals.

How will that change the way our world looks? And what can we expect the energy transition to look like in 2030? Over the next few weeks, the Watt Matters team will try to answer those questions.

For our first episode, Maria Pastukhova from climate think tank E3G joins the team to discuss why 2030 is such a crucial date, the role of international meetings, like the upcoming COP29 and COP30 meetings, and the world’s progress towards the COP28 goals.

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A circular approach, which disconnects economic activity from the ever-increasing consumption of natural resources, has emerged as a key strategy for making our societies more sustainable and helping mitigate the climate crisis.

Circularity is particularly important for our built environment, as construction and renovation sites alone currently generate over a third of the waste that ends up in Europe’s landfills.

EU figures also suggest that greenhouse gas emissions from material extraction, manufacturing of construction products, and the construction and renovation of buildings account for 5-12% of EU countries’ emissions.

Despite the environmental benefits of embracing circularity, the uptake of circular principles in the construction industry is sluggish.

In the second of our special live podcasts—recorded at our event on circularity in Brussels at the end of May 2024—the panel discusses the barriers to shifting to circularity in the construction sector and how they can be overcome.

Joining Sean Carroll on today’s episode are:

●     Philippe Moseley, Team Leader with the European Commission’s DG GROW

●     Adrian Hiel, Head of Campaigns and Media with Energy Cities

●     Julie Kjestrup, Head of Policy and Thought Leadership with the VELUX Group

Our thanks go to lead co-organiser ABB and our supporting organiser VELUX for making the event possible.

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