Podcasts about Renewable energy

Tech companies are working with the fossil fuel industry to push unnecessary data center projects while misrepresenting the climate impact — and governments are letting it all happen. Ketan Joshi joins Paris Marx to discuss how the data center buildout is driving a surge in fossil fuel investment, and how it's all playing out in Australia.Ketan Joshi is a climate writer and data analyst based in Oslo working with climate and environmental groups.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.Also mentioned in this episode:Click here to get your first month of Proton Mail for just $1.Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at hyperscalebook.com.Ketan wrote a report on how Big Tech is greenwashing their destructive climate impacts.Ketan worked with Greenpeace to put out a report on how NVIDIA is greenwashing to hide their climate impacts.Ketan worked with Greenpeace on a report that explores how Australia's data center buildout is completely derailing their renewable energy transition.Support the show

Get in touch - leave me a messageFor years, renewable natural gas had a basic problem in heavy-duty trucking: it lacked a 15-litre engine capable of doing the work fleets expect from diesel. That barrier is disappearing. The harder question now is whether the economics and infrastructure stack up.My guest is Scott Brinner, Executive Vice President of RNG Solutions at NoPetro Energy, who works across RNG production, fuelling and fleet deployment. We look at the real decision facing operators: can fuel savings overcome a $70,000–$90,000 truck premium without creating new operational risk?We examine why high-mileage, return-to-base fleets may be the strongest early fit, what fuelling and maintenance infrastructure can quietly derail adoption, and why the climate case depends on feedstock, methane leakage and lifecycle accounting—not the label on the pump. We also test where RNG belongs alongside battery-electric trucking rather than treating every route as the same problem.Listen now to understand where renewable natural gas can genuinely work in heavy-duty trucking—and what fleets need to prove before scaling it.Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

Clarence Ford joined by Lester Kiewit host a roundtable discussion with environmental activist Liziwe McDaid, Save a Fishie founder Zoë Prinsloo and UCT’s Dr Kevin Winter about Cape Town’s climate future, from water security and extreme heat to flooding, biodiversity, coastal erosion and the city’s environmental challenges. Views and News with Clarence Ford is the mid-morning show on CapeTalk. This 3-hour-long programme shares and reflects a broad array of perspectives. It is inspirational, passionate and positive. Host Clarence Ford’s gentle curiosity and dapper demeanour leave listeners feeling motivated and empowered. Known for his love of jazz and golf, Clarrie covers a range of themes including relationships, heritage and philosophy. Popular segments include Barbs’ Wire at 9:30 am (Mon-Thurs) and The Naked Scientist at 9:30 on Fridays. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Views & News with Clarence Ford Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 09:00 and 12:00 (SA Time) to Views and News with Clarence Ford broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show, go to https://buff.ly/erjiQj2 or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/BdpaXRn Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate Week in New York was supposed to be about climate. Instead, the conversation kept being pulled back to energy security, resilience and the growing sense that the world has entered a more volatile era. Conflict in the Middle East, drone attacks on critical infrastructure, the weaponisation of energy supply, and the surge in power demand from AI are all forcing policymakers, companies and investors to ask a harder question: how do you build an energy system that can absorb shocks without pushing costs even higher for consumers?In this special live edition of Energy Gang, recorded at NYU, host Ed Crooks is joined by regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe and three guests with very different vantage points on that question: Neil Brown, managing director at KKR; Anna Shpitsberg, Wood Mackenzie's head of global power and renewables research; and Sarah Kapnick, global head of climate advisory at JPMorgan. Together they explore how geopolitics, technology and climate risk are colliding to reshape the energy agenda.Neil argues that the attacks on Gulf infrastructure mark a strategic break with the past: energy systems are no longer exposed only to familiar market risks, but to cheaper, more agile forms of disruption that can inflict outsized damage. He makes the case that the Gulf states have shown real resilience through defence spending, sovereign capital and economic diversification, but warns that the deeper problem is political. In his view, the prospect of a durable settlement in the region looks remote, raising the risk that energy markets are entering a prolonged era of instability rather than a temporary shock.Sarah and Anna widen the lens. Sarah argues that resilience now means more than access to fuel: it means the ability to keep supplying energy through geopolitical, technological and climate volatility. Anna points to Ukraine's experience to show why distributed systems can recover faster than large centralised assets, while also stressing that resilience is not the same as self-sufficiency. Building a more secure system may require domestic capacity, strategic partnerships, industrial policy and a willingness to pay for optionality at a time when affordability pressures are already intense.That tension runs through the whole discussion. AI and data-centre growth are lifting electricity demand, but no one is certain how fast that demand will materialise, how efficient future computing will become, or where investment should land first. The result is a more complex energy system with fewer easy answers: decentralisation can reduce single points of failure but create new cyber risks; trade policy can support domestic manufacturing but raise prices; and climate policy becomes much harder to sustain when voters no longer feel they can afford the transition. The stakes, the panel argues, are no longer just about decarbonisation in the abstract, but about whether energy systems can stay secure, investable and politically durable in a more dangerous world.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Live from WindEnergy Hamburg! Alfredo Perez from Hitachi Energy shares insights on the global and European offshore wind grid challenges, the importance of grid infrastructure, and the future of renewable energy integration.Key Topics- European offshore wind grid development- Hitachi Energy's technological innovations- Global regional differences in renewable energy- Challenges in permitting and community engagement- Storage and transmission solutions for renewable energy- Security and resilience in energy infrastructureGWEC's Offshore Wind Podcast is hosted by Stewart Mullin, GWEC's Chief Industry Officer, and Rebecca Williams, GWEC's Deputy CEO, who leads on all GWEC's Offshore Wind work.The podcast, or 'show' as Stewart still likes to call it, features leading voices from across the sector, whether that is large OEMs, key supply chain manufacturers or political leaders driving policy, to talk about how we can all work together to deliver on offshore wind's enormous potential.Follow Stewart on LinkedIn hereFollow Rebecca on LinkedIn here and Instagram hereFollow GWEC on LinkedIn here and Instagram here

Travis Kavulla, the new CEO and administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, talks with Steve Ernst and Abigail Sawyer about regional market-choice considerations as he recently laid out in a letter to the Regional Organization for Western Energy; his plans for accelerating the expansion of BPA transmission; load and resource pairing; his preparation and philosophy for leading the federal power-marketing agency; and, of course, salmon and tribal relations.

Joseph J. Romm (1960–2026) was an MIT-trained physicist who became one of the most prominent voices in the U.S. climate movement after serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy in the 1990s.  He founded the Climate Progress blog, authored ten books—including The Hype About Hydrogen and Hell and High Water—and was named a Time “Hero of the Environment” and one of Rolling Stone's “100 People Who Are Changing America” in 2009.  Later, as a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media, Romm continued to challenge what he regarded as dead-end technologies and costly distractions, including hydrogen, carbon offsets, and carbon capture.   Romm died unexpectedly at the age of 66 on September 14, 2026, in Washington, D.C.  Michael Barnard and Joe shared a long history of friendship and collaboration, strengthened by a memorable conversation 18 months ago following the release of the second edition of Joe's seminal book, The Hype About Hydrogen.  That conversation between Joe and Michael was a fascinating and uniquely candid dialogue about the real solutions to climate change—and about technologies they believed risked diverting attention and investment from more effective pathways, including hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCS), direct air carbon capture (DAC), and some proposed approaches to green steel.Joe had an extraordinary influence on the climate and energy-transition debate over the past three decades. His rigorous analysis, willingness to challenge conventional wisdom, and ability to communicate complex energy issues shaped the way many of us think about the transition to a clean-energy economy.  He will be deeply missed. He will not be forgotten.  

Gugs Mhlungu speaks to Rapeleng Ramatlhodi, Founder and CEO of Solarev Solutions, about building an innovative solar maintenance business during COVID-19 after identifying a gap in the market for solar panel cleaning and maintenance. They discuss her journey as an entrepreneur and how she has built a successful business in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Thank you for listening to a podcast from 702 Weekend Breakfast with Gugs Mhlungu. Listen live on Primedia+ on Saturdays and Sundays from 06:00 and 10:00 (SA Time) to Weekend Breakfast with Gugs Mhlungu broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/u3Sf7Zy or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/BIXS7AL Subscribe to the 702 daily and weekly newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As AI demand continues to grow, so does the public scrutiny of the data centres that provide it. With more data centres being built to meet that demand, running these facilities efficiently has never been more important. Communities are also increasingly asking what impact this infrastructure will have on local resources, while misinformation and conflicting claims around the topic can make it difficult to separate fact from fiction.This week on Technology Now, Andrew DesRochers, Principal Technologist for Sustainable Transformation at HPE, joins the show to discuss: The importance that geography has on the efficiency of data centresHow cooling techniques are evolving to meet AI demandsWhy it's necessary for IT companies to foster a transparent relationship with the publicWhat the next generation of data centres might look like

Nosipho Radebe speaks to Amos Wemanya, Senior Advisor, on Renewable Energy & Just Transition at Power Shift AfricaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A fresh shock to global energy markets has pushed an old question back to the center of the climate debate: When supplies tighten and prices rise, do governments double down on the transition, or reach for the fastest fossil fix? From the Strait of Hormuz to rising demand for cooling, the pressure is no longer just about fuel availability. It is about whether power systems can stay secure and affordable while demand keeps climbing and decarbonisation deadlines get closer.In this special Climate Week NYC episode, host Ed Crooks is joined by Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Kayte O'Neill, chief executive of the UK's National Energy System Operator (NESO), and David Calabrese, Executive Vice President at Daikin US Corporation. Together, they test whether efficiency, electrification and long-term system planning can offer a credible response to a crisis that is global, political and increasingly shaped by both AI and air-conditioning demand.Damilola argues that the discussion cannot be reduced to a rich-world debate about prices and reliability. Nearly 600 million people still lack access to electricity, and 2.4 billion do not have access to clean cooking. In that context, the real risk is not simply a temporary return to fossil fuels in advanced economies, but a much larger lock-in of diesel and petrol generation across emerging markets. Her case is that energy access and energy transition have to move together, supported by integrated national plans, targeted finance and more support for clean distributed systems such as solar, storage and inverters.Kayte makes the case that decarbonisation and system reliability are not competing goals if the grid is planned properly. She points to the UK's progress in moving away from coal, its high share of renewable generation, and the growing importance of demand flexibility as new loads arrive. With data centres and cooling demand reshaping power curves, the question is not only how much new generation gets built, but how intelligently demand can respond. David brings that argument down to the appliance level, arguing that heat pumps, inverter compressors and more efficient cooling systems can cut energy use while also helping the grid by acting as flexible load rather than blunt spikes in demand.What ties the discussion together is a shared insistence that the short term cannot be separated from the long term. Crisis management that relies only on more supply risks entrenching the very vulnerabilities the energy transition is supposed to solve. But a clean system will not build itself: it needs policy support, workforce training, flexibility, and capital that reaches the places where future demand growth will be greatest. That is the real stakes question for policymakers now, not whether to choose between security, affordability and net zero, but whether they can still design systems that deliver all three.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Farm margins are tight, but there are still programs designed to help producers invest in energy efficiency and infrastructure. Bethany from GDS Associates says EQIP continues to fund projects, while REAP had been paused as changes were made under the new administration. At the time of the interview, GDS said they were hearing REAP was expected to reopen in the fall.One of the biggest takeaways is understanding the difference between the programs—and not starting too soon. With EQIP, Bethany advises producers not to change anything until they've received approval. REAP can offer more flexibility once a complete application is officially in the system. EQIP generally works from a defined list of eligible energy improvements, while REAP can accommodate a broader range of projects and technologies.Those projects can include everything from high-efficiency grain dryers and replacing PTO augers with electric grain legs to dump pits, dairy robots, manure systems, poultry barn improvements, solar, wind, digesters, and geothermal. GDS stresses that not every technology makes financial sense on every farm, so the first step should be evaluating the economics rather than chasing a grant simply because money may be available.GDS also provides energy audits, feasibility work, and grant writing. Before a farmer spends the money to pursue an application, the team can use USDA's scoring process to estimate how competitive the project may be. In several states, GDS says it even has funding available to provide some of these services at no cost. The goal is simple: determine whether the project makes financial sense, identify available assistance, and help farmers keep more money in their operation. Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/Farm4Profit Media is not a financial, legal, or tax advisor. Content is provided for informational purposes only, and we serve solely as a platform for third-party opinions. Any actions taken based on this content are at your own risk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For all the recent negative news surrounding renewable energy in the US, the reality is that in 2025, around 80% of the new power generation that came online globally was renewable. But to encourage global players to participate in that market for renewables, you need a rigorous system of verification, and a stable modern marketplace. That's where today's company comes in.John Melby is the CEO of Xpansiv, the world's largest registry platform for renewable energy and carbon. John is an accomplished leader in energy and environmental markets, with over two decades of experience driving innovation in renewable carbon, natural gas, and power markets. John joins us for an in-depth discussion on the current state of power generation, and how Xpansiv's platform is facilitating the growth of renewables. Highlights:John's experience with energy markets (2:24)The opportunity for Xpansiv (3:44)Xpansiv's slate of services (5:05)Shifting energy consumption (6:22)Importance of registry infrastructure (9:05)Xpansiv's power business (11:39)Partnership with Constellation (13:56)Asia's role in the energy transition (15:25)Xpansiv's acquisition strategy (18:06)The evolving role of AI (20:48)Outlook for Renewables in the US (22:45)What's success for Xpansiv? (28:06)Links:John Melby LinkedInXpansiv LinkedInXpansiv WebsiteICR LinkedInICR TwitterICR WebsiteFeedback:If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, joe@lowerstreet.co

What should young, beginning and small producers know before signing a renewable energy lease?On this episode of Brownfield's Next Gen Podcast, Kellan Heavican and Erin Anderson talk with Laura Priest of the Center for Rural Affairs about what farmers and landowners need to know when considering wind and solar lease agreements.Laura walks through the process from the initial conversation with a developer to site evaluations, negotiations and the final lease. She also explains what producers should consider when it comes to payment structures, lease length, succession planning, land use, agrivoltaics and protecting the farm for the next generation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Colombia's power system was built around a powerful advantage: abundant hydropower backed by domestic gas, delivering electricity that was relatively cheap, relatively clean, and largely local. But that model is coming under pressure from two directions at once. Climate volatility is making dry years more dangerous, and gas is no longer the easy fallback it once was. As a potentially severe El Niño approaches, the central question is no longer just how much installed capacity the country has on paper. It is whether the system has enough firm, flexible energy to meet rising demand without driving up prices or risking shortages.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Álvaro Villasante, Vice President of Business Management and Innovation at Grupo Energía Bogotá, to examine how that shift is changing the energy debate in Colombia. Their core argument is that hydropower remains a strategic strength, but it can no longer be treated as a sufficient foundation on its own. As gas production declines and imports become more important, the backup system is getting more expensive and more exposed, turning what used to be a relatively stable balance between hydro and thermal generation into a more fragile equation shaped by infrastructure, timing, and security of supply.A large part of the discussion focuses on what can realistically be done before the next stress event arrives. Álvaro argues that long-term renewables auctions are directionally right, but they do little to solve an immediate risk window running through 2026 and 2027. In the near term, the priorities are more practical: manage reservoirs carefully, accelerate gas-import infrastructure, and treat demand response and energy efficiency as system tools rather than side issues. The broader lesson comes from Brazil, where a more diversified generation mix and stronger transmission buildout have made it easier to move power across regions and absorb volatility, offering a useful contrast for a Colombian system still trying to catch up on grid investment.The episode also broadens the conversation beyond market design and megawatts. Álvaro makes the case that energy security is ultimately about people: whether infrastructure reaches communities, whether electricity remains affordable, and whether reliable access is treated as a development priority rather than an abstract policy goal. The takeaway is that Colombia's next energy challenge will not be solved by one technology alone. It will be decided by how quickly the country can move from discussion to execution on gas, transmission, renewables, storage, and demand-side measures before climate pressure exposes the full cost of delay.You can learn more about the solar schools Alvaro speaks about in this episode here: https://www.grupoenergiabogota.com/actualidad-geb/comunicados-2022/aulas-solares-interactivas-apuesta-de-innovacion-del-geb-para-cerrar-brechas This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Victoria has become the latest state to nail its colours to the mast with a set of restrictions controlling the rollout of new data centres. 

In this episode, Gil Jenkins and Guy Van Syckle speak with John Hensley, Senior Vice President – Markets and Policy Analysis for the American Clean Power Association (ACP). We dig into how clean energy manufacturing is powering a new chapter of economic prosperity, exploring the industry's rapid growth in facilities, the economic impact on communities, workforce development challenges, supply chain progress, the role of the 45X tax credit, and where the industry is headed by 2030.Links: John Hensley LinkedIn America Builds Power: The State of Clean Energy Manufacturing 2026Episode recorded June 26, 2026. Email your feedback to Gil, Guy, Hilary, and Kenny at climatepositive@hasi.com.

In this episode of Energy Newsbeat, host Stu Turley and energy industry expert Rey Trevino tackle the perfect storm facing America's energy sector. With diesel prices hitting record highs, critical refineries offline, and geopolitical tensions threatening global oil supplies, the hosts dissect nine major energy stories that reveal how decades of regulatory missteps and policy failures have created a cascading crisis. From the Midwest refinery collapse to California's self-inflicted energy disaster, from Federal Reserve blunders to Iranian cyber threats, this conversation exposes the complex web of decisions—and indecisions—that have left the nation vulnerable. Whether you're concerned about fuel costs, grid reliability, or America's long-term energy security, this episode provides essential context on why energy dominance must start at home.1. U.S. Diesel & Fuel CrisisThe episode opens with the critical diesel shortage affecting the nation. Key points include:National retail diesel prices hitting all-time highs near $6.40/gallonCalifornia diesel prices exceeding $8.30/gallon due to state regulationsThe Exxon Mobil Joliet refinery in Illinois remaining offline after a power outage, exacerbating supply issuesDistillate inventory problems, particularly on the U.S. East Coast2. Refinery Capacity & Regional DisparitiesDiscussion of refinery utilization across different PAD (Petroleum Administration for Defense) regions:Midwest refineries running at 100% capacityCalifornia's policy-driven energy costs creating a competitive disadvantageSeven of California's refineries slated to closeThe need for $10-100 million in repairs per refinery nationwide3. Federal Reserve Policy MistakesCriticism of the Fed's recent rate hike:Treating a supply shock as a demand problemHistorical parallels to 1973 and 1997-99 recessions triggered by similar policy errorsConcerns about triggering another recession4. Russian Sanctions & Global Oil MarketsComplex geopolitical energy implications:Russia's oil supply to China and South KoreaProposed sanctions potentially disrupting global refining capacityImpact on Ukraine-Russia peace negotiationsThe need to delay sanctions to address the domestic diesel crisis5. Oil & Gas Permitting DisparitiesStark differences in regulatory environments:Texas: 4 days to obtain drilling permits, 3,232 permits issuedColorado: 450 days for permits, only 335 permits issuedCalifornia: 1,853 permits but severe regulatory barriersImpact on oil production despite high oil prices ($100+ WTI)6. Renewable Energy & Subsidy IssuesEurope's largest independent solar operator declaring bankruptcySubsidy programs ending, creating market instabilityComparison of environmental liabilities between renewables and oil/gas7. Iran Cyber Threats & Maritime SecurityIranian hacking attempts on oil tankers approaching U.S. coastlinesU.S. Coast Guard and FBI boarding a crude carrier in the Gulf of MexicoConcerns about American maritime security and shipbuilding capacity8. Canada's Energy Policy & Economic ImpactCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's negotiations with ChinaJob losses in Canadian manufacturing (81,800 already lost)Critical importance of Canadian oil sands to U.S. energy securityWithout Canadian oil, U.S. diesel prices could reach $12/gallon9. Power Grid Strain & Energy InfrastructureHeat waves stressing North American power grids for 100+ million peopleNatural gas providing 40% of U.S. grid powerERCOT (Texas grid) near-miss blackout incidentFive-year wait times for new gas turbinesRecommendations for backup power systems10. Global Food Security20% of world's grain sourced from Black Sea regionUkraine-Russia conflict disrupting grain supplies through drone strikesThe podcast emphasizes that these interconnected energy challenges stem from 50+ years of poor policy decisions and regulatory overreach, particularly in states like California and Colorado, which are driving up consumer costs and reducing domestic production capacity.At Energy News Beat, we Make Appendices Great Again.Check out the World's Greatest Podcast Show Notes at EnergyNewsBeat.co or EnergyNewsBeat.com, and the Energy News Beat Substack at: https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling, and we use their tools for the Energy News Beat weekly Rig Reports: https://welldatabase.com/Also entering Sponsor Rey Trevino, Pecos Operating https://pecos.energy/

As federal support for climate action in the US is cut back, a difficult question is coming into focus: what happens to clean-energy projects that still make economic sense, but no longer have Washington behind them? For low-income communities in particular, this is not just a policy story. It is about electricity bills, resilience during storms and heatwaves, access to financing, and whether practical projects such as solar, storage, and efficiency upgrades can still get built.Host Ed Crooks is joined by Amir Kirkwood, Chief Executive of the Justice Climate Fund, and Melanie Allen, Chief Executive of the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. Together, they explain how a network of community lenders, philanthropies, green banks and local partners is trying to keep momentum alive even as federal climate funding is frozen, litigated or wound back.A central theme of the conversation is that the real constraint is not just ideology or even demand for clean energy, but the structure of finance. Amir argues that many community projects do not need breakthrough technology so much as access to affordable capital and better risk sharing. His case is that catalytic tools such as credit enhancements, loan-loss reserves and blended capital can still unlock much larger pools of private investment, even if they cannot fully replace the scale of federal support that the Inflation Reduction Act was meant to provide.Melanie brings that argument down to ground level with examples of what those projects look like in practice. In Texas, local “hub homes” equipped with solar panels and batteries are giving neighbourhoods places to charge phones, run medical devices and stay cool during outages. In North Carolina, a stalled solar project for a wastewater facility was revived through a mix of local partnership and creative financing. In Georgia, a church cut its monthly energy bill sharply after installing solar, storage and EV charging. Across those examples, the point is the same: in many communities, clean energy is advancing less as an abstract climate commitment than as a practical answer to affordability, reliability and local resilience.That tension between climate ambition and kitchen-table economics runs through the entire discussion. Both guests argue that people move first for pocketbook reasons, and that the strongest case for these investments is often lower bills, stronger community institutions and better protection against system shocks. The politics may have changed in Washington, but the local need for cheaper, more reliable energy has not. In that sense, the conversation suggests that the next phase of US climate action may be driven less by federal grants and more by the ability to assemble credible local deals that solve several problems at once.But Melanie and Amir are also clear-eyed about the limits of that approach. Philanthropy can be catalytic, not substitutive. Tax-credit changes, direct-pay deadlines and higher supply-chain costs are all making projects harder to close. The question, then, is whether this emerging blend of community finance and private capital can keep enough projects moving to prove the model at scale. What is at stake is not only the pace of decarbonisation, but whether the benefits of the energy transition will still reach the communities that need them most.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For years, renewable energy companies have faced a problem: How to store the mass amounts of energy they produce for later use. Batteries may be just the solution. In California, there's now enough grid-scale battery storage to power millions of homes for a few hours. Battery power is often the second largest source of energy on a given day in the state. So, we're revisiting the fast-growing technology with Cooper Katz McKim, a producer on The Indicator from Planet Money.Listen to the three-part battery series.Have questions about the future of energy? Contact us at shortwave@npr.org. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show's perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Michael Thomas is the founder and CEO of Cleanview, a data and research platform tracking more than 10,000 clean energy projects and thousands of data center projects across the country. Back for his third appearance on Inevitable, Thomas has spent the past year investigating the explosive growth of AI infrastructure and the increasingly extreme measures companies are taking to get power online.In this episode of Inevitable, Thomas explains how the AI boom has transformed the data center market and why companies are increasingly building their own power generation rather than waiting years for grid interconnection. He breaks down the rise of off-grid and “behind-the-meter” data centers, including xAI's Colossus, Meta's rapid-deployment data centers, and Amazon's massive natural gas project in Texas.The conversation also explores the economics driving the race to power, the environmental and political backlash against data centers, and whether building gas generation today will accelerate or undermine the transition to cleaner energy. Thomas shares what his research reveals about electricity prices, water use, local pollution, and the growing public distrust of Big Tech.Finally, Thomas discusses the tension between AI growth, U.S. competitiveness, and climate goals—and why he sees providing objective information about these projects as one of the most important roles he can play.Episode recorded on September 2, 2026 (Published on September 16, 2026) Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Get in touch - leave me a messageBuilding more renewable generation is not enough if the grid cannot carry the electricity to where it is needed. Curtailment, connection queues and delayed infrastructure are turning grid capacity into a climate and competitiveness constraint.My guest today is Niklas Persson, CEO of Grid Integration at Hitachi Energy, with nearly three decades in electrification. We look at what happens as industry, transport and data centres demand more clean power while transmission infrastructure, permitting and grid connections struggle to keep pace.We examine why the grid may need to arrive before demand is certain, how interconnectors can reduce the cost of resilience, and whether energy independence could actually require greater cross-border interdependence. We also explore HVDC, the 600 MW ELMED link between Tunisia and Italy, and a harder policy question: when grid capacity is scarce, who should get connected first?Listen now to understand why electricity generation is only half the decarbonisation challenge, and what has to change if clean power is actually going to reach the businesses, vehicles and communities that need it.Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

Euronext Sustainability Week runs Sept. 14-18 under the title 'Building resilience in a changing world.' All Things Sustainable is the official podcast and in bonus episodes throughout this week, we're talking to CEOs of Euronext-listed companies to understand what that looks like in practice.  In today's episode, we talk with EnergyVision Founder and CEO Maarten Michielssens. EnergyVision is a Belgian renewable energy company listed on Euronext's Brussels exchange, and Maarten outlines the company's goal to make it easier for customers to transition to renewable energy. He describes a business model — producing renewable energy from solar, wind and hydropower and combining it with battery storage, affordable energy contracts and charging networks for electric vehicles — that he says helps keep electricity prices predictable for customers.  "More than 75% of the energy that we sell comes from our own assets. These assets don't respond to market prices, so we can keep our price stable," he says.  This stability has become increasingly relevant in the face of global conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war and conflict in the Middle East. For most customers, Maarten says the decision to transition away from fossil fuels comes down to cost.   "The combination of renewable energy — which is the cheapest energy — and this obsession for customer satisfaction means that we scale fast, that we are profitable," he says.    Listen to bonus Euronext Sustainability Week episodes:  Why resilience is the buzzword as Euronext Sustainability Week kicks off | S&P Global  S&P Global Sustainable1 is a member of the Euronext Sustainable Network,  Copyright ©2026 by S&P Global  DISCLAIMER  By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk.   Any unauthorized use, facilitation or encouragement of a third party's unauthorized use (including without limitation copy, distribution, transmission or modification, use as part of generative artificial intelligence or for training any artificial intelligence models) of this Podcast or any related information is not permitted without S&P Global's prior consent subject to appropriate licensing and shall be deemed an infringement, violation, breach or contravention of the rights of S&P Global or any applicable third-party (including any copyright, trademark, patent, rights of privacy or publicity or any other proprietary rights).   This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.  S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.

The pressure on the power system is no longer theoretical. AI, data centers, electrification, and new industrial load are arriving faster than utilities can build generation and transmission through conventional timelines. One of the least glamorous but potentially most consequential answers to that problem is how to get more capacity out of the wires already in the ground and hanging overhead. Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by JD Sitton and Theodore Paradise of CTC Global to examine why advanced conductors are moving from a niche grid technology to a mainstream tool for utilities under pressure to deliver speed, affordability, and reliability at the same time. They explain how replacing traditional steel-core conductors with carbon-core alternatives can sharply reduce sag, increase thermal performance, and in many cases double capacity on existing rights-of-way without rebuilding towers or waiting a decade for a new line.The conversation explores why that matters now. As Theodore argues, the grid was already under strain before AI accelerated the problem, with aging generation, load growth from electrification, and mounting congestion already testing the system. What changes in this moment is the pace. A reconductoring project can be completed in roughly 18 months, compared with five to seven years for a rebuild and 10 to 15 years for a new parallel line. JD and Theodore make the case that this speed advantage is not just about meeting data-center demand. It is also about cutting costs, easing permitting friction, reducing community opposition to new infrastructure, and improving safety by lowering the risk of heat-driven sag and vegetation contact. Crucially, the episode asks what reliability should mean in a grid era defined by bigger load swings, tighter operating margins, and rising public scrutiny over cost. From wildfire resilience to real-time line monitoring and the ability to operate with greater confidence under stressed conditions, advanced conductors are presented not as a silver bullet, but as a proven, underused tool that could help utilities move faster and make better use of capital already committed to the system. The larger question running through the episode is whether the industry will look back on this moment and conclude that one of the simplest grid-capacity solutions was available all along.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Electric cars changed the conversation around transportation.Could the tractor be next?On this episode of Vigilantes Radio Live, Coach Dini sits down with Patrick Sherwin, founder and CEO of GoSun, for a forward-looking conversation about solar technology, energy independence, entrepreneurship, and why Sherwin believes electric tractors are the future of farming.GoSun's latest move brings renewable energy directly into agriculture through the Moonrider 27, a 27-horsepower electric tractor designed for farmers, homesteaders, landscapers, and property owners looking for an alternative to traditional diesel equipment.Patrick breaks down why GoSun entered the agricultural equipment market, how electric tractors could reduce fuel and maintenance costs, what solar charging can realistically contribute, and whether electric equipment can handle the everyday demands of mowing, hauling, tilling, and working the land.The conversation also goes deeper into the economics facing small farms, the role of clean technology in organic agriculture, the importance of energy independence, and what farming could look like five to ten years from now as batteries, solar power, and electric equipment continue advancing.And Coach Dini asks the question that matters most:Can an electric tractor actually earn the trust of a farmer whose livelihood depends on the machine working every single day?From solar entrepreneurship to the next generation of agricultural equipment, this is a conversation about innovation becoming practical.Welcome to The Frequency of the Fearless—No Surface Talk.Website / Link for Listeners -   GOSUN.COhttps://www.instagram.com/gosun/https://www.facebook.com/gosun.co/https://www.youtube.com/@GoSunSolarhttps://www.tiktok.com/@go.sun?lang=enhttps://x.com/gosunhttps://www.pinterest.com/gosun/https://www.linkedin.com/company/gosun-stove/?viewAsMember=trueBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/vigilantes-radio-live--2166168/support.Vigilantes Radio Live! by The Only One Media Group ℗©2026Episode Credits:Produced, edited, mixed, and written by Demetrius "Whodini Blak" Reynolds, Sr.Artwork designed by Demetrius "Whodini Blak" Reynolds, Sr.Show Introduction by KateSegment jingles composed & produced by Demetrius "Whodini Blak" Reynolds, Sr.Additional music licensed through 7th Sign RecordingsLinks:onlyonemediagroup.comhttps://www.instagram.com/vigilantesradio/https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-vigilantes-radio-live-29999229/https://www.instagram.com/whodiniblakin3d/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26009230/To support our show, please leave reviews, ratings, or you can help fuel the passion over at buymeacoffee.com/vigilantesradioEmail us at onlyonemgt@gmail.com

The Albanese Government is actively considering changing copyright law so that artificial intelligence companies can train their models here, by ingesting all of human knowledge. The idea is to make us all more productive, and supercharge our economy with a data centre building boom. But to get there, Anthony Albanese would have to break his promise to musicians, artists and writers to protect their copyright – and back down on his vow that all data centres should run on green energy. Would the compromise be worth the pay-off? Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Leaked Cabinet documents reveal secret ‘opt out’ AI plan OpenAI’s ultimatum: dilute creatives’ rights or we won’t discuss renewables Nvidia, Anthropic, OpenAI wooed by Labor for data centre spending blitz Commentary by Caroline Overington: Hand it all over to big AI tech? Content? Not at all. Outraged The 13 things you need to know about AI This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Jasper Leak, who also composed our theme. Our team includes Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack, and Joshua Burton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Electricity markets are under renewed pressure. Surging demand forecasts from data centres and other large loads are colliding with anxiety over reliability, rising consumer bills, and the pace of new investment. In markets such as PJM and ERCOT, those tensions are turning an arcane debate about market design into a live political question: can competitive power markets still deliver affordable, reliable electricity in a period of rapid growth?Host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe are joined by Stacey Doré, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Vistra, one of the largest competitive power producers and retailers in the US. Drawing on Vistra's growth from Texas utility successor to multi-state owner of gas, nuclear, coal, solar and battery assets, Stacey makes the case for competitive markets as the best way to drive efficient investment, innovation and customer value.The discussion starts with a challenge to the dominant narrative around load growth. Stacey argues that some of the most eye-catching forecasts for new demand are overstated by speculative projects and duplicative queue requests, and that the grid already has enough existing generation to serve most near-term growth for the vast majority of hours in the year. In her view, the real bottleneck is not an absolute lack of power, but the failure to connect new load to the grid quickly enough, alongside delays in transmission, distribution and interconnection processes.Are competitive markets sending the right signals to build what is needed next? Stacey says yes, pointing to rising capacity and energy prices in PJM, bilateral contracts with large customers, and a wave of announced investment in new and upgraded generation. She argues that the better near-term solution is not to force every new large load to wait for one-for-one new generation, but to connect customers faster, use co-location where possible, and rely on demand flexibility, backup generation and storage to manage the system's few true peak-stress hours.Amy pushes on the consumer side of the equation. Even if competition can work, who pays when prices rise, and are current cost-allocation rules fair to households? The conversation digs into the distinction between wholesale generation costs and the rapidly rising transmission and distribution portion of electricity bills, with Stacey arguing that getting more large loads onto the grid would help spread fixed system costs more broadly. Amy counters that cost allocation may be the first reform policymakers need to tackle if they want to protect residential customers while accommodating a new wave of industrial and data-centre demand.What emerges is less a simple argument for or against deregulation than a sharper question about what the grid actually needs now: faster interconnection, better load forecasting, clearer price signals, and a more honest debate about who should bear system costs. Whether policymakers double down on competition, let regulated utilities build more rate-based generation, or rethink cost allocation altogether, the stakes are clear: keeping the grid reliable while bringing on new demand without pushing affordability further out of reach.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Neil Bortolus, founder of Esteem Biomechanics and Stewart's personal trainer for the past year and a half, to explore the intersection of functional movement, human biology, and emerging technology. Their conversation ranges from the principles of biomechanics and the evolutionary blueprint of human movement—standing, walking, running, and throwing—to the dangers of modern movement practices that prioritize aesthetics over function, the role of fascia and connective tissue in chronic pain, and why most gym exercises fail to respect our biological needs. They tackle bigger questions about where technology is taking us, from AI and LLMs replacing human cognitive work to transhumanism and whether we're headed toward a cyberpunk dystopia or a solarpunk regenerative future, all while emphasizing the importance of first principles thinking, the need for humans to remain in the loop, and creating environments that promote biological and mental regeneration rather than degeneration. Visit Neil's website atesteembiomechanics.comTimestamps00:00 Stewart introduces Neil Bortolus, founder of Esteem Biomechanics and his trainer for a year and a half, discussing their interesting conversations about movement and health05:00 Discussion shifts to negative and positive pressure in the body, how athletes naturally create proper core tension, and the differences between training high-performance athletes versus clients with cerebral palsy or stroke recovery10:00 Stewart shares his journey through yoga and discovering modern postural yoga's surprising origins in late 1800s British calisthenics mixed with Indian anticolonial movements, questioning why modern movement practices are fundamentally flawed15:00 Neil explains functional patterns' first principles approach, emphasizing standing walking running and throwing as evolutionary movement patterns that should guide all exercise design20:00 Conversation explores Brian Johnson's technology-focused longevity experiments versus optimizing natural biological function, questioning whether peak biology or technology interventions lead to better health outcomes25:00 Neil describes environmental factors like Southern California and Hawaii providing optimal conditions for human health through fresh food, sunlight, and natural grounding environments year-round30:00 Discussion of solarpunk versus cyberpunk futures, examining how technology could either support biological health or create dependency, with Stewart sharing his Invisalign experience as cautionary tale35:00 Neil and Stewart analyze education systems, influencer marketing, and Jacques Ellul's concept of technique autonomously taking over human goals and replacing both muscle and mental labor40:00 Neil questions Stewart's first principles for approaching technology, leading to discussion about using AI to accomplish tasks faster while maintaining human oversight and decision-making authority45:00 Stewart explains the black box problem with LLMs and neural networks, admitting he's built applications he can't fully understand, questioning whether understanding mechanisms matters if outputs work50:00 Debate about benevolent AI governance using El Salvador's transformation as analogy, questioning whether society should surrender control to AI systems for farming or other critical infrastructure55:00 Final discussion on determinism versus free will, alignment problems in AI development, and Neil's concept of regenerative versus degenerative environments for optimal human biological and mental healthKey Insights1. Movement training must be adapted to individual needs and capabilities rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. Neil explains that working with clients ranging from those with cerebral palsy and stroke recovery to high-performance athletes requires fundamentally different techniques. While stroke and cerebral palsy clients experience every improvement as monumental, such as being able to walk a mile, elite athletes already possess optimal biomechanics and need only tiny refinements. The challenge lies in keeping athletes motivated through detailed adjustments while helping severely impaired clients build basic functions from the ground up.2. Modern fitness and yoga practices are built on flawed first principles that prioritize aesthetics over functional movement. The conversation reveals how modern postural yoga was actually invented in the late 1800s through a combination of British calisthenics and Indian anticolonial movements, not ancient wisdom as commonly believed. Similarly, conventional gym exercises and bodybuilding focus on how bodies look rather than how they function evolutionarily. The key insight from Functional Patterns methodology is that if a technique cannot help someone who is broken, it should not be applied to someone who is healthy. This principle exposes how much of modern fitness is based on working with people who are already genetically gifted rather than developing universally applicable methods.3. Human movement should be designed around four fundamental patterns that reflect our evolutionary blueprint: standing, walking, running, and throwing. These movements represent the biomechanical demands that shaped human evolution and remain essential for optimal health. Hunter-gatherer tribes that still exist today demonstrate this principle, as their members typically exhibit athletic builds, low body fat, minimal injury rates, and few mental health disorders despite having no access to modern gyms. The critical insight is that 80 percent of human movement occurs horizontally through space rather than vertically, yet most conventional exercises focus on vertical force vectors like squatting and deadlifting, which do not align with how humans actually move in nature.4. Technology should be used to optimize our environment for biological health rather than replace biological function entirely. The discussion contrasts two approaches to human enhancement: using technology to create better living conditions versus using it to bypass the need for healthy habits. Examples include using renewable energy to reduce electromagnetic frequency exposure, ensuring clean water access, and designing indoor lighting that mimics natural sunlight patterns. The key is maintaining environments that support regenerative rather than degenerative processes. This regenerative approach considers whether food, exercise, and environmental factors promote cellular regeneration and joint health, rather than simply preventing obvious harm.5. The rapidly changing technological environment is outpacing human biological adaptation in unprecedented ways. While human populations historically had thousands of years to develop epigenetic adaptations to their environments, such as Icelandic peoples developing larger bodies for heat retention or Sub-Saharan Africans developing efficient heat expulsion, modern society changes too quickly for such adaptation. The past two hundred years have seen dramatic shifts, and the pace is accelerating rather than slowing. Most dramatically, the media environment is changing fastest of all, particularly with AI development creating a cognitive flywheel where staying current requires constant attention to collective knowledge networks like Twitter and Reddit, leaving those outside these loops increasingly disconnected from technological reality.6. AI and large language models represent both opportunity and risk depending on whether humans maintain agency in their use. The conversation distinguishes between using AI as a tool to accomplish tasks more efficiently while keeping humans in control versus allowing AI to make decisions autonomously. The example given involves using AI to complete projects that previously required hiring people, eliminating interpersonal problems while still maintaining human oversight and learning. However, there is concern that many people are beginning to ask AI how to make every decision, effectively abdicating their agency. The critical variable in any AI interaction is actually the human prompter and their instructions, yet this is often overlooked by AI developers who believe in determinism and lack of free will.7. Modern society operates within a deterministic framework where free will is exercised primarily in choosing which constrained environment to inhabit. Using the example of an accountant earning two hundred thousand dollars annually with a four hundred thousand dollar mortgage and three children in private school, Neil illustrates how most daily decisions are predetermined by earlier choices about environment and commitments. True free will exists at major life forks, such as choosing a career path or living situation, but day to day existence operates within deterministic constraints created by those choices. This insight applies to both human development and AI alignment, suggesting that the solution is not giving AI ultimate freedom but rather constraining its environment so that available options consistently benefit humanity, similar to how Functional Patterns constrains exercise choices to only those respecting biological blueprints.

Taiwan aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, but how close is it to meeting its renewable-energy goals? Taiwan Talk host Tim Berge speaks with** Bin Fu, Taiwan Country Manager at Lightsource bp**, and *Weiwei Tseng, Chairperson of wpd Taiwan*, about the state of solar and wind power, the permitting and land-use challenges facing developers, the role of energy storage, and what Taiwan must do now to keep its energy transition moving. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn

This is a replay of our conversation with Dr. Blake Shaffer, an energy economist at the University of Calgary, on Canada's electrification bet. We recorded this in spring 2023, right after the federal budget's big bet on clean electricity. With AI data centres now competing for the same grid capacity electrification needs, it might be even more relevant than it was in 2023.Chapters:0:00 – Replaying Canada's electrification bet 4:52 – David's new gig: climate systems engineering at UChicago 7:16 – Why electrify: Blake's primer on capacity vs. generation 17:35 – Growth rates, NIMBYism, and selling the switch to consumers 22:11 – Capacity factor, availability, and the "clean" vs. "zero-emission" fight 26:31 – Transmission bottlenecks and interprovincial politics 36:07 – Social license, orphan wells, and Danielle Smith's pushback 44:41 – Grid instability, audience Q&A, and closing thoughtsAbout Our Guest:Blake Shaffer is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary where he teaches and researches on electricity markets, climate policy, and energy transitions. Shaffer uses empirical methods to evaluate policy effectiveness and better understand consumer and firm behaviour. Shaffer strives to bring rigorous evidence to help policy makers craft better policy.Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Follow us on:LinkedInBlueskyX/TwitterInstagramEnergy vs Climate relies on the support of our generous listenersDonate to keep Energy vs Climate goingProduced by Bespoke Podcasts

Renewables have hit a record high, but the Associate Energy Minister says New Zealand still can't quit coal and gas. A new MBIE report shows renewables supplied 92% of electricity in the June quarter, with record geothermal generation and solar up 56%. Wholesale electricity prices also fell 66% compared with the same quarter last year. Shane Jones told Mike Hosking New Zealand needs coal and gas because there's not enough water in lakes or battery storage to guarantee supply. He's tired of people who think you can have these green accoutrements without a backup and won't support a model where New Zealand imports everything from overseas. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Plus: U.S. security agencies accuse Chinese firms of exploiting American AI models. And Google to spend more than $15 billion on AI infrastructure in Finland. Imani Moise hosts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Get in touch - leave me a messageSolar, batteries and EVs are moving fast enough to change the risk calculus for energy investment. The bigger mistake may now be assuming today's system, and its customers, will still be there tomorrow.I speak with Professor Ray Wills, Managing Director of Future Smart Strategies, who has been modelling technology adoption curves for years. We examine what accelerating clean-energy deployment means for capital allocation, electricity prices, new gas infrastructure and industrial competitiveness.We look at how batteries can reshape power-market economics before they dominate annual generation, why conventional forecasts may struggle with nonlinear adoption, and what China's scale in solar, batteries and EVs tells Western leaders about where competitive advantage is moving. The harder question is no longer simply how fast these technologies can grow, but how costly it becomes to plan as though they won't.Listen now to understand how rapidly changing energy economics could alter the investment decisions businesses and policymakers are making today. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

AI is turning compute into a strategic resource, and the scramble to secure GPU capacity is starting to look a lot more like a commodity market than a traditional cloud-services business. As data-centre developers, lenders and energy companies try to price the next wave of AI demand, a new question is coming into focus: Can the industry build the kind of benchmark and hedging tools that already exist for oil, gas and power? Host Ed Crooks is joined by Peter Keavey, Global Head of Energy and Environmental Products at CME Group, and Carmen Li, Founder and CEO of Silicon Data. Together, they explore the case for a futures market in GPU compute: a financial product designed to bring more transparency, liquidity and risk management to one of the fastest-growing corners of the AI economy.Carmen explains how the market works today. Most users are not buying chips outright; they are renting access to GPU capacity by the hour, often through longer-term agreements with hyperscalers, neo-cloud providers and data-centre operators. That market is already large, global and increasingly active, but it remains fragmented and opaque, with prices varying by provider, chip type and contract structure, and much of the trading still happening through bilateral deals and requests for quotes.Peter sets out the logic for moving from that over-the-counter world to an exchange-traded one. In his view, a GPU futures contract could do three things at once: reduce counterparty risk through central clearing, concentrate liquidity in a transparent order book, and create forward benchmark prices the wider market can use. The proposed product is financially settled against an index of spot prices, translating an hourly rental market into a standardised monthly contract that could eventually extend several years forward.The bigger issue, though, is energy. Power is not the whole cost of GPU compute, but it is the most volatile variable input, which means a GPU hedge could eventually sit alongside gas and power hedges for data-centre operators, lenders and infrastructure investors. The discussion keeps returning to what that means for markets such as Texas and Virginia, where the AI build-out is already shaping decisions on generation, grid access and where capital should go next.Both guests stress that this is still a young market, but already a volatile one. Rental rates have swung sharply as chip scarcity eases and then tightens again, while banks, traders and developers are trying to make long-dated decisions without a reliable forward curve. If this market develops the way Keavey and Li expect, GPU futures would not just serve traders: they could become an important signal for anyone trying to judge how durable the AI boom really is, and how much energy the system will need to support it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a decade of flat demand, power markets are being forced to absorb a very different problem: rapid load growth arriving faster than transmission, large-scale generation, and utility interconnection processes can respond. The focus shifts from utility-scale procurement to the distributed edge of the system, where commercial and industrial solar, community solar, batteries, and microgrids may prove to be some of the fastest tools available for adding capacity, managing costs, and improving resilience.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Tim Montague, host of Clean Power Hour and a longtime C&I solar operator and advisor, to unpack what distinguishes distributed generation from utility-scale solar in practice. Tim explains why the differences are not just about megawatts, but about interconnection, contractor capability, state policy, and execution risk. He also lays out how the phase-down of the ITC and the July 4 Safe Harbor deadline sharpened those differences: sophisticated developers with capital and pipeline visibility bought themselves runway through 2029, while smaller players that missed the deadline now face a much tighter path to commercial operation.The conversation then turns to the economics and mechanics of the market. Tim argues that state-level frameworks remain decisive for C&I and community solar, pointing to states such as Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Colorado, and New Mexico as the sector's core proving grounds. From workforce rules and training pipelines to tax-credit capture and commercial lending, he describes a market that is far more fragmented than utility-scale power, but also more flexible. Financing can range from a local business borrowing through its existing commercial bank to larger developers using institutional capital to safe-harbor equipment and scale portfolios, while PPAs remain available but often introduce longer, more complex contracting cycles.Crucially, the episode looks at why distributed energy is moving from a niche resilience play to a system-level answer for affordability and speed to power. Rising electricity prices, data-center demand, and long utility interconnection queues are improving the case for solar-plus-storage behind the meter and at community scale. Tim makes the case that batteries, community solar, distributed computing, and eventually community-scale microgrids can complement, not replace, utility-scale buildout by delivering capacity where it is needed faster and with more local value. The core question running through the episode is whether the next phase of the energy transition will be defined not only by bigger projects, but by a more distributed grid architecture built for flexibility, resilience, and cost control.This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is a four-year degree still the best path to success? Dylan Welch, host of The Intelligence Report, sits down with Jason Seedall, Executive Director of the Roosevelt Alliance, to discuss the growing demand for skilled workers, the return of apprenticeships, and how AI and rising education costs are reshaping the American workforce.They also explore the Roosevelt Alliance's work to bring policymakers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders together in Washington, D.C., including its Theodore Roosevelt Dialogue Series focused on wildlife policy, fair commerce, and practical solutions for rebuilding the American middle class.Support the show

Fluent Fiction - Swedish: Racing Against Time: Lars' Path to Sustainable Innovation Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/sv/episode/2026-09-06-22-34-02-sv Story Transcript:Sv: Lars satt på tåget mot Stockholm.En: Lars sat on the train toward Stockholm.Sv: Han tittade ut genom fönstret och såg de orangea och röda löven glida förbi.En: He looked out the window and saw the orange and red leaves glide by.Sv: Det var höst, och luften var frisk.En: It was autumn, and the air was fresh.Sv: Han kände sig ivrig och lite nervös.En: He felt excited and a little nervous.Sv: Det var första gången han skulle besöka Vetenskapsmuseet för att se utställningen om hållbar teknik.En: It was the first time he would visit the Vetenskapsmuseet to see the exhibition on sustainable technology.Sv: Lars var en ingenjörsstudent och hans stora intresse var förnybar energi.En: Lars was an engineering student, and his great interest was renewable energy.Sv: Han hade läst om den nya utställningen och bestämt sig för att inte missa den.En: He had read about the new exhibition and decided not to miss it.Sv: Han visste att han behövde vara välplanerad för att hinna med sista tåget hem.En: He knew he needed to be well-planned in order to make the last train home.Sv: Tåget rullade in på Stockholms centralstation och Lars skyndade sig av.En: The train rolled into Stockholm's central station, and Lars hurried off.Sv: Han tänkte vanligtvis ta en kaffe innan han fortsatte sin dag, men idag var tid viktigare än kaffe.En: He usually thought of having a coffee before continuing his day, but today time was more important than coffee.Sv: Han beslöt att avstå sin vanliga kaffepaus för att hinna till museet i tid.En: He decided to skip his usual coffee break to make it to the museum on time.Sv: När han kom fram till Vetenskapsmuseet, kände han en bubblande blandning av stress och förväntan.En: When he arrived at the Vetenskapsmuseet, he felt a bubbling mix of stress and anticipation.Sv: Museet var fullt av liv och aktivitet.En: The museum was full of life and activity.Sv: Barn och vuxna rörde sig mellan de olika utställningarna.En: Children and adults moved between the different exhibitions.Sv: Färgglada skyltar och skärmar visade framtidens teknologi, och ljudet av nyfikna samtal fyllde luften.En: Colorful signs and screens showcased the technology of the future, and the sound of curious conversations filled the air.Sv: Lars trängde sig genom folkmassan och letade efter den stora utställningen om hållbar teknik.En: Lars pushed through the crowd and searched for the main exhibition on sustainable technology.Sv: Han visste att han hade ont om tid innan presentationen skulle börja.En: He knew he was short on time before the presentation would start.Sv: Efter en snabb koll på klockan insåg han att han knappt skulle hinna.En: After a quick check of the clock, he realized he would barely make it.Sv: Han ökade takten, märkte att utställningen låg på översta våningen.En: He increased his pace, noticed that the exhibition was on the top floor.Sv: När han äntligen kom upp, såg han dörrarna nästan stängas.En: When he finally got up, he saw the doors almost closing.Sv: Med ett sista språng hann han precis in.En: With one last leap, he barely made it in.Sv: Inne i utställningen stirrade Lars fascinerat på de interaktiva montrarna.En: Inside the exhibition, Lars stared fascinated at the interactive displays.Sv: Solpaneler, vindkraftverk och andra tekniska innovationer visades upp.En: Solar panels, wind turbines, and other technical innovations were showcased.Sv: En presentation skulle just börja.En: A presentation was just about to begin.Sv: Han satte sig ner, andades ut djupt, och lyssnade intensivt.En: He sat down, took a deep breath, and listened intently.Sv: Presentationen var inspirerande.En: The presentation was inspiring.Sv: Teknikerna som presenterades var löftet om en mer hållbar framtid.En: The technologies presented were the promise of a more sustainable future.Sv: När utställningen slutligen tog slut och ljusen blev dämpade, kände Lars en ny klarhet.En: When the exhibition finally ended and the lights dimmed, Lars felt a new clarity.Sv: Alla problem med tid hade försvunnit från hans tankar.En: All the problems with time had vanished from his thoughts.Sv: Han visste vad han ville göra med sina studier.En: He knew what he wanted to do with his studies.Sv: Hållbar ingenjörskonst var hans framtida väg.En: Sustainable engineering was his future path.Sv: På tåget hem kände Lars sig lättad och motiverad.En: On the train home, Lars felt relieved and motivated.Sv: Han hade hittat en riktning, ett mål.En: He had found a direction, a goal.Sv: Och det bästa av allt, hans nya väg skulle bidra till att göra världen till en bättre plats.En: And best of all, his new path would help make the world a better place.Sv: Det var en dag utan sin vanliga kaffe, men full av insikt och inspiration.En: It was a day without his usual coffee, but full of insight and inspiration. Vocabulary Words:glide: glidaautumn: höstnervous: nervösexhibition: utställningrenewable: förnybarbroadcast: sändaanticipation: förväntanactivity: aktivitetshowcase: visa uppcurious: nyfikenconversation: samtalcrowd: folkmassapace: taktleap: språnginteractive: interaktivdisplays: montrarturbines: vindkraftverkinnovations: innovationerbreathe: andasintently: intensivtpromise: löftesustainable: hållbarclarity: klarhetvanish: försvinnarelieved: lättadmotivated: motiveradgoal: målinsight: insiktinspiration: inspirationtechnical: teknisk

Get in touch - leave me a messageLong-duration energy storage is increasingly ready to deploy. The harder problem is that electricity markets still struggle to value what duration actually provides - flexibility, reliability and power when the sun sets, the wind drops and demand peaks.My guest is Julia Souder, CEO of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council. She works across the policy, finance and deployment questions shaping this market, and brings a useful view of what is already happening in places such as China, Australia, the UK, Ireland and the US.We look at why storage is becoming an infrastructure and investment question rather than simply a technology question; what changes when markets pay for four hours of capacity but the grid increasingly needs eight, 12 or 24; and why revenue certainty may now matter more than another technical breakthrough. We also examine what China appears to be getting right about deployment, and why long-duration storage matters for data centres, industrial heat and renewable-heavy grids.Listen now to understand what is really holding back long-duration energy storage at scale, and what could shift the economics, policy and investment case.Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

In the AI revolution, one of the critical constraints is how much additional electricity can be made available to power new data centers. And it is often argued that one of the key constraints on the growth of electricity supply is capacity in the equipment supply industry. The rate at which electricity supply can grow is determined in part by how fast the equipment industry can supply new turbines, transformers, switchgear and circuit breakers.In this episode Roger Martella, Chief Corporate Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer at GE Vernova, one of the world's largest suppliers of electrical equipment, joins the show to explain how the company is meeting the challenge of soaring demand. Roger talks to host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Melissa Lott, Partner for Energy at Microsoft, about his route from industrial Pennsylvania to the leadership team at GE, via the Environmental Protection Agency. And he explains why, when the old conglomerate GE broke up, he chose to go with the energy business. The company is driven by a sense of purpose, he says: bringing electricity to the world both raises living standards and supports decarbonization.Electricity demand growth created by new data centers for AI is one driver for GE Vernova's rapidly growing order book, but not the only one. The company is also responding to other sources of growing demand around the world, including the need to strengthen energy security in Europe and to support economic growth and development in emerging Asia.In the US, GE Vernova has announced $1.3 billion in investment and 1,800 new manufacturing jobs, to support expanded production of switchgear, circuit breakers and turbines. It plans to increase its turbine manufacturing capacity from 18 gigawatts a year to 30 gigawatts a year by 2030.Roger rejects the idea that equipment supplies are the main bottleneck restricting electricity supply growth. Other issues, including permitting and grid interconnections, are more fundamental difficulties for project developers. If anyone has built a turbine stand, but doesn't have a turbine to out on it, he says, he will find a turbine. Ed raises the issue of the industry's cyclicality. The gas turbine market has been through boom and bust in the past, and the uncertainty over the future of AI naturally raises the question of whether we are in another bubble today. Roger's answer is that the company is looking at the range of needs that are driving electrification, not making a bet solely on AI.As its production increases, GE Vernova needs to hire more workers. Roger, Ed and Melissa discuss the familiar consensus around skilled trades. Just about everyone agrees that America and other countries need more electricians, plumbers and welders to deloiver the build-out of infrastructure. But skills shortages persist. So what are the solutions that would actually increase the workforce in these sectors to meet demand? Are pay, job security, training and the status of industrial work being addressed in the right ways?One of the more exciting technologies for meeting electricity demand in the 2030s and beyond is the new generation of nuclear plants using small modular reactors (SMRs). GE Vernova has a new nuclear plant using SMRs under construction at Darlington in Ontario, and is targeting commercial operation by 2030. Ed pushes on the key question: can SMRs move from a promising concept to a repeatable, cost-competitive business? Roger says the first project has to be a proof point. The nuclear business cannot be run as a hobby, he says. The lessons from the first-of-a-kind Darlington plant must be used to drive down costs for subsequent units.The discussion also covers High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission and cutting-edge technologies for grid management, including uses for drones and AI. Roger ends with a message to policymakers: the missing ingredient is policy durability. If the industry is to invest enough to meet long-term needs, it has to have policy frameworks that survive political cycles, court challenges and changes of administration.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

India now requires turbine data, control centers, and R&D to sit inside its borders. Plus a study on reverse flow loads in parked blades, Envision’s spare parts push across Southeast Asia, and Danish wind employment falling to 32,700. The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech, creators of the StrikeTape Ultra LPS retrofit. Subscribe to Uptime’s Substack newsletter. And check out Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” Youtube channel. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! The Uptime Wind Energy podcast, brought to you by StrikeTape. Protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit striketape.com. And now, your hosts Rosemary Barnes: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy podcast. I’m your host, Rosemary Barnes, and I’m filling in for Allen today here with Jolanda Pedron. All right, onto our first story. India is drawing a line around its wind data. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has ordered every turbine maker on the approved list of models and manufacturers to report where its data actually lives. Data centers inside India, servers inside India, research centers inside India, and no real-time data leaving the country. The order went out last week with status reports due by month-end. And while the government tightens the rules on data, the hardware keeps moving in. Flender has just opened another generator plant in Chennai [00:01:00] Yolanda, I think this is gonna have a large impact on the number of companies who are, you know, there’s a lot of companies around today developing, like, smarts for wind turbines. There’s a lot of scope to operate turbines better, to improve power output, reduce maintenance costs, et cetera, and y- a lot of companies are taking advantage of that. Even Patlow has some projects going on in that sort of area. What do you think about the impact this will be? Is India planning to develop their entire own ecosystem for that aspect of the industry? I  Yolanda Padron: mean, it looks like it, right? Which is really, I mean, kind of groundbreaking. I know that we talked a couple weeks ago about Europe sort of being a little bit scared of bringing in, um, different manufacturers from Asia, um, and just the, the idea of cybersecurity being something really prevalent and really important to all of these people. So just if India starts siloing everything and that works, maybe that’ll translate to Europe.  Rosemary Barnes: Do you think that it, it can work? Has India [00:02:00] got the expertise in place already to, to make this work, or is this gonna be a real, like, handbrake on their, their wind industry continuing to develop as fast as it has been? Yolanda Padron: I mean, I’m really curious to see it because I don’t know if they’ll bring in a lot more experts to be able to, to do that.  Rosemary Barnes: I know the Indian, um, operating environment is quite different to other locations. I mean, it’s, it’s similar in a way to Australia in its dissimilarity, if that makes sense. I, I think there’s a lot of really India-specific problems, so of course Indian companies are gonna be best placed to take advantage of that. But what we’ve seen so far is a lot of, uh, companies from Europe or America coming in to y- you know, like tweak the way that they attack similar problems in other markets. They’re, you know, moving in to understand India better and take advantage of that. Now, of course, like not every smart operating method or aerodynamic improvement, they don’t all need [00:03:00] real-time data, and probably most of them don’t actually. So I think it’s not gonna like s- snip off this entire kind of improvement. But it is really interesting. It’s quite, like it is quite severe, the restrictions, and I haven’t heard of any other market, um, that is doing that. I, I don’t know, do you think it’s warranted or is it maybe like overly paranoid? I know when I heard that in, um, in Europe they’re not allowing Chinese manufacturers of inverters, for example, and I just felt like, “Ugh, is that a bit over the top?” I’m not sure. Um, yeah, what’s your opinion, Yolanda?  Yolanda Padron: I think it, it might be a little bit over the top. We live in such a globalized world that the idea of one country just siloing completely is, is a little bit strange to me. But- I guess if, if that’s, they have a, a reason for concern, then I guess it might make sense. But to your earlier point, like, I don’t know if the cost of doing this [00:04:00]would also come into play  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, I think that there’s always a, a, a trade-off. It’s like when you have any kind of l- local content rule, which is similar in a way because it forces, um, yeah, it, it forces your own ecosystem to develop, and that’s, that’s great. Like, it is a missed opportunity if you just have, you know, like a huge new industry and you just import it all, then that i- is a lost opportunity for your own economy. But I mean, in the past, India has had pretty strong local content rules, and they do have a bunch of wind energy manufacturing, um, within the country. They are a country known for really great engineering, so it’s for sure not beyond them to, you know, step up. So yeah, I guess time will tell if this is a smart move from that point of view. I don’t think it’s actually the motivation behind this rule. I think it’s more of a, like, a cybersecurity, um, kind of perspective where you don’t want, you know, overseas companies having the ability to shut down your energy system, for example. Um, [00:05:00] so yeah, but it, it has the potential to have that other effect of, you know, like boosting the local industry or alternatively just slowing down the whole industry because they can’t get anything done. I guess that’s always that balance that you need to, need to look at when you’re looking at local content. So India is deciding who gets to control the data inside a turbine. Our next story is about something inside that same turbine nobody controls yet, the air moving across a blade that isn’t turning. A parked turbine might look like the safest thing on the site. Blades are locked, the rotor’s still, nothing turning, nothing generating. But a new study says that stillness is not safety. When the rotor is locked and the wind shifts, air can strike the trailing edge first and travel backwards across the blade. That is reverse flow, and in reverse flow, the models this industry uses to predict blade loads start to fall apart. Field data cited in the study suggests blades on turbines above 15 megawatts can go aerodynamically [00:06:00]unstable at winds as low as eight meters per second. That is nowhere near a storm. So this is actually already definitely a known issue, and I know that modern wind turbines don’t usually park with locked rotors, right, Yolanda?  Yolanda Padron: Yeah.  Rosemary Barnes: We, we saw that a locked rotor during installation was one of the causes of the Vineyard Wind fiasco, right? Where broken blade pieces washed up on the beach. So definitely something that’s known about.  Yolanda Padron: And it’s something that even onshore you have a, you have your system so that it tracks sort of where the wind is coming from. So even if it’s stopped, it won’t just be stopped at a specific angle, particularly in case the, the winds shift.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, and I’ve seen examples of blades failing when, um, there was a storm and there was power lost, so they weren’t able to yaw or pitch a turbine, and that also can cause… Like, any time that- Wind is going in a different direction than what the turbine desi- was designed for, you’ll get unpredictable stuff happening and often, [00:07:00] like, really bad loads. Like the harshest, um, conditions, loading conditions that a wind turbine blade has to withstand is not in operation. It’s if you’ve got just wind hitting like a bluff body, they call it, where a gust of wind just hits flat on the blade and tries to bend it. Like that is way, way stronger loading than, um, than anything it would see operationally. If you’re looking at, you know, like a really severe storm, like a one in 50 year kind of, um, wind speeds, and then if you have flow going on weird angles where it’s creating lift, then you can ratchet up those loads even more. So for sure a known issue. This study, it, it singled out turbines above 15 megawatts, which are huge. That’s a, you know, like a big offshore wind turbine. But I don’t think it’s limited to that. Like what would you think, Yolanda? Is this, is this like purely a big blades thing, or is this something that actually all wind turbines need to take into account? Yolanda Padron: Oh, this is definitely something that all wind turbines need to take into account. It’s something that we’ve seen a lot in the [00:08:00] US as well, um, onshore and s- wind f- uh, smaller wind farms and wind farms that have, you know, 200 plus, um, wind turbines on them, uh, the, the 1X or 2X turbines. Uh, this is also ver- a, a reason that it’s really important, right, to check your systems constantly, and I know that a lot of the, the owner/operators do that, um, in their regular maintenance checks. Um, but it’s, it’s, it’s an issue that, uh, if you don’t have the correct systems in place or if you just remotely reset things, uh, because you see an error that maybe you thought, “Oh, that, that must be just a glitch,” uh, then you start having issues like this that can cause catastrophic failures, not just on the blade but on the turbine itself if, if the blade ends up hitting the turbine, um, it, it ends up hitting the, the tower itself. Uh, and then [00:09:00] a similar issue, um, that can happen too is when you don’t have the correct systems in place for, for an emergency, and so the turbine can just overspin, and that also causes a lot of blade failures, uh, both onshore and, and offshore as well. But I think onshore it’s, it’s just the, the wind farms are so big that it’s It’s easy or, or easier to miss, like, one or two turbines, um, when you’re doing those checks. Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. And I think another issue with keeping the rotors locked out, and one of the big reasons why they moved to pinwheeling as the, you know, um, turbine off kind of configuration, was with the, the bearings, right? Like, it’s not good for the bearings to be totally stationary. Um, so I think that it’s better to, yeah, pinwheel. It’s lower loads on the bearings.  Yolanda Padron: Something, um, similar to this as well, right, and, and I think Wind Power posted about it the [00:10:00] other day, um, about just, oh, it’s really common for, for sites to, to think of, of a financial solution to, to negative pricing being just fully stopping turbines that might not be producing at positive pricing. Um, and then, uh, that can also cause a lot of loading issues because you’re, you’re having a, a turbine at, at full capacity, and then it just stops.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, that’s true. The braking loads are, are one of the more extreme loads that turbines have to withstand also. I mean, hopefully if they’re curtailing, um, voluntarily, uh, they’re not doing an emergency brake kind of level. I hope that they’re being a bit more gentle on their turbines, but yeah, for sure, like, the easiest thing for a turbine to do is just operate normally its whole lifetime. That’s exactly what it was designed to do, and anything that deviates from that can reduce the t- life of the turbine, complicate things. So machines keep getting bigger, and the physics keep [00:11:00] getting harder. Meanwhile, the map keeps getting wider. Next, a Chinese manufacturer planting both turbines and spare parts across Southeast Asia. Stay with us Speaker: Are you overspending on lightning repairs? Most operators are because solving lightning damage is complicated. Weather Guard Lightning Tech helps operators reduce lightning damage. Our innovative StrikeTape lightning diverter protects over twenty thousand blades worldwide. Now, StrikeTape Ultra installs faster than ever. StrikeTape Ultra cures uptower in just fifteen minutes, even in cold weather. Visit weatherguardwind.com to schedule a call. Rosemary Barnes: China’s turbine makers are no longer just shipping machines. They are building the network that keeps those machines running. Envision Energy has secured its largest wind project in Vietnam, 200 megawatts with REE Energy, 25 [00:12:00] turbines, grid connection targeted for October 2027. It is also the company’s largest overseas nearshore project to date. And Batangas, Philippines, Envision has opened a distribution center holding major components and spare parts close to the projects that need them. Turbines first, then the parts network. Yelena, I’m just wondering if spare parts was a big headache for you when you worked in asset management, and do you think that this plan of, that Envision has is gonna be a successful one for Vietnam? Yolanda Padron: I think spare parts, having spare parts on site or near a site is always a good strategy. I know that sometimes it can get the, the accounting itself can get a little bit difficult because for at least, you know, in the US for tax purposes, you can’t really sell something from one project to another, so you, you have to be a little bit careful, um, as far as when you hold a part or you’re sending one part that might fit in multiple sites and where you’re technically buying that [00:13:00] from. Uh, but I think the spare parts that they’re having here I, I think it’s a, it’s a really good idea, right? Because oftentimes you might have a, a big, um, there might be a big queue for a particular component that fails years after, uh, it was produced, and then you– I mean, if you need it now and there’s a big queue now, then you need to wait until it can get to site, until it can be produced, until it’s your turn in line. Uh, and so just having those components on site or really close to the site I think is a really good idea.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, it’s really challenging. Like it’s, it, it’s easy to imagine how you could organize a spare parts network or, you know, just l- literally a bunch of warehouses holding spare parts for the kind of, you know, like one-off failures that happen routinely throughout a wind turbine’s life. But when you start to see a serial issue or if there’s just, you know, like statistically every now and then [00:14:00] you’ll get clusters of failures even if it’s not a serial issue, that’s when it starts to get really hard. So I know in Australia, and I’m sure it’s the case elsewhere, you kind of got to pair your spare parts inventory with the capability to repair and refurbish as well. Because sometimes it’s like, you know, you might do, like speaking of blades, which is my specialty, you might have a bill of, you know, maybe even a million dollars to do a really big repair on a blade, but that’s better than spending probably, honestly, the similar amount of money on a brand-new blade, but then that comes with a six-month or a 12-month, um, wait time. You know, like obviously you’re gonna save overall if you can get that turbine up faster. And we also see a lot of, um, in-country capabilities to refurbish, you know, all of the drivetrain components and, and everything like that, and I think that that is such an important complement. Like your spare parts strategy should never just be about having them physically sitting there, ’cause if you were [00:15:00] to have enough to cover any situation, then, you know, most of your components would go unused over the, the lifetime of the wind farm. And it’s not like they’re just swap in, swap out for any different wind turbine, right? Like they are usually quite turbine specific.  Yolanda Padron: I completely agree with the idea, especially with blades and how trif- tricky some of the new blades and their, their repair processes can be. It’s really important to have a plan and not necessarily just, “Okay, now I’m gonna throw this one out and bring in a new one, and always hold a new one,” because that’s really expensive. Um, and it’s also really, really important to, uh, that doesn’t matter what particular part it is, that whatever storage facility you’re using, that you’re, you make sure that the environmental factors impacting the spare parts are taken care of, right? So, um, I know I’ve seen spare parts for a battery site or spare parts for a solar site, uh, that just kind of end up degrading even more than the parts that were in [00:16:00] operations because no one was really looking at them. They were just outside in the elements, and then you just wasted millions and millions of dollars for really nothing. Um, something that you need to take to the landfill eventually or report.  Rosemary Barnes: Hopefully recycle it if it’s electronic waste.  Yolanda Padron: I completely agree that to, to be able to, to have any sort of replacement strategy, you, or any sort of spare parts strategy, you need to make sure that, that the replacement strategy is there and that the refurbishment strategy is there. If there’s anything that you can recycle in-house and use in-house, that’s a lot better than just landfilling anything or sending anything to be recycled elsewhere where it just piles and piles and piles up.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah. I think also it’s reassuring if you’re buying wind turbines from maybe a, a less well-known manufacturer or less well-known in your country, I think it is reassuring to have a, like just a stack of spare parts on site, because that will give you the confidence that if [00:17:00] and when things start to go wrong, you know, a few years into the wind farm’s operation, you are gonna have that capability. ‘Cause I think it is, like it’s a big leap to move away from the really, really well-known, uh, manufacturers into some of the less well-known ones and have the confidence that y- you know, you wouldn’t have any- anyone to ask what they’re like for service, uh, for example, and you might also not have confidence that they’re even gonna exist in, you know, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years’ time. So having the parts on site can give you that confidence. Although, as you say, if those parts aren’t actually functional when you go to use them, that can be worse than not having them in the first place because you thought that you were okay and then you find yourself scrambling. That’s not ideal at all. Yolanda Padron: Yeah, I completely agree. I did hear about someone who, um, had a, a blade that they They thought they, they didn’t really have the capabilities in-house to, to restore it, and so they sent it to be recycled, [00:18:00] and then later it was sold to them by their OEM, um, on site. And so I think that also speaks to the… And, and it was just because someone noticed the serial number was exactly the same and kind of noticed. It was, it was really honestly kind of a funny, funny thing in retrospect. But, uh, and it, it just speaks to the idea of you really need to understand if you’re holding spare parts and, and just in general, even if you don’t wanna hold spare parts. Um, the idea of being able to refurbish or have a plan to be able to refurbish the, the materials that you have on site is really, really, really important because it can save you so much money. I mean, the, I mean, the, for that case, just the, the transportation costs of hauling the blade off, of paying someone to recycle it, of paying for a new blade, um, and everything just to kind of be bamboozled in that way where you could’ve just repaired it on site is, is It’s almost a no-brainer, yeah. Rosemary Barnes: I gotta say, that’s like a real recycling win, right? Like, you can’t get [00:19:00] better than, than that. Uh, you know, you had a blade, you recycle it into a blade. It’s, you know, performing exactly the same function, better than shredding it and hiding it in a, you know, a footpath, a sidewalk, or something like that. Stay with China a moment longer, because the product strategy tells you as much as the project map. Mingyang Smart Energy has unveiled the Tianchi MCD 5 MW turbine at its factory in Guizhou. It’s the first machine in the company’s new medium-speed compact drive platform, a semi-direct drive that Mingyang says cuts component count by 60%. And it is built for sites nobody used to bother with: mountains, plateaus, places where the wind averages four and a half meters per second. Now, Yolanda, 5 MW is pretty big for an onshore turbine in locations. It sounds like, you know, these locations, aside from the, like, less than ideal wind resource, also sounds like places where it’s actually, you know, transport might be a bit of a constraint. I wonder what their strategy [00:20:00] is gonna be to get those large components and installation equipment in.  Yolanda Padron: Yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s not gonna be the first site, I think, that we’ve seen that where they have to develop some sort of game-changing vessel or crane or something to be able to, to get things, uh, to the site. Uh, my, my first thought honestly was just kind of like, “Oh goodness, that might be a lightning nightmare depending on, on where they’re located.”  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, that’s true. Like we’ve seen in Japan, they have all their turbines on the ridges where the wind speeds are great, at least. Um, but they have been just absolutely destroyed by lightning, like really, really dealing with extreme situations. I think also, like these are low wind speed sites. Like what, what did they say? Four and a half meters per second average wind speeds? I mean, that’s like half what you would consider a good, a good site, right? And we know that the power in wind, it goes, like it increases with the cube of wind [00:21:00] speed. So, um, you know, like if you double the wind speed, you get eight times as much power. So it’s like all of the challenges associated with a high wind speed site in the mountains or, you know, somewhere tricky to get to you know, at least you’ve got eight times the power to make up for the effort of maintaining it. Uh, just it seems like, like a lot of effort to get to a low wind speed site, right? I think these turbines, the cut-in wind speed is gonna be two and a half meters per second, so you know, again, like you can reduce your, yeah, like the, the wind speed a- again by another factor of eight. It’s almost nothing at that wind speed. It really, yeah, I don’t know that you can make up for a low wind speed site by having a really low cut-in wind speed, right? Like, you’re still gonna end up with low power across the board.  Yolanda Padron: Yeah, and it’s, it’s strange too, I mean, we said it’s, it’s a mountainous region, right? And so, and the transportation [00:22:00] in itself, I mean, we talked about the idea of bringing them in is gonna be difficult. But I know that a lot of times we see a lot of blades that have issues down the line because of the transportation issues and because of the way that maybe they, they didn’t use the lifting points right, and there might be a lot more transportation issues or damages from transportation on the site if they come in and it’s a completely different terrain that they’re used to. Uh, and teams have to build in a completely different terrain to- that- than they’re used to, then that might also cause problems down the line. Not to mention the idea that I know sometimes in sites where there’s already roads, uh, it, it, because of the position of the turbines, because of the, the way that things are, are mapped out in development and construction, sometimes it’s a, a hassle for operations to, to get the correct cranes or trucks or everything in there to do any sort of maintenance. Uh, so [00:23:00] I can’t imagine in a place where it’s just really, really difficult to get to in general.  Rosemary Barnes: Yeah, and especially over the lifetime, you know, maintenance i- is gonna be such a challenge. So I think that it sounds like they’re aware of that because their emphasis with this new platform, dropping the component count by 60%, that’s a claim from Ming Yang that I haven’t seen the details of. It seems highly implausible but, um, yeah, I would wanna look into that a bit more to believe it. But they also say that their new bearings and gearbox features lift reliability by 10%, so yeah, I think that that is going to make their job a little bit easier, but yeah, I don’t know if it’s enough that would make me wanna invest in a wind farm with a, what was the number? Four and a half meters per second average wind speed. Seems marginal at best. So new machines for marginal sites built in China and priced to compete. Now let’s move [00:24:00] to Denmark, where the employment numbers show what that competition feels like from the other side. Back in a moment. Speaker 4: Delamination and bondline failures in blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. CIC NDT are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become expensive burdens. Their nondestructive test technology penetrates deep into blade materials to find voids and cracks traditional inspections completely miss. CIC NDT maps every critical defect, delivers actionable reports, and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cicndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions Rosemary Barnes: Numbers out of Denmark tell two stories at once. Green Power Denmark counted [00:25:00] just under 110,000 full-time jobs across the Danish energy sector in 2025. That is up 1,526 positions or 1.4%, slightly ahead of Danish employment overall. That is the good news. Inside the wind sector, employment fell to 32,700, a drop of roughly 500. Green Power Denmark blames international competition and unfavorable market conditions. Its chief economist calls the dip normal You know what, Yolanda? I think that if Denmark’s labor market is weak in the wind industry, there are many countries outside of Denmark that would wanna snap up that talent. I know that my own company, Pardalote, is included in those numbers of people that would really like to have Danish talent. I’m trying to s- hire someone currently that’s got wind turbine blade expertise, and I tell you what, that is not easy to do in Australia. So I would say if there are any Danes listening or watching who fancy a move to Australia, then please do get in touch [00:26:00]if you have some excellent wind turbine blade experience. Yolanda Padron: You guys would have a lovely, lovely boss. I’ve- I just gotta say that. The learnings that you have in Denmark and just the, the, the school- not just from the schooling, the, the onsite, I mean, it- it’s just historically Denmark’s been really, really great in, in wind. And there’s just so many bright minds, um, that d- I mean, if, if they can’t find a j- a job in Denmark, then I, I agree that there’s a lot of places in wind that if they’re, they’re okay with moving, they’ll, they’ll find a, a good spot that’ll receive them really happily. Rosemary Barnes: I know it is a bit of a, like, a cultural blocker. Danes more than other nationalities that I know are, are really, um, I don’t wanna say attached, it makes it sound like not quite the word I’m looking for, but they, they do really appreciate the region that they’re from and, you know, family is so important to Danes, so not the easiest thing [00:27:00] to just say, “Just move to the other side of the world.” But you know, I did it. It, it can be done and, uh, yeah, Australia is, has got very nice weather, especially at the moment. It’s, um, it’s gonna be… It’s been, like, in the high teens Celsius all this week, and this is, I’m in Canberra in still winter and, uh, yeah, like, on the weekend it’s gonna be 20 degrees. It’s, you know, normally 15 degrees is a really great one-off day in winter. It was my birthday this week and in Denmark there is a, a saying or a, you know, a belief that if you have good weather on your birthday, then that means that you must have been really good all year. And the weather was just, like, unprecedentedly good for my birthday, um, yeah, for a winter day. So obviously I was very, very good this year. Yolanda Padron: You’re a great person, and happy belated birthday.  Rosemary Barnes: Thank you. But it is something that I say every time we get another story about another Danish wind energy company that’s, you know, doing layoffs and, you know, I’m honestly surprised that it’s [00:28:00] only 500 fallen in wind energy. If you look at, like, even just the job losses at LM Wind Power alone, um, I think that it would be about that many, right? And so there are obviously some other companies um, growing to absorb some of the job losses, ’cause for sure we’ve covered more than 500 job losses just on the show. But I know I always feel really sad, um, not just for the people involved who y- you know, probably love wind energy and wanted to work in that field, but I feel sad that, you know, this was such a strength for Denmark, their, their wind industry, that they had been, you know, developing this expertise since the ’70s, honestly. Uh, really, really world leading and, uh, of course, like, globalization means that you can’t, like, stay siloed forever, and Denmark obviously also took advantage of that globalization to, you know, export. Wind industry was a huge export market for Denmark, and still is. Um, but I do, I, I just feel really bad at the companies that are losing, um, all of that, you know, institutional [00:29:00]knowledge and the really, really deep specialist knowledge. It’s, um, yeah. Uh, and they’ll go on to, you know, bring new skills to other industries, but it just makes me sad. As a wind energy lover and, um, you know, somebody who has a lot of friends that work in wind industry in Denmark, I do feel, feel sad. And there are some of my old colleagues who are amazing, like, literally the best engineer that I ever worked with, an electrical engineer, it, it was not easy for him to find a new job in wind. I’m actually not sure if he’s working in that industry now. And plenty of other, like, really, really talented engineers that have gone on to other, um, yeah, other different kinds of industries, and it just makes me a little bit sad.  Yolanda Padron: Yeah. I mean, there are a lot of people too that are com- And I agree, it’s sad. It’s really sad. But I, there are a lot of people too, some friends that, uh, just, you know, started doing consulting on their own, and it’s, it’s good to see that they’re still in wind, you know? Because they’re, they, they’re so smart and they have so much knowledge of so many years in the industry that they bring to the table, um, [00:30:00] that, I mean, it, it might even work out better for them, right? Because maybe now they’re not just wor- focusing on Denmark itself, and now they get to, to expand and do what they evidently love to do, uh, the, for clients around the world, which is really exciting.  Rosemary Barnes: Well, that wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy podcast, and my first as the primary host of the show, so let me know if you think I did a terrible job in the comments. Comments boost engagement, make me look better. So if today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn, and if you found value in today’s conversation, please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show. And don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For Yolanda, and Matthew and Allen Hall in their absence, I’m Rosemary Barnes, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy [00:31:00] podcast.

Nahid Karimi and Mahdi Rahimi join Dylan Welch, founder of Welch International, to share their firsthand perspectives on life in Afghanistan, the Taliban's return to power and the realities facing young Afghans today.Nahid recounts growing up in Kabul, representing Afghanistan as a gymnast and using music to advocate for peace and women's rights before the Taliban takeover changed everything. After fleeing to Pakistan with her family, she eventually received a scholarship to study in the United States, where she now advocates for Afghan girls and their right to an education.This powerful conversation explores displacement, life as a refugee, the loss of fundamental freedoms and the resilience of a generation determined to build a better future for Afghanistan.Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide and other sensitive subjects.Support the show

Is nuclear power the key to sustainability? With data centers consuming massive amounts of energy, can we keep up? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Gary O'Reilly & Paul Mecurio discuss the physics, safety, and future of nuclear reactors in a world of increasing power demands with nuclear engineer Kathryn Huff. Originally Aired February 21, 2025. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here:  https://startalkmedia.com/show/solving-ais-energy-problem-with-kathryn-huff/ Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is a replay of our conversation with Dr. Shirley Meng from the University of Chicago on battery storage. It's one of our favourite deep dives because batteries touch everything from EV range anxiety to grid scale storage, and even the whole critical minerals conversation.When we recorded this in May 2024, Shirley was predicting real solid state battery platforms by 2027 or 2028, and here we are getting close to that window, so it's worth listening again with that timeline in mind. The fights over re-shoring battery manufacturing, the US-China race, the economics of lithium versus sodium, all of it is just as live today as it was then, or maybe even more so.Episode page and show notes.About Our Guest:Dr. Y. Shirley Meng is a Professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. She serves as the Chief Scientist of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Meng is the principal investigator of the research group - Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC), that was established at University of California San Diego since 2009. She held the Zable Chair Professor in Energy Technologies at University of California San Diego (UCSD) from 2017-2022.Send us a text (if you'd like a response, please include your email)Follow us on:LinkedInBlueskyX/TwitterInstagramEnergy vs Climate relies on the support of our generous listenersDonate to keep Energy vs Climate goingProduced by Bespoke Podcasts

AI's explosive growth is running into a hard physical limit: power. In this episode, Joe Helfrich, managing partner and co-founder of NosTerra Venture Capital, explains why data centers are outpacing the energy grid's capacity and why that crisis is actually a rare opening for innovation. He walks through the shift from massive centralized training centers to smaller edge data centers built for real-time inference, and shares a standout portfolio story of a company turning data center cooling waste into a profitable CO2 business. The conversation covers where entrepreneurs should focus, how NosTerra evaluates real infrastructure solutions versus AI hype, and why this moment could reshape energy for everyone, not just the tech industry. Key Takeaways: 2:17 — What is the hidden physical problem behind the AI boom? 7:19 — How can data centers become accelerators instead of energy villains? 10:58 – When will AI compute move closer to the people using it? 21:15 — Who is turning a data center's waste into a business model? Quote of the Show (20:21):"Data centers are the catalyzing force that pulled forward all kinds of technology that reduces the cost of energy for everyone and increases energy supply and resiliency." — Joe Helfrich Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome. Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval Ways to connect with Joe Helfrich:Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joehelfrich/ Company Website: https://nosterracapital.com How to get more Disruption/Interruption: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=disruption+%2F+interuuptionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A strong profile in wind and hydropower makes the state more appealing to big tech companies. But South Dakotans are working hard to navigate the pitfalls of power and avoid problems that have plagued other states.

As the renewable energy and storage industries grow, and enter more hostile geographies, asset resilience is becoming an increasingly pressing concern. Developers, owners and lenders want to know how solar, storage and other facilities can increase their resilience to the growing risks of physical threats such as hailstorms and wildfires. The rush to add capacity to meet surging demand from new data centres is adding to the pressure, making calculations about the value of asset reliability increasingly complex.In this special episode, host Ed Crooks speaks with Mike Perron, Renewable Energy Market Lead at FM, and Cassian Walker, Operations Vice President and Renewables Engineering Manager at FM, one of the world's largest commercial property insurers. They explain how insurers are starting to build resilience into renewable project design far earlier in the development process, and why that has become a financing issue as much as a technical one.For solar power, that means understanding the inherent physical risks such as hail, then deciding what combination of tracker systems, stowing technology and panels is right for the location. The same equipment that performs adequately in California or New Jersey can become a major liability in Texas or Arizona.Cassian explains how modern trackers can tilt panels away from an incoming storm to turn a direct hit into a glancing blow. Mike contrasts a devastating nine-figure loss at one Texas site with a far smaller loss at another facility that successfully stowed. Those resilience strategies can work only if the system is designed for the local wind and hail conditions, and the performance of the equipment has been tested and verified.From there, the conversation broadens to the economics. Insurance can account for a large share of a project's operating costs, and lenders are asking harder questions about resilience before they finance new builds. FM's case is that better engineering, better hazard modelling and earlier involvement from insurers and independent engineers can lower lifetime risk and improve financial performance, even if they raise up-front costs.Today, renewable developers still often treat insurance as a late-stage procurement exercise, after key technology decisions have already been locked in. Mike and Cassian argue that that is changing, but the industry is still early in that learning curve. As renewables become more important to the power system, those questions will only get harder to avoid.This episode of Energy Gang is sponsored by FM. As one of the world's leading commercial property insurers, FM combines engineering expertise, scientific research, and data-driven insights to help organizations understand, mitigate, and prevent loss before it occurs. From utility-scale solar and battery storage projects to thermal power generation, manufacturing operations, and other critical infrastructure, FM helps organizations build stronger, more resilient businesses. To learn more about FM's engineering-based approach to resilience, visit FM.com. For additional insights on risk, resilience, and business continuity, subscribe to FM's Sound Policy podcast. FM. Protect Your PurposeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Electricity demand is rising, capital is tightening, and nuclear is back in the conversation as utilities, governments, and large power users look for firm low-carbon supply. But the central question is not whether advanced nuclear can attract interest. It is whether any new design can get far enough ahead on cost, manufacturability, and fuel strategy to break from the economics that have constrained conventional nuclear for decades.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Thomas Jam Pedersen, co-founder and CEO of Copenhagen Atomics, to examine one of the more unconventional answers now being put forward: thorium molten salt reactors built around low-pressure operation, standardized manufacturing, and a fuel strategy that could use spent nuclear fuel alongside thorium. Their core argument is that most of the nuclear sector is still trying to improve on a legacy light-water model that may remain too expensive, too complex, and too slow to scale against the pace of future energy demand.A large part of the discussion focuses on what that alternative looks like in practice. Pedersen argues that operating at atmospheric pressure changes the cost and engineering profile of the reactor itself, making smaller units easier to manufacture and potentially easier to deploy repeatedly. He also lays out why Copenhagen Atomics sees spent fuel not only as a waste problem but as a potential input, provided it can be recycled economically and paired with thorium to achieve higher fuel efficiency. The commercial model follows the same logic: standardize the reactor unit, let customers source the rest of the plant locally, and avoid the bespoke, first-of-a-kind economics that have burdened much of the sector.The episode also looks ahead to the harder constraints that will determine whether that thesis holds. Licensing remains slow and expensive, investor appetite is still shaped by the long history of political and regulatory risk in nuclear, and even successful advanced designs are unlikely to make a meaningful dent in global electricity supply before 2035. The takeaway is that the real test for advanced nuclear is no longer just technical credibility. It is whether a new generation of reactor companies can prove they have found a model that lowers cost, reduces deployment risk, and makes nuclear scalable in a very different energy market.This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Tax Credit Tuesday's "Renewable Energy Tax Credit Finance Series," Michael Novogradac, CPA, and Tony Grappone, CPA, discuss key financial modeling considerations for developers and sponsors pursuing RETC transactions, including tax equity structuring trends in 2026. Novogradac and Grappone review four structure types for RETC transactions: partnership flips, "pref-equity" partnerships (also known as "JV structures"), sale leasebacks and inverted lease partnerships. The two give an overview of all four structures and discuss the advantages, challenges and economic tradeoffs associated with each model.

Farm4Profit heads to Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 350 powered by Ethanol with Craig Floss, CEO of Iowa Corn, and Eric Petersen, President of Iowa Speedway, to talk NASCAR, ethanol, corn demand, and what's ahead for racing in Iowa. The conversation dives into why Iowa Corn continues to invest in NASCAR as a way to promote ethanol beyond the farm audience. NASCAR has raced on E15 since 2011, providing a high-performance example of ethanol in action while helping Iowa Corn reach consumers and build demand for one of Iowa farmers' biggest products. Craig shares the bigger picture for ethanol, including growing exports to countries around the world, opportunities in Southeast Asia, and the continued push for greater access to E15 and eventually higher ethanol blends. The group also discusses Iowa Corn's work around high-ethanol farm equipment and why creating additional ethanol demand could have a meaningful impact on corn markets and farm profitability. Eric gives listeners a look behind the scenes at Iowa Speedway, including three consecutive NASCAR sellouts, plans for a complete track repave, and the exciting news that NASCAR will return to Iowa over Independence Day weekend in 2027. He explains what goes into rebuilding a racing surface and the massive amount of work required to turn a facility with only nine full-time employees into a major NASCAR venue. From international ethanol markets to 700-horsepower race cars, this episode shows how Iowa Corn is using motorsports to connect farmers with consumers, demonstrate ethanol performance, and ultimately create more demand for corn. As Craig puts it, no matter which driver takes the checkered flag, ethanol and Iowa corn farmers win every race.     Want Farm4Profit Merch? Custom order your favorite items today!https://farmfocused.com/farm-4profit/ Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen! Website: www.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode link: https://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail address: Farm4profitllc@gmail.comCall/Text: 515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitllc Connect with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/Farm4Profit Media is not a financial, legal, or tax advisor. Content is provided for informational purposes only, and we serve solely as a platform for third-party opinions. Any actions taken based on this content are at your own risk. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gas is back at the center of the energy debate. Surging demand for electricity to power new data centres, and growing fears about global energy security resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, are raising some urgent questions for the US gas industry. Consumers want to know whether the US can produce enough gas for the world without losing the price advantage that has benefited American consumers for many years? Can a new era of gas growth strengthen energy security abroad and support cutting-edge technological innovation at home, while also maintaining affordability for most Americans?Host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe of NYU are joined by Toby Rice, Chief Executive of EQT, one of the largest natural gas producers in the US. Toby argues that America has the resources both to meet rising domestic demand and to supply much more gas to international markets, without sending prices soaring. He sets out EQT's case for US gas to drive growth, affordability, reliability and geopolitical influence. He also makes the case for the environmental benefits of gas as a replacement for coal in power generation.The Trump administration often talks about “energy dominance”. Toby says. He prefers to describe the goal as “energy abundance”.US gas prices have been low by international standards for most of the past 20 years. The big question is whether that price advantage can persist, in the face of rising LNG exports and growing power demand from AI. Ed raises the prospect that continued growth in demand for gas could eventually push up domestic prices, weakening one of the US economy's biggest competitive advantages.Toby's answer is that the shale resource base is deep enough to respond. He argues that at the right price signal, producers can bring on enough supply to support both the domestic market and a much larger export system. He also makes the case that increased US LNG export capacity can strengthen American energy security by creating more flexibility in times of stress, rather than simply exposing Americans to global volatility. Amy highlights the increased global focus on energy security. If countries are becoming more anxious about imported energy after recent geopolitical shocks, will they still want more LNG, even if it comes from a reliable supplier such as the US? Or will they step up investment in domestic alternatives, including renewables, batteries, nuclear, and even coal?Finally, Toby talks about his work with Energy Corps, the nonprofit organization he founded to bring energy abundance to emerging markets. It aims to deploy technologies including renewables, gas and propane for clean cooking, to increase access to modern energy, and demonstrate ways to improve the quality of life for billions of people around the world.More information about Energy Corps is available at its website: www.energycorps.com This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.