Inside Energy

Welcome to 2050. AI manages your solar panels, heat pump, and EV, making thousands of daily decisions to slash your bills. In this episode, Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley stares deep into Britain's energy future, and explains how it's arriving faster than 2013 projections dared imagine.  We also look beyond the UK. Climate futurist Michael Barnard explains the rise of ‘crocodile economics’, w...

By 2030, the UK government aims to achieve 95% clean energy, driven by a switch to wind, solar, hydro, battery storage and EVs. To make it happen, we as consumers need to be flexible with our energy consumption. But what does that look like?   Ofgem’s Marzia Zafar, Ashley Malster and Nina Klein talk about the road to Clean Power 2030, the role of automation, and how consumer choice, convenience an...

The universe's most abundant element, Hydrogen has long promised to be the energy of the future. Has its moment finally arrived?  Discover why green hydrogen is dividing experts. While critics call it "70% inefficient," pioneers like Lhyfe are building commercial plants in Tyneside that produce 6.5 tonnes daily.  Ofgem's Hilary Hill, Lhyfe’s Boris Davis, and energy author Chris G...

Britain's energy system is becoming intelligent. Discover how smart meters are unlocking flexibility and transforming consumers into "prosumers" who sell energy back to the grid and earn money.  Ofgem's Liam Bennett and award-winning former retail energy chief Monica Collings OBE reveal the reality behind the buzz. 34 million smart meters have already been installed, but that’s w...

Early sceptics declared wind and solar impossible, but today's grid runs on 60% renewables. So in this episode, we track Britain's move towards renewable energy. We discover the S-curve of clean energy adoption: the slow beginnings plagued by doubt, then explosive growth driven by feed-in tariffs, which rewarded early adopters, and finally, the accelerating race toward net zero. Energy res...

Tell Sid he started a revolution. The 1986 privatisation of British Gas kicked off a transformation of Britain's energy landscape, from state monopoly to competitive marketplace. With it, a need for strong regulation. Ofgem's Jenny Boothe and Akshay Kaul reveal the regulator’s story from its inception 25 years ago.  Meanwhile, 2024 was Earth's hottest year, and carbon dioxide concentra...

In this episode, the pivotal decisions and explosive moments that shaped our energy system in the 20th Century.  Built in recession, battle-tested in war, we learn about the foundation of the National Grid and how it came to provide energy to homes and businesses across Britain.  We also hear how the OPEC Crisis of the mid-1970s caused oil prices to quadruple overnight and led to decisions to dive...

Journey through Britain's remarkable energy transition, from depleting woodlands for fuel in the 16th Century, to becoming an industrial superpower in the 19th and 20th Centuries. With the help of three leading experts, this first episode of Inside Energy tells the interconnected tales of innovation, conflict and transformation that shaped modern Britain. How coal fueled the British Empire, ho...