Energy Evolution

In this episode of Energy Evolution, reporter Taylor Kuykendall interviews Ken Rabedeau, the Chief Technology Officer for Energy, Transportation and Public Sector at Nokia. Ken discusses Nokia's role today in the energy transition and how communication technology is helping industries such as the electricity, oil, gas, and mining sectors, to build more sustainable and cleaner business practices. K...

There's just over a year to go until the EU introduces its sustainable aviation fuel mandate. S&P Global Commodity Insights' Seb Lewis, associate director for biofeedstocks and biofuels consulting, speaks with Stephen Li, associate director for biofuels research and analysis, and Simone Burgin, associate editor for biofuels pricing. The team discusses the current state of the SAF market and HEFA f...

Wind turbines are widely recyclable – apart from their large rotor blades. As more wind farms get decommissioned, more blades end up in landfill or get burned, making recycling one of the industry's biggest PR and sustainability challenges. Developers also pay increasing attention to emissions in the production of steel for towers. Two start-ups, Germany's Voodin Blades and Sweden's Modvion, say t...

Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the consumption of purchased electricity, heat, or steam. In this episode of Energy Evolution, hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall bring on guest Marek Zhang, vice president of operations and service delivery at CFEX, to discuss the company's decarbonization platform that helps businesses account for and track Scope 2 emissions. Zhang...

This episode of Energy Evolution is all about utilities' capital plans and how they are adapting to the current economic climate. The episode features Darren Sweeney, a senior reporter in the S&P Global Commodity Insights newsroom, who attended the Edison Electric Institute Financial Conference in Phoenix and interviewed executives from Duke Energy, Exelon, and NiSource about their plans for the f...

Waste feedstocks in the form of Used Cooking Oil and Palm Oil Mill Effluent have been hitting headlines in the biofuels sphere – touted as the next generation of energy feedstocks. Feedstock flexibility appears to be a dominant trend over the next few years, and legislations across many countries look set to propel demand of waste-based feedstocks. In this podcast, Asia's managing editor Takmila S...

The growing use of renewable energy and the phasing out of fossil fuels is creating a large flexibility gap that needs to be filled by clean technologies such as energy storage. Long-term storage technologies are critical to solar and wind power, addressing the challenge of intermittency. While lithium-ion stands as the incumbent, scaling it for extended durations proves costly. Alternative soluti...

 In this week's episode of Energy Evolution, the hosts discuss a new series of articles out of the S&P Global Commodity Insights' newsroom that examines how some of the largest companies in the world are working to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall summarize some of the findings of the team's reporting before interviewing correspondents C...

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is seen as an essential enabler of international emissions trading, providing countries and businesses with a key pathway to meet and accelerate their climate goals. However, many key decisions and rules around the use of Article 6.2 and Article 6.4 need to be clarified at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in order to move carbon markets forward. S&P Global Commodi...

On this episode of Energy Evolution, we are talking about carbon offset markets and oil and gas retirement credits. What function do these tools serve in the broader decarbonization push, and how exactly are we calculating them anyway? What are the policies needed to make these offsets and credits work appropriately? How useful are these mechanisms in comparison to directly reducing emissions? Lis...

Wind turbines are essential tools for the transition to cleaner energy systems, but as the buildout progresses, questions around their biodiversity impact on land and offshore are becoming louder. Many new projects face legal challenges over the protection of birds in particular.  In Europe, the energy crisis following the war in Ukraine has led policymakers to reduce the compliance burden for new...

Energy Evolution and Capitol Crude join forces to co-host today's episode, all about artificial intelligence being deployed in the energy and mining sectors. This week's guests are some of the journalists from the S&P Global Commodity Insights newsroom who worked together to write an expansive series of articles on the impact of AI. The pieces look at predictions around how much electricity demand...

Former New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter has a long list of achievements on the ice, from winning a Stanley Cup to an Olympic silver medal. But in this episode of Energy Evolution, he joins to discuss his post-hockey career and current role as president of Brightcore Energy, which provides energy efficiency retrofits for the commercial sector, including innovative geothermal heating and coo...

In this episode of Energy Evolution, the team talks about gender diversity in the boardrooms of energy companies. Thought gender parity was already in reach? Well, think again. Women hold less than 20% of c-suite leadership positions in utilities in the US and Europe, a data analysis by S&P Global showed. Abbie Bennett and Camilla Naschert, reporters covering the energy transition, discuss some of...

In this episode of the Energy Evolution podcast by S&P Global Commodity Insights, co-host Dan Testa interviews Will Hazelip, president of National Grid Ventures, U.S. Northeast, about the company's involvement in offshore wind along the U.S. Atlantic Coast, renewable projects in the Midwest, and electric transmission projects in Europe. Hazelip emphasizes the need for offshore wind to meet decarbo...

In this series of podcasts, we explore and compare different battery chemistries against the dominant lithium-ion battery sector.  Sodium-ion batteries have emerged as a strong competitor to lithium-ion batteries, particularly in the energy storage sector. Some have even hailed it as a game-changer in the entry-level or low-cost EV segment, and that it could threaten the long-standing dominance of...

On this episode of Energy Evolution, our guests discuss sustainability and reporting standards for nickel mining, an industry key to supporting electric vehicle battery production. Today's guests include Alessandra Carreon, a member of the Michigan Public Service Commission; Ro Dhawan, CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals; and Chris Showalter, CEO of Lifezone Metals. Energy Evolut...

In this episode of Energy Evolution, co-host Taylor Kuykendall interviews Curtis VanWalleghem, CEO of Hydrostor. VanWalleghem talks about his company's compressed air technology and the importance of using long-duration energy storage in the transition to clean energy. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and min...

Against the backdrop of Europe's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and a self-imposed deadline for a US Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum, American steelmakers are stepping up investments in clean energy and working to ensure efforts to produce lower-emissions steel are recognized on the global stage. So how will policymakers view their initiatives, and will end-users be willin...

In this episode of Energy Evolution, co-host Taylor Kuykendall interviews Eric Beightel, the executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. The council was established in 2015 to improve the transparency and predictability of the federal environment review and authorization process for certain critical infrastructure projects.  Beightel discusses the challenges of permi...

Voluntary carbon markets are facing a critical moment in their short history. Questions about the integrity and effectiveness of many carbon projects have led to a sharp fall in prices and liquidity. However, a series of quality and transparency initiatives are being adopted to restore confidence in offsets. S&P Global Commodity Insights' experts Eklavya Gupte, Dana Agrotti and Silvia Favasuli dis...

As it gets harder for bitcoin miners to access power, some say mining is a balancing opportunity for the grid. We speak to mining startup founder Andrew Webber about his vision for data centers in grid flexibility and look ahead at the scaling of AI computing. Could data centers using AI algorithms become flexibility assets, and if so, which use cases could be suitable? On that, we hear from S&P G...

The hefty premiums paid by BP and TotalEnergies in Germany's latest offshore wind auction reflect the value these companies place on diversification – but do the economics stack up? Competition for offshore concessions has been fierce, but the sector is also under extreme cost pressure from stressed supply chains and rising inflation. S&P Global Commodity Insights' news editors Henry Edwardes-Evan...

In this episode of Energy Evolution, guest Jahi Wise, senior adviser to the administrator and acting director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund at the EPA, joins us to talk about a $27 billion grant program under the Inflation Reduction Act and efforts to use the funding to support the National Clean Investment Fund and efficiency improvements across the country, especially in disadvantaged com...

In this episode of Energy Evolution, guest Tom Schneberger, CEO of USA Rare Earth, joins us to talk about rare earths supply chains and the production of rare earth magnets key to energy transition technologies like electric vehicles and wind turbines. Energy Evolution co-hosts Dan Testa and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the energy and mining sectors. In a...