The Global Energy Transition Podcast

In this episode of the Global Energy Transition podcast, host Michael Buchsbaum, talks with David Schlissel, attorney and Director of Resource Planning Analysis for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) about carbon capture and storage (CCS) which got a lot of attention at the recently concluded COP28 in Dubai.

The international response to Russia’s brutal February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has altered and transformed the energy transition, in some ways accelerating the move towards wind and solar generation but also forcing countries dependent on Russian fossil fuels, particularly European nations and the European Union as a whole, to search for and secure alternative supplies. The sudden shocks of this...

In response to Russia’s invasion and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, many European nations, particularly Germany, have banned Russian fossil fuels imports. For Germany this has meant not only finding new sources of liquified natural gas (LNG), but also spurred the government to establish several new LNG terminals. However, LNG, which is mainly cooled and compressed methane, repre...

Representing a district near several of Germany’s largest coal mines and lignite-burning power plants, Kathrin Henneberger entered the Bundestag, Germany’s Federal Parliament, on a mandate from Green voters to accelerate the clean energy transition both at home and abroad.  Long involved in the campaign to curtail global coal and fossil fuel production as well as human rights, during the summer of...

Aftershocks from Russia’s war against Ukraine continue rippling around the world, including to the deserts and jungles of Colombia. Producing increasing volumes of oil and fossil gas, this Andean country is also one of the world’s largest coal exporters.  Long rocked by violence, civil war as well as government and industry-linked terrorism, prior to Russia’s invasion European buyers had been curt...

While much of the international community’s climate action has focused on controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in doing so, we’ve essentially given a pass on another very powerful greenhouse gas: methane. With 86 times the warming impact of CO2 over a twenty-year period, new studies show that methane accounts for about 30-50 percent of today’s global warming. Thankfully, after years of pres...

While much of the international community’s climate action has focused on controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, in doing so, we’ve essentially given a pass on another very powerful greenhouse gas: methane.  With 86 times the warming impact of CO2 over a twenty-year period, new studies show that methane accounts for about 30-50 percent of today’s global warming. Thankfully, after years of pre...

Bonn leads the way We all know that climate change is a worsening problem, but which paths do we take to find solutions to this vexing challenge?  In this episode, we evaluate several technological solutions while also updating how cities around the world are taking an aspirational policy approach. In this rather Bonn, Germany-centric episode, host and proud-Bonnerite, Michael Buchsbaum celebrates...

After committing to phase out coal by 2032, Romania has begun a sweeping energy transition. But it is off to a very rocky start. Though a key condition of their nearly €30 billion EU Recovery and Resilience Plan approved by the European Commission calls for the nation’s coal mines and coal burning power plants to shutter, what will replace them remains a cause of concern. During COP26 in Glasgow,...

Now committed to phasing out coal by 2032, Romania is set to embark on a sweeping energy transition. A key condition of their nearly €30 billion Recovery and Resilience Plan approved by the European Commission, the mines and old power plants will be replaced by new solar and hydrogen as well as fossil gas development. But during COP26,  Romania’s provisional government surprisingly inked a deal wi...

By Michael Buchsbaum This summer the European Commission finally unveiled their “Fit for 55” policy package. Aimed at ensuring the European Union reduces emissions and reaches climate neutrality by 2050, a key part of their plan is phasing in a “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism” or CBAM. Framed as a pollution solution, it’s been met with howls of protest, threats of trade wars and frustration fr...

Pollution from the burning of ever more coal, oil and methane gas is accelerating the climate crisis. As national governments fail to control these emissions, cities and regions around the world are banding together to adopt a Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty. Modeled after efforts to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons, this new global initiative is gaining support ahead of the upcoming COP...