Energy Gang

The world is facing a great financial strain - what does this mean for the investment in the energy transition? On this episode of the Energy Gang, host Ed Crooks is joined by Nneka Kibuule from Aligned Climate Capital, and Sam Scroggins from Lazard.  The gang starts the discussion by looking at the state of the economy. There is a surge of inflation being felt around the world. In the U...

On this episode of the Energy Gang, it’s a think-tank showdown. Host and referee for the day Ed Crooks is joined in the ring by Samantha Gross from the Brookings Institution, making her Energy Gang debut, and Joseph Majkut from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, returning to the show after joining us back in June.  We start the discussion off with a deep dive into COP27, the...

We often talk about “the energy transition”. In this episode, we discuss what it means to be in the middle of that transition. Earlier this month, California was able to avoid blackouts as people came together to cut their electricity use. In Europe, leaders struggling to balance the urgent need for oil and gas with their goals for cutting emissions.  In this episode of The Energy Gang, host...

In this episode of The Energy Gang, we draw our attention away from the US and the Inflation Reduction Act, and switch focus to the ongoing energy crisis in Europe. Host Ed Crooks is joined by regular guest Melissa Lott, Director of Research at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and Amy Harder from Cipher.   The race to stay warm is on as Russia cuts off more gas...

In this episode of The Energy Gang, we revisit the surprise of the summer: the Great American Climate Bill. Now that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has officially been signed into law, what’s next? Regular Energy Gang member Dr. Melissa Lott steps in as host this week while Ed Crooks takes a well-earned holiday. Joining Melissa is Robbie Orvis from Energy Innovation and Dr. Linus Mofor from the...

Congress is passing the largest-ever US climate bill. What does it mean for the world? It was the shock heard around the world this week: Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer’s joint reconciliation bill, The Inflation Reduction Act. It’s passed the Senate, but the House remains. Will it pass, and what’s in it? On the Energy Gang podcast this week: Ed Crooks is joined by Amy Myers-Jaffe from the...

At a time when much of Europe has been sweltering in record temperatures, it feels like a stark contrast to be worrying about winter. These are very worrying times for Europeans, because of deep uncertainty over what will happen to the import of Russian gas, which is critical for keeping the lights on and keeping people warm in their homes. Meanwhile, the&nb...

There is never a dull moment in the world of energy. Despite the summer holidays in the northern hemisphere, this week was full of announcements and big news stories. Regular Energy Gang member Melissa Lott steps in as host this week while Ed Crooks takes a well-earned holiday. Joining Melissa is Emily Chasan from Generate Capital and Robbie Orvis from Energy Innovation. The discussion starts with...

The clean tech sector is a critical part of making the energy transition possible. With more and more capital flooding from outside investors into cleantech than ever before, the sector is set to become one of the critical keys in aiding and accelerating the energy transition. Today on the Energy Gang: a very special episode – a fireside chat with Tom Deitrich from Itron, and Tom Rand from Arctern...

California is one of the world’s largest economies in its own right, with a population of 40 million generating $3.4 trillion in GDP. It is also a pioneer in the development of clean energy, generating about 23% of its electricity from renewables in 2020, a long way ahead of the US average. On today’s episode, the Energy Gang welcomes a special guest: Elliot Mainzer, the President and CEO of the C...

Today, we’re following the money. Where does investment go in order to build a zero-carbon future? Where does the money get used, and where does it not? This week Ed is joined by Emily Chasan, Director of Communications at Generate Capital, and Shanu Mathew, Vice-President of Sustainable Investing and Net Zero Research at Lazard Asset Management. There are now trillions of dollars of capital in th...

The energy crisis is showing no signs of abating. There’s a shortage of energy, and the world’s efforts to transition to low-carbon energy are met with countless hurdles. Countries around the world are taking steps to mitigate the crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine however. The EU announced a plan to stop using Russian oil, gas and coal – it’s called RepowerEU and would mean more renewa...

The energy transition is currently supported by three main pillars: science & technology, economics, and policy. In 2022 these three pillars are unaligned, with a lack of cohesion impeding progress. In today’s episode of the Energy Gang, the team explores three current events that highlight and exemplify the current state of the energy transition in the US and beyond. The gang starts with the...

In this week's episode, the gang discuss nuclear power: is it a solution for providing energy security, or could it make the problem worse? Given that many consuming countries need to import most of their uranium, does relying on nuclear power create new sources of fragility? The US imported 86% of its uranium in 2020, from a range of countries, including Russia. What does that mean for hopes that...

On April 22nd, 2022 the world will be celebrating the 52nd annual “Earth Day”. Does Earth Day serve any useful purpose? How can we utilize the celebration of Earth Day for good? How is Earth day viewed by the world today, and how does this celebration push us closer to a low carbon life? In today's special episode of the Energy Gang, the conversation focuses on solutions and recent positive findin...

The energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the most serious since the oil shocks of the 1970s. Rising prices for oil, gas and coal are hitting living standards and putting people under financial strain around the world. We are facing some tough decisions about how to relieve hardship and energy poverty, while still cutting greenhouse gas emissions to limit the impact of climate ch...

Of all the stages of a solar project, the operations and management stage is arguably the most crucial. When you’re thinking about project efficiency and financial returns in solar, you need to have a concise plan for the O&M stage. Greg Shambo is Vice President of Business Development at Borrego Energy. He says that ‘when you get into the operations stage, this is where you make the money. If...

The gang is back, and it's been a huge week in energy. For the first time ever, the US government might be requiring major companies to report their climate risks and emissions. This is a really big change. Governments, regulators, and investors have been pushing for quite a few years now for companies to do more to disclose their climate risks. But this would be the first time in US companies wou...

The Energy Gang – Live (Rebroadcast) The gang are taking a break this week. Instead of a new episode we’re rebroadcasting our special edition live episode where the team discusses the top 5 energy-related stories of 2021. This episode was originally live-streamed for Wood Mackenzie’s Grid Edge Innovation series at the end of December of 2021. This week on the show we have Ed Crooks, Emily Chasan f...

This episode of the Energy Gang was recorded before the Russian attack on Ukraine had begun. As you’ll hear, we were talking after Russia had recognised the independence of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, but before the full-scale invasion. We will have a lot to say about the implications for energy of the conflict in Ukraine in our next episode. But this time, we were talking before...

In recent years, news headlines are frequently filled with announcements of financial institutions, funds, and corporations making hefty pledges to transform their portfolios to ensure that they stay in line with net-zero targets. Is this new wave of support for the energy transition motivated by making a quick buck or has there really been a change of opinion on the opportunities in which going n...

President Bidens Climate agenda has been reformed, and with the Build Back Better Act in a stalemate, should Americans give up hope on expecting anything to come of it? To discuss this and more, Ed Crooks is joined on the show this week by returning guest Dr. Melissa Lott from Columbia University, and Robbie Orvis from Energy Innovation, who makes his Energy Gang debut. The Build Back Better Act i...

It’s the first Energy Gang of the year. Ed Crooks is joined by Emily Chasan of Generate Capital and Amy Harder, formerly of the Wall Street Journal and Axios, now at Breakthrough Energy, which is the net-zero initiative founded by Bill Gates - find out more here: Cipher: Overview | LinkedIn - who joins the gang for the first time to kick off 2022 with a bang. With air travel over the holiday seaso...

Achieving net zero emissions requires collaboration from a multitude of government organizations and businesses. For a country the size of Australia, 24% of electricity coming from renewables is a huge accomplishment. But it does not come easy. Australia has two large interconnected energy networks, the National Electricity Market along the East Coast, with demand of 30-35 GW, and the Western Aust...

It’s a special edition of the Energy Gang this week, with the last episode of 2021 recorded for Wood Mackenzie’s Grid Edge Innovation series. Ed is joined by Emily Chasan from Generate Capital and Amy Myers-Jaffe from Tufts University, to look at how smart devices are changing energy retailing, and the role of SPACs in financing clean energy deployment. The gang wraps up 2021 with their top 5 stor...