Energypreneurs

Skip Bowman is an organisational psychologist who started interviewing energy leaders for a book on green leadership — and kept running into one question he couldn't answer: why does energy get more expensive when renewables are the cheapest ever created? Three years later, the answer became a book called "In the Dark." His conclusion: you will never get cheap power unless you take it. In this con...

Two weeks after a dropped call cut our first conversation short, Tim Ryan is back — fresh from Race for 2030's Consumer Grid Summit with 40 of Australia's top energy minds. In this conversation: why VPPs are "a shell game" for businesses trying to control your battery, the NMI number sitting in your switchboard that could work exactly like a phone number once did, and why Tim believes energy will...

Tim Ryan has spent decades thinking about energy markets — and he talks about them the way most people talk about sport. In this conversation we get into the Cheaper Home Battery Program's 450,000+ installations, why "self-consumption" isn't selfish, and why the old rule that electricity can't be stored is quietly becoming obsolete. We cover vehicle-to-grid ownership battles, why retailers are hik...

Bambang Susantono has had three careers that would each be a full life's work — Vice Minister of Transportation for Indonesia, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank, and then the founding head of Nusantara, Indonesia's new capital city. In this conversation he explains why Nusantara studied three other purpose-built capitals — Astana, Brasília, and Canberra — to learn what not to do. His ve...

Patrick Strom has spent 25 years in the wind industry, from prospecting sites to predictive maintenance on turbines the size of skyscrapers. His message is simple: renewables don't need subsidies anymore. They're winning on cost, full stop. In this conversation: why offshore wind's real bottleneck isn't catching the wind but absorbing it onto the grid, why concentrated solar power was "the wrong a...

Bruce Nordman spent nearly 40 years at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory asking one question: what if we ran electricity the way we run the internet? His answer reframes everything. A notebook computer is already a nanogrid — it can run on battery or grid power, and it distributes electricity to every USB device plugged into it. Scale that idea up, add a price signal that machines (not people)...

John Lin grew up Dutch-Chinese, worked strategy at the Netherlands' biggest e-commerce company, and spent years telling his McKinsey colleagues that everything they called "the future of commerce" had already happened in China. Nobody listened. He was right. He now does 50 keynotes a year telling European boardrooms the same thing about EVs, AI, and energy. In this conversation, Xiaomi built a car...

Originally published as Episode 230 — this conversation has only become more relevant since. Michael Barnard is a climate futurist who builds decade-by-decade projections of the energy transition through 2100. He doesn't claim to be right. He claims to be less wrong than most. In this episode: why hydrogen demand will fall, not rise — and why the narrative that sustained it for a decade is now col...

Hamish McKenzie is Deputy Director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Grattan Institute. His team just published a landmark report on Australia's gas transition — and the findings are stark. Gas use has peaked across every sector. In the National Electricity Market, gas generation is down 61% since 2014 and now just 4% of the grid. More households are leaving the gas network than joining it...

Jess Hunt has spent 25 years redesigning electricity markets. She was involved in the Hornsdale Big Battery — the world's first grid-scale battery — and now consults for governments and regulators across Australia. In this conversation: the duck curve is dying, eight-hour battery storage is making gas redundant, and South Australia's latest firming tender went entirely to batteries. Gas companies...

Why is the energy transition inevitable? Not just desirable, but inevitable. In this first module of the Energypreneurs Masterclass, I curated five conversations from 300+ episodes to answer that question. You'll hear from a trucking entrepreneur, a clean energy analyst, a physicist, and an InsurTech founder, each telling the same story from a completely different angle. This masterclass is free f...

The Philippines imports $15 billion worth of oil every year. 4 million tricycles burn a significant share of it. Paul Johnston is the CEO of Pure EV, 350 electric tricycles operating across the Philippines, 92% utilisation, drivers taking home 30% more income. The technology works. The numbers work. We go into the unit economics, the financing barriers, the charging infrastructure, and why convert...

The Philippines has one of the best renewable energy laws in the world, one of the highest electricity tariffs relative to income, and 278 island communities still running on diesel. Something doesn't add up. Ruth Yu Owen — CEO of UpGrade Energy Philippines, chair of two national energy committees, and one of the most connected people in Philippine clean energy — joins Sohail to explain why politi...

In this episode, our guests are Sayeed and Zahir, two experienced engineers and infrastructure specialists who discuss Bangladesh's development journey across water, transport, urban planning, and renewable energy. The conversation explores lessons from large infrastructure projects, the importance of bottom-up development, the future of solar energy in Bangladesh, and how small entrepreneurs and...

South Australia is producing 150% of its electricity demand from solar. Australia installed 10% of global battery capacity in a single month — for a country that represents 1% of the world's population. Something extraordinary is happening down under, and Daniel Perotti is in the middle of it. Daniel leads future mobility and electrification projects at RAA, South Australia's automobile club. In t...

In this episode of the Energypreneurs Podcast, Raju Mandhyan discusses authentic influence, leadership, and staying true to your values in a rapidly changing world. Raju shares powerful personal stories and practical insights on what it means to influence others ethically, make difficult decisions, and draw clear boundaries in life and work. The conversation also explores the role of storytelling,...

Jeff Wolfe, a pioneer of rooftop solar in the U.S., joins Energypreneurs to discuss the rapid evolution of solar, EVs, and battery storage, and what it means for the future of the grid. From $20 per watt solar to near-zero marginal cost electricity, this episode explores how energy is becoming decentralized — and why even a small shift could disrupt the entire utility model. Connect with Sohail Ha...

In this episode, our guest is Jyoti Bisbey, a climate finance expert and former World Bank professional, discussing climate finance, adaptation vs mitigation, sustainable infrastructure, clean mobility, and the future of global development. She also shares career insights, leadership lessons, and perspectives on AI and sustainability. Please join to find more.  Connect with Sohail Hasnie: Facebook...

In this episode, I reflect on the growing energy security crisis in net energy-importing developing countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines. Drawing from a recent visit to Dhaka, I share the powerful image of a mile-long fuel queue and paints the contrasting Picture of using electric vehicles powered by rooftop solar as a practical solution for many. Connect with Sohail Hasnie: Facebook @soh...

In this episode, our guest is Penny Estrada, Chief Growth Officer in a global freight forwarding business. She shares how constant disruptions, rising fuel costs, and supply chain bottlenecks are reshaping logistics. Penny highlights the hidden operational strain behind these challenges, the shift toward sustainability and electrification, and the growing need for risk-aware decision-making. She a...

In this episode, our guest is Jasteanne "Jazzy" Benito, a survivor of Typhoon Haiyan who shares her firsthand experience of one of the most devastating storms in history. She reflects on how living through the disaster at just 16 shaped her views on climate change, resilience, and personal responsibility. From losing her home and rebuilding her life to becoming a successful entrepreneur in real es...

In this episode, our guest is Pratish Halady, Regional Head for Private Sector Development (Southeast Asia) at the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He shares how ADB is bringing together green finance and private sector investment to accelerate the region's energy transition. We dive into real-world examples—from EV charging infrastructure and geothermal development to blended finance and policy refo...

In this episode, our guest is Monalisa Dimalanta, former Chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission, who shares insights into the Philippines' evolving energy sector. We discuss the gap between strong renewable energy policies and execution, high power costs driven by fossil fuel dependence, and the challenges in off-grid island systems. Monalisa highlights opportunities to scale solar, stora...

In this episode, our guest is David Beeton, CEO of Urban Foresight and a pioneer in electric mobility. He shares insights on the evolution of electric vehicles, the shift toward autonomous transport, and how cities can build smarter, more sustainable mobility systems. We explore key drivers of EV adoption—cost, convenience, and culture—alongside emerging trends like mobility-as-a-service, AI integ...

David Osmond breaks down how wind energy works, why turbines are getting bigger, and how wind complements solar power. He also explains how batteries, EVs, and smart grids can enable up to 98% renewable energy while debunking common myths about wind power. Connect with Sohail Hasnie: Facebook @sohailhasnie X (Twitter) @shasnie LinkedIn @shasnie ADB Blog Sohail Hasnie YouTube @energypreneurs