Interchange Recharged

The fires in Los Angeles of January 2025 were devastating. They were also made about 35% more likely due to climate change. This is true all over the world; a recent study authored by Research Fellow Pierre Masselot at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that rising temperatures could kill an extra 2.3 million people in Europe by the end of the century. Sylvia Leyva Martinez,...

How a major US utility plans for sustainable growth. The US is on track to see over 25% growth in annual clean energy installations this year, despite uncertainty around permitting and grid connections. The new Trump administration threatens much clean energy legislation, so how can the industry plan ahead? Annual clean energy installations are set to average 102 GW over the next 11 years, quadrup...

The trends, challenges and breakthroughs. Clean energy in 2025 will face challenges from rising electricity demand, inflation-driven costs, and political pressures. How can these challenges be solved? And what else lies ahead this year? To find out, host Sylvia Leyva Martinez, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie, sits down with fellow analysts Chris Seiple (Vice Chairman of Wood Mackenzie’s Power...

In conversation with Abigail Hopper  Policy changes which will impact US solar – both manufacturing and demand - are on the horizon. To discuss the current state of the solar industry in the wake of the US election, the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), potential changes to tax credits, and the impact of tariffs and energy demand on the industry, Sylvia Leyva Martinez is join...

Could the potential repealing of the IRA halt the progress of solar manufacturing? A second Donald Trump presidency will have a big impact on the energy transition. The Biden administration’s landmark climate bill the Inflation Reduction Act had incentives for domestic solar manufacturing and installations. Tearing up the act could slow down the exponential growth in the sector. Sylvia Leyva Marti...

The future of carbon capture With global emissions on the rise, the pressure to decarbonise is driving interest in CCUS (carbon capture, utilisations and storage) … but is CCUS a viable path to net zero, a temporary solution or a high-cost gamble that may simply just perpetuate the use of fossil fuels?   Sylvia Leyva Martinez, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie, sits down to talk with fellow...

Strategic solar for a stronger grid The solar industry is at a turning point, shifting from niche investments to a cornerstone of America’s clean energy future. With renewable energy investment soaring and energy needs intensifying, solar's role has never been more crucial. Sylvia Martinez, Principal Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, and David Banmiller sit down with Gregg Felton, CEO of Altus Power, to...

Global investment in renewables is projected to surpass US$2 trillion by 2030, with wind, solar and storage projects leading the way. Syliva Martinez, Principal Analyst at Wood Mackenzie is joined by Ray Long, President and CEO at ACORE (American Council On Renewable Energy), to look at how the energy transition is creating jobs, lowering costs and making the U.S. more competitive in the global ma...

Part two of our analysis of safety developments for energy storage and batteries. Guest host Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Principal Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, joins us to explore the challenges and solutions to lithium-ion battery safety. In part one of our two part series, thermal runaway events (which can lead to fires) were a key issue. What are the big players in manufacturing doing to address these...

Exploring fire risk mitigation in the face of lithium-ion challenges. Battery and energy storage-related fires are still relatively rare, but when they do occur, they are challenging to manage due to the high energy density of lithium-ion batteries. So how is the industry working to mitigate these risks? To find out, we are joined by Kelly Sarber, CEO of Strategic Management and Vice Chair of NY-B...

Less than 1% of clean energy investments goes to developing countries. Guarantees and partnerships could increase this. The global energy transition effort is all about ‘the new’. New technology, new financing models, new ways of looking at energy systems. The need for ‘the new’ is greatest in developing countries. For many of them, the challenge isn’t just transitioning to clean energy, it’s prov...

How can we reimagine Scope 3 in order to make faster progress? The intention of the original framing of Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions reporting was to support business understanding of their broader impact on the climate, so they would take responsibility for transformation to net zero and the impact of the complete value chain. Scope 3 emissions reporting in particular has become more of a focus o...

The Environmental Defense Fund wants changes made to the way the industry analyses hydrogen emissions data. A recent study from the Environmental Defense Fund asserts the energy industry is miscalculating the true impacts of deploying hydrogen. Hydrogen systems, with new analysis, could prove to be better – or worse – than the fossil fuels they intend to replace. “Clean, green” hydrogen deployment...

Over 50 million homes in the US use propane. Within a few years, anywhere from 100-300 million gallons of renewable propane are expected to be available for homes and the transport industry. By 2050, renewable propane could meet half the world’s demand for non-chemical propane.  So, the demand is there, but are the means of production? Where is the feedstock coming from and how scalable are p...

The Department of Energy’s ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy) is an agency tasked with the research and development of advanced energy technologies. Since 2009, they’ve provided nearly US$4 billion in funding for more than 1500 potentially transformative energy technology projects.  One particular area of focus for them at the moment is advanced nuclear. There’s a lot of pote...

Demand for heating at industrial sites around the world is rising. How can demand be met sustainably? Think of energy storage, and what do you think of? Probably lithium and nickel. But what about salt, and bricks? One of the big challenges for the energy transition is storage. It’s a particular problem for industrial-scale buildings and areas that need a lot of energy. Currently about half the en...

5x growth in five years: Convergent energy is overseeing $1 billion worth of energy storage development. Managing intermittent energy supply is a crucial part of the energy transition. When the wind doesn’t blow, or the sun doesn’t shine, we need a backup. Across two days of the Solar & Energy Storage summit, industry leaders and analysts explored the newest technology providing that service.&...

The 2024 Solar and Energy Storage Summit has wrapped. What are the key takeaways? In the past three years there’s been a lot of advancement in solar deployment. We’ve seen technology develop and policy support increase. The key talking points have changed similarly in the last three years of the event, but a common thread has been consistent: the importance of supportive government policy.  W...

Insight and analysis from the second day of the Solar & Energy Storage Summit 2024. Day 2 of the 2024 Solar and Energy Storage Summit and the conversation was still in full swing. We were there once again to capture all the debate and discussion on the future of the solar energy sector.  Electrification is at the heart of the energy transition. There’s been a sharp rise in grid connection...

Insight and analysis from Day 1 of the Solar & Energy Storage Summit 2024 The 2024 Solar and Energy Storage Summit from Wood Mackenzie kicked off in San Francisco this week. We were there to capture all the debate and discussion on the future of the solar energy sector. If you couldn’t be there in person, we’ve got you covered. We are joined by a roster of expert analysts and industry leaders...

Increased energy demand is inevitable. How do make sure the grid can cope? We’ll likely need a grid twice the size it is today. And balancing supply and demand in the years ahead will require a smart approach. Transmission capacity is one of the most important things to address as we accelerate the energy transition. Achieving net zero by 2050 will require an upgrade and expansion of the grid, in...

Can innovative new lithium extraction methods prevent a supply chain crisis? New lithium extraction methods are essential to meet the rising demand driven by EVs and grid storage. Traditional methods are time-consuming, geographically limited, and in some cases environmentally damaging. The concentration of lithium mines worldwide has implications for the supply chain; the fewer producers there ar...

In the UK, the collaboration between banks and policymakers is crucial for accelerating the energy transition. The financial sector in the UK managed assets worth over 9 trillion UK pounds (11.3 trillion USD) as of 2020, with a considerable portion needing realignment towards sustainable investments to meet the 2050 net zero goal. The Climate Change Committee, an independent advisory board to the...

Estimates for the cost of decarbonising could be inaccurate. What does that mean for investment and policy-making? About $1.2 trillion is invested annually in climate technology and infrastructure worldwide, with significant portions allocated to China due to its accelerated decarbonization goals. However, experts argue that about $9 trillion could be needed annually to effectively counter climate...

SMRs: a new horizon in Nuclear Power. This week on The Interchange: Recharged, we are joined by Ted Nordhaus, Executive Director at the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental research centre in Berkley, California. They focus on finding technological solutions to environmental problems. Achieving a net-zero emission grid by 2050, they claim, with a significant nuclear component would not only be...