Interchange Recharged

New battery technology could get EV prices down and drive mass adoption In this week’s episode of Wood Mackenzie’s The Interchange Recharged, we look at the rapidly evolving landscape of EVs and the battery technology that powers them. Market sentiment in the US is up and down; despite a 40% sales increase from the last quarter of 2022 to the same period in 2023, the industry is struggling with co...

A breakthrough way of producing hydrocarbons, crucial to the aviation industry, could reduce costs and accelerate decarbonisation. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a key component in the aviation industry's path to decarbonization, which contributes to only 2% of global carbon emissions but is actively seeking cleaner solutions. Airbus and other aerospace companies are leading the charge, with A...

Half of the energy workforce is employed in clean energy technologies. By 2030, over 10 million new jobs will need to be filled as the energy transition continues. China, for example, employs 3 million workers in clean energy manufacturing – accounting for 80% of solar PV and EV battery manufacturing jobs globally. Skill shortages are as significant a bottleneck as lack of investment or supply cha...

Recent legislation in the US promises to be a boon for geothermal energy production. In January, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bipartisan bill that could have a big impact on the geothermal sector. Effectively putting geothermal on the same footing as oil and gas - by excluding geothermal development from strict NEPA rules – the bill could cut the red tape and boost productio...

The traditional process of battery development is slow, expensive, and capital-intensive. AI can help overcome the challenges of predicting battery performance, exploring the vast design space, and conducting time-consuming cycle life testing. We are joined by Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a professor at the University of Toronto specialising in Chemistry and Computer Science, and Jason Koeller, the CTO and...

What’s the outlook for low-carbon hydrogen in 2024? Green hydrogen energy, by now well-regarded as a critical component in the energy transition, is still faced with significant challenges. It’s anticipated to significantly contribute to energy needs, with projections suggesting it could supply up to 35% of the UK's energy by 2050, and there's a push in the US to dramatically reduce hydrogen produ...

The impact of Artificial Intelligence in energy management. We're at a crossroads in the world of energy. The landscape is shifting with the increasing role of renewables, growing demand and the need for resilience against extreme weather. How do we manage power effectively to keep the grid stable and efficient? Using AI to manage demand is one possibility. The role of artificial intelligence...

Bridging the gap and overcoming barriers in CCS expansion It's no secret that achieving net-zero emissions requires a significant reduction in the use of fossil fuels. As the world looks to alternative energy sources to combat climate change, carbon capture and storage (CCS) emerges as a key technology enabling industries to decarbonize. By capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at their source...

Tackling the global textile waste challenge. The fashion and textile industries are at a pivotal point, urgently needing to incorporate sustainable practices, particularly in textile recycling. With the industry's shift towards synthetic materials like polyester, there's a significant challenge in handling the large quantity of textile waste, estimated at 92 million tons globally every year. Emerg...

COP28 gets underway next week. 7 years on from the Paris Agreement, and a global stocktake of decarbonisation efforts lies ahead. Collective action is crucial, as is an exponential increase in these efforts; current policy is not enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C. We are joined by Angela Wilkinson, CEO of the World Energy Council, to discuss the actions and pledges the world needs to see fr...

Recycling plastic into feedstock is a crucial piece of the energy transition puzzle. We use a lot of plastic – 380 million tons of it is produced every year. Reducing the amount of fossil fuels used in its production, and minimizing waste going into landfill is crucial as we accelerate towards net zero. Plastic Energy is a plastic producer who are leading this charge. In this week’s Interchange: R...

New forecasts for weather patterns could help the solar and wind industries make better investment decisions in the long term. Climate trends are accelerating rapidly. Global temperatures hovered consistently at around 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels from January to August. Then in September, they shot up to 1.8 degrees. Dr Zeke Hausfather, research scientist at Berkeley Earth, opined in a...

Carbon capture, utilization and storage is evolving rapidly from a niche market to a mainstream investment theme. To explore the technology, financing and science behind this key piece of the energy transition puzzle, industry leaders and analysts met in Houston for Wood Mackenzie’s CCUS Conference.  The Interchange Recharged was there, capturing the best conversations and debate from a packe...

We’re facing a triple crisis: energy security, deadline for decarbonization and a fragile global economy. We’re at a pivotal moment where sustainable commitments can become a reality, now that technology has aligned with intention. We’ve seen extreme weather across the globe in the past few months, and it’s only going to increase in frequency. Mitigating these risks, strengthening the grid and red...

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage is evolving rapidly from a niche market to a mainstream investment theme. To explore the technology, financing and science behind this key piece of the energy transition puzzle, industry leaders and analysts met in Houston for Wood Mackenzie’s CCUS Conference. The Interchange: Recharged was there, capturing the best conversations and debate from a packed day...

Alight is a company riding the solar-coaster and enjoying the heights. In November 2021, we sat down with Harald Overholm, co-founder and CEO of Alight.  The focus of that discussion was on the emergence in popularity of Power-Purchase Agreements, in the solar sector. Alight, as one of the biggest providers in the Nordics, was looking to continue expansion throughout Europe. Since then, there...

A new linear generator could be the answer to the risks of extreme weather. The prospect of an extended blackout during a heat wave is not only alarming, but a potential public health emergency. According to a recent report in the New York Times, 800,000 residents would require hospitalisation if a major heatwave coincided with an extended blackout. The study, conducted by the Journal of Environme...

280 million EV’s worth of battery material is sitting on the ocean floor, but do we need to mine it? The end is nigh for the internal combustion engine. Electric vehicles will be phased in across the next decade, with two-thirds of vehicles sold in the US by 2032 mandated to be electric. In California, 100% of cars will need to be electric by 2035. As a result, demand for the critical metals...

The energy transition can’t be solved simply by focusing on infrastructure, digital solutions or investment alone. These three parts of the puzzle need to fit together.  The federal government recognises this; at the end of June the Environmental Protection Agency, funded by the IRA, dedicated $7 billion to community solar projects. These projects will focus on supplying solar to lower-income...

Back in May, we heard from two climate economists – Gernot Wagner and Bruce Usher, both from Columbia University. Together we explored the flow of capital going into the four largest sources of renewable energy: hydrogen, nuclear, solar and wind. Examining where the money is coming from and where it’s going? It's coming primarily from venture capitalists, but in the last two months there’s been si...

Changes to the way emissions are reported will have a big impact on renewable investment. It might be the most important piece of sustainability material in corporate and climate work that no one’s ever heard of, and it drives a huge amount of corporate behaviour.    In 1998, the  GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard launched, and set out a standard for businesses to...

Solar is attracting the power generation industry’s best talent. As solar and storage enter a new era of applied strategy, better analytics and tools are accelerating growth. Pine Gate Renewables is aiming to ‘get solar done’ by providing renewable energy to local communities across the country. On today’s episode of the Interchange: Recharged, we are joined by David Groleau, Senior Vice President...

We are in San Francisco, bringing you the second of three special episodes recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar Energy and Storage Summit.   From the live podcast studio in the Gold Ballroom at the Palace Hotel, we brins you the best bits from a packed second day of presentations and interviews with leading solar policymakers, innovators and specialists. The focus shifts today to storage:...

We are in San Francisco, bringing you the first of three special episodes recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar and Energy Storage Summit.    From the live podcast studio in the Palace Hotel, we bring you the best bits from a packed first day. Interviews with leading solar policymakers, innovators and specialists uncover the latest trends in the US solar market. One year on from the IR...

In the US last year, solar PV capacity totalled 142 GW, enough to power 25 million homes. Falling costs, advancements in storage and cell technology and supportive government policies drove record growth in 2022. This was an 11% year on year increase. Residential solar in 2022 had a record year, with nearly 6 GW of installations, a 40% increase on 2021. It wasn’t all plain sailing. We saw some dow...