Spark Club Podcast

Tim Buckley joins the Spark Club regular podcast in the lead up to the Australian Federal Election on the 3rd May 2025.  Highlights China 1QCY2025 electricity statistics. Battery Energy Storage BESS announcements continue at a rapid speed and scale, with proposals advancing across Australia almost daily. China's response to the US trade war Lowlights Rolled into the Main Story this week.  Main Sto...

In our first Live Spark Club event for 2025 Danny Kennedy joins us to share his recent experience on the ground in Pakistan and Bangladesh where he witnessed first hand the Energy Transformation underway with rapid deployment of solar PV.  Danny shares the positive effect of China's Five Year Plans and the flywheel effect of low cost solar PV, battery storage and EV's deployed in new markets.  We...

Tim Buckley joins the Spark Club regular podcast on the day the Australian Federal Election is announced for 2025.  Highlights Federal election has been called this morning - for 3rd May 2025 Budget - not much climate or energy information in the budget, perhaps there's more to be announced during the election.   BYD's amazing stats. Matt Pollard's oped in RenewEconomy. 120,000 R&D staff!!! EV mom...

It's great to welcome Dr Zhengrong Shi onto the Spark Club podcast. We had some time before a UNSW Fireside Chat event with Professor Martin Green and Dr Shi. We open our conversation with Dr Shi's thoughts on entrepreneurship and the six principles of what it takes to build a successful business. We discuss solar manufacturing from its infancy in China and Suntech's contribution as a cornerstone,...

This week Tim shares his highlights, lowlights and main story with us starting with; Highlights Green iron report by Deloitte & WWF. The Fifth Estate forum with Matt Kean and Martijn Wilder hosted at the Greenhouse. China's massive US$11bn 19GW (85% RE)  Qaidam Golmud East Desert Base Power Project .  Canadian Solar's reported CY2024 BESS shipments surged 505% yoy to 6.5GWh. Engie pulls out of a T...

This week Tim shares some good news from Canberra with the Climate Capital Forum leading a delegation to meet with politicians across the spectrum and share a positive message. Our focus this week on the South Australian State government working in partnership with the PM Anthony Albanese Federal Government to put the financially distressed Sanjeev Gupta GFG Alliance 's OneSteel Manufacturing divi...

Welcome to episode 45 of the Spark Club podcast. Tim Buckley is back to take us through our regular format of Highlights, Lowlights, The Main Story and What Coming Up.  In this episode we open with good news from the Middle East as large scale solar and battery storage deployment hits new records. Tim shares news on the $2Bn Green Aluminium production tax credits, Labor's 2025 Build Australia's Fu...

Welcome to episode 44 of the Spark Club podcast. A large part of our conversation on this podcast is about solar PV as the engine behind the global energy transition. Traditional media still maintains solar as a rounding error, a technology in its infancy.  Well the stats tell a different story, which is why I'm delighted to have Andrew Birch 'Birchy', onto the podcast.  Birchy shares his start in...

Welcome to episode 43 of the Spark Club podcast, and the 10th in our new Regular Podcast series. Tim Buckley, our regular guest is back for the final episode for 2024. In this episode we discuss the highlights and the lowlights for the week and then go onto discuss the recent Climate Energy Finance report - Australia is seeing an Acceleration in our Electricity Sector Transition, putting our 82% R...

Welcome to episode 42 of the Spark Club podcast. This the 9th episode in our Regular Podcast series. This time we welcome Professor Renate Egan, Executive Director at the Australia Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics at UNSW to Spark Club. In this episode we discuss the discuss the opportunity for solar pv manufacturing in Australia and how UNSW remains at the leading edge of global solar innovation...

Welcome to episode 41 of the Spark Club podcast. And the 8th in our new Regular Podcast with Tim Buckley. In this episode we discuss the highlights and the lowlights for the week and then go onto the main story. Tim was invited by Rob Stokes and Matt Kean to a debate on nuclear at Maquarie Uni. Rob, Matt and Tim were able to shift audience opinion. Great record to point to for anyone who has a nuc...

This is episode 40 of the Spark Club podcast. And the 7th in our new Regular Podcast with Tim Buckley. In this episode we discuss Tim's Climate Energy Finance (CEF) report co-authored by Matt Pollard, Net Zero Transformation Analyst at CEF and Tim. Forging Australia's Green Iron Industry Letting you know we're opening the conversation to broader voices to compliment Tim. New guests will share thei...

This is episode 39 of the Spark Club podcast. And the 6th in our new Regular Podcast with Tim Buckley. In this episode we discuss Tim's recent trip to Japan and set the stage for Climate Energy Finance next report on Green Metal.  The Spark Club Live events will continue, so stayed tuned for our next one. Enjoy the podcast.

This is episode 38 of the Spark Club podcast. And the 5th in our new Regular Podcast with Tim Buckley In this episode we discuss Tim's recent report The Green Capital Tsunami. You'll hear the genesis for the idea and how a new theme is emerging in China's approach to the global energy transition. The report is available for free at  Climate Energy Finance .  The Spark Club Live events will continu...

This is episode 36 of the Spark Club podcast. And the 4th in our new Regular Podcast with Tim Buckley The global dynamic in the energy transition focuses on Australia, Europe or the US, with occasional reference to China. The capacity and deployment stats coming out of China are staggering, and not well reported. This Spark Club Regular podcast aims to bring balance to the conversation and be a cl...

This is episode 3 of the Spark Club Regular podcast.  The global dynamic in the energy transition focuses on Australia, Europe or the US, with occasional reference to China. The capacity and deployment stats coming out of China are staggering, and not well reported. The Spark Club Regular podcast aims to bring balance to the conversation and be a clear and consistent voice on global structural cha...

Exciting news, we are embarking on a new chapter for Spark Club. We are adding a regular podcast into this feed. This is episode 2.  The global dynamic in the energy transition focuses on Australia, Europe or the US, with occasional reference to China. The capacity and deployment stats coming out of China are staggering, and not well reported. The Spark Club Regular podcast aims to bring balance t...

Hi and welcome to the Spark Club Podcast. Spark Club podcasts are recordings from our live events, hosted in front of a Spark Club live audience. A week later, or so, we publish the recording as a podcast recording. Since 2016 the recording of our live events has worked well. The exciting news is we are embarking on a new chapter for Spark Club. We are adding a regular podcast into this feed. If y...

Hi and welcome to the Spark Club podcast. In this podcast, How PERC changed the World, we'll hear from Professor Martin Green from UNSW and how he and his team invented the PERC solar cell. PERC's global success has unlocked the lowest cost of energy in history. We'll hear the back story from Martin and then hear what the future holds for SPREE at UNSW from Professor Renate Egan. A truly amazing s...

In 2023 Australia and the United States have taken strong action on climate to accelerate the transition to a global clean energy economy. In May, President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese jointly declared that climate and clean energy are the third pillar of the U.S.-Australia alliance. The Australia-United States Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact  commits our c...

It's an exciting time in cleantech as global macro trends, decarbonisation ambitions and public investment transform the energy sector. Which is why it was a great opportunity to host David Roberts from the Volts Podcast and Saul Griffith from Rewiring America and Rewiring Australia in front of a live Spark Club audience at Fishburners in Sydney in August 2023. In this robust conversation, David a...

Infravision co-founder and CEO Cameron Van Der Berg believes technology will play a vital role in revolutionising high voltage grid transmission lines. Infravision set out to drag a traditional slow moving trillion dollar transmission industry into the future, by using drones to string. Cameron and his team are innovating by partnering with progressive grids, moving the industry forward, faster, c...

In this Spark Club podcast we'll hear how United States is turning on. I recorded interviews in the last week October at the Verge22, the largest climate tech conference in North America held in San Jose California. Climate tech bucking the investment trend and the Binden Administration unlocking an enormous amount of government funding. We'll hear an opening address from Secretary Granholm and th...

In this Spark Club podcast, recorded live at EnergyLab in June 2022, we shine a light on the Lithium Battery sector. Australian raw materials are playing a key role in this vital industry in the energy transition, but can we do more? We have an amazing panel, Danny Kennedy from New Energy Nexus, Katja Digweed from the CSIRO, Mark Chilcote CEO at Energy Renaissance and Christiaan Jordaan from Sicon...

In this election Spark Club podcast we are joined by three leading Independent candidates for the up and coming Federal election on the 21st of May 2022. Allegra Spender from Wentworth, Kylea Tink from North Sydney and Georgia Steele from Hughes join Saul Griffith and I on stage for a conversation on the key issues on energy and the opportunity the clean energy transition holds for Australia in jo...