An uncomfortable truth in the energy transition is that Coal is still a major part of the global energy system.
Despite being majorly polluting and often no cheaper than cleaner alternatives, it's persisted particularly in countries like China, India, and Indonesia, but also the USA and Australia. Why? And how do we truly phase it out of the system.
Our guest this week is Lucy Shaw, who's working on a book looking at the role of coal in the world and why it's been so hard for some countries to give up.
We talk about the politics that's keeping coal on line from mechanised mines in China to aging sites in Trump's new America, complete with some real stories from Lucy's research on the ground.
The show is hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former senior government advisor at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the No10 Policy Unit, and a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
The solar industry has faced tough questions about its supply chains and the links to state-enforced forced labour, particularly in regions like Xinjiang, China.
In this week’s episode Sulaiman speaks with Rachel Owens, former human-rights campaigner and CEO of the Solar Stewardship Initiative, to talk about the major steps the sector has been taking to address the issue.
We discuss how increased transparency, accountability, and consistent government regulation can ensure buyers that their clean power isn't coming at the expense of human rights abuses. We show the immense progress that's been maded, but also what more needs to happen to ensure a truly just transition.
The energy system has changed dramatically in the last 40 years, both in the UK and globally.
But how do these changes happen? What makes technology transitions and innovation a reality? Is it policy, politics, or global economic patterns outside our control?
We're joined by Jim Watson, Professor of Energy Policy and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Resources at University College London, to reflect on the changing nature of energy policy and practice over the last four decades.
Alongside our host Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, a former senior government advisor and Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge, they touch on everything from the 1970s oil crises and the 1984 miner's strike, to the theory of technology innovation systems and the role of China in a new energy future.
What makes the Texas energy system so special? Separated from the rest of the US grid, the Texas system is a living lab for the future of energy, achieving remarkable rollout of renewables despite the politics of the state.
This week we’re joined by Mark Lauby from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the organisation responsible for grid and system stability across the US, to unpack what makes Texas special, and how it has evolved since the 2021 blackouts.
This episode is part of a partnership with Reuters Events ahead of their major upcoming conferences in the UK and USA.
Energy Transition Europe will take place on the 20-21 October in London. Use the code TER200 for a £200 discount on a ticket. Link here: https://events.reutersevents.com/energy-live.
Energy Live will take place on the 9-10 December in Houston, Texas. Use the code REVOLUTION200 for a $200 discount. Link here: https://events.reutersevents.com/energy-transition/energy-transition-europe.
The show is hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former senior government advisor at the UK Department for Energy and No10 Downing Street, and current Policy Fellow at theUniversity of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
How do race and the legacies of empire continue to impact the energy transition?
For black history month our host, Cambridge Fellow and former government advisor Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, looks at the ways that race and empire still impact our energy transition: including ‘energy apartheid’ in South Africa, the legacy of segregation on the Texas grid, and the role of slavery and empire in the early industrial revolution.
Internationally he looks at the imperial roots of European oil and gas companies like Shell, BP and Total Energies, as well as the legacy of colonialism in cementing the resource curse that so many Sub-Saharan African countries face, from Congo, Angola, Nigeria and elsewhere.
The impact of these histories continue to shape our energy systems, and it is important not to repeat these mistakes as we move to a fairer, renewables based energy system.
Academic sources cited in this episode:
Energy Racism Report: The Electricity Crisis and the WorkingClass in South Africa. University of Johannesburg. Maggott, Terri, Siphiwe Mbatha , Claire Ceruti, Lydia Moyo , Alice Mporo , Trevor Ngwane , Cleopatra Shezi , and Luke Sinwell . Accessed November 30, 2022. https://www.uj.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/energy-racism-csrp-web.pdf
The 2021 Texas Power Crisis: distribution, duration, anddisparities, Flores NM, McBrien H, Do V, Kiang MV, Schlegelmilch J, Casey JA.. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2023 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9851928/
Race and energy poverty: Evidence from African-Americanhouseholds, Eyup Dogan, Mara Madaleno, Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Dilvin Taskin; Energy Economics (2022). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140988322000883
Associations between air pollution and socioeconomiccharacteristics, ethnicity and age profile of neighbourhoods in England and the Netherlands. Fecht D, Fischer P, Fortunato L, Hoek G, de Hoogh K, Marra M, Kruize H, Vienneau D, Beelen R, Hansell AEnviron Pollut. 2015https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25622242/
‘Oil will set us free’: the hydrocarbon industry and theAlgerian decolonization process’, Marta Musso, Britain, France and the Decolonization of Africa: Future Imperfect?, 2017.https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1mtz521.8?seq=3
Beyond Petrostates: The burning need to cut oildependence in the energy transition, Mike Coffin and Andrew Grant. 2021.https://carbontracker.org/reports/petrostates-energy-transition-report/
Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, HelenThompson (2022).
The UK has been extremely slow to decarbonise the heating sector. Why? And what can be done?
Meeting the UK's climate ambitions will require millions of heat pump installations and widespread heat network infrastructure to be established, but both of these sectors are struggling to get off the ground.
In this episode we are joined by Adam Berman, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Energy UK, to unpack the challenges that clean heat has faced, and what government can do about them.
The show is hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former senior government advisor at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the No10 Policy Unit, and a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
Growth is at the centre of Labour's political programme, and with Rachel Revees' nod to airport expansion many have wondered if climate goals will take a hit in pursuit of the economy.
But what is behind the Heathrow story and what does it tell us about the wider thinking in Treasury on public infrastructure and climate in the UK. Today we're joined by Alex Chapman from the New Economics Foundation, who explains why the Heathrow decision won't lead to the growth that government is hoping for, and what this all says about the state of British infrastructure writ-large.
We cover everything from airports to energy networks and merits of a wealth tax in a wide-ranging discussion on the state of Britain.
The show is hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former senior government advisor at the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the No10 Policy Unit, and a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
What happens to the energy system when you think about the end consumer first?
People want warm homes, cheap power, and to get from place to place - they don't care how we make this happen, and arbitary distinctions between different parts of the energy system are holding us back.
In this episode we're joined by Caroline Bragg, CEO of ADE, to discuss everything from consumer flexibility to heat networks, encouraging listeners to think about our energy needs as an integrated system, not a series of separate sectors.
The show is hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former Head of Policy and Strategy for Renewable Electricity Delivery at the UK Department for Energy and former Senior Advisor at No10 Downing Street. He is now a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
Keywords: renewable energy, clean power, batteries, EVs
Since the Russia-Ukraine war began, EU states have spent spent more on Russian fossil fuels than they've given to Ukraine in aid.
In this episode, we discuss how countries and companies get around the UK and EU sanction regimes, and what this means for the ongoing conflict, as well as Europe (and the world's) transition to a cleaner, safer energy system.
In the midst of a trade war and challenging geopolitics, how are renewables and climate connected to energy security in Europe and elsewhere?
Our guest this week is Isaac Levi from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Our host is Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former UK government advisor and Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
What can 200 years of energy history teach us about the energy revolution happening today?
We are joined by Arthur Downing, Director of Strategy at Octopus and author of the forthcoming book Power and the People: a history of energy in Britain since 1800, to discuss how the energy system has changed in the 200 years since its inception, and what lessons we should learn as we try to build a new system around renewables, electric vehicles, and other low carbon technologies.
You can read Arthur's energy and history substack here: https://energynetworks.substack.com/. Hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former Head of Policy and Strategy for Renewable Electricity Delivery at the UK Department for Energy and Senior Advisor at No10 Downing Street. He is now a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
Orsted is in crisis. Stock prices are down 86% since their 2021 high, and problems pile up as Trump has halted the construction of their latest Revolution Wind Farm off the Northeast Coast.
Our host Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former UK government advisor and Cambridge Policy Fellow, unpacks the mistakes that Orsted made in its approach to the USA market and its poltical blindspots.
He also covers what this means for renewables as a whole, and what Orsted's debacle tells us about politics, global markets, and the energy transition at large in the new economic world order.
This solo podcast is a new format, so let us know what you think in the comments!
Does government need to get out the way and let markets deliver net zero? Or is the state key to delivering the technologies we need for the future?
This week is a crossover episode with the Modo Energy podcast, Transmission. Our host Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former government advisor at the UK Department for Energy and at No10 Downing Street, goes back and forth with Ed Porter, VP for Insights at Modo, on everything from the government subsidies for Renewables to the rapid scale up of batteries and the phenomenon that is negative prices.
Keywords: Energy | Renewables | Batteries | Hydrogen | Carbon | EVs |
In an age of increasing misinformation it's becoming harder and harder to find what's truly going on in energy and climate.
This week we sit down with Simon Evans, journalist from the Carbon Brief, and talk about everything from the Telegraph's anti-net zero obsession to the rise of AI content and how to communicate the facts when there's so much noise around.
Hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former Head of Policy and Strategy for Renewable Electricity Delivery at the UK Department for Energy and former Senior Advisor at No10 Downing Street. He is now a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
Energy security is changing. The war in Ukraine shattered complacency of many politicians in Europe and beyond, and laid bare the need to think radically differently about future energy security.
This was no surprise to this week's guest, former NATO advisor and Founder of Enoda Paul Domjan, who has been thinking about the changing state of energy security for over 20 years.
We cover everything from the EU's mistakes in dealing with Putin, to the Israel-Iran war, the provisional IRA's plan to shut down the London electricity grid, and the possible role of newer technologies like batteries in the systems of tomorrow.
It is clear that energy security of the future will look radically different than it did in the past.
Hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former Head of Policy and Strategy for Renewable Electricity Delivery at the UK Department for Energy and former Senior Advisor at No10 Downing Street. He is now a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
This week we speak with Rebecca Williams, Deputy CEO at the Global Wind Energy Council, for a global deep dive into the state of offshore wind - and why there’s still reason for optimism.
We unpack the wave of cancelled projects, rising interest rates, the return of Trump-era geopolitics, and what it all means for the future of offshore wind. From Europe to the US, China, South America, and Southeast Asia, this is a truly international look at one of the most vital technologies in the energy transition.
Hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former Head of Policy and Strategy for Renewable Electricity Delivery at the UK Department for Energy and former Senior Advisor at No10 Downing Street, now a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.