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From FORESIGHT Climate & Energy, Watt Matters is a podcast all about the energy transition and the shift to a decarbonised economy. Through biweekly debates and discussions on the energy transition in Europe, North America and around the world, Watt Matters focuses on how to achieve thriving renewable energy markets and liveable cities through the right mix of policy, regulation, finance and technology.
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From FORESIGHT Climate & Energy, Policy Dispatch is a podcast all about the policies that underpin the energy transition. This is what will make or break the global decarbonisation effort. Through biweekly, short-but-sweet episodes, the Policy Dispatch will aim to explain what governments in the globe’s key markets are doing to boost clean energy and create sustainable ecosystems.
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Methane is the greenhouse gas that often lives in the shadow of its more infamous cousin, carbon dioxide. But methane is a massive problem nonetheless due to its fast-acting impact on the climate.Global action is starting to take off and will be on the agenda at the COP28 summit. The European Union recently agreed on new rules that will aim to redu…
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There are no studies where absolute zero emissions can be reached with reductions alone, meaning carbon removals are crucial to reaching ‘net’ zero emissions, according to the IPCC. After the world has reached that point, any remaining emission would need to be countered by an equivalent removal from the atmosphere.Because of this, the world of car…
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Public transport operators are highly visible to the wider public. Increasingly their services are being electrified or run on clean energy. In this special live episode, Watt Matters delves into the procurement issues these operators are facing when it comes to low-carbon solutions.The transport sector is a crucial area of the economy that needs t…
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Since 2015, Poland has been governed by the Law and Justice Party, which has been sceptical about EU climate policy and been at loggerheads with Brussels over rule of law, leading to the suspension of EU funds, including those earmarked for the green transition.This could all be about to change following October’s national election, where the oppos…
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Every year, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) puts together a report, looking at the cost of renewable power production. 2022’s shows that, despite inflation, the cost has dropped.According to the report, the global weighted average levelised cost of electricity from new utility-scale solar, onshore wind, bioenergy and geothermal pr…
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New Zealand Aotearoa is infamous for its breath-taking scenery, remote location in the Pacific Ocean, all-conquering rugby team and being the backdrop for the Lord of the Rings. 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' is, like every other country on Earth, presented with some difficult and complex energy transition hurdles that will have to be overcome.…
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In a special live recording of the podcast, Michael Liebriech, Katharina Umpfenbach and Dennis Hesseling join the team to discuss shifting the energy infrastructure of today into a decarbonised system of tomorrowSufficient and effective physical infrastructure—either electricity cables or gas pipelines—is vital for a successful energy transition. B…
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Transport in the Balkans leaves a lot to be desired. Badly connected and lacking investment, the region sorely needs a mobility policy boost. This week, one of the top officials tasked with doing just that joins the show.In Europe’s southeast, the Balkan peninsula has a transport dilemma. Relatively short distances between cities take hours to navi…
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The energy crisis put a spotlight on energy usage for British consumers as soaring bills dropped through letterboxes across the country. Renewable solutions can help tackle high prices, as well as lower emissions, and companies like Scottish Power are trying to roll these out.Heat pumps, solar panels and other solutions offer healthier home environ…
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Decarbonisation is happening across sectors, and although the pace may at times be less than required, the direction of travel is generally the correct one. Industries and businesses are all starting to actively engage with the energy transition in one shape or another. That means there is a role for firms to help other companies clean up their act…
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The energy transition is a big puzzle for Australia, an important player in the fossil energy world, with large coal and gas reserves. It ranks eighth highest globally for emissions per capita and first for coal power emissions per capita, according to Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific project.In the last few years, the country has …
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2023 has been a big year for energy and climate developments already even though we are only just over the halfway point. From the fallout of the energy price crisis to the beginnings of a ‘green gold rush’, there has been plenty of energy transition news to report on and analyse. How is industry actually going to decarbonise? What is going on in t…
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In the past 12 months, the energy transition has had some successes: the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States and the EU’s response in the form of the Net Zero Industry Act are both designed to turbocharge green investments.But there is still the overwhelming feeling that progress is slow. With the recent wildfires in Greece and the repeate…
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The Energy Charter Treaty has been referred to as a “relic of the past” and “a chimaera of the energy industry” during the three decades it has been in force. Many see it as a crutch for the fossil fuel sector and an unnecessary weight that is dragging down the green transition. Some countries have signalled their intent to leave the agreement, Ita…
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As we move into the second half of the year, a key trend of the first part of 2023 is the confidence that surrounds the solar sector. With a number of new policy packages announced over the past 12 months, the industry is buoyed by new momentum.In its latest Market Outlook, SolarPower Europe, a trade association, revealed that 239 gigawatts (GW) of…
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Australia’s industries are thirsty for power and its energy exporters supply a lot of the world with cheap coal and gas. But as the world changes, Australia’s way of doing business will have to as well. Long-accused of being a laggard in the shift towards green energy systems, Australia has a net-zero goal and a 2030 emissions target, but little el…
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The European Union is currently working on a law to monitor and tackle methane emissions, which have a significant impact on the climate and have, so far, been somewhat overlooked in EU legislation.There are moves, both internationally and on the EU level, to tackle these emissions, including a pledge made at COP26 to reduce emissions by at least 3…
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When the United States unveiled its Inflation Reduction Act and showed off the billions of dollars in financing that it is offering for industries like renewable energy, carbon capture, clean mobility and more, the first question was: how will Europe respond? Not long after Joe Biden’s administration debuted the IRA, the European Union published it…
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The smart use of energy within buildings could help support the energy transition. Most of us spend most of our time in buildings, and they are responsible for a huge share in overall emissions. The smarter use of energy, installation of smart controls and energy efficiency could help buildings play a role in the energy transition, and provide some…
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People on average spend 90% of their time in buildings, be it at home, at work or using public services like schools and hospitals. That explains why such a large portion of energy demand is soaked up by buildings and why such a huge chunk of emissions are produced by them. To decarbonise our edifices, several policies have to work harmoniously tog…
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A number of synergies have yet to be unlocked between district heating and cooling networks and industries, with both sectors looking to decarbonise. Both sectors are highly complementary.The ability to recover excess heat from industrial processes—and more recently the likes of data centres—is opening new opportunities to help decarbonise district…
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Reducing agriculture emissions is a big part of climate action and the wider energy transition. ‘Greenhouse gases’ may well be a term straight out of the farmyard but the sector is struggling to rid itself of those polluting emissions, despite attempts to clean up farming. Unlike power generation and transport, where much of the progress will be ma…
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A growing trend within the energy transition is the use of energy communities – collectives of neighbours or nearby residents and end-users coming together to promote and source renewable energy for their own benefit.Yet this shift away from the traditional centralised energy system brings with it its own set of challenges.Our guest on the podcast …
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Think about the United States’ relationship with cars and the first thing that comes to mind is probably gas-guzzling SUVs and gigantic pickup trucks roaring down an arrow-straight freeway.However, that may soon be an anachronistic impression of US transport now that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tabled a new plan that would scrub b…
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The decarbonisation of heating is as important as any other sector in the energy transition but is perhaps sometimes a little overlooked.The sector’s main tools to help remove carbon emissions from space heating are heat pumps and the rollout of the technology is quickly gathering pace, particularly in Europe, but regulatory and technological barri…
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China is the latest country to get into emissions trading, launching a nationwide market in 2021 and using several regional and local pilot projects as a springboard. Many of the details still need to be hashed out, and the low price means that it is far too soon to see any actual decarbonising impact. But we have been here before: when Europe laun…
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Greenhouse gas emissions are a global problem as carbon dioxide, and the heating side-effects caused by it do not respect national frontiers. This means that a country or region that may have the best decarbonisation intentions will only partly achieve its objectives if the rest of the planet is not playing by the same rule book.An innovative and, …
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Any discussion of energy efficiency immediately conjures images of how our homes can use power better or more economically. But this ignores the whole commercial and industrial sectors and how businesses and corporations can improve the efficiency of their activities.This week's guest is Toby Morgan from Climate Group, a non-profit organisation tha…
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More clean power is being added to energy mixes on a daily basis, but it does not matter how many wind turbines or solar panels are installed; the electrons still need to reach homes and businesses. Supply cannot always match demand, either in quantity or timing, so that is where storage comes in. Whether it is hydropower dams, grid batteries, molt…
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The world of PPAs is complex, particularly for corporations seeking to secure and decarbonise their power sources.But as demand for clean capacity from businesses grows, so must the PPA market. Maintaining the fluidity of the market and ensuring everyone can get a slice of the pie if they want to is a challenge for operators, developers and regulat…
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India is poised to become the most populous country on Earth, with energy demands and climate concerns set to grow in step. Air pollution has long been a significant health concern in many of India’s cities, in particular in the capital of New Delhi, which regularly tops global pollution indexes. Given that air quality is intrinsically linked to th…
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The wind industry should be experiencing a golden age. As one of the world’s cheapest forms of new generation, with a renewed global focus on energy security, and the need to decarbonise, wind energy is often the go-to technology of choice.But orders for new machinery were down in 2022, and western original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have issue…
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The energy transition continues to gather pace. As data for 2022 is crunched and processed, an optimistic picture begins to be painted. Renewables are going from strength to strength and the rate of development of new energy technologies continues to make past predictions look conservative. But will this growth last? What does 2023 and beyond look …
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The branches of the burgeoning green hydrogen sector are spreading slowly around the world. This creates huge uncertainty but also significant opportunities for businesses and governments the world over to leverage a whole new industry.The guest on this week’s podcast is Sara Edmonson from Australia-based developer Fortescue Future Industries—a com…
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International trade and the global economy is reliant on ships to transport goods across the planet, but the sector is also a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The industry will have to play an integral part of the energy transition, whether it likes it or not, as climate targets loom ever nearer on the horizon. Technology will help …
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As Europe emerges from the long dark winter days, many grid operators around Europe are breathing a sigh of relief. A milder winter than expected meant there wasn’t the need for increased levels of fossil fuel generation to meet heightened demand.A new report by environmental think-tank Ember found wind and solar technologies generated a fifth of E…
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Europe’s emissions trading system is considered to be the backbone of EU climate policies. After very nearly 20 years of service, the carbon market plays a substantial role in cutting emissions and driving demand for green technology by enforcing the polluter pays principle. Late last year, EU negotiators brokered an agreement on how to update the …
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European energy markets are at a crossroads: on the one hand, they need to face the immediate shocks posed by the ongoing energy price crisis. On the other hand, the EU’s electricity market is gearing towards reform in 2023, which should make it fit to deliver a decarbonised power system by 2035.The need for a strong, stable and resilient energy ma…
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Gas heating is not an affordable heating option anymore. Instead, the demand and uptake of heat pumps in Europe’s building stock have seen a major surge in the past few months. Global heat pump sales rose 15% in 2021. In Germany alone, demand rose by 25% in the first half of 2022 year-on-year. And in Finland, by as much as 80% year-on-year.Heat pum…
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The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest climate and energy package in the history of the United States. It will unleash some $370 billion for energy and climate, and it will touch every sector of the economy, from manufacturing to renewable energy communities or environmental justice.The IRA could launch America back into international leadershi…
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The European Green Deal must put consumers at the heart of its policies. The European Commission has put strong emphasis in the social dimension of its energy and climate policies, and the energy price crisis has made it more evident that our most vulnerable consumers must not be left behind.But even when Brussels and EU capitals have some exciting…
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Off the back of an intense two weeks in Egypt, the COP27 negotiations were once again deemed underwhelming. There were some successes: Developed countries will provide finance to emerging economies affected by climate-related disasters. But much of the focus remained on climate adaptation rather than mitigation. After nearly 30 years of internation…
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The European Commission’s climate chief Frans Timmermans said before leaving to COP27 that the EU’s emissions reduction target “can be increased to 57%”. This news came as EU legislators concluded the revisions of two key pieces of the EU’s climate legislation, the Effort Sharing Regulation and the LULUCF Regulation.Why are these two pieces of legi…
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Global solar capacity continues to rise and solar PV is becoming ever more popular among homeowners as costs fall. As its role in the energy transition becomes more prominent, new technologies and business models developing.Our guest this week is Alexandra Sombsthay, vice president for external relations at renewable energy developer Akuo Energy. I…
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Carbon dioxide removals (CDR) are, in essence, the opposite of carbon emissions: their goal is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, ideally permanently. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sees an increasing role of removals in reaching net zero and limiting global warming.However, the concept of CDR is often misunderstood and con…
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Heating is becoming an increasingly pivotal issue in the energy transition, especially as we enter a winter where many of us are thinking twice about when to put the heating on in our homes. However, sustainable heating solutions seem absent in the EU’s response to the energy crisis.District heating & cooling (DHC) networks are one of the most effi…
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Aviation has shortened distances across continents and connected people and cities all around the globe. However, it has also made our planet warmer. With a carbon footprint comparable to that of several countries – as well as a significant non-CO2 environmental impact – cleaning up aviation will be crucial to achieving our climate goals.In this ep…
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The electrification of the transport sector is one of the most dynamic areas in the global energy transition, as sales of electric vehicles (EVs) globally continue to rise. According to the International Energy Agency, EV sales doubled in 2021 compared with 2020, to a new record of 6.6 million EVs on the road. Nearly 10% of global care sales in 202…
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Sky-high energy prices have threatened to bankrupt households and businesses alike, prompting governments and the European Union to dig into their pockets and design new energy and economic policies meant to quell the crisis.There is a lot of uncharted territory to cover. Governments have never had to replace energy supplies at such short notice an…
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In response to the energy price crisis, EU national governments have been grappling with finding the proper measures to reduce their energy demand and alleviate consumers and industry from high prices without harming the energy companies’ ability to continue investing.However, a European problem requires a European response. For this reason, the Eu…
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