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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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Policy Dispatch: The FORESIGHT podcast on the policies underpinning the energy transition
FORESIGHT Media Group
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. We ask every guest who enters the Watt Matters studio to look into their crystal ball and give their vision of the energy sector in ten-to-twenty years. Their answers are often aspirational but always revealing. Many market observers…
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Keeping the lid on the climate Pandora’s Box
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Emission reductions are the primary way to address climate change. But if the international community is not able to slash greenhouse gases quickly enough or if leftover emissions persist, then the climate may still need a helping ha…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. By minimising our energy needs, we can accelerate our journey to net zero, making the energy transition not only quicker but also more affordable. The COP28 climate negotiations in 2023 saw the successful “triple-up, double-down” cam…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Wind and solar energy tend to be the main focus when we talk about renewable energy, but geothermal energy also offers many benefits; it is a constant energy source and offers the potential to decarbonise heating and cooling. Ground-…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Removing CO2 from the atmosphere is set to be big business in the coming years. Johan Börje joins the show to explain what is needed to scale carbon removals up and what challenges need to be overcome. Carbon removals will be crucial…
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The energy transition needs to happen across society, including in our homes. Big shifts are expected in consumer demand and the technology we use, including electric vehicles and heat pumps. To make the transition a success, it’s key that these elements work in the real world, and that households are involved in the transition and experience the b…
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Last year’s COP28 climate conference saw some big pledges, including tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 and agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels. With COP29 and COP30 on the horizon, it’s important to look at what is needed in the run-up to 2030 to get the world on track to meet its energy and climate goals. How wil…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Transport’s electrification is gathering pace but it’s not quick enough for some. 2024 has been branded a disappointing year for EV sales and some have even suggested that this is the beginning of a dip. But is this true? Or is 2024 …
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Look out of a plane window when you are flying over the sea or peer at the horizon from a ferry these days and chances are good that you will see giant wind turbine blades looming out of the deep. Offshore wind is generating more and…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Global climate action is not restricted to protesting in the streets. Legal courts are increasingly playing a bigger role in the fight for a decarbonised world. As cases against companies and even governments are becoming more common…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Renewables are going from strength to strength in many European countries. Everyone is making some sort of progress towards their targets but if current trends continue, the EU will fall short of its benchmarks. That is why there are…
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Farming emissions are not falling at the same rate that they are in sectors like power generation or industry. Complex factors like land-use change and livestock emissions make agriculture’s carbon footprint a difficult beast to tame. Factors like food production, geopolitics and strong cultural ties almost make an already complex decarbonisation c…
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Clean technologies are the indispensable hardware of the energy transition. Whether its wind turbines, grid components or futuristic fusion power, without clean tech, we won’t get anywhere. The United Kingdom has proven itself to be an attractive place to develop and scale up clean technologies but the sector has begun to lose momentum and stagnate…
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Tearing down circular construction barriers
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A circular approach, which disconnects economic activity from the ever-increasing consumption of natural resources, has emerged as a key strategy for making our societies more sustainable and helping mitigate the climate crisis. Circularity is particularly important for our built environment, as construction and renovation sites alone currently gen…
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Parts of the world that have introduced some form of carbon pricing have been able to disconnect their emissions from economic growth, thanks largely to the polluter-pays principle. But there is somewhat of a disconnect between carbon markets and the most important part of the energy transition: consumers. So is it possible to democratise emissions…
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As Europe progresses towards achieving a climate-neutral economy by 2050, the concept of circularity has emerged as a powerful approach to reducing emissions, minimising waste and promoting sustainability. Adopting a more circular economy entails Europe transitioning from its linear economic model of producing, consuming, and disposing of materials…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Grids are a key part of Europe’s energy system but they need a massive overhaul to be ready for the growth in renewables and electricity demand expected up to 2050. Kristian Ruby joins the Policy Dispatch to look at the current situa…
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With the latest round of elections for the European Parliament just around the corner, and the formation of a new Commission following closely behind, issues around the energy sector are at the forefront of political discourse. Joining us on Watt Matters this week to discuss how the next era of European lawmakers could approach decarbonisation effo…
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Heating soaks up a huge amount of energy demand and is responsible for an equally significant amount of carbon emissions. Technology likes heatpumps and more efficient buildings are starting to have an impact on both accounts. Bankwatch Network’s Morgan Henley, the group’s head of EU heating decarbonisation campaigning, joins the Policy Dispatch to…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. ‘Impossible’ is not in the vocabulary of Swiss explorer and environmentalist Bertrand Piccard. He was the first person to fly non-stop around the world in a hot air balloon and the first to do the same in a solar-powered plane. Picca…
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A satellite-eye view of methane emissions
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Addressing methane emissions is key if the world is to succeed in limiting global warming and preventing drastic climate change. In the short-term, it is significantly more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide. But to properly…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Wind power in Europe continues to set records. Concerns over supply chains and geopolitical issues have posed challenges but have not derailed progress. Developments in the North Sea continue at a great pace but it is not Europe’s on…
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Currently, 10-25% of EU buildings host solar panels and the rooftop market continues to grow. It could see another boost as Europe agrees new support for the industry. This includes the new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, …
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Download our award-winning app and enjoy access to all exclusive features. Click here to access on Apple or Android. Electrification of road transport has asserted itself as the leading decarbonisation for four-wheeled vehicles. Manufacturers are investing billions in new EV models and governments are following suit with the infrastructure needed t…
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Record falls in fossil fuels and record levels of renewables - Sarah Brown from think tank Ember joins the Watt Matters team to discuss Europe’s latest electricity stats The EU’s electricity transition is in full swing Ember’s European Electricity Review 2024 concludes. The report celebrates new records, including a record fall in both fossil gener…
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Indonesia is the world’s eighth biggest polluter and one of the most populous countries on Earth. Its energy system is largely reliant on coal and its economy is propped up by mass exports of the polluting fossil fuel. But there is appetite to break coal’s hold over Indonesia’s energy future. A $20 billion partnership between the island nation and …
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From climate change to air pollution, there are a lot of issues that need solving in the 21st century. With all the doom and gloom, it’s hard to see that some progress has actually been made. Hannah Ritchie is a researcher and deputy editor at the University of Oxford’s Our World In Data publication. Her new book “Not the End of the World: How We C…
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The majority of countries around the world have some sort of coastline. That means that they have access to natural resources that could soon make a substantial impact on the energy transition: waves and tides. Water is a proven energy source: countries with the right geography have used hydropower to generate green electricity for decades. Now the…
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The energy transition is taking place in a complex world of ongoing historic geopolitical tensions and financial divides between countries. Lisa Fischer from climate think tank E3G joins the Watt Matters team to discuss decarbonisation policymaking in a complicated and adversarial world. The world needs to decarbonise if it is to limit drastic glob…
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COP28 generated plenty of headlines during the two weeks it ran. Emission pledges, new alliances, policy agreements, informal deals and various other announcements flooded the airwaves and email inboxes. Add in the emotional aspect that is now a hallmark of top level climate talks and you would be forgiven for finding the whole thing an overwhelmin…
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2024 is likely to be the year of elections, with just under half of the world’s population expected to head to the polls, according to Bloomberg. That includes major players in energy and climate, like the US, India, the EU and, potentially, the UK. These elections will take place in a world where the climate crisis and the energy transition are be…
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The US’ electricity system is complicated, with each of the 50 states setting its own rules for how markets work, how power is priced and who manages customer relations.But amid the complexity, Octopus Energy US sees a big opportunity to continue its UK success story across the pond and help US customers benefit from decarbonised electricity.Accord…
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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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Getting your money's worth: the cost of renewables
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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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Power to the people: UK’s net zero transition
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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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