Spark Club Podcast
Spark Club brings entrepreneurs in the energy field together with a common objective, to accelerate the energy transition. The podcasts are hosted by Grant McDowell and are recordings with leaders in the energy sector in Australia and beyond.
Episodes
Highlights
- Australia’s Federal Senate Disinformation inquiry
- ARENA award to Calix $45m
- Allegra Spender Productivity and Tax Roundtable
Lowlights
- Lithium Hydroxide Refinery Write-off by IGO
Main Story The Race to 82% Renewables
- AEMO’s Quarterly Energy Dynamics 2QCY2025
- Methane gas generation plays an important but small and progressively declining role
- 25% upscaling of the CIS
- Big BESS News
What’s c...
Highlights
Our first highlight - the Capacity Investment Scheme.
South Australia’s high RE % record
Green Steel subsidies from South Korea
US invests MP Materials a US Rare Earths materials
Lowlights
Labor can’t seem to kick the fossil fuel habit
heat pump numbers in NSW
Main S...
Intro -
The Resources, Energy & Industry Innovation Forum (REIIF) in Dubbo
The Highlights
* Tim's TED X Sydney
* Net-Zero Export Target Proposal: ANU’s Frank Jotzo and Annette Zou
* Heavy Equipment Decarbonisation: BHP signs MoU with China’s XCMG
* China's Cleantech Outbound Investment (OFDI):
-
- China building cleantech infrastructure abroad (e.g., 10GWh EV battery plan...
The Highlights
* Labor's re-election
* Bradfield recount - a celebration of the integrity of our voting system
* Labor's Residential Battery Program - Minister Bowen re-commits to his election pledge of $2.3bn home and business BESS subsidy
* Australia on track to see utility BESS increase 8x to 16GW by end 2027
The Lowlights
* The Albanese Government approved the North West Shelf expansion. The decision will put...
Great conversation recorded at the How to Lobby Canberra at the live Spark Club event at EnergyLab in Sydney. Thanks to Kylea (Pronounced Kylie) Tink and Blair Palese for an open and honest scorecard on how the cleantech and climate sector is performing in Canberra. The 'Shine Baby Shine' side shone on the night.
The Cleantech / Climate industry has work to do in;
1. Aligning our message
2. Funding our positive message directly ...
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 Story...
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 also discuss Australia as a beaco...
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 momentum Tim shares overal...
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, ‘root company, of the solar secto...
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 Texas gas project as the numbers ...
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 division into administration, and to of...
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 Future plan and big BESS installation...
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 the solar industry, way back when,...
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% Renewables by 2030 Target in reach.
...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. Renate shares updates on early si...
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...
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
...
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 continue, so stayed tuned for our next one.
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 clear and consistent voice on global ...
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