Energy vs Climate: How climate is changing our energy systems

This is a replay of our conversation with Dr. Shirley Meng from the University of Chicago on battery storage. It's one of our favourite deep dives because batteries touch everything from EV range anxiety to grid scale storage, and even the whole critical minerals conversation.

When we recorded this in May 2024, Shirley was predicting real solid state battery platforms by 2027 or 2028, and here we are getting close to that window, so...

Decarbonization usually means addition: more wind, solar, EVs. But a real transition also means taking something away.

We talk about decarbonization like it's a shopping list: more wind, more solar, more EVs, stacked on top of whatever's already running. But a real transition means something also has to come off the list. Fossil systems have to shrink at the same time clean systems grow, and for a good stretch in the middle, both ha...

Octopus Energy paid its UK customers collectively over £100,000 during a recent heat wave, not through new infrastructure, but a text message and a price signal offering demand flexibility. That caught our attention.

In this episode, Ed and Sara (David sits this one out) talk with Eric Davids, Head of Strategy for Octopus Energy's US business, about redefining utility-customer relationships, how approaches in the UK stack up...

They say there's no growth without feedback. This season, you've given us plenty of it.

In this episode, David, Sara, and Ed do something most podcasters shouldn't do: they read the comments. Out loud and on purpose.

Some feedback was positive. Some was additive. Some fell into the category we're calling "strongly suggestive." 

If you've ever left a comment on an EvC clip wondering whether David, Sara and Ed actually saw it: they...

Ed's new project, Critical Mass, starts with a deceptively simple question: if Canada decides it wants more nuclear power, can it actually deliver it? The answer turns out to be complicated.

As part of the project, we're hosting four live town halls across the country. The first was recorded at Toronto Climate Week on June 5, featuring Todd Smith (former Ontario Minister of Energy, now VP at Candu Energy) and Brendan Frank (VP of Po...

The aftershocks of the Iran war are reshaping energy markets, investment decisions, and climate politics in very different ways around the world.

David, Sara, and Ed sat down with Vijay Vitheeswaran, Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at The Economist and 2025 Energy Writer of the Year, to discuss the shock rippling through energy markets since the war in Iran began. 

On one side are forces accelerating the energy trans...

Nuclear is having a global moment. But the story in Canada is a lot more complicated.

David, Sara, and Ed sat down with Prof. Jason Donev of the University of Calgary for a full, unsparing look at where nuclear fits in a rapidly growing and electrifying Canadian grid.

Jason is one of the clearest thinkers on energy systems in the country. He's also someone who started out opposed to nuclear and changed his mind. 

We set this epis...

EvC Superfan and fellow energy nerd Robert Tremblay turns the tables on Sara and Ed — asking the questions the podcast usually doesn't: how EvC started, the energy transition over the 7 seasons of the show, what's changed, and whether any of it is working.

They get into their backgrounds, the EvC origin story (are the rumours about Danielle Smith true?), how the show has evolved, and what they actually think about Canada's cli...

Energy vs Climate X Climate Books Reviews 

This week we're sharing an episode from Ed's other podcast, Climate Book Reviews, co-hosted with Dr. Roger Thompson of Arizona State University. 

Their guest is John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. (US and International - Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World)

Many listeners will know Vaillant from his earlier books The Golden Spruce and The Tiger, ...

The Iran war and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz have triggered a major shock to global oil and LNG markets. 

Roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day normally move through Hormuz. The IEA says nearly all of that has been disrupted.

Oil and gas prices have surged sharply; and the disruption extends well beyond oil as Qatari LNG exports have been largely severed. Asia is especially exposed, since most Gulf energ...

Vijay Gadepally joins Ed and Sara to break down the real energy footprint of AI—and why most people (and companies) are getting it wrong. 

They discuss: 

• How "agentic" AI systems use an order of magnitude more energy than ChatGPT.
• Whether efficiency gains can keep pace with exploding usage (spoiler: not yet). 
• The one simple change that could cut AI energy use by 80%. 

Vijay is Senior Scientist at the ...

This episode is different. We're tackling China's energy transition, and instead of David, Sara, and Ed just talking about it, they went out and interviewed different experts on the subject.

Why China? Because it's arguably the most important energy story on the planet right now. China is the world's largest emitter. It's also the world's largest investor in clean energy. It manufactures the lion's share of solar panels, batteries, ...

Recorded live at the Energy Transition Centre in Calgary, David, Sara, and Ed took on one of the toughest questions in Canadian climate politics: what does energy transition actually look like for Alberta? 

They dug into emissions, economics, diversification, and the uncomfortable trade-offs that tend to get glossed over in public debate. 

It's a fun conversation with an extended Q&A from the live audience. 

Just a ...

Can we have guilt-free flying?

David, Sara, and Ed chat with Sebastian Eastham, associate professor of sustainable aviation at Imperial College London, about the climate impacts of aviation and what we can actually do about it.

The conversation covers immediate levers like contrail avoidance and operational changes that don't require waiting decades for new tech—plus the real potential (and limitations) of sustainable aviation ...

You asked — David, Sara, and Ed answered.

We're wrapping up the year with our annual Ask EvC Anything episode, touching on topics that pair well with New Year's bubbly: We talk about whether Canada’s climate targets are quietly slipping out of reach, the practicalities and prospects of direct air capture, what a net zero electricity grid in Alberta might actually look like by 2050, whether shiny new materials like metal ...

A look back at the biggest energy stories of 2025 and some crystal ball gazing about what to watch for in 2026.

David, Sara and Ed chat with Robbie Orvis, Senior Director of Modeling & Analysis at Energy Innovation, an American Think Tank. 

The show was set up to do two things: First, to sort out what genuinely shifted in 2025 and what didn't. Second, to build a 2026 energy and climate watch list that helps separate real tra...

There are many takes on the big Carney-Smith energy agreement – we thought you could use one more.

The new Canada–Alberta MOU unveiled last Thursday is already generating more chatter than a pipeline hearing, and has set off a fresh round of debate about economy, emissions, and where the country is headed on energy. The hot takes have been flying. Naturally, we couldn’t resist adding our own, so we grabbed ...

For us, delivering content about energy and climate is a labour of love – we put our time towards Energy vs Climate because we feel strongly about the public service benefit of the project. 

But there are costs for our producer, website, Ed’s manicures, and more. (OK one of those isn’t true.) That's why this show relies on the support of generous donors, like our listeners.

Please consider making a one-time or ...

David, Sara, and Ed chat with Dr. Jai Asundi, Executive Director of the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), an independent Indian think tank. 

Dr. Asundi has been leading CSTEP since 2009, connecting data, modeling, and policy to tackle India's energy and climate challenges. They dive into India's electricity grid, the EV revolution, oil and gas dependency, and where energy meets geopolitics.

About Our Gu...