The Energy Gang

As policy changes course in the US, is energy efficiency the key that can unlock a sustainable future?

In our latest episode from the COP29 climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, host Ed Crooks talks to our guests about the challenges facing the energy transition, including the far-reaching implications of a second Trump administration, as asks whether getting smarter about the ways we use energy can be part of the solution...

How a deal at the climate talks could make a real difference to the energy transition

In our latest episode from the COP29 climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ed Crooks explores the challenges and opportunities of mobilizing climate finance to support the energy transition in emerging markets.

As the "Finance COP", COP29 is under pressure to deliver concrete outcomes on climate finance. The goal is an agreement that could...

As many nations face challenges in meeting their Paris Agreement goals, some businesses are stepping up to fill the gap. Climate action is not just a responsibility but a lucrative opportunity 

In this latest episode of The Energy Gang from COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ed Crooks explores the critical role of businesses in addressing climate change. He talks to business leaders and experts about the challenges and opportu...

A special COP29 episode exploring the power of states, regions, and cities to advance the energy transition amid uncertain national policies

In this special episode of The Energy Gang from COP29, Ed Crooks brings together a panel of expert guests in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss the global implications of the US election and the growing importance of state-level leadership in climate action. He is joined by Wade Crowfoot...

The role of development banks in climate finance

The COP29 climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, have climate finance at the top of the agenda. As global leaders and experts gather to deliberate on pathways to a sustainable future, the focus is on how funding from richer nations might facilitate decarbonization and resilience in poorer and middle-income countries. These discussions are not just about altruism, but recogniz...

President Trump plans a sharp change of direction

The US elections last week are set to transform the energy landscape, with the Republicans now in control of the presidency, the Senate, and likely the House of Representatives. They intend to set a new direction for energy policy, emphasising affordability and reliability over sustainability and climate. In this special episode of The Energy Gang, we explore what this s...

Electricity grids rely on transformers. Shortages are slowing down the transition to clean energy.

Transformers are such commonplace pieces of local infrastructure that most people barely notice them. In America, they include those dustbin-shaped objects on poles for power lines, and in the UK they are those rectangular boxes on the pavement. But transformers have a critical function in making the electricity grid work, and...

To make the leap from niche products to the mass market, electric vehicles need to reassure potential buyers that they have enough range and enough charging options that they won’t get stranded by the side of the road with a flat battery. Amy Myers Jaffe, director of the Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab at New York University, has been suffering repeated frustrations in her search for working charging points...

The Energy Gang wraps up Climate Week in New York, after six days of debates, discussions, initiatives and pledges. Scheduled alongside the UN General Assembly, Climate Week brought together leaders from business, policy, finance, academia and activism to share ideas and push forward real solutions for climate change. 

Host Ed Crooks sits down with Helen Clarkson, CEO of the Climate Group which organizes Climate Week, ...

The transition to a low-carbon energy system will need a lot of people with bright ideas for how to do things differently. It is the greatest business challenge of our time, and also the greatest opportunity.

In this latest special edition of the Energy Gang for Climate Week NYC, Ed Crooks and Amy Myers-Jaffe host a live taping of the show in front of an audience of Amy’s students at NYU.

Joining them on the show are two fou...

The US is entering a new era of electricity demand growth, after two decades of flatlining consumption. It is a shift that has huge implications for consumers, the industry and climate goals. Ed Crooks hosts a special live edition of the podcast, recorded at NYU for NY Climate Week, to debate the risks and opportunities in this new world for US power. On the panel:

• Caroline Golin, Global Head of Energy Market Developmen...

We kick off our series of podcasts at Climate Week, by looking at the role that the oil and gas industry can play in the energy transition. Host Ed Crooks is joined by Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, who chairs the executive committee of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a group backed by 12 of the world’s largest oil companies that works on ways to reduce emissions. 

Oil and gas companies play a crucial role in providing the e...

There’s no transition without transmission, they say. It’s a cliché because it’s true. The US Department of Energy says that the nation will need to expand transmission capacity by 60% by 2030 to meet growing clean energy demand. A recent study found that delays in transmission development are adding $2.5 billion annually in additional costs to consumers due to the inefficiencies of the current grid. So why is building tra...

The need to meet increased demand while cutting emissions is exposing some fundamental issues in the industry.

It’s common knowledge that data centers use a lot of energy, and will use even more in the future as AI applications develop. One thing is not clear, though: who will end up paying for all that extra electricity?

US utilities typically used to receive perhaps one or two large customer requests – meaning 20 megawatts...

The (shrewdly named) Inflation Reduction Act has been called the most significant climate legislation ever passed in the US. When it did pass, in 2022, the critical vote was cast by senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. Now in office as an independent, he and Republican senator John Barrasso from Wyoming came together to put forward a bill which advanced out of the Senate committee stage earlier this month. It’s meant to...

Proposed permitting reforms could accelerate both renewable energy projects and new fossil fuel infrastructure. Is that a good deal for the climate?

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is seen as the most significant climate legislation ever passed in the US, because of the array of new, expanded and extended tax credits it offers for low-carbon energy. But when it was passed in 2022, the critical vote in the Senate was cast ...

Complex, outdated, expensive: concentrating solar power used to be a clunky way of harnessing the sun. What’s changed to now make it viable? 

Concentrating Solar Power, or CSP, takes energy from the sun, converts it to heat, and uses it to drive a turbine to provide renewable electricity. It has more moving parts than photovoltaic (PV) solar – which has none – so there is more that can go wrong. But...

As the world struggles to co-operate on the energy transition, international trade rules can be a foundation for the new low-carbon economy.  

Ed Crooks is joined by regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe, Director of New York University’s Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab, and new guest on The Energy Gang: Dan Esty, who is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. Dan goes a...

Author of ‘The Price Is Wrong’, Brett Christophers, joins the show to discuss the theories in his book.

On a recent episode of the show, host Ed Crooks was joined by Melissa Lott and Joseph Majkut to discuss two books that were generating a lot of interest in energy circles. One of those, The Price Is Wrong, argues that inadequate profitability is the key reason why the transition to low-carbon energy is not moving fast...