U.S. utilities are responding to growing demand for electric vehicles by forming new coalitions to build charging infrastructure for their consumers. Energy Evolution spoke with two leaders in the utility space to better understand the trend. This episode features interviews with Badar Khan, the U.S. President of National Grid and Matthew Forck, the vice president of community economic development and energy solutions for Ameren Missouri. The team also spoke with Kara Kockelman, a professor of t...
Jun 15, 2021•35 min•Ep. 24
Evolving choices around EV battery composition have altered price dynamics in the lithium market, with the two main forms, hydroxide and carbonate, now moving independently to each other, reflecting different use cases and trading patterns. LFP was considered by many industry participants to be a lower priority in the upcoming EV boom. This started to change with the gradual removal of Chinese EV subsidies, which lowered the incentives for local automakers to target only long-range EVs and incre...
Jun 02, 2021•27 min
China has laid out some lofty goals for its climate action. In September 2020, it pledged that it would peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and hit carbon neutrality before 2060. This was followed in December 2020 by an announcement to enhance its nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for 2030, including increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25%. Earlier this year, it issued rules for its emissions trading scheme for th...
May 11, 2021•32 min
Electric vehicle demand is expected to skyrocket worldwide and that could require a lot more minerals than currently being supplied today for the necessary batteries. S&P Global Market Intelligence expects sales of passenger plug-in electric vehicles to increase from just over three million units in 2020 to over 11 million units by 2025. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency recently suggested that government action will be needed to ensure adequate supplies exist of nickel, cobalt and ...
May 11, 2021•36 min•Ep. 23
The UK’s hydrogen production landscape is littered with big natural gas-based CCS projects – why is this, and what does it say about renewable hydrogen’s immediate prospects? S&P Global Platts Zane McDonald, Jeff McDonald and Henry Edwardes-Evans discuss projects, prices and policies with a little help from Ryse Hydrogen’s Jo Bamford....
Apr 22, 2021•22 min
The world is moving closer to mining the deep sea to accommodate surging demand for battery metals needed in the global energy transition, but opposition to the practice is also mounting. After years of review, the International Seabed Authority, or ISA, is nearing completion of regulations that would allow entities to begin collecting lumps of metal from the deep ocean. While some tout the process as a greener alternative to terrestrial mining, several ocean scientists and environmental groups ...
Apr 20, 2021•28 min•Ep. 22
The recent plans announced by China's Tsingshan to convert nickel pig iron (unsuitable for batteries ) into nickel matte (an intermediate for the production of battery-grade nickel sulfate) has shaken the market, causing nickel prices to pull the brakes on its bull run. The price uptrend was driven by the widespread belief that nickel demand for batteries would boom shortly, while supply of battery-grade material would not increase at the same pace. Tsingshan’s plans, however, could completely c...
Apr 13, 2021•32 min
In the latest S&P Global Platts Future Energy Podcast, Roman Kramarchuk, Head of Future Energy Outlooks, is joined by Dan Klein, Head of Future Energy Pathways, to talk about the main takeaways of Platts Future Energy Outlooks Annual Guidebook , a comprehensive study that includes Platts oil, gas, and overall energy reference cases, along with long-term outlooks for global crude, regional crude and product markets, and regional natural gas markets. Discussion includes analysis around scenari...
Mar 23, 2021•20 min
The February winter storm that crippled the Texas power grid left millions of residents without light and heat for days, and drove natural gas prices to record highs. So how did this happen? What does it mean for the future of the energy industry? Joining the discussion are Jay Hakes, an author and former administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Emily Grubert, a professor at Georgia Tech, International Energy Agency analysts Keith Everhart and Gergely Molnar, and Shayle Kann ...
Mar 16, 2021•35 min•Ep. 21
Ground is due to be broken on the UK’s first battery gigaplant, built by Britishvolt , in summer 2021, with the plant due to start producing batteries at scale by the end of 2023. The gigaplant is an important step in shortening the UK’s battery supply chain and helping ensure that UK automakers comply with the Brexit agreement’s rules of origin standard, which dictates that at least 40% of the value of the parts in a finished vehicle originate in the UK, or face paying export fees. In the lates...
Mar 09, 2021•24 min
President Joe Biden moved quickly to return the United States to the Paris climate. He is likely to take major steps forward on climate policy that could impact the energy transition as the world heads to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference later this year. However, the United States also faces a credibility problem on climate change issues after the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement. During this episode, we hear from multiple guests on the U.S. returning to climate ...
Feb 19, 2021•28 min•Ep. 20
During the Trump years, the US issued an Executive Order to ensure the local development of critical minerals, but no material production was established after that. During his campaign, president Joe Biden stressed the importance of promoting clean energy, which is directly linked to the supply of key battery metals. What will the new US administration bring in terms of policy and strategy around lithium and other battery metals? In this Platts Future Energy podcast Henrique Ribeiro talks to re...
Feb 09, 2021•33 min
Hydrogen is generating a lot of buzz in the U.S. energy world, but what might look like a nascent technological revolution is not going to occur overnight, according to several experts interviewed on this episode. But while hydrogen has received its fair share of hype in the past, this time may be different as the growth of sustainability-driven investments, rising pressure to act on climate change and shifting economics are increasingly favoring hydrogen technologies. Energy Evolution co-hosts ...
Jan 25, 2021•24 min•Ep. 19
Spain’s Repsol was the first oil major to set net-zero emissions to target in December 2019, and the company has pivoted fast to grow its low-carbon energy business launching a raft of wind, solar, biofuels, and green-hydrogen projects. The surge in clean energy projects will see Repsol's low-carbon spending jump to 40% of total capex by 2030, up from an already peer group-leading 25% in 2020. Following an interview with Luis Cabra, Repsol's head of Energy Transition, Sustainability, and Technol...
Jan 19, 2021•22 min
The COVID-19 pandemic hit many industries hard in 2020, including automotives. Electric vehicles’ sales, however, grew substantially from 2019 -- and the trend should continue in 2021, supporting the demand for battery metals such as lithium and cobalt. This edition of the Platts Future Energy podcast explains why EVs outperformed internal combustion engine cars and how the lithium and cobalt markets reacted to this increase amid the pandemic.
Jan 05, 2021•23 min
In the latest Platts Future Energy podcast, Janjoost Jullens, Energy Lead at the at the Blocklab innovation lab in the Netherlands, and James Rilett, Senior Director of Innovation at S&P Global Platts, tell Henry Edwardes-Evans about Platts AI trading platform Distro. Rotterdam's blockchain-based microgrid has driven user costs down 11% and producer returns up 14% - now its developers are looking to extend its reach within the port and roll the system out elsewhere.
Jan 04, 2021•22 min
New financial tools are emerging alongside new technology to help companies address greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike green bonds, where the proceeds from the bond are used for new and existing projects with environmental benefits, sustainability-linked bonds can be more flexible. NRG Energy announced the issuance of a $900 million sustainability-linked-bond earlier in December. The company says that is going to help them achieve a 50% reduction of absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and re...
Dec 18, 2020•14 min•Ep. 18
Cobalt is a pivotal metal for the batteries that underpin electric vehicles. Recent long-term supply commitments signed by battery makers suggest that cobalt is set to remain a crucial component for many years, as such understanding the market and pricing of this metal is critical. In the latest instalment of the Platts Future Energy podcast, Emmanuel Latham is joined by Robin Tisserand, Cobalt Broker at SCB Group, to discuss the market, the major pricing issues and the risk management options a...
Dec 16, 2020•17 min
As the world aims to hit global climate goals, countries and companies around the world are setting targets and making plans to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas. While utilities are leading the way in the energy sector, rising pressure from investors has the oil and gas sector working to catch up. S&P Global Market Intelligence's Energy Evolution interviewed Williams Cos. Inc. President and CEO Alan Armstrong and Enbridge Inc. Chief Sustainability Officer Peter Sheffield on their companies...
Dec 09, 2020•23 min•Ep. 17
The global steel sector accounts for roughly 7% of the world’s CO2 emissions . Blast furnaces, which process iron ore and coking coal, and produce most of the world’s steel, have a higher emissions intensity compared with mini-mills that melt ferrous scrap. Incorporating hydrogen and renewable power could help the sector lower its emissions profile as it looks for new ways to meet demand for greener steel. S&P Global Platts managing editor Andrew Moore speaks with Platts senior editor for st...
Nov 24, 2020•15 min
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to enter the White House with big plans to address climate change, a goal with substantial implications for the energy sector. Biden's climate plan is a $2 trillion economywide proposal that looks to cut or eliminate emissions from power generation, transportation, buildings, agriculture and more. S&P Global Market Intelligence's Energy Evolution team briefly previews some potential implications for the energy sector with senior policy correspondent Moll...
Nov 24, 2020•14 min•Ep. 16
While Democratic nominee Joseph Biden and Republican President Donald Trump have different stances on fossil fuels, much of the demand for clean energy is being driven at the state and individual consumer level, where it may be difficult to reverse the momentum of a transition toward more renewables. But there are several ways that transition could be slowed or accelerated by the outcome of the election. In the second of two episodes on the Nov. 3 contest, S&P Global Market Intelligence's En...
Oct 27, 2020•22 min•Ep. 15
In this first Platts Future Energy podcast, representatives from Analytics, News and Pricing discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the Energy Transition , with a focus on: energy demand and carbon emissions, now and in the years ahead; recovery programs, whether supportive, regressive or ineffective; and finally, the technology pathways set to emerge strongest from the pandemic....
Oct 27, 2020•22 min
With the upcoming U.S. presidential election offering two very different visions for the energy industry's future, some executives remain confident the renewable energy transition has gained a permanent foothold no matter the outcome. On Energy Evolution's latest episode, Sunnova CEO John Berger, Hannon Armstrong Managing Director Susan Nickey, Ramaco Resources Chairman Randall Atkins and former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz game out what's at stake in 2021, based on who prevails in November. Co...
Oct 19, 2020•36 min•Ep. 14
With an annual traded value of around $35 billion, nickel would probably be categorized by most as a medium-sized commodity. For the past few decades it has really had quite a low profile, perhaps due to its mainly industrial use as an alloying agent in stainless steel production. But excitement and chatter has been building around nickel sulfate in particular, due to its critical role in battery chemistry. S&P Global Platts Pricing Director for APAC Metal Markets Julien Hall talks to Platts...
Oct 19, 2020•15 min
Overall global EV sales have been weaker in 2020, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting sales in Asia, although European sales are notably up year on year, with European governments employing a number of incentives and subsidies to encourage car buyers to switch over to EVs. In the latest Battery Metals Podcast, S&P Global Platts senior pricing specialists Emmanuel Latham and Jacqueline Holman discuss the subsidies and incentives in place for electric vehicles and their impact on sales...
Oct 02, 2020•14 min
As the 2020 wildfire season continues to inflict damage across the American West, a key question will be how much, and how fast, the battery storage sector can mobilize to reinforce the power grid in California and elsewhere. S&P Global Market Intelligence examines the prospects of battery storage technology in our latest episode featuring Fluence Energy LLC COO John Zahurancik; Dan Finn-Foley, head of energy storage with consultancy Wood Mackenzie's energy transition practice and Dharik Mal...
Sep 16, 2020•21 min•Ep. 13
As calls for racial justice grow across the U.S., the impacts of energy infrastructure projects on communities of color are also getting more attention. Does the cancellation of a major project like the Atlantic Coast gas pipeline mark a turning point for the movement? In this episode, S&P Global Market Intelligence's Energy Evolution podcast team spoke about the implications for the sector with experts Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity and University of Michigan Professor Tony ...
Aug 17, 2020•37 min•Ep. 12
For some time, many lithium-ion industry participants believed LFP (lithium iron phosphate) would be progressively phased out from electric vehicles due to its intrinsic lower energy density compared with nickel-rich chemistries. However, technology improvements -- coupled with the current market dynamics in China -- have put LFP back in the story. Henrique Ribeiro and Emmanuel Latham discuss the implications of this trend to the battery metals space.
Aug 13, 2020•21 min
Local governments around the United States are making it more difficult to include natural gas as a fuel option in new building construction. S&P Global Market Intelligence senior reporter Tom DiChristopher joins the podcast with interviews about the varied approaches communities are taking on natural gas infrastructure and how the industry is responding.
Jul 08, 2020•28 min•Ep. 11
