The Clean Energy Revolution – Details, episodes & analysis

The transition to clean energy is the biggest challenge of our generation, and its unprecedented nature means that totally new ways of thinking and innovative solutions are required for it to be delivered successfully.  

This means the industry must continue to innovate, to drive this change at the speed and scale needed. Investment in new technology, the forging of new partnerships and the creation of new business models are all advancing the energy transition.  

To help keep you in the know, Carolyn and Laura are joined by experts in energy, business and climate to explore the ways the industry is innovating to tackle the biggest challenges in reaching net zero.  

Carolyn kicks things off by talking with Steve Smith, Chief Strategy & Regulation Officer at National Grid. He explains why the speed and scale of progress needed for a clean, fair and affordable energy transition won’t be achieved if the industry continues to take the same approaches that have been taken historically. 

Carolyn and Steve also discuss National Grid’s collaborations with start-up companies to develop next-generation technologies and much more.Plus, innovation across the sector such as a new way of looking at grids; the applications for AI and modern computing power, and innovative approaches to modular networks to deal with changing demand from customers.   

Meanwhile, Laura was at National Grid’s Innovation Day event, discussing everything from the changing relationship between small and big business, how to drive change in the industry and the collaboration between utilities and buyers. Jake Oster is Director of Energy and Environmental Policy at Amazon, and he spoke to Laura about Amazon’s sustainability and net zero plans. Amazon is the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, with 500 wind and solar projects across more than 25 countries around the world.   

Denise Massey is Managing Director of the Energy Innovation Centre, and she discusses the evolving collaboration between big and small business in accelerating the deployment of clean energy. Laura also speaks with Nora Brownell, Co-Founder of ESPY Energy Solutions and partner in Clean Energy Ventures, about the role of innovation in the energy transition, and how to create a clean energy future where everyone benefits.  

Collaboration - be it with government, utilities, investors or stakeholders – plays a vital role in the energy transition and only by working together can we achieve the kind of innovation needed for a clean energy future. 

Connecting more clean energy projects to the electricity grid is one of the most critical issues in driving the clean energy transition. Legacy ‘first come first served’ approaches, along with a rapid growth in the number of projects looking to connect, have led to stalled, or "zombie" projects waiting in the queue to be connected - so what’s being done to resolve this?  

Across the world, it's estimated we'll need 11,000 gigawatts by 2030 to triple renewable energy capacity. In the UK, electricity capacity may need to double by 2030 to achieve net zero goals, and in the US, renewable electricity deployment needs to significantly ramp up to achieve a zero-carbon energy supply.  

To discuss the rise in connection applications and the plans to accommodate them, Laura speaks to Ruth Shaw, Customer and Stakeholder Experience Manager in Electricity Transmission at National Grid. Together they look at groundbreaking projects like Dogger Bank – the world’s largest offshore wind farm – and how these projects are providing the blueprint for a streamlined connections process.  

On the other side of the Atlantic, Carolyn is joined by Sandy Grace, Vice President of US Policy and Regulatory Strategy for National Grid, to uncover how the US is tackling similar challenges. Innovative solutions like bi-directional flows and vehicle-to-grid technology are poised to revolutionize the grid. Sandy explains how they work, and analyses the need for regulatory reforms to speed up connections to the grid. 

Find out more about the upgrades to the grid happening in the UK and US at https://www.nationalgrid.com/the-great-grid-upgrade and https://upstateupgrade.nationalgrid.com/  

In this episode of The Clean Energy Revolution, Max La Manna discovers the ways that non-profit organisations in the UK and US are using clean and renewable energy solutions to help in their fight against fuel poverty.

From building solar-powered tiny homes for the unhoused, to using energy efficient measures to help those in need, Max speaks to some amazing people who are doing great work for their communities and for the planet.

Find out how they’re tackling fuel poverty by helping others to save energy or use cleaner energy, taking us closer to the goal of net zero while working to ensure that no-one is left behind in the clean energy transition.

Discover more about the organisations featured in this episode:

A Tiny Home For Good: https://www.atinyhomeforgood.org/

Heart Share Human Services of New York: https://www.heartshare.org/

United Way of Central Massachusetts: https://unitedwaycm.org/

National Energy Foundation: https://nef.org.uk/

Fuel Bank Foundation: https://www.fuelbankfoundation.org/

Citizens Advice: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Discover more about National Grid at https://www.nationalgrid.com/

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The views expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and not of National Grid.  

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It’s a new year, and Max La Manna is taking a look at the ways clean energy is heading in 2023 and beyond.

We’ll hear predictions from experts across the energy landscape on what they think the next year - and the coming decades - will hold.

Those predictions will be dissected and discussed by three energy leaders: Emma Pinchbeck - CEO of Energy UK, Dr. Shini Somara – mechanical engineer and broadcaster, and Keith Stephens - Group Corporate Affairs Director at National Grid.

They discuss the technologies and innovations that are leading the future of clean energy, as well as how advances in hydrogen, EVs, renewable energy and generation-defining legislation could determine how soon we achieve net zero.

What will enhance the energy sector in 2023? How will countries collaborate in the fight to reduce global emissions? And what exactly is space-based solar?

Find out on The Clean Energy Revolution.

Discover more about National Grid at https://www.nationalgrid.com/  

Find out about Energy UK: https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/

Find out about Dr. Shini Somara: http://www.drshinisomara.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information  

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and not of National Grid. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A fossil-free energy future isn’t just essential to help us reach net zero carbon goals, it’s a vital opportunity for future economies too. 

In The Clean Energy Revolution from National Grid, Max La Manna is on a mission to demystify our energy systems and help make sense of the science and engineering that underpins them.

In this episode, Max talks with innovative minds from the Northeast and West Coast of the United States to explore some of the technology in development to move us away from fossil fuels.

And he finds out about some of the exciting projects and ventures being developed and funded to revolutionise our energy future, and the future of the planet.

Professor Tristan Brown is Associate Professor of Energy Resource Economics from the State University of New York. He explains how environmental science and economic science are both a part of the solution when it comes to transforming our world’s relationship with energy.

And National Grid US Director of Policy and Regulatory Strategy Don Chahbazpour joins the discussion to explain how their fossil-free vision for the future aims to leave no customer behind. 

Chief Technology Officer Lisa Lambert is no stranger to disruptive tech, and explains how her Silicon Valley roots led her to found National Grid Partners which is supporting entrepreneurship and development in the wider energy industry.

National Grid’s Fossil Free Vision

Find out about National Grid Partners here

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In the Clean Energy Revolution from National Grid, Max La Manna explores our energy systems as we move towards a net zero world. In this episode, Max takes a look at the different ways our energy supplies are being kept secure and resilient–both now and into the future.

With all the challenges in the world today–extreme weather, climate change, cyber threats, global politics - this is anything but straightforward. So Max guides us through the projects and innovations helping to protect our supplies.

We chat with Dan Stevens, National Grid's Group Vice President for Resilience and Crisis Management. He’s passionate about finding solutions to difficult problems, and gives an insight into how we address major challenges, from hurricanes to cyber attacks.

Then it’s off to the Budweiser Brewing Group's Magor Brewery in Wales, for a guided tour by Lloyd Manship, plant manager, and Tom Brewer from the global brewing innovation technology team. They’re passionate about renewable energy; not only have they built the UK’s largest onshore wind turbine, but they have dozens of energy-saving projects at all stages of their brewing process.

Back in London, Max talks to Rebecca Sedler-commercial director and part of the interconnectors team at National Grid. We find out how electricity is shared between countries, enabling renewable energy to be used more effectively than ever, and balancing supplies if energy runs low.

Next we talk energy storage with Charlie Blair, Managing Director of Edinburgh-based company Gravitricity. Max and Charlie discuss how renewable energy might be stored in the future–could the solution be weights suspended in mineshafts?

Finally it’s back to the USA. With weather conditions becoming more extreme, how will the energy networks cope? Max talks ice, heat and storms with Natasha Deschene, vice president of Electric Asset Management Engineering at National Grid.

Charlie Blair is MD at Gravitricity 

Budweiser Brewing Group's Magor Brewery is located in Magor, South Wales 

Discover more about National Grid at www.nationalgrid.com

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In the Clean Energy Revolution from National Grid, Max La Manna is on a mission to demystify our energy systems and help make sense of the science and engineering that underpins our everyday lives.

As we push forward towards a net zero world, countries face tough targets to decarbonise the way we fuel our lives and National Grid is there to help in the UK and Northeast United States.

This time, Max explores how electricity is generated and how it makes its way to our homes. We take a mystery tour of the process, unveiling the infrastructure you might have seen out and about, and explaining how it all unpacks in our monthly or yearly energy bill.

We start with a visit to meet Ian Gough, who’s passionate about helping people understand how energy is part of the green revolution. He explains how the Green Park wind turbine, which presides over the UK’s M4 motorway, is powering local businesses. Plus we get an insight into exactly how these renewable power generators work.

Engineer Senamiso Mathobela explains how transmission carries high voltage energy around the UK, before we visit James Kelloway for a tour of the ESO – or electricity system operator – to find out how all that supply and demand is balanced to power everyday lives.

Then it’s off to a substation in Bristol to meet Stephen Blackwell. Ever wondered what happens at a local electricity substation? All is revealed here when Steve takes us through the important job of making sure that high voltage energy is stepped down to the right level for our homes and businesses and managed at sites around the country.

Then finally Paul Sands of pioneering green energy supplier Ecotricity explains how all these stages break down into our monthly bills, and tackles the tough questions many of us are facing during the crisis. He also discusses why renewable energy costs more during a gas crisis and how that might be set to change in the future.

Ian Gough runs Reduce Energy Ltd. https://www.nrgreduced.com

Green Park is located in Reading https://www.greenpark.co.uk

Find out about National Grid ESO at https://www.nationalgrideso.com

Ecotricity https://www.ecotricity.co.uk

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This time on the Clean Energy Revolution from National Grid, Max La Manna is finding out how we can learn from science and nature to come up with solutions for a cleaner, greener future.

We’ve come a long way from the days of windmills and watermills, with our oceans becoming vast sources of wind power, and development along our coastlines allowing us to process and transport renewable energy around nations.

But how can we look at natural processes to better lock away carbon, and how important is it to make sure that when we’re building for the future, nature and habitats still have their place?

Reporter, Physicist and Oceanographer Helen Czerski takes to the road to discuss kelp restoration and the truth about ocean carbon capture with Marine Ecologist Dr Ian Hendy from the University of Portsmouth. Cirhan Truswell is Climate Change Manager at National Grid. She joins Max in the studio to discuss how future-proofing our energy infrastructure also means considering and caring for the environments it exists in.

We take a tour around BioteCH4, an anaerobic digestion plant in Lincolnshire that’s powering a local industrial estate on food waste alone!

Still puzzled about what biogas actually is and how it works for our energy? Monica Kabel from National Grid joins Patrick Serfass from the American Biogas Council to talk about how the US is making this kind of energy a big part of their fossil-free vision for the future.

If you’d like to keep track of it all, you can visit nationalgrid.com to follow our world’s clean energy story as it happens and find out how it’s part of your world right now. You can start your own conversation by sharing this podcast on social media or with a friend.

You can find out more about the organisations and initiatives involved in this podcast episode via the links below:

Dr Ian Hendy discusses Sea Kelp restoration in the Solent

The Sussex Kelp Restoration Project

The American Biogas Council

BioteCH4

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In season 2 of The Clean Energy Revolution podcast from National Grid, Max La Manna takes a look at the role energy plays in tackling the negative effects of climate change, and discovers how our world will be powered in the next 30 years.

This time Max is looking at transport; asking how travel is embracing clean, green and renewable energy.

We all know that change is happening around us. So how do we get on-board? And how long will it be before planes, ships, cars and vans are all clean and green?

EVs (electric vehicles) continue to grow in popularity.But is the infrastructure ready to support your commute, your road trips, your family holidays?

To find out, we join a convoy of 50 electric vehicles on the Great British EV rally. Electric vans, cars, HGVs and trucks are driving 1300km from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Paul and Frankie Clifton are making the journey for us, to test the charging stations to the limit. Is the UK ready for mass EV adoption?

We discuss the latest developments in the US, where a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill has just been passed.Will it mean that EV pickups and SUVs will be able to drive coast to coast? Rishi Sondhi from National Grid gives us the latest.

And what about the future of flight? Engineer Dr Shini Somara visits Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, to get inside the planes of the future –aircraft being converted to hydrogen power. These planes will produce zero harmful emissions, and they’ll be with us in just a couple of years.Shini meets Director of Engineering Rob Marsh, and Chief Strategy Officer Jenny Kavanagh.

Finally, at Rockingham Racecourse we meet people testing out the performance and handling of electric cars and vans.Amongst them, President of the AA (Automobile Association)Edmund King, and National Grid’s Fleet Manager Lorna McAtear.

Useful information:

If you want to use cleaner energy for charging your EV or using your home appliances, National Grid’s When To Plug In app (https://www.nationalgrid.com/cop26/when-to-plug-in-app) tells you when the electricity coming into your home will be at its cleanest. (Available in the UK only)

https://www.nationalgrid.com/

www.cranfieldaerospace.com

www.gbevrally.co.uk/home

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In Season 2 of The Clean Energy Revolution podcast, Max La Manna takes a look at the role energy plays in tackling the negative effects of climate change.

As countries around the world aim to reach net zero emissions, Max discovers how the world will be powered in the next 30 years as we work towards a future that doesn't contribute to global warming.

Along the way we’ll meet inspiring people who are embracing new technology to make their lives, homes and businesses cleaner and greener, as well as the experts developing the technology, who explain how our lives will be transformed and how we can get involved.

From the electricity we use in our homes and offices, to our transport, shops, schools, hospitals and factories, the energy we use to fuel our everyday life is getting greener and cleaner.

National Grid has a crucial role to play, as they supply energy to homes across the UK and the Northeast United States -meaning they’re at the heart of connecting all of us to a greener future.

Are you ready to be part of the revolution? Join Max for your definitive guide to the net zero energy transition.

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