Energy Gang

Methane is the second-most important greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide. It has accounted for roughly 30% of human-induced global warming since the 19th century. But it is also a valued commodity, used to heat homes and cook food, provide raw materials for industry and keep the lights on. Every molecule leaked is energy wasted and money lost. The IEA estimates that about 200 billion cubic meters per year could be saved for productive uses by reducing leakage and flaring in the oil and gas industry. That is roughly one fifth of US supply, over a third of the global LNG trade, and nearly twice the volume exported through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025. Half of all abatement opportunities have a positive or zero net cost. The technology to cut emissions by 75% exists today. So why are methane emissions from oil and gas still so large?Host Ed Crooks is joined by TJ Conway, Principal at RMI's Climate Intelligence Program, to explore what it will take to tackle the problem. TJ walks through RMI's approach: first, better understanding where emissions are and how large they are, including the role of super emitters, sources above 100 kilograms per hour that can account for half of total leakage, and then driving change through market mechanisms, corporate engagement, finance, and capacity building. He then talks about the key issue for future methane emissions reductions: the demand side. Creating a functioning market for differentiated, lower-emissions gas requires that buyers, including utilities, industrial companies and hyperscales using gas-powered data centres, can credibly account for those purchases in their emissions inventories. That architecture is still being built.Ed and TJ also dig into the EU Methane Emissions Regulation, now entering its implementation phase ahead of methane intensity thresholds taking effect by 2030. The technical challenges are considerable: tracing emissions from source to importer through complex supply chains like the US pipeline network, where a single LNG cargo may blend gas from low-intensity offshore fields and high-intensity Permian basin production. RMI has proposed a hybrid traceability approach to solve those challenges. The episode also covers methane abatement finance. Financial institutions with climate goals are now often relucatant to invest in oil and gas operations, even for emissions reduction. RMI's Methane Finance Working Group, launched at COP28 alongside the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, has developed guidance for financing structures to overcome that obstacle. It aims to unlock financing to meet a need estimated at 100 to 200 billion dollars.TJ closes with an optimistic message: emissions remain stubbornly high, but the institutional infrastructure built over the past five years now provides the foundation for action. The goal remains a 75% reduction, and the tools exist to get there. Rocky Mountain Institute was founded during the energy crises of the 1970s, with a simple idea: better energy systems can deliver both economic and environmental benefits.Nearly 50 years later, that mission has never been more relevant. As businesses and governments navigate rising electricity demand, supply-chain uncertainty, and the push to decarbonize, RMI helps turn complex energy challenges into practical solutions.From grid modernization and industrial decarbonization to clean transportation and building efficiency, RMI works across sectors to accelerate the energy transition in ways that improve resilience, affordability, and energy security.Learn more at rmi.org.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As we head into 2026, electricity grids aren’t just under strain; they are facing transformational change because of the shifts in the ways that we work, entertain ourselves, and get around. EVs are one of the fastest-growing new loads on the grid in many parts of the world, but are also one of the least well-understood. They can exhibit flexibility that’s mostly going unused today. Millions of EVs are already connected to the grid, and they’re being treated as a problem instead of a solution. So how could they be used to ease that strain on electricity grids? What would it look like if we could turn EVs into really useful distributed energy resources (DERs)? Host Ed Crooks welcomes Apoorv Bhargava to the show for the first time. Apoorv is the CEO and co-founder of WeaveGrid, a company aiming to make EVs and other DERs function like dependable infrastructure for distribution grids. It wants provide utilities with trusted, repeatable, edge-level control of assets, rather than occasional, system-level demand response. Apoorv explains how it all works.Apoorv is a former student of regular guest Amy Myers Jaffe, who now teaches at New York University. She joins the show to argue that there is still a great deal of uncertainty around claims of using flexibility to reinforce. It isn’t a black-and-white question, she says: flexibility only works when it’s engineered, trusted and planned for at the distribution level, not improvised through emergency demand response. Together Ed, Apoorv and Amy debate how EVs and grids might be able to work together in the future, instead of against each other. They discuss consumer behaviour, politics and concerns over rising power bills as factors that will matter just as much as the evolution of the technology. The biggest grid upgrade opportunity may not be new wires, transformers or even power plants: it could be the Tesla, VW or BYD in your driveway.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

California is often described as the state where you can see the future of the US, and of the world. That has certainly been true in terms of some of the problems faced by the electricity grid. California has been grappling with the impact of wildfires and a big shift to renewable generation, and now faces the prospect of rising power demand from electrification and data centers.In this episode, host Ed Crooks and regular guest Amy Myers Jaffe of NYU talk to Elliot Mainzer, President and CEO of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), to dig into how the state is tackling those challenges.California’s electricity prices have nearly doubled in eight years, rising to about 32 cents per kilowatt hour for residential customers. Affordability has become a political flashpoint, as it has in many other parts of the US, and other countries around the world. Elliot explains how CAISO is using reforms of transmission planning and interconnection queues to help “bend the cost curve” downwards.The discussion also covers an important shift that is now under way in western power markets. Governor Gavin Newsom of California recently signed AB 825, advancing an independent regional governance structure for the emerging extended day-ahead market. Elliot outlines how implementing the new law could change reliability, capacity planning, and resource adequacy across 11 states.Another pressure point is AI, and the data centers needed to support it. While large load growth in California is more modest than in some other states such as Texas or Virginia, the state still expects 2.3 gigawatts of new data center demand by 2030. Ed and Amy question how much flexibility these data centers can provide, whether price pressure is pushing hyperscalers elsewhere in the US, and how CAISO will manage the all-important issues around siting and grid integration.The episode also dives into one of California’s most contentious debates: the role for distributed energy resources and virtual power plants. Elliot discusses what CAISO can see, what it can’t, and what needs to change for DERs to support affordability and reliability—while highlighting the remarkable performance of the state’s battery fleet in avoiding Flex Alerts for the past three summers.Finally, the conversation looks ahead to California’s longer-term energy future. The state has set an ambitious energy goals, including sourcing all its electricity from zero-ccarbon generation by 2045. To achieve that, many gigawatts of new renewables are still required, and wide-area coordination across the western US will have to live up to its full potential. As Elliot puts it, managing this grid is challenging, but “the challenge is energizing.”Stay tuned to The Energy Gang as we continue tracking the forces that are reshaping the power industry, from technology and finance to policy and climate.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Negotiations in the COP 30 climate talks are continuing in Belem, Brazil. The headlines are focusing on the divisions between countries that are shaping this year’s climate talks. But despite the doom and gloom, there are some practical steps being taken to support the transition towards lower-carbon energy. There may be a notable lack of significant new pledges. But making a pledge is the easy part. Implementation is always harder, and that is the focus for COP30.At COP28 in Dubai two years ago, a goal was set to double the pace of global energy efficiency gains, from 2% a year to over 4% a year. Can we hit that goal, and what will it mean if we do?To debate those questions, Ed Crooks and regular guest Amy Myers Jaffe are joined by Bob Hinkle, whose company Metrus Energy develops and finances efficiency and building energy upgrades across the US. Bob is there at the talks in Belem, and gives his perspective on the mood at the meeting. The presence of American businesses at the conference this year is definitely reduced compared to other recent COPs. But Bob still thinks it was well worth him going. He explains what he gets out of attending the COP, why energy efficiency has a vital role to play in cutting emissions, and why he is still optimistic about climate action.Another initiative that came out of COP28 was the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (ODGC): a group of more than 50 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, which aim to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring by 2030. Bjorn Otto Sverdrup is head of the secretariat for the OGDC, and he joins us having just returned from Belem.Bjorn Otto tells Amy and Ed that there has been some real progress in the industry. The 12 leading international companies that are members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative have reported some positive numbers: their methane emissions are down 62%, routine flaring is down 72%, and there’s been a 24% reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions.There is still huge potential for cutting in total greenhouse gas emissions by curbing methane leakage and routine flaring worldwide. How can we make more progress? Bjorn explains the scale of the opportunity, the real-world constraints, and the growing role of new technology including satellites and AI in detecting leaks. Keep following the Energy Gang for more news and insight as COP30 wraps. Next week we’ll talk about what happed, what was promised, what didn’t happen, and what to expect on climate action in 2026.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.