Aviation was one of the industries hit hardest by Covid-19, but the pandemic has done little damage to the industry’s long-term prospects: the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted in 2021 that air travel will be back at pre-pandemic levels by the middle of this decade. If the aviation industry is to make a meaningful contribution to the energy transition, it needs to innovate. In this episode, we talk to Jonathon Counsell, Group of Head of Sustainability at International Airlines Group, about the latest moves in the aviation industry towards ‘jet zero’. These include the development of more efficient and electric aircraft; the potential for hydrogen fuel cells and sustainable aviation fuels; and how this will be funded as the aviation sector gets back to full strength. Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Spotify or your usual podcast platform. We'd love to hear from listeners. Please get in touch with any thoughts or comments at enrsector@dlapiper.com. We'd also be grateful if you take a moment to rate and review the podcast wherever you found it, so it's easier for like-minded listeners to find us too.

Energy storage is at an inflection point. The growth of renewables means that the need for grid operators to manage intermittency has never been higher. As a result, installed battery capacity needs to rise from 17GW at the end of 2020 to almost 600GW by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. This is attracting renewables operators and investors to the energy storage sector. However, there are challenges for the expansion of storage. These include the impacts of inflation on the economics of battery and other storage projects; the need for renewables businesses to evolve their operating systems to smoothly add storage to their portfolios; and patchy support for the sector worldwide. In this episode, we talk to Richard Braakenburg, Managing Director and Head of Equity Investments at SUSI Partners about the role of energy storage in the climate transition, the economics of the sector, and how firms such as SUSI can unleash the energy storage revolution that the energy system needs. Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Spotify or your usual podcast platform. We'd love to hear from listeners. Please get in touch with any thoughts or comments at enrsector@dlapiper.com. We'd also be grateful if you take a moment to rate and review the podcast wherever you found it, so it's easier for like-minded listeners to find us too.

The growth of renewables in the global energy mix is forcing renewables operators to get smart about their trading strategies, so they can thrive in a competitive market. In this episode, we discuss how these firms can adapt to changes such as the move to shorter power purchase agreements; the emergence of new business opportunities; and the importance of digital technology to support these strategies. Can renewables compete on a level playing field with fossil fuels? And how will this keep evolving as the climate transition gains pace? We discuss this with Luca Pedretti, COO & Co-Founder of Pexapark; and Peter Bance, CEO & Founder of Origami.

International shipping enables around 80%-90% of global trade and accounts for around 70% of carbon emissions from shipping globally. If the world is to achieve global net zero emissions by 2050, we need to decarbonise the maritime shipping sector with a combination of low-carbon fuels and energy efficiency. In this episode, we talk to Ragnar Wisløff from Höegh LNG, a leading provider in the fast growth of liquefied natural gas, which is playing a key role in transforming global energy markets. The company also expanded into green hydrogen in 2021 by buying a minority stake in Gen2 Energy. We talk to him about the importance of fuels in the decarbonisation of the maritime shipping industry. We'd love to hear from listeners. Please get in touch with any thoughts or comments at enrsector@dlapiper.com. We'd also be grateful if you take a moment to rate and review the podcast wherever you found it, so it's easier for like-minded listeners to find us too.

Decarbonising heat is one of the biggest challenges for countries and companies to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Heating for buildings and industrial processes is a major contributor to climate change globally, but is also very difficult to abate. In this episode, we talk to Greencoat Capital’s Richard Nourse and James Samworth about the technology and policy that is needed to make change happen; and find out more about an advanced greenhouse project that Greencoat is involved with in the UK.

Andreas Gunst and Lee Beck of Clean Air Task Force discuss the potential of green hydrogen as a clean and renewable energy source.

We all know that climate change is a global challenge. Tackling it requires a global transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources and developing countries will play a pivotal role. In this episode of The Climate Transition podcast, Natasha Luther-Jones is joined by Rael McNally from Blackrock and the lead portfolio manager for the Climate Finance Partnership, an innovative clean energy an infrastructure strategy focused on emerging markets, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of investing in these markets.

Oil giants have responded to Covid-19 by setting out ‘green recovery’ plans that could massively increase their investments in renewables. How will we see these companies change? How will this affect investment in renewables? In this episode, Katherine Peachey from Norwegian giant Equinor joins Natasha Luther-Jones to discuss the changing investment plans of these oil giants and what they mean for the energy transition.

The UK will be in the spotlight later this year as Glasgow hosts COP26 negotiations. In this episode, we’re joined by Ambassador P. Michael McKinley as we look ahead to COP26 and the best that businesses can hope for. Will this mark a step change in the energy transition? Are we putting too much faith in politicians to lead on that transition? How much can businesses lead and, if so, how much will COP26 help them?

Digital technology is already changing the power sector. From decentralised renewables and energy storage to asset management and merchant power price risk, digital systems are key enablers for the energy transition. But does the energy sector have the digital infrastructure it needs to make the energy transition? And how can companies guard themselves against growing cyber-risks in the new world? In this episode, we are joined by Brian Case, Chief Digital Offer at GE Renewable Energy to discuss the digital transformation of the energy sector.