Redefining Energy26 Touko 2025

181. “Hot Air” from Tony Blair - May25

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) recently released a widely publicized report titled “The Climate Paradox”, which has garnered significant positive attention from outlets such as the Guardian, the BBC, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and much of the European press.

Beginning with the statement, “Climate action has reached an impasse,” the report, authored by Lindy Fursman (who holds a PhD in Sociology from UC Berkeley), outlines several key “facts” that have been effectively debunked by experts like Michael Liebreich in his Substack and Michael Barnard in Cleantechnica.

The TBI concludes with a series of recommendations, the most prominent being the call to “accelerate and scale technologies that capture carbon, alongside significant investments in engineered carbon-dioxide removal technologies, including direct air capture (DAC) solutions”. To emphasize this message, the cover of TBI’s report features an image of Climeworks’ plant in Iceland. Climeworks, a Swiss engineering company with 500 employees, has received $800 million in equity and subsidies from major players such as Partners Group, the GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund), Baillie Gifford (an early investor in Tesla), Swiss Re, and Microsoft.

However, last week, Climeworks faced a major setback when it was revealed that despite receiving substantial funding, the company had only captured 105 tonnes of CO2—not 105,000, but just 105 tonnes (less than a single flight London – New York) —despite the strong backing of tech giants like Stripe, Microsoft and Shopify.

This revelation has sparked widespread concern and warranted a prompt discussion with Laurent Segalen, Gerard Reid and Michael Barnard to assess the implications. The conversation will explore the credibility of the TBI’s stance on energy, the broader potential of DAC, and whether this technology is, in fact, a case of "Deception, Amateurism, and Con."

Links:
Michael Liebreich substack:
https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/why-tony-blair-needs-to-reset-his
Michael Barnard Cleantechnica
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/05/tony-blairs-new-climate-reset-report-promotes-delay-not-action/
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/15/climeworks-dac-fiscal-collapse-the-brutal-reality-of-pulling-carbon-from-the-sky/

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135. 2024: A pivotal year for the Energy Transition in China - Jun24

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134. EcoSummit Preview

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133. AI, Datacenters and Energy - May24

"McKinsey, BCG and S&P Global Commodity Insights project electricity demand tied to data centers to increase at a CAGR of 15% through 2030." “Booming AI demand threatens global electricity supply (FT)...

20 Touko 202429min

132. Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2024

We bring in the star of the week, Ember’s Dave Jones, to discuss the Global Electricity Review 2024, published last week.Main take aways (thank you Nat Bullard): Renewable sources (hydro, wind, solar,...

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131. The future of distribution grids - May24

Distribution grids are facing new challenges. On the one hand, they experience a growth of local demand, with EV charging, heat pumps and datacenters. On the other, they must accommodate with the fast...

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130. EVs: Has Tesla lost its Mojo?

We hear conflicting messages regarding the status of the EV market. On the bright side, IEA predicts 17mEV to be sold this year, EV and Hybrids reach 50% market share in China for Q1, more than 500 EV...

29 Huhti 202411min

129. Should the West fear or emulate China?

Laurent and Gerard have a rapid overview of what’s going on regarding the Energy Transition in China and its political implication in the West.Record production of this, record production of that, ove...

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128. Tracking and Trading Green Electrons 24/7 - Apr24

What is the value of green electrons? Hard to say. Depends where, depends when. What is sure is that, in view of recent regulations and corporate commitments, they must be tracked.From an annual basis...

15 Huhti 202431min

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