124. The challenging Energy Transition of Japan - Mar24

124. The challenging Energy Transition of Japan - Mar24

“It’s hard to play a good game when you have been served weak cards”. This is the perennial challenge of Japan when it comes to the Energy Transition. And the game is getting harder when your two main choices, nuclear and hydrogen, are proving extremely costly in a world of cheap renewables.

How robust is a business model based on a protected internal market with high margins and limited competition allowing Japan Inc. to expand abroad at super competitive prices, but stifling innovation and diversification? Japan is “Prisoner of its geography” (to quote Tim Marshall); thankfully its answer has been a world class level of engineering allowing to partially overcome its shortcomings.

And Gerard, during his recent trip to Japan, has witnessed some extraordinary achievements in the energy transition in the downstream sector, with extreme energy efficiency, retail innovations, and digital developments.

We have the pleasure to welcome Shuichiro Kawamura, who heads one of the rare investments’ funds focusing on the Energy Transition. Established in 2006, Energy & Environment Investment (EEI) is Japan's first VC firm solely dedicated to the energy and environment sectors. They support startups with innovative technologies and services in this space, aiming to drive sustainable growth and positive global impact. As of Q1_24, the AUM of EEI is around US$500MM, with more than 130 portfolio companies. There is no easy formula in Japan. Only the smarts will survive.

We thank our friends and partners AQUILA CAPITAL for supporting our show.

Episoder(184)

185. Blackouts - Jul25

185. Blackouts - Jul25

What Really Happened During the Iberian Blackout This Spring? And How Should We Make Sense of the Conflicting Reports?  To shed light on the events, Gerard and Laurent are joined by global energy expe...

7 Jul 202524min

184. Market dynamics and Pricing of Battery Materials - Jun25

184. Market dynamics and Pricing of Battery Materials - Jun25

Six years ago, Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Minerals Intelligence shook the world in a now legendary testimony in front of the US Senate. Then, Simon predicted the exponential growth of batteries an...

22 Jun 202533min

183. Energy Security from the front line: Eastern Europe and Renewables - Jun25

183. Energy Security from the front line: Eastern Europe and Renewables - Jun25

Laurent remembers vividly his trip to Sofia Bulgaria in winter 2009 when the Russians had cut the gas for Bulgaria during a -15C winter. Russia was already playing hard ball because of (guess what) a ...

15 Jun 202527min

182. Broken grids and Datacenters load growth  - Jun25

182. Broken grids and Datacenters load growth - Jun25

We have recently witnessed spectacular black outs: South Australia 2016, Texas Uri 2021, California 2020-21-25 and Iberia 2025. We are not even mentioning fragile grids in the Global South.  We will d...

9 Jun 202532min

181. “Hot Air” from Tony Blair - May25

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 G...

26 Mai 202520min

180. The KKR Energy formula - May25

180. The KKR Energy formula - May25

KKR is a Private Equity giant whose involvement in the Energy/Infrastructure sector has grown bigger over the decades. Energy/Infrastructure investments now represents approx 10% of their global Asset...

19 Mai 202527min

179. The future of the Auto Industry: Winners, challengers and zombies - May25

179. The future of the Auto Industry: Winners, challengers and zombies - May25

On one hand, tariffs are causing significant disruption in the global automotive industry. On the other, the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to surge, seemingly unaffected. According to the lat...

12 Mai 202531min

178. Delivering the Wind Reset - May25

178. Delivering the Wind Reset - May25

Laurent and Gerard sit down for an in-depth (and at times fiery) conversation with Ben Backwell, Chair of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), to unpack the current state of the wind industry. Ben j...

5 Mai 202526min

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