193. The Seven Deadly Sins of the Energy Transition
Redefining Energy1 Sep 2025

193. The Seven Deadly Sins of the Energy Transition

Three wise men met and discussed the Seven Sins of The Energy Transition. Laurent, Gerard and Michael dissect seven sectors that have captured attention, investments and public money and are at best dead ends, at worst disasters waiting to happen.
  1. Greed — “Subsidy Mining in a Lab Coat” (Carbon Capture & Direct Air Capture)
    A capital-intensive detour that soaks up public money while delivering trivial abatement at extreme cost, great PR for incumbents, weak climate math.
  2. Gluttony — “Three Kilowatt-Hours to Move One” (Hydrogen-for-Energy)
    An energy-wasting appetite: make H₂ with clean power, then throw most of that power away moving, compressing, liquefying, and reconverting it—useful only in narrow industrial niches.
  3. Sloth — “Always ‘On Time’ by 2040” (Small Modular Reactors)
    Perma-prototype promises that stay years late and dollars short while wind, solar, and storage deploy at scale now.
  4. Pride — “We Will Bottle the Sun” (Fusion Salvationism)
    Technological hubris as strategy: a captivating physics quest, but not a climate plan for the 2030s. Invest in science, don’t budget on miracles.
  5. Lust — “Drop-In Fantasies for Every Engine” (Biofuels-Everywhere)
    The seductive promise of pouring yesterday’s fuels into tomorrow’s problems; keep them for hard-to-electrify edges, not as a universal fix.
  6. Wrath — “Culture War at Sea” (America’s Offshore-Wind Own-Goals)
    Ideological backlash, litigation, and policy whiplash torch viable projects and local supply chains while the rest of the world builds.
  7. Envy — “Green Halo by Checkbox” (ESG Box-Ticking)
    Chasing ratings and labels instead of real-world decarbonization and cash-flow-relevant risk; better to separate E, S, and G and measure outcomes

Episoder(180)

221. LNG – Hormuz – “Apocalypse Now” - Mar26

221. LNG – Hormuz – “Apocalypse Now” - Mar26

Gerard and Laurent host Ira Joseph, a leading expert on gas and LNG markets at the Columbia Center on Global Energy, to explore how the Middle East conflict is reshaping the industry.In normal times, ...

23 Mar 26min

220. Deal Trends for M&A and Energy Financing - Mar26

220. Deal Trends for M&A and Energy Financing - Mar26

Six years after her last appearance on the podcast (Episode 28, 15 June 2020), Natasha Luther-Jones  returns to join Laurent and Gerard for a lively catch-up on how both her career and the energy sect...

16 Mar 28min

219. Hyperscalers vs US Utilities - Mar26

219. Hyperscalers vs US Utilities - Mar26

While Gerard is fixing his knee, Laurent invites Chris Seiple, Vice Chairman of WoodMac Power & Renewables group, to try to make sense of the scale of the coming power demand surge and the strain it i...

9 Mar 30min

218. Climate Tech Battle Royale (Shayle Kann vs. Gerard Reid) - Mar26

218. Climate Tech Battle Royale (Shayle Kann vs. Gerard Reid) - Mar26

Last month, Gerard Reid joined Shayle Kann, Managing Partner at Energy Impact Partners, for a world class and fast-moving conversation on the state and future of Climate Tech.   The discussion was org...

2 Mar 37min

217. Lithium, Copper, Silver and other metals go ballistic - Feb26

217. Lithium, Copper, Silver and other metals go ballistic - Feb26

Lithium has doubled in three months. Copper is printing record highs. Silver went vertical—then collapsed. The move was fast. The reversals were faster. Volatility isn’t elevated. It’s systemic.  But ...

23 Feb 27min

216. Clean Energy Equities Market: "Dancing While the Music Plays" - Feb26

216. Clean Energy Equities Market: "Dancing While the Music Plays" - Feb26

Clean Energy equities have comfortably outperformed the major indices in 2025.  Laurent and Gerard are joined by friend of the show Shanu Mathew, an equity portfolio manager everyone in the sector kno...

16 Feb 34min

215. PPAs, FPAs, IPPs, Flex and Capture rates: new paradigms - Feb26

215. PPAs, FPAs, IPPs, Flex and Capture rates: new paradigms - Feb26

Luca Pedretti, Co-Founder, Pexapark, returns to discuss how volatility, market design, and new contract structures are transforming power markets and renewable economics. What begins with PPA pricing ...

9 Feb 27min

214. Grid Resilience: hot risks, cold solutions - Feb26

214. Grid Resilience: hot risks, cold solutions - Feb26

Resilience is the buzzword of the moment—from Gerard’s personal resilience on display in Davos last week to the critical issue of grid resilience.  The great Doug Houseman draws a useful distinction b...

2 Feb 29min

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