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(174)

119. The decarbonization of the shipping industry

119. The decarbonization of the shipping industry

This week, Gerard is out, so Laurent does the Minutes with Michael Barnard, host of our sister show Redefining Energy – Tech.On the menu this week, an overview of the decarbonisation of shipping. What...

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118. Doubling Energy Efficiency - Feb24

118. Doubling Energy Efficiency - Feb24

At COP28 was endorsed the concept of “tripling renewables” – all good, but a lot of people forgot to mention the rest of the sentence which is “and doubling of Energy Efficiency”. In the latest IEA re...

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117. Infrastructure Investing, the consolidation

117. Infrastructure Investing, the consolidation

Why has the fund raised by infrastructure fund drastically collapsed in 2023. Is it linked to lackluster returns in a high interest rate environment?At the same time, we have seen numerous acquisition...

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115. The future of Yieldcos (listed Infrastructure Funds) - Jan24

115. The future of Yieldcos (listed Infrastructure Funds) - Jan24

Long term renewables assets portfolios provide stable returns. In most of the world, they are held by pension funds, insurance companies or big infrastructure funds. We have the exception of the UK wi...

15 Jan 202431min

114. Nuclear, Offshore Wind and Cummins

114. Nuclear, Offshore Wind and Cummins

First Episode on the Redefining Energy MINUTES on the main channel.On the menu this week, an update of nuclear and offshore wind, two important (but minor) sources of carbon-free energy.And some news ...

8 Jan 202413min

113. Our Predictions for 2024 - Jan24

113. Our Predictions for 2024 - Jan24

Happy new year to all our listeners.It has become a tradition for the first episode of the year: Gerard and Laurent present their 2024 Predictions in the Energy Transition. And we brought in our frien...

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112a. Redefining Energy Awards for 2023 (incl. Book of the Year)

112a. Redefining Energy Awards for 2023 (incl. Book of the Year)

Final Episode of 2023 (and last one for the MINUTES on their own channel). All episodes will be on this channel going forward.Here are the Redefining Energy Awards for 2023:Company of the Year - BYDSt...

26 Des 202313min

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