Switched On
Episodes
Glencore on Net-Zero Mining
27 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
International mining company Glencore has set a net-zero 2050 ambition across its operations for scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, meaning not only the min...
Technology for Greener Cities
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The urban sprawl can seem endless, but in reality, cities only cover 3% of global landmass, while accounting for 70% of global emissions. Cities aroun...
The Coming Boom in Offshore Wind
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The offshore wind sector is set to grow more than 10-fold over the next 15 years. Growth has been largely in Europe to date, but China is about to go ...
EV Future so Bright Biden Wears Shades
09 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
BloombergNEF's Electric Vehicle Outlook is our long-term view on how electrification, shared mobility, and autonomous driving will re-shape road trans...
Energy Transition Fund Frenzy
02 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past four months more than $30 billion has been raised by some of the world's largest asset managers for energy transition-focused funds. The...
AES Chief on the Transition to Net Zero
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Power company AES has been an energy company in transition for well over a decade, and continues to develop and own renewable and other power assets g...
Tesla Crushing it in China's Car Cap and Trade
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China will be a huge market for electric vehicles. In BloombergNEF's latest Electric Vehicle Outlook, published last month, we project that EVs will b...
U.S. Shale Oil Walks the Line
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
U.S. benchmark oil prices are up almost 50% this year, as global demand continues its pandemic recovery. In the States, rising demand and rising price...
BP EVP of Sustainability Giulia Chierchia on Net-Zero Ambitions
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Oil major BP has ambitions to cut its greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations, its oil & gas production, and the products it sells to net...
The Cost of Clean, Green Aluminum
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The aluminum industry can achieve net-zero carbon emissions, and there are multiple routes to get there, starting from recycling and going all the way...
Carbon to Hit 100 Euros Sooner Than You Think
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For more than a decade, BloombergNEF has been forecasting the price of carbon credits under the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), and in the...
Opel CEO Lohscheller on the Transition to Electric Vehicles
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Electric vehicles are creating a lot of buzz, but are they profitable for the manufacturers? This week, Switched On speaks with Opel Automotive CEO Mi...
Cutting Carbon with Giant Mechanical Trees: Direct Air Capture
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk put out a $100 million prize earlier this year for innovation in 'carbon negative solutions', or pulling carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air...
The Great Divide: Why Some Fear, Others Ignore Climate Change
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why does the threat of climate change give some nightmares while others simply ignore it? Where do perceptions lie and how do they differ by country, ...
It's Biden Time for Global Climate
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This year is looking like a major year for dialogue on - and commitments to - climate action. This week, Switched On speaks with two BloombergNEF coll...
Wind Power Boom of Today Is Just the Start
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The global wind market is booming, with nearly 100 gigawatts of new capacity going online in 2020. Today, Switched On speaks with BloombergNEF wind an...
U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm on Biden’s Green Dreams
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Switched On speaks with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who was sworn into office on February 25th. One of Secretary Granholm's ob...
The Energy Transition Fuels Competition in European Utilities
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
European utility strategy continues to evolve as the energy transition moves forward. Today, Switched On speaks with BloombergNEF carbon analyst, Bo Q...
VW and GM Revv Up to Challenge Tesla in Electric Vehicles
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On March 15, Volkswagen signaled its ambition to compete in the growing electric vehicle market by building out battery production and charging infras...
Europe Must Go 'Ludicrous Speed' to Meet Climate Targets
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The transition to a low-carbon economy has been at the center of policy making in the European Union over the last decade. But Europe is still not on ...
Texas Winter Storm – Lessons for Power, Gas, Oil
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prolonged frigid temperatures last weekend caused electricity demand in the Texas power grid, or ERCOT, to explode. The extreme cold resulted in more ...
How New EU Sustainability Disclosure Rules Will Affect Companies
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The EU Taxonomy regulation, which defines what the European Union considers an environmentally sustainable economic activity, will require additional ...
Modeling the Energy Future: Ants, Birds and Dr. Strange
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The engine behind the analysis in BloombergNEF's New Energy Outlook (NEO) is the New Energy Forecast Model, or NEFM. This week, Switched On speaks wit...
In 2020 Vietnam Put Solar Panels on Everything
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Vietnam had a boom in rooftop solar installations in December 2020 as installers raced to capture a generous feed-in tariff that expired at the end of...
U.K.'s Climate Envoy on the Race to Net Zero
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Switched On speaks with Dr. John Murton, COP26 envoy for the U.K. government. During a conversation which was part of the BNEF Shanghai Sum...
Peak Oil and the Long Descent Down the Mountain
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Electric vehicles, plastic alternatives, electrification of industrial processes – and more – are set to cut into demand for oil. In fact, we may ...
Fake Meat, Real Food
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Startups and food industry giants alike are working to improve the taste, texture, and appearance of alternative proteins, or fake meat. If they can g...
Greasing the Way to Sustainable Transport
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The renewable diesel market is set to triple in the next four years. Increasingly stringent environmental standards, and imperatives to reduce transpo...
Amazon, Walmart, and Microsoft Compete to Have the Least Impact
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A net-zero target is achieved when a country or company balances out its greenhouse gas emissions with other activities that store, reduce or offset t...
Airbus on Ambitions for Zero Emissions Flight
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Airbus aims to have an electric airliner in service by 2035. As part of this, the company announced three electric concept planes in September that ar...
Enough EVs at the Right Price Is a Good Start for Net Zero
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Minister Rachel Maclean says that for the United Kingdom to meet its 2050 net zero-emissions target, the country will need to expand the electric vehi...
Ex-BP CEO Bob Dudley on Big Oil Going Green
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Reducing methane emissions and carbon intensity of upstream operations are two main objectives of the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative, or OGCI, a coa...
Digital Supply Chains Know Where Your Lettuce Comes From
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To keep up with regulations around products -- on sourcing, greenhouse gas emissions, safety -- and to answer questions from consumers, companies need...
Sustainable Finance Outlook, Way Up and to the Right
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Green bond issuance has hit the trillion-dollar mark, but this year appears to be the year of social bonds, up 376% in the first half of 2020 to $41.9...
California’s Paradox: Cutting Power to Protect Public Safety
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Grid operators in California face increasingly frequent decisions to abandon their operational commitment to 24/7 availability and cut service to reta...
Biden, Trump and the U.S. Energy Transition
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many issues are at stake in the November U.S. election, including energy and climate. This week Switched On speaks with Head of Americas Ethan Zindler...
Sparks Fly -- Are Lithium-Ion Batteries Safe?
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Generous policy support in in a handful of markets has led to a rush to deploy energy storage projects. But the eagerness to deploy quickly resulted i...
Deliveroo and DoorDash, You Mean So Much to Me
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Food delivery services have an impact on vehicle miles traveled, at least right now. But will food delivery services be around long enough to make a d...
Mini-Grids, Mighty Power
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For universal electrification to become reality by 2030, some 238 million households will need to gain electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia ...
Old Wind or Solar Farm: Run it Ragged, or Rebuild?
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We all know wind and solar are intermittent -- at some point the sun stops shining and the wind stops blowing. But is wind and solar power reliable? T...
The Fight for Mexico's Energy Future
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mexico became one of the hottest markets for clean energy development. Newly open Mexico attracted billions in investment driven by three highly succe...
Tiny Satellites: Eyes in the Sky, Thousands of Them
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lower manufacturing costs, innovative launch vehicles, miniaturized sub-systems and new sensor technologies have resulted in a surge in the number of ...
Green Stimulus: Nice Work, If EU Can Get It
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The European Commission on 27 May proposed 1.85 trillion euros in stimulus spending over the next seven years, 25% of which must go to things classifi...
A Coal-Free Europe Could Be Sooner Than You Think
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A higher carbon price and cheaper gas have made coal-fired power less competitive in Europe. Reduced demand from the pandemic have made it almost impo...
Asia's Roads Go From Rumble to Whirr
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We hear a lot about growth in the electric car market, but what about electric two- and three-wheelers? In 2040 about half of the 1.25 billion mopeds,...
To Save on Lithium, Buy Local
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lithium is used the world over for electronics and, increasingly, electric cars. There is a supply and security risk in that most of this lithium come...
When Enough's Not Enough, Try Carbon Offsets
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Companies can do everything they can to reduce their carbon footprint, and most often it is still not enough to cover all their emissions. After every...
CCUS: Clean Coal Is So Last Season
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Carbon capture, utilization and storage -- taking CO2 out of the air and putting it underground or into products. The sector has had a few false start...
Solar Cars: The Future Now May Be Now, Almost
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Solar on cars has been around for a long time. But until recently, it has either been pure gimmick or used to power small auxiliaries -- not the drive...
Digital Strategies in the Time of Covid
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Switched On speaks with BloombergNEF head of digital industry research, Claire Curry, and digital industry analyst Kirti Vasta. Clair...
In Stockpiles and Order Backlogs We Trust
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Switched On speaks with BloombergNEF head of clean energy research, Logan Goldie-Scot, and head of transport, Colin McKerracher. Log...
To go Carbon Neutral, Electrify (All Of) It
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Switched On speaks with BloombergNEF head of research, Albert Cheung, and head of policy, Vicky Cuming. Albert and Vicky tell us abou...
China Wants to Sell, the World's Not Ready to Buy
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Switched On speaks with Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, head of Asia Pacific research for BloombergNEF. He'll tell us about China starting to g...
Coronavirus Blew Up Your Forecast – Now What?
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when a pandemic upends every one of your forecasts and expectations for the future? This week, Switched On speaks with BNEF Head of Res...
Robots, Drones, and Sensors Help You Mine More By Digging Less
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To stay competitive in a world where commodity prices fluctuate and environmental pressures grow, for miners, going digital is no longer a question of...
Making Room for Renewables in Sub-Saharan Africa
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Generation oversupply, not enough transmission, and offtaker risk are just a few challenges facing clean energy developers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Desp...
U.S. Energy: Same As It Ever Was? Not Even Close
18 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The growth of renewables and the fracking revolution has made for a lot of cheap energy in the U.S. and an energy landscape nearly unrecognizable from...
When Mines Are Hedges, Cars Get Cheaper
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Batteries are getting cheaper. This means more affordable electric cars, and wind and solar as a more viable option for round-the-clock power. This we...
Aviation Demand: Come Fly With Me, and Everyone Else
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do you fly more than you used to, or less? For most of the world, the answer is more, and it’s likely to be more for the foreseeable future. This we...
EVs in 2020: Buckle Up for Twists and Turns
24 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Have you noticed more electric vehicles on the road recently? How about charging stations? Well, you’ll probably see a lot more in 2020. This week o...
Chemical Recycling: Break It Down
14 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today less than 20% of plastic waste is recycled. This week on Switched On we talk with Ilhan Savut and Julia Attwood about chemical recycling, a new ...
IMO 2020: Holiday Gift Guide, No SOx
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Remember acid rain and worries about sulfur emissions from your car? Maybe. Maybe not. It was a long time ago that sulfur was regulated out of the gas...
A Solar Boom Without the Subsidy Gloom
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In solar’s early days, getting electrons from solar panel to power grid was as much a financial as a technical challenge. Photovoltaic power cost mo...
Ethical Cobalt: Feel Good About Your Batteries
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We use cobalt every day. It's in the lithium-ion batteries in our phones, and in the growing fleet of electric vehicles out on the road. But chances a...
Asia Outlook: The Biggest of Everything
21 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Asia has the biggest share of everything -- area, population, economic growth, and now, carbon dioxide emissions. Can Asia keep its pace of developmen...
Solar Thermal: All Night Long
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Solar thermal power plants can provide electricity when demand is most high, during the evening, or even all night long. This ability could become mor...
U.S. Anti-Climate Agenda: So What? Who Cares?!
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Obama-era Clean Power Plan is being cut out by the Trump administration. It probably doesn't matter so much because the U.S. power fleet is decarb...
Who's Boring Now: Utilities vs Oil
01 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Oil has always carried with it the possibility of adventure and big wins to be had, and thereby a growth story for investors. Utilities, not so much. ...
Big Business Says: I've Got the Power
18 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Governments play a role, but the private sector may hold the real keys to decarbonization. This week on Switched On, we talk with Kyle Harrison, a Blo...
Should We Take My Car, or Get a Robotaxi?
27 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ride-hailing, e-commerce, micro-mobility, robotaxis – each of these is or will chip away at the need to own a car. Will the day come when the car be...
Battery Metals - A Nickel for Your Thoughts
12 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and stationary energy storage increases, a lot more lithium, cobalt, and nickel will be need...
The Hydrogen Economy: It's a Gas
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hydrogen has been in and out of fashion several times over the years. But now its potential to decarbonize long-haul trucking, and industrial processe...
I Drive a Tesla, I Do My Part...Right?
16 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sure, a Tesla has zero tailpipe emissions, but it charges from the grid, and the grid is powered by coal, so it can't really be considered clean, righ...
It's Like Netflix for Electricity - New Business Models in Electricity Retail
09 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Light-up your dryer, TV, dishwasher, microwave, air conditioner, and maybe even mine some bitcoin, all at dinnertime, because it's all-you-can-eat ele...
Climate Insurance and Chasing Ducks Across the Street
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hong Kong taxi drivers are getting older. What happens when they retire? Is a busy city like Hong Kong ready for driverless cars? Insurance and insura...
Oil Majors Going Digital: Personality Test
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Switched On we talk with Hannah Davinroy and Claire Curry about oil companies going after digital technologies. Whether it is to make the...
Heating and Cooling: Heat Pump Revolution! Or is it?
09 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Switched On we talk with Meredith Annex, who leads BNEF's coverage of heating and cooling. Making buildings warmer or cooler accounts for...
Because Why Not? Floating and Airborne Wind
04 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Switched On we talk with BNEF Wind Industry Analyst Tom Harries, about floating and airborne wind power. These applications are still in thei...
Bioplastics: Beyond recycling
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Switched On we talk to Dr. Julia Attwood, Head of Advanced Materials for BNEF about bioplastics. Bioplastics comprise just about 1% of the pl...
The loud hum of air conditioning in global electricity demand
01 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Air conditioning already accounts for 9% of electricity consumed globally, and that demand is set to grow substantially in the coming decades. While m...
Bricks from mud and straw - a primer on composites and where to find them
28 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today we talk to Dr. Julia Attwood, Head of Advanced Materials for BNEF about composites. We see them in high-end sporting goods and automotive, but c...
5G in Cars: Is This Where We Go Autonomous?
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Switched On we talk with BNEF Intelligent Mobility Analyst Andrew Grant about the role of 5G in cars. It looks like baby steps as we star...
Oil Demand for Transport: Stronger for Longer
19 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Will you still be driving an internal combustion engine vehicle in 2040? Maybe. This week on Switched On we talk to David Doherty, a BNEF senior an...