Energy 360°

This week, Energy 360 looks at e-mobility in India.  Sarah Ladislaw, Director of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, speaks with Siddarthan Balasubramanian, Senior Advisor, Strategy at ClimateWorks, and Neelima Jain, Deputy Director, CSIS Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies, about India’s progress on its ambitious electric mobility plans, how Indian states are taking innovative steps to advance those goals, and the role that subnational cooperation like India’s and the United States’, could serve as a platform to accelerate sustainable mobility solutions.  For further reading: https://www.csis.org/analysis/mapping-us-india-partnerships-electric-mobility https://www.climateworks.org/programs/transportation/ https://www.climateworks.org/report/covid-19-and-climate-action-understanding-key-trends/

This week, we look at the energy developments in Mexico. Lisa Viscidi, director of the Energy, Climate Change & Extractive Industries Program at the Inter-American Dialogue, talks with CSIS Senior Fellow Ben Cahill about recent developments in the Mexican energy sector, including the impacts of Covid-19, especially on the oil sector.  They also look how the AMLO presidency is changing investments in the energy sector, adopting new regulatory plans and tax reforms with implications for electricity markets as well as the oil and gas sector. More from Lisa: Latin American State Oil Companies and Climate Change: Decarbonization Strategies and Role in the Energy Transition 

In this special episode, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette joins Sarah Ladislaw, director of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, for a discussion about how the U.S. energy sector has responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and the changing nature of energy security. Secretary Brouillette and Sarah discuss changes over the last 30 years and how recent developments in U.S. oil and gas supply and demand are reshaping energy security. The Secretary also expands on the recent executive order focused on securing the U.S. energy supply chain. They then turn to the performance of the electric power sector and how the Department of Energy is working with utilities to ensure added preparedness and resiliency for the upcoming hurricane and wildfire seasons.

Kevin Book (Clearview Energy Partners; CSIS), Liam Denning (Bloomberg), and Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) join Energy 360 once again to look at energy and climate developments so far in 2020, and what has changed since the beginning of the year.  Since they last joined us in late December 2019, (2020 Vision for Energy and Climate), so much has changed. With the coronavirus toppling the global economy, Kevin, Liam, and Sarah try to understand what is really happening in the energy sector, how underlying issues have been magnified by the pandemic, and how governments and the energy sector are responding. They then turn to what role stimulus packages could play and look ahead to the U.S. presidential elections. 

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), and Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) talk impacts from covid-19 on energy supply and demand. They dive into how global economic recovery efforts are shaping up and how governments should design green stimulus packages with the goal of fostering the energy transition and building resiliency.   

A just transition is crucial to address global climate change. Mafalda Duarte, head of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Nick Robins, Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance with the Grantham Institute, and Sarah Ladislaw, SVP and director of the CSIS energy Security and Climate Change Program, explain the importance of a just transition in the context of their work, as well as how investors can engage with just transitions. They also examine the impact from the COVID 19 pandemic – and subsequent responses – on the just transition agenda.  For more on the Just Transition Initiative, a new partnership project developed by CSIS and CIF: https://www.csis.org/analysis/who-needs-just-transition  https://www.csis.org/programs/energy-security-and-climate-change-program/projects/just-transition-initiative 

Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy based in Dubai, joins Ben Cahill, Senior Fellow in the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, to discuss energy sector implications of Covid-19 in the Middle East. They focus on how the Gulf states are responding to the pandemic and the volatility in the oil markets. They also look at how the downturn is affecting gas consumption in the Middle East and whether there is an opportunity for energy subsidy reform in some of the region’s countries.

Yao Li, founder and CEO of SIA Energy based in Beijing, and Ben Cahill, Senior Fellow in the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, look at the implications of Covid-19 for the energy sector in China. Ben and Yao discuss the direction Chinese economic recovery may take as energy demand—especially in transportation—begins to rebound.  They also delve into how the recovery is likely to be uneven across the energy sector, including oil, refining, natural gas and LNG, and inventories. Part of our series of deep dives into the energy implications of Covid-19. 

This week we bring you three podcasts with views from around the world about Covid-19 impacts on the energy sector. In this first episode, Arunabha Ghosh (CEEW) talks with Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) about implications of Covid-19 in India; how it has impacted the electric power sector, renewable energy projects, and economic growth. They offer thoughts on whether there is an opportunity going forward to stimulate green growth and promote an energy transition in India.

Dr. Katherine Levine Einstein (Boston University) joins Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) to talk about infrastructure and transportation priorities of U.S. mayors, as outlined in the most recent Menino Survey of Mayors. 

In this week’s Energy 360, Energy Program Director Sarah Ladislaw talks with Dan Reicher (Stanford's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance) about clean energy options in the economic stimulus packages. Dan was a member of the Obama administration's transition team, which passed a $90 billion clean energy stimulus package. They discuss what lessons could be learned from previous stimulus packages and what new options the Congress and Administration have to revive the economy which could also promote clean energy and address climate change impacts.  Dan is the founding executive director of Stanford's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, formerly Google's director of climate and energy initiatives, DOE assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy and the Department’s chief of staff in the Clinton administration, and a member of the Obama administration's transition team and Secretary of Energy Advisory board. He recently wrote the op-ed, Turning the Virus into a Vir

Ditte Juul Jørgensen, director general for energy with the European Commission, talks with Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) about the European Green Deal. This new roadmap provides a framework for the EU to be carbon neutral by 2050 and develops best practices to meet new energy targets and to maintain forward momentum for the energy transition across Europe (recorded in late February). For more, read:  A European Green Deal: https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en  Why Europe’s Green Deal Still Matters: https://www.csis.org/analysis/why-europes-green-deal-still-matters 

Jon Alterman (CSIS Middle East Program) and Frank Verrastro (CSIS Energy Program) join Energy 360 this week to update us on the fast moving developments from OPEC, the oil markets, Saudi Arabia, and across the Middle East. Note: As the COVID-19 pandemic changes rapidly, the frequency and quality of this series may vary over the next month. But we are still in production as we try to get you the most up-to-date information, so you won't miss out on Energy 360.

Alice Hill (CFR) and Leo Martinez-Diaz (WRI) talk climate resilience with Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS), to understand how communities are learning from past disasters and how decision-makers from various sectors—energy, national security, investment, and more—are addressing resilience needs. Alice and Leo are the authors of Building a Resilient Tomorrow: How to Prepare for the Coming Climate Disruption.

Lisa Jacobson (BCSE) and Ethan Zindler (BloombergNEF) join Lisa Hyland (CSIS) to discuss the major findings of the eighth annual edition of the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. They reflect on the larger trends of the tremendous energy transformation that has occurred in America over the past decade. 

John Larsen (RHG) joins Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) to talk about the Rhodium Group’s analysis of clean energy tax credit extensions in the United States. Not only could tax credits drive down GHG emissions, they are an opportunity to advance clean energy by offering incentives to supply more lower carbon energy options or by providing certainty to emerging clean energy industries. While Congress ultimately did not have a major tax credit deal at the end of 2019 (when we recorded this episode with John), the idea is likely to be revisited again. For more, check out the Rhodium Group reports: The Year-End Clean Energy Tax Credit Deal: Swing and a Miss for Climate Can Tax Credits Tackle Climate?

Andrew Schwartz and Sarah Ladislaw talk about how and why climate change has risen as a top priority for global leaders, what this means for the energy sector, and what it means for decision makers across government, civil society and the private sector.

We welcome back Justin Wu, Head of Asia-Pacific, BloombergNEF, to discuss energy impacts from the US-China trade dispute and phase one deal. He and Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) also cover the likelihood for China to meet its emissions and energy targets and to act on its climate ambitions. They look at India’s climate and clean energy goals, as well as the energy developments in Southeast Asia, especially the outlook of coal finance in the region, where we get a preview of new BloombergNEF research.

In 2019 we saw: global climate protests, a trade war between the U.S. and China, a disappointing conclusion from the latest COP, an IPO by the world’s largest oil company. What might next year bring? We asked Kevin Book (Clearview Energy Partners; CSIS), Liam Denning (Bloomberg Opinion Columnist), and Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) to discuss 2019’s major energy and climate developments and to tell us what to watch for in 2020.

This week, Energy 360 looks at the role of China on the global climate stage. Deborah Lehr (Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Paulson Institute) and Han Chen (Manager for Energy Policy, International Program, NRDC), with Lachlan Carey (Associate Fellow, CSIS Energy & National Security Program), explain the actions China must take to meet its climate targets and be seen as a global leader on climate action. For more, check out: Deborah’s piece: Is China Still the Global Leader on Climate Change? Han’s piece US Withdraws from Paris—Don’t Expect China to Follow Suit From CSIS: How China can become the world leader for solving climate change and Chinese Multilateralism and the Promise of a Green Belt and Road