Explore Norway's role in the offshore wind industry, focusing on floating wind technology. Our guest, the cluster manager for Norwegian Offshore Wind and head of the METCentre, Arvid Nesse, shares insights into how Norway became a global leader in floating offshore wind innovation.

We dive into the origins of the METCentre, home to the world’s first floating wind turbine, and discuss the development of the Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster, now boasting nearly 400 members. Topics include the challenges of scaling floating wind technology, the integration of expertise from Norway's oil and gas sector, and the vision for exporting Norwegian innovations to international markets.

In this episode of the NTNU Energy Transition Podcast, we delve into the intricacies of EU energy policy, just in time for the upcoming European elections. Joined by Massimo Busuoli, the head of the NTNU Brussels office, the discussion provides an overview of three major directives that have recently been renewed: the Renewable Energy Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive, and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Massimo guides us through the objectives and implications of these directives. The conversation covers the new goals set by the European Commission, the Parliament, and the Council, highlighting how these policies aim to accelerate the energy transition across Europe.

Tune in to gain a better understanding of the policy-making process in Brussels and the crucial role of these directives in shaping the future of EU energy policy.

In this episode, we flip the cards a little. Heidi Fossland, the new administrative director for NTNU Energy Transition, interviews our regular host, Julius Wesche about the multifaceted challenges and advancements in direct air capture (DAC) technology.

Julius discusses his comprehensive study based on 34 interviews with experts, shedding light on the seven key functions essential for fostering innovation within the DAC sector. The conversation delves into topics such as market creation, legitimacy concerns, resource mobilization, and the impact of policy frameworks on technological deployment. Julius emphasizes the importance of establishing a robust innovation system that accelerates DAC deployment to achieve gigaton-scale carbon capture. He also touches on the potential policy implications of his findings, suggesting strategic approaches to enhance regulatory frameworks, education, and public communication to combat climate change effectively.

Join our Young Energy Professionals Event on Monday (16:00 - 18:00) at Gruva, NTNU-Gløshaugen). Sign up under the following Link: ⁠https://www.ntnu.edu/web/energytransition/green-energy-shifters-2024⁠

In this episode, we explore the decarbonization of the shipping sector with ⁠David Emberson⁠, an associate professor at NTNU's Department of Marine Technology. David discusses his transition from PhD research in London to pioneering sustainable marine fuel research in Norway, highlighting the shipping industry's reliance on fossil fuels and the varied challenges across different vessel types.

The conversation dives into alternative fuels like LNG, ammonia, and methanol, alongside emerging technologies such as fuel cells, wind assistance, and onboard carbon capture. David emphasizes ammonia's potential as a viable marine fuel due to its efficient hydrogen storage and existing global production infrastructure, despite challenges like toxicity and combustion efficiency.

Furthermore, the episode touches on the complexities of integrating new propulsion technologies into maritime vessels and the critical need for port infrastructure development to support alternative fueling and carbon capture strategies.

Concluding with reflections on the urgency of collaborative efforts and decisive action towards shipping decarbonization, this episode underscores the innovation and global cooperation required to achieve a sustainable maritime future in the face of climate change challenges.

In this episode, we discuss the emerging field of agrophotovoltaics (agri-PV) with ⁠Marta Victoria⁠, an associate professor specializing in solar photovoltaics and energy systems modeling at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

We learn about the basic concept of agro-PV, combining agriculture and solar panels on farmland, and discuss its benefits, geographical viability, challenges, and the use of different crops. Marta explains various installation methods—horizontal and vertical setups—and addresses concerns regarding material consumption, reduced solar panel yield due to crop shadows, and potential collaborations with irrigation systems to optimize water usage.

The ongoing ⁠HyPErFarm Project⁠ aims to create real installations in Germany, Belgium, and Denmark to study and implement agro-PV systems, focusing on crop-solar panel interactions, irrigation integration, and overall efficiency.

In today’s episode: The complex decision-making process behind the energy infrastructure at Norway's Melkøya LNG plant. The plant, located in the Snøhvit field in the northernmost region of Norway, lacks a pipeline to transport gas to Europe. Therefore, the gas must be liquefied, a highly energy-intensive process. There have been plans to decarbonize the liquefaction process through carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. However, recently the government has shifted towards electrification, raising questions about the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of CCS.

Our guest this week is ⁠Eivind Berstad⁠, a chemical engineer and team leader for CCS in the environmental NGO ⁠Bellona⁠ - an organization working towards finding climate solutions, emphasizing the importance of industry cooperation and research funding.

Together, we delve into the Melkøya plant's history, operational challenges, the reasons behind considering electrification over carbon capture, and the lack of transparency in the decision-making process. We consider factors like rising emission costs and the future outlook of carbon reduction initiatives. The episode highlights the urgency in finding economically viable solutions to curb emissions and achieve climate goals, underscoring the intricate balance between environmental responsibility and economic viability.

Jørn Haanæs is the investment director at Katapult, a climate venture capital fund. We discuss the challenges and rewards of being involved in startups, emphasizing the need for passion, excellence, resilience, and the importance of pursuing meaningful problems and maintaining motivation in the face of challenges.

Haanæs explains the role of venture capital firms in providing risk capital to startups and highlights the importance of finding outliers that can generate significant returns. We look closer at the concept of accelerators and how Katapult combines venture capital investment with an accelerator program to support early-stage startups.

Connie Hedegaard was the EU Commissioner for Climate Action between 2010 and 2014 and continues to be a strong climate action advocate. Since she left office, she continued to work with a number of non-profit organizations, and is also active on corporate boards of companies such as Danfoss, Volkswagen, and Nordex. In this episode you will learn how policy is made in the EU, and while we talk mostly about the formal ways we will also touch upon the informal ways, and what happens behind the scene. Additionally, you will learn how Connie experienced the rather unsatisfactory COP 2009 in Copenhagen, what lessons she learned from that for policy making at large and we also talked briefly about current major EU policy initiatives such as Fitfor55 and RePowerEU.

The International Energy Agency estimates total annual energy investment to surge to USD 5 trillion by 2030. Why is money so important in the energy transition and how can countries move to sustainable, market-oriented economies?

This is what you will learn when listening to this episode of the NTNU Energy Transition Podcast with Harry Boyd-Carpenter (Managing Director, Climate Strategy and Delivery) and Nigel Jollands (Associate Director, Head for Sustainable Infrastructure, Climate Strategy and delivery) both at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Expectations are one of these fluffy social science topics, but when you look closer you actually realize how important they are in innovation and sustainability transition processes. The energy transition is fundamentally influenced by expectations that we have towards specific solutions and modes of operations. We set up financial incentives, change policies, and invest into research, because we expect that wind power, solar PV or hydrogen can blaze the trail towards a low carbon economy. If we would not have these expectations, we would not move a thumb. Expectations are also important in the start up world. Start ups normally don't have products, but only ideas, and they get funding and press coverage not because on the results of their actions, but on the expectations that they will build the next big thing.

Hence, today we look at expectations. For this episode I invited Prof. Harro van Lente from University of Maastricht who is known as one of, if not the father of the sociology of expectations. First we define what expectations are and how the differ from visions, imaginaries and representations. Then we discuss how expectations shape socio-technical transitions as a whole and energy transitions in particular. And in the end we talk about how you as member of an organization, a start up or as policy makers can actually make use of the expectations related knowledge that you will have gotten when you listen to this podcast.

Enjoy the show :-). 

- van Lente (2012), Navigating foresight in a sea of expectations: lessons from the sociology of expectations

- Borup, Brown, Konrad, van Lente (2006), The sociology of expectations in science and technology

How can governments support renewable electricity technologies? What's being done, and what does the future look like? And why were these policies needed initially, to give such technologies traction? What's needed, if we are to reach Europe's ambitious goals for transitioning to renewable energy?

Today's guest is Dr. Pablo del Rio. He is the head of the Environmental Economics Group (GEA) at the Institute for Public Goods and Policies at the National Research Council of Spain (CSIC) and has spent more than 20 years looking particularly at the policies for renewable energy.

The global south, with countries such as Indonesia and India, relies heavily on coal and other fossil fuels. Many of these countries have not embarked on real decarbonization pathways. In this episode, we take a closer look at the barriers these countries face to supply the growing energy demand and do this in a sustainable way.

Today's guest, Jose Antonio Ordonez, is a researcher in the Fraunhofer ISI's Competence Center Energy Policy and Energy Markets where he works in the business unit Global Sustainable Energy Transitions. Over the last years he has conducted a large number of energy transition and decarbonization projects across a variety of countries in the global south and emerging economies dealing with supporting the integration of renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate protection policies.

The CO2 is all around us, can't we just collect and store it safely? Today's guest is Jay Fuhrman. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Joint Global Change Research Institute. He received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2021. Jay’s research uses integrated assessment models to understand the transitions required for deep climate mitigation, including the large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal technologies, their potential side-effects, and co-benefits.

Some of the biggest emitters also face the biggest challenges in the energy transition. I today's episode, we take a closer look at the potential solutions, with focus on the steel and refinery industries. Our guest today is Dr. Frauke Urban. She is an Associate Professor and Docent in the Management of Sustainable Energy Systems at the Department for Industrial Economics and Management at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and specializes in technology and business perspectives as part of the Research Initiative on Sustainable Industry and Society (IRIS).

Transport represents almost a quarter of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions and is the main course of air pollution in cities. The transport sector has not seen the same gradual decline in emissions, as other sectors. Emissions just started decreasing in 2007 and still remain higher than in 1990. Hence, let's have a look at this sector to actually understand it a bit better and its current state.

For this episode, we're joined by the Coordinator of Business Unit Energy Economy at Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Priv.-Doz. Dr. Patrick Plötz. He has studied Physics in Greifswald, St. Petersburg and Göttingen and did his thesis in Theoretical Physics on correlated electrons in one-dimensional systems. He holds a Doctorate degree in Theoretical Physics from the University of Heidelberg (Institute for Theoretical Physics) on complex dynamics in cold atomic gases. Fom January to December 2011 he was a researcher in the Competence Center Energy Policy and Energy Systems at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, and since January 2012 in the Competence Center Energy Technology and Energy Systems. Since 2020 he's been the Coordinator of Business Unit Energy Economy, and a private lecturer at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).