Energy Technologies – Written Insights

Thunder Said Energy is a research firm focused on energy technologies and energy transition. We work with over 250 organizations, to help them find economic opportunities, which can improve the world’s energy system, and help the world reach ‘net zero’. We have two subscription tiers (details here). This page contains our most recent research reports (PDFs), available to clients with our written insights subscription. Please email us any time if you are looking for particular content, if we can field any questions, or focus our upcoming research into areas that will help you.

Written Insights

Kardashev scale: a futuristic future of energy?

A Kardashev scale civilization uses all the energy it has available. Hence this 16-page report explores ten futuristic uses for global energy, which could absorb an additional 50,000 TWH pa by 2050 (60% upside), mainly from solar. And does this leap in human progress also allay climate concerns better than pre-existing roadmaps to net zero?
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Cool concept: absorption chillers, data-centers, fuel cells?!

Absorption chillers perform the thermodynamic alchemy of converting waste heat into coolness. Interestingly, their use with solid oxide fuel cells may have some of the lowest costs and CO2 for powering and cooling AI data-centers. This 14-page report explores the opportunity, costs and challenges.
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Energy transition: losing faith?

What if achieving Net Zero by 2050 and/or reaching 1.5ºC climate targets now has a 3% chance of success, for reasons that cause decision-makers to backtrack, and instead focus on climate adaptation and broader competitiveness? This 14-page report reviews the challenges. Can our Roadmap to Net Zero be salvaged?
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Solar trackers: following the times?

Solar trackers are worth $10bn pa. They typically raise solar revenues by 30%, earn 13% IRRs on their capex costs, and lower LCOEs by 0.4 c/kWh. But these numbers are likely to double, as solar gains share, grids grow more volatile, and AI unlocks further optimizations? This 14-page report explores the theme and who benefits?
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Energy transition: the triple challenge?

Energy transition is a triple challenge: to meet energy needs, abate CO2 and increase competitiveness. History has now shown that ignoring the part about competitiveness gets you voted out of office?! Raising competitiveness will be a focus of the new administration in the US. So this 15-page report discusses energy competitiveness, and updates our outlook. by theme  
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Gas turbines: what outlook in energy transition?

Gas turbines should be considered a key workhorse for a cleaner and more efficient global energy system. Installations will double to 100GW pa in 2024-30, and reach 140GW in 2030, surpassing their prior peak from 2003. This 16-page report outlines four key drivers in our gas turbine outlook, and their implications.
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Metal Organic Frameworks: sorting hat?

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a game-changer for industrial separation, which consumes c10% of global energy. Activity is surging. This 18-page report reviews MOFs’ recent progress and future promise. As a case study, CALF-20 can deflate CCS costs by c50%, per Svante’s TSA process.
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US natural gas: the stuff of dreams?

Modeling US gas supply and demand can be nightmarishly complex. Yet we have evaluated both, through 2035. This 13-page report outlines the largest drivers of demand, requires a +3% pa CAGR from the key US shale gas basins, and argues the balance of probability lies to the upside.
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Seeing sense: digitize the downstream gas network?

Greater digitization of gas networks looks increasingly important, as gas, biogas, hydrogen and CCS all aim to shore up their futures. This 15-page note started as a deep-dive into the true leakage rates in downstream gas; and ended up finding opportunities in sensors and pipeline monitoring.
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Global energy demand: false ceiling?

Can GDP decouple from energy demand? Wealthier countries’ energy use has historically plateaued after reaching $40k of GDP per capita. Hence could global energy demand disappoint? This 15-page report argues it is unlikely. Adjust for the energy intensity of manufacturing and imports, and energy use continues rising with incomes.
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Mapping vehicle value chains?

Who is impacted if vehicle sales, EVs or ICE volumes surprise? Autos are a $2.7 trn pa global market, a vast 2.5% of global GDP. 15% is gross margin for OEMs. The other 85% is spread across vehicle value chains, encompassing metals, materials and capital goods. Hence this 14-page note highlights 200 companies from our database of 1,500 companies. Some are geared to ICEs. Some to EVs. And some to both.
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LFP batteries: cathode glow?

LFP batteries are fundamentally different from incumbent NMC cells: 2x more stable, 2x longer-lasting, $15/kWh cheaper reagents, $5/kWh cheaper manufacturing, and $25/kWh cheaper again when made in China. This 15-page report argues LFP will dominate future batteries, explores their costs, and draws implications for EVs and renewables.
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Going platinum: PGMs in energy transition?

Could PGMs experience another up-cycle through 2030, on more muted EV sales growth in 2025-30, and rising catalyst loadings per ICE vehicle? This 16-page note explores global supply chains for platinum and palladium, the long-term demand drivers for PGMs in energy transition, and profiles leading PGM producers.
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Electric vehicles: the road to cost parity?

Could electric vehicles deflate towards cost parity with ICEs in 2025-30, helping to re-accelerate EV adoption? This 13-page report contains a granular sum-of-the-parts cost breakdown for EVs vs ICEs. Then we consider battery deflation, power train deflation, small urban EVs, tax incentives, and the representativeness of low-cost Chinese EVs.
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Electric vehicles: saturation point?

Energy transition technologies are often envisaged to follow S-curves: rapidly inflecting, then reaching 100% market adoption. However, this 17-page report argues electric vehicles will more likely saturate at 15-30% of sales in 2025-30. EVs were already at 15% of sales in 2023. So what would the more limited EV upside mean for energy and materials?
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Purchasing power: what are generation assets worth?

There has never been more controversy over the fair values of power generation assets, which hinge on their remaining life, utilization, flexibility, power prices, rising grid volatility and CO2 credentials. This 16-page guide covers the fair value of generation assets, hidden opportunities and potential pitfalls.
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Oil demand: making millions?

What does it take to move global oil demand by 1Mbpd? This 22-page note ranks fifteen themes, based on their costs and possible impacts, to show where risks lie for oil markets, and where opportunities are greatest to drive decarbonization. We still think oil demand plateaus around 105Mbpd mid-late in the 2020s, before declining to 85Mbpd by 2050. But the risks now lie to the upside?
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Natural hydrogen: going for gold?

Vast quantities of hydrogen are produced in the Earth’s subsurface, via the serpentinization of iron-containing Peridotite rocks. Gold, white and orange hydrogen variations aim to harness this hydrogen. This 19-page note explores opportunities, costs and challenges for harvesting H2 out of natural seeps, hydrogen reservoirs or fraccing/flooding Peridotites.
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Peaker plants: finding the balance?

Today’s power grids fire up peaker plants to meet peak demand. But the grid is changing rapidly. Hence this 17-page report outlines the economics of gas peaker plants. Rising volatility will increase earnings and returns by 40-50%, before grid-scale batteries come into the money for peaking?
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Sugar to ethanol: value in volatility?

Sugar cane is an amazing energy crop, yielding 70 tons per hectare per year, of which 10-15% is sugar and 20-25% is bagasse. Crushing facilities create value from sugar, ethanol and cogenerated power. This 11-page note argues that more volatile electricity prices could halve ethanol costs or raise cash margins by 2-4x.
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Energy security: right to self-determine?

The average major economy produces 70% of its own energy and imports the other 30%. This 12-page note explores energy security by country. We draw three key conclusions: into US isolationism; Europe’s survival; and the pace of EV adoption, both in China and in LNG-importing nations.
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Grid capacity: a wolf at the door?

This 17-page note outlines how capacity markets work, in order to stabilize global power grids. We argue reserve margins in the US grid are not as healthy as they look (in the chart above). Data centers are like wolves at the door. Capacity prices must rise. This boosts gas plants, grid-scale batteries and non-regulated utilities?
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Building energy infrastructure: constructive margin?

Energy transition is the largest construction project in history, with capex costs ultimately ramping up to $9trn per year. Overall, 40% of capex costs accrue to construction firms. Hence this 10-page note evaluates energy infrastructure construction companies, their EBIT margin drivers, and who benefits from expanding power grids?
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Back up: does ramping renewables displace gas?

This 12-page note studies the generation profiles at 10 of the largest gas plants in Australia, at 5-minute intervals, as renewables gained share from 2014 to 2024. Ramping renewables to c30% of Australia’s electricity mix has not only entrenched gas-fired back-up generation, but actually increased the need for peakers?
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Energy transition in 1H24: 101 companies and the rise of AI?

This 13-page note summarizes the key conclusions across all of our research from 1H24, concisely, for busy decison-makers. We highlight 101 companies, which have come up in our recent work, to enable the rise of AI, and debottleneck its electricity supplies, out of 1,500 companies that have now crossed our screens overall.
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Solar Superpowers: ten qualities?

Solar ramps from 6% of global electricity in 2023, to 35% in 2050. But could any regions become Solar Superpowers and reach 50% solar in their grids? And which regions will deploy most solar? This 15-page note proposes ten criteria and ranks 30 countries. The biggest surprises will be due to capital costs, grid bottlenecks and pragmatic backups.
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Energy trading: value in volatility?

Could renewables increase hydrocarbon realizations? Or possibly even double the value in flexible LNG portfolios? Our reasoning includes rising regional arbitrages, and growing volatility amidst lognormal price distributions (i.e., prices deviate more to the upside than the downside). This 14-page note explores the upside for energy trading in the energy transition. What implications and who benefits?
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Superconductors: distribution class?

High temperature superconductors (HTSs) carry 20,000x more current than copper, with almost no electrical resistance. They must be cooled to -200ºC. So costs have been moderately high at 35 past projects. Yet this 16-page report explores whether HTS cables will now accelerate to defray power grid bottlenecks? And who benefits within the supply chain?
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Low-carbon baseload: walking through fire?

This 16-page report appraises 30 different options for low-carbon, round-the-clock power generation. Their costs range from 6-60 c/kWh. We also consider true CO2 intensity, time-to-market, land use, scalability and power quality. Seven insights follow for powering new grid loads, especially AI data centers.
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Moving targets: molecules, electrons or data ?!

New AI data-centers are facing bottlenecked power grids. Hence this 15-page note compares the costs of constructing new power lines, gas pipelines or fiber optic links for GW-scale computing. The latter is best. Latency is a non-issue. This work suggests the best locations for AI data-centers and impacts US shale, midstream and fiber-optics?
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Transformer shortages: at their core?

Transformers are needed every time voltage steps up or down in the power grid. But lead times have now risen from 12-24 weeks to 1-3 years. And prices have risen 70%. Will these shortages structurally slow new energies and AI? Or improve transformer margins? Or is it just another boom-bust cycle? Answers are in this 15-page report.
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Advanced Conductors: current affairs?

Reconductoring today’s 7M circuit kilometers of transmission lines may help relieve power grid bottlenecks, while avoiding the 10-year ordeal of permitting new lines? Raising voltage may have hidden challenges. But Advanced Conductors stand out in this 18-page report. And the theme could double carbon fiber demand?
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Arms race: defence versus decarbonization?

Does defence displace decarbonization as the developed world’s #1 policy goal through 2030, re-allocating $1trn pa of funds? Perhaps, but this 10-page note also finds a surprisingly large overlap between the two themes. European capital goods re-accelerate most? Some clean-tech does risk deprioritization?
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Cool customers: AI data-centers and industrial HVAC?

Chips must usually be kept below 27ºC, hence 10-20% of both the capex and energy consumption of a typical data-center is cooling, as explored in this 14-page report. How much does climate matter? What changes lie ahead? And which companies sell into this soon-to-double market for cooling equipment?
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Energy intensity of AI: chomping at the bit?

Rising energy demands of AI are now the biggest uncertainty in all of global energy. To understand why, this 17-page note explains AI computing from first principles, across transistors, DRAM, GPUs and deep learning. GPU efficiency will inevitably increase, but compute increases faster. AI most likely uses 300-2,500 TWH in 2030, with a base case of 1,000 TWH.
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Midstream gas: pipelines have pricing power ?!

FERC regulations are surprisingly interesting!! In theory, gas pipelines are not allowed to have market power. But increasingly, they do have it: gas use is rising, on grid bottlenecks, volatile renewables and AI; while new pipeline investments are being hindered. So who benefits here? Answers are explored in this report.
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Energy and AI: the power and the glory?  

The power demands of AI will contribute to the largest growth of new generation capacity in history. This 18-page note evaluates the power implications of AI data-centers. Reliability is crucial. Gas demand grows. Annual sales of CCGTs and back-up gensets in the US both rise by 2.5x? This is our most detailed AI report to date.
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Energy transition: key conclusions from 1Q24?

This 11-page note summarizes the key conclusions from our energy transition research in 1Q24 and across 1,400 companies that have crossed our screens since 2019. Volatility is rising. Power grids are bottlenecked. Hence what stands out in capital goods, clean-tech, solar, gas value chains and materials? And what is most overlooked?
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Power beaming: into thin air?

What if large quantities of power could be transmitted via the 2-6 GHz microwave spectrum, rather than across bottlenecked cables and wires? This 12-page note explores the technology, advantages, opportunities, challenges, efficiencies and costs. We still fear power grid bottlenecks.
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Bottlenecked grids: winners and losers?

What if the world is entering an era of persistent power grid bottlenecks, with long delays to interconnect new loads? Everything changes. Hence this 16-page report looks across the energy and industrial landscape, to rank the implications across different sectors and companies.
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Shorter Insights

Energy transition: classic blunders?!

Classic blunders famously include "never start a land war in Asia" and "never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line". But this video sets out what we believe are the three classic blunders that should be avoided by energy analysts, and in the energy transition, based on our own experiences over the past 15-years.
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Grid-forming inverters: islands in the sun?

The grid-forming inverter market may soon inflect from $1bn to $15-20bn pa, to underpin most grid-scale batteries, and 20-40% of incremental solar and wind. This 11-page report finds that grid-forming inverters cost c$100/kW more than grid-following inverters, which is inflationary, but integrate more renewables, raise resiliency and efficiency?
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Commodity intensity of global GDP in 30 key charts?

The commodity intensity of global GDP has fallen at -1.2% over the past half-century, as incremental GDP is more services-oriented. So is this effect adequately reflected in our commodity outlooks? This 4-page report plots past, present and forecasted GDP intensity factors, for 30 commodities, from 1973->2050. Oil is anomalous. And several commodities show rising GDP intensity.
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Solar plus batteries: the case for co-deployment?

This 9-page study finds unexpectedly strong support for co-deploying grid-scale batteries together with solar. The resultant output is stable, has synthetic inertia, is easier to interconnect in bottlenecked grids, and can be economically justified. What upside for grid-scale batteries?
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Long-duration storage: dirtier than gas peakers?

The CO2 credentials of long-duration batteries may be as bad as 0.35-2.0 kg/kWh, which is worse than gas peakers, or even than coal power. Grid-scale batteries are best deployed in high-frequency applications, to maximize power quality, downstream of renewables. But we were surprised to find that there is almost no net climate benefit from turning off gas peakers in favor of long-duration, low-utilization batteries.
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Energy research in the age of AI?

How will AI change the research and investment worlds? Our view is that large language models (LLMs) will soon surpass human analysts in assimilating and summarizing information. Hence this video explores three areas where human analysts can continue to earn their keep, and possibly even help decision-makers beat the 'consensus engines'.
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LNG trucks: Asian equation?

LNG trucking is more expensive than diesel trucking in the developed world. But Asian trucking markets are different, especially China, where exponentially accelerating LNG trucks will displace 150kbpd of oil demand in 2024. This 8-page note explores the costs of LNG trucking and sees 45MTpa of LNG displacing 1Mbpd of diesel?
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Can solar reach 45% of a power grid?

Can solar reach 45% of a power grid? This has been one of the biggest pushbacks we received on a recent research note, scoring solar potential by country, where we argued that the best regions - California, Australia - would reach 45% solar by 2050. Hence today's short article explores what a 45% solar grid might look like, using data from our solar insolation model.
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AI and power grid bottlenecks?

The number one topic in energy this year has been the rise of AI. Which might not seem like an energy topic. Yet it is inextricably linked with power grid bottlenecks, the single biggest issue for energy markets in the mid-late 2020s. The goal of today’s video is to recap our key conclusions. There is an accompanying presentation for TSE clients, plus links to our underlying work.
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Methane leaks: by gas source and use

Methane leakage rates in the gas industry vary by source and use. Across our build-ups, the best-placed value chains are using Marcellus gas in CCGTs (0.2% methane leakage, equivalent to 6kg/boe, 1kg/mcfe, or +2% on Scope 3 emissions) and/or Permian gas in LNG or blue hydrogen value chains (0.3%). Residential gas use is likely closer to 0.8-1.2%, which is 4-6kg/mcfe, or higher as this is where leaks are most likely under-reported.
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Maxwell’s demon: computation is energy?

Computation, the internet and AI are inextricably linked to energy. Information processing literally is an energy flow. This note explains the physics, from Maxwell's demon, to the entropy of information, to the efficiency of computers.
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Electric adventures: conclusions from an EV road trip?

It is a rite of passage for every energy analyst to rent an electric vehicle for an EV road trip, then document their observations and experiences. Our conclusions are that range anxiety is real, chargers benefit retailers, economics are debatable, power grids will be the biggest bottleneck and our EV growth forecasts are not overly optimistic.
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European gas: anatomy of an energy crisis?

Europe suffered a full-blown energy crisis in 2022, hence what happened to gas demand, as prices rose 5x from 2019 levels? European gas demand in 2022 fell -13% overall, including -13% for heating, -6% for electricity and -17% for industry. The data suggest upside to for European gas, global LNG and gas as the leading backup to renewables.
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LNG ramp-rates: MTpa per month and volatility?

What are the typical ramp-rates of LNG plants, and how volatile are these ramp-ups? We have monthly data on serveral facilities in our LNG models, implying 4-5MTpa LNG trains ramp at +0.7MTpa/month, with a +/- 35% monthly volatility around this trajectory. Thus do LNG ramps create upside for energy traders?
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Email deliverability: who broke the internet?

This video explains email mailing lists, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, lessons learned over 15-years, and an unfortunate issue from December that prevented 4,000 subscribers from receiving our research. We're sorry. We've fixed it! And some comments follow below to make sure important research reaches you.
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Energy transition from first principles?

Our top three questions in the energy transition are depicted above. Hence we have become somewhat obsessed with analyzing the energy transition from first principles, to help our clients understand the global energy system, understand new energy technologies and understand key industries. 
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Energy transition: three reflections on 2023?

In October-2022, we wrote that high interest rates could create an 'unbridled disaster' for new energies in 2023. So where could we have done better in helping our clients to navigate this challenging year? Our new year's resolutions are clearer conclusions, predictions over moralizations, and looking through macro noise to keep long-term mega-trends in mind.
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Thermodynamics of prime movers: energy from first principles?

A highlight of 2023 has been going back to first principles, to explain the underpinnings of prime movers in the global energy system. If you understand the thermodynamics of prime movers, you will inevitably conclude that the world is evolving towards solar, semi-conductors, electro-magnetic motors, lithium batteries and high-grade gas turbines.
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Grid-scale battery costs: $/kW or $/kWh?

Grid-scale battery costs can be measured in $/kW or $/kWh terms. Thinking in kW terms is more helpful for modelling grid resiliency. A good rule of thumb is that grid-scale lithium ion batteries will have 4-hours of storage duration, as this minimizes per kW costs and maximizes the revenue potential from power price arbitrage.
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Energy transition: active duty?

After five years researching the energy transition, we believe it favors active managers. Within the energy transition, active managers can add value by ranging across this vast mega-trend, balancing risk factors in a portfolio, timing volatility, understanding complexity, unearthing specific opportunities and benchmarking ESG leaders and laggards.
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Levelized costs: real issues?

Real levelized costs can be a misleading metric. The purpose of today's short note is simply to inform decision-makers who care about levelized costs. Our own modelling preference is to compare costs, on a flat pricing basis, using apples-to-apples assumptions across our economic models.
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US natural gas: blue hydrogen tightens global LNG markets?

Blue hydrogen value chains are starting to boom in the US, as they are technically ready, low cost, and are now receiving enormous economic support from the Inflation Reduction Act. But will this divert gas away from expanding US LNG, raise global LNG prices above $20/mcf and impact global energy markets more than expected?
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Industrial materials: thermodynamic efficiency?

The thermodynamic efficiency of materials production averages 20%, within an interquartile range of 5% to 50%. There is most room for improvement in complex value chains. And very different energy costs for blue vs green H2.
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Energy economics: engineering wonders?

Many questions that matter in the energy transition are engineering questions, which flow through to energy economics: which technologies work, what do they cost, what energy penalties they have, and which materials do they use? We see an intersection for economics and engineering in our energy transition research.
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Energy transition: investment strategies?

Investing involves being paid to take risk. And we think energy transition investing involves being paid to take ten distinct risks, which determine justified returns. This note argues that investors should consider these risk premia, which ones they will seek out, and which ones they will avoid.
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Green hydrogen: alkaline versus PEM electrolysers?

This note spells out the top ten differences between alkaline and PEM electrolysers. The lowest cost green hydrogen will likely come from alkaline electrolysers in nuclear/hydro-heavy grids. If hydrogen is to back up wind/solar, it would likely require PEMs.
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Research philosophy: what makes great research?

One of TSE's clients asked if Rob would present to their team on the topic of “what makes great research?”. We do not have any delusions of grandeur on this front. But this video nevertheless makes for a nice summary. (1) Ask simple questions, (2) Make complex issues simpler (3) Earn trust (aka be wrong for the right reasons).
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How does methane increase global temperature?

How does methane increase global temperature? This article outlines the theory. The formulae suggest 0.7 W/m2 of radiative forcing and 0.35ºC of warming has occurred due to methane leaks, which is 20-30% of the total. There are controversies and uncertainties. But ramping gas is still heavily justified in a practical roadmap to net zero.
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How does CO2 increase global temperature?

The purpose of this short article is to explain mathematical formulas linking global temperature to the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. In other words, our goal is to settle upon a simple equation, explaining how CO2 causes global warming. In turn, this is why our roadmap to net zero aims to reach 'net zero' by 2050, stabilize atmospheric CO2 below 450ppm, and we believe this scenario is compatible with 2ºC of warming.
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Energy transition: a six page summary from summer-2022?

“It provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance.” That is the porter’s view of alcohol in Act II Scene III of Macbeth. It is also our view of 2022’s impact on the energy transition. Our resultant outlook is captured in six concise pages, published in the Walter Scott Journal in Summer-2022.
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Energy transition: five reflections after 3.5 years?

This video covers our top five reflections after 3.5 years, running a research firm focused on energy transition. The greatest value is found in low-cost decarbonization technologies, resource bottlenecks and hidden nuances and bottom-up opportunities.
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All the coal in China: our top ten charts?

Chinese coal provides 15% of the world’s energy, equivalent to 4 Saudi Arabia's worth of oil. Global energy markets may become 10% under-supplied if this output plateaus per our ‘net zero’ scenario. Alternatively, might China ramp its coal, especially as Europe bids harder for renewables and LNG post-Russia? This note presents our ‘top ten’ charts.
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Battle of the batteries: EVs vs grid storage?

Who will ‘win’ the intensifying competition for finite lithium ion batteries, in a world that is hindered by shortages of lithium, graphite, nickel and cobalt in 2022-25? Today’s note argues EVs should outcompete grid-scale storage by a factor of 2-4x.
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Energy shortages: medieval horrors?

Energy shortages are gripping the world in 2022. The 1970s are one analogy. But the 14th century was truly medieval. Today’s note reviews its top ten features. This is not a romantic portrayal of pre-industrial civilization, some simpler time “before fossil fuels”. It is a horror show of deficiencies. Avoiding energy shortages should be a core ESG goal.
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Helion: linear fusion breakthrough?

Helion is developing a linear fusion reactor, which has entirely re-thought the technology (like the 'Tesla of nuclear fusion'). It could have costs of 1-6c/kWh, be deployed at 50-200MWe modular scale and overcome many challenges of tokamaks. Progress so far includes 100MºC and a $2.2bn fund-raise, the largest of any private fusion company to-date. This note sets out its 'top ten' features.
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Oil and War: ten conclusions from WWII?

The second world war was decided by oil. Each country's war-time strategy was dictated by its availability, quality and attempts to secure more of it, including by rationing non-critical uses of it. Ultimately, halting the oil meant halting the war. Today's short note outlines out top ten conclusions from reviewing the history.
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Russia conflict: pain and suffering?

This 13-page note presents 10 hypotheses on Russia's horrific conflict. Energy supplies will very likely get disrupted, as Putin no longer needs to break the will of Ukraine, but also the West. Results include energy rationing and economic pain. Climate goals get shelved in this war-time scramble. Pragmatism, nuclear and LNG emerge from the ashes. 
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Energy transition: hierarchy of needs?

This gloomy video explores growing fears that the energy transition could 'fall apart' in the mid-late 2020s, due to energy shortages and geopolitical discord. Constructive solutions will include debottlenecking resource-bottlenecks, efficiency technologies and natural gas pragmatism.
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Sitka spruce: our top ten facts?

Sitka spruce is a fast-growing conifer, which now dominates UK forestry, and sequesters net CO2 up to 2x faster than mixed broadleaves. It can absorb 6-10 tons of CO2 per acre per year, at Yield Classes 16-30+, on 40 year rotations. This short note lays out our top ten conclusions, including benefits, drawbacks and implications.
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Coal versus gas: explaining the CO2 intensity?

Coal and gas both provide c25% of all primary global energy. But gas's CO2 intensity is 50% less than coal's. This short note explains the different carbon intensities from first principles, including bond enthalpies, production processes and efficiency factors.
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