Energy Evolution

For some time, many lithium-ion industry participants believed LFP (lithium iron phosphate) would be progressively phased out from electric vehicles due to its intrinsic lower energy density compared with nickel-rich chemistries. However, technology improvements -- coupled with the current market dynamics in China -- have put LFP back in the story. Henrique Ribeiro and Emmanuel Latham discuss the implications of this trend to the battery metals space.

Local governments around the United States are making it more difficult to include natural gas as a fuel option in new building construction. S&P Global Market Intelligence senior reporter Tom DiChristopher joins the podcast with interviews about the varied approaches communities are taking on natural gas infrastructure and how the industry is responding. 

NanoGraf Technologies CEO Dr Francis Wang talks to S&P Global Platts senior pricing specialist Jacqueline Holman about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on China’s dominance in the battery metal supply chain, as well as the challenges and opportunities of the supply chain becoming more global.

The battery metals industry has welcomed China’s two-year extension of subsidies for new energy vehicles, but the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented EV sales from picking up as expected. In this edition of S&P Global Platts’ monthly Battery Metals podcast, Jacqueline Holman and Henrique Ribeiro discuss how the new Chinese policy works and what can be expected for EV sales and battery metals going forward.

The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on the world economy. Could the global energy transition and the jobs that come with it be a part of the cure? Former U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz believes it will be. He is behind a new initiative to develop the framework for a modern energy economy that prioritizes the creation and preservation of high-quality jobs. Energy Evolution called the former Obama Administration official to talk about the potential of this new effort, which energy sources will be a part of the jobs revolution, the role government can play to encourage new energy technology and more.

S&P Global Platts Battery Metals podcast looks at how cobalt markets are faring during the current coronavirus pandemic. Emmanuel Latham is joined by Battery Metals editor Melvin Goh to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Chinese cobalt sulfate refining, the developing situation in the DRC, anticipated market developments and what this all means for cobalt prices.

The coronavirus pandemic could help accelerate the investment shift from oil and gas to renewable energy. But the pace of that transition depends heavily on how governments direct economic recovery spending, and whether the consumer behavior changes induced by the pandemic prove permanent. In this episode, the Energy Evolution team spoke about these issues with Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency,  environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben, Amy Myers Jaffe of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Mark Lewis, head of climate change investment research at BNP Paribas Asset Management.   Check out the article accompanying the episode here.    Co-hosts Dan Testa, Allison Good and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the utility, oil and gas and mining sectors. Subscribe to Energy Evolution to catch upcoming episodes!

States developing long-term plans to zero out carbon emissions by mid-century are key to driving adoption of advanced nuclear technology, Dr. José Reyes, a co-founder of NuScale Power said on S&P Global Market Intelligence's Energy Evolution podcast. NuScale is developing a new design for nuclear small modular reactors, or SMRs, which could be useful for states moving toward a system in which "firm" carbon-free power generation technology is needed to complement renewables. Co-hosts Dan Testa, Allison Good and Taylor Kuykendall are veteran journalists with broad expertise covering the utility, oil and gas and mining sectors. Subscribe to Energy Evolution to catch upcoming episodes!

Joe Lowry of Global Lithium -- known as "Mr. Lithium" -- forecasts lithium demand to fall in 2020 compared with 2019, the first annual decrease in many years. Lowry examines the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on the lithium market with Henrique Ribeiro of S&P Global Platts.

As the COVID-19 pandemic drives crude oil prices into the $30 per barrel range, the Energy Evolution team takes a look at what the global economic slowdown means for fossil fuels, utilities and renewable energy.   Listen to the episode, and subscribe to catch future episodes.   (Photo: AP)