The Biggest, Dirtiest Secret of the Energy Industry | Ep184: Jonathan Maxwell

Could we save billions by simply reducing energy waste? How can we power the vast, energy-hungry growth of AI without sacrificing climate goals? And is Europe doomed to high energy costs and deindustrialisation?

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich sits down with Jonathan Maxwell, CEO and founder of Sustainable Development Capital LLP (SDCL), for the third time on Cleaning Up. Jonathan shares his perspective on the urgent need to address energy efficiency and waste, drawing from the themes explored in his book "The Edge."

Jonathan and Michael delve into SDCL's innovative approach to providing on-site energy solutions that deliver cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable power to businesses, industries, and public institutions. Jonathan explains how their focus on distributed generation and decentralised energy systems is transforming the way organisations think about and manage their energy needs.

Finally, policy. Jonathan and Michael discuss the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act in the US (and the potential turmoil from recent election results), the European Union's Green Deal, how these initiatives can be further strengthened by a greater emphasis on energy efficiency and productivity, and what the West needs to catch China.

Leadership Circle:

Links:

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
02:35 - The Edge
04:45 - Energy Security Post 2022
10:40 - China's Green Transformation
16:30 - Primary Energy Fallacy
20:30 - Wasted Energy & Inefficiency
26:20 - No Waste Heat?
29:40 - What SDCL Does
35:00 - Locational Pricing
38:50 - Give Scotland Cheap Energy
43:20 - ESG Downfall?
45:15 - Decarbonising London by 2030
49:45 - Data Centres
54:30 - Growth of AI
58:25 - Power Usage Effectiveness
01:04:20 - EU's Expensive Energy
01:08:12 - US Climate Spending
01:10:50 - China & Electricity
01:13:20 - Outro

[keithdhirst]

Why is this channel so tiny? Please, please subscribe! It needs to be shouted from the roof tops!! This is so important.

[davidoneill]

To get one gallon of gasoline into your tank requires on average 7kwh.

It takes energy to pump up oil from underground, transport it to refinery, boil it to separate the fuels and transport the motor fuel to your local gas station and into your car…..

[aryaman]

Brilliant episode, thanks gentlemen.
Good one on Heat pump, and 'low quality' heat source for district heating (DH). How about deeper analysis on distributed thermal energy storage (TES) for DH ?
Such discussion is getting us ever closer to realizing all our energy needs from low quality heat source alone, i.e.: no need for nuclear fission heat source at all !

[BobQuigley]

For years wondered why we didn't have huge industrial parks around a nuclear plant.

[Suburp]

Fully agreed. We waste energy everywhwere. Thank you for this podcast.

[waynecartwright-jstw]

When we had 2 fossil fuel cars our annual 2800 liters(26600 kWh equivalent ) of fuel and our homes 12000 kWh of gas are now 8000 kWh of electricity from the grid total plus 3300 kWh we generate ourselves with our PV. So 38600 just cars and heating compared to 11500 total now.

[BobQuigley]

Stanford's latest Sankey chart shows waste energy at 61%. Yes we must get after this low hanging fruit. New building codes alone could have a quick long term benefit.

[davidsmith]

What a healthy debate, thank you for shedding light on these issues

[rtfazeberdee]

Excellent, always a font of knowledge

[simonpannett]

Great discussions on the Big Issues with Energy!!

[derloos]

Thought I'd just quickly check out the first 10 minutes in the background, et voila, dropped everything and listened to the very end.

[wag-on]

DW planet has an excellent video about Sankey charts and primary and rejected energy.

[daviddawson]

Looking at investing in SDCL we have to improve energy efficiency.

[andrewhunt]

Renewables are the hammer and energy efficiency is the anvil. We need to both to reduce fossil fuel use from both sides.

[chrishaberbosch]

Seems like it may come down to cost to upgrade vs cost to implement new solar/battery..

[grzegorzkapica]

Gentleman, I would love to work with you.

[adolf-fx]

35% efficiency, 65% loss, is high efficiency. Heat pumps do not have 'efficiency', they have a 'coefficient of performance', like a refrigerator.

[BobQuigley]

The obscene obsession with money which exists in our brains over the biosphere source of all life is repulsive. When we're killing our neighbors in wartime money is no problem. Bezo's $350 million yacht money could put heat pumps in several hundred homes.

[wag-on]

Renewables and batteries tech are an excellent way to gain competitive advantage on a national and international kevel. Plus they're still getting cheaper!! Transport for example: ev trucks running at like something 100kWh/100km vs 10-14 mpg.. lower maintenance costs, powered by warehouse solar or on site wind. Cheaper distribution lowers costs down the supply.

[FlameofDemocracy]

Use the regenerative grid strategy. Turn surplus grid streams into battery fill and hydrogen. Beyond that, make biogas at all wastewater treatment plants.

Universal LED lighting build outs, to include traffic lights, also save tremendous amounts of money.

Solar panels should also be placed on school roofing, over parking lots, or at airports.

Take the easy money by making the more obvious moves.