Redefining Energy - TECH

• 52. The Hydrogen Titanic (2/2)

  In this episode of Redefining Energy Tech, host Michael Barnard concludes his conversation (See Ep51 for part 1/2) with Dr. Joseph Romm about the uncomfortable truths behind hydrogen's persistent hype. Romm—physicist, climate policy expert, and author of The Hype About Hydrogen—lays out a detailed indictment of hydrogen’s role in the energy transition and the vested interests keeping it afloat. As the 20th anniversary edition of his book hits shelves this Earth Day, he’s doubling down on his central message: hydrogen is the wrong answer to the right problem.We begin by unpacking why oil and gas companies are so enamored with hydrogen. It’s not about climate—it’s about preserving infrastructure and revenue streams. These companies already produce and move hydrogen, mostly for refining heavy, dirty oil. Green hydrogen, despite its green sheen, still fits their business model. But Romm doesn’t buy it. He notes that the economics don’t work. Carbon capture projects like Sleipner and Norway’s Northern Lights are prohibitively expensive and under-deliver. And if we actually tried to build out a CO₂ pipeline network big enough to matter? We’d need something as vast and capital-intensive as the entire global oil distribution system—for just a slice of the emissions problem.Romm argues hydrogen may have a future in niche industrial applications, but as a general-purpose energy carrier, it's fatally flawed. It leaks, it’s explosive, and it’s staggeringly inefficient. Producing green hydrogen wastes half the renewable electricity, liquefying it wastes another 40%, and every transfer step leaks at least 1%. The total system leakage can reach 10%, and that’s not just waste—it’s warming. While hydrogen isn’t a greenhouse gas itself, it prolongs methane’s atmospheric lifespan. Its 20-year global warming potential? Around 35—an eye-opener for anyone counting climate impact in decades, not centuries.The safety issues alone should give pause. Hydrogen ignites invisibly, has an explosive range far wider than natural gas, and can’t be odorized for fuel cells. Industrial users need massive safety zones, spark-proof gear, and constant ventilation. That’s not something we want coursing through urban refuelling infrastructure.Romm also skewers the geopolitical assumptions baked into Europe’s hydrogen plans—especially proposals to convert African renewables into hydrogen for export. He calls it what it is: 21st-century energy colonialism. Far better, he says, for Africa to use that clean energy locally to power homes, industry, and prosperity directly through electrification.Ultimately, Romm is clear: if the world is serious about climate, it needs to stop chasing the hydrogen mirage. We should electrify as much as we can, as fast as we can. The rest is delay, marketing spin, and stranded asset risk.His updated book, The Hype About Hydrogen, is available on Amazon this Earth Day—April 22. If you're still clinging to the idea that hydrogen will save the energy transition, this conversation might just change your mind.    

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• 51. The Hydrogen Titanic (1/2)

  In this episode of Redefining Energy Tech, host Michael Barnard sat down with Dr. Joseph Romm—physicist, energy policy veteran, and author of The Hype About Hydrogen—to pull back the curtain on hydrogen’s persistent mystique. Romm isn’t new to the debate. Back in the early 2000s, he was among the first to publicly challenge the logic of hydrogen as a viable energy carrier. Now, twenty years later, he’s back with a completely rewritten edition of his book, just in time for Earth Day, and the message hasn’t changed: the hydrogen hype is still hype.What makes Romm’s critique so compelling is his history. He once supported hydrogen research while in the Clinton-era Department of Energy, betting on Sandia Labs’ onboard gasoline reformers. But that hope dissolved under the weight of technical reality. In 2003, as the Bush administration rolled out its $1.3 billion hydrogen initiative, Romm published the first edition of The Hype About Hydrogen, drawing a stark contrast between hydrogen’s theoretical promise and its practical inefficiency. The fundamental math hasn’t budged. Hydrogen production, storage, transport, and conversion wastes up to 80% of the original renewable electricity. Batteries? They waste closer to 20%.Fast forward to today, and hydrogen is once again being paraded as a climate solution, this time with a new coat of green paint. But Romm’s updated research shows the same miscalculations baked into the models of the IEA, CSIRO, and even PIK—institutions that projected green hydrogen prices based on wildly optimistic learning curves. Hydrogen didn’t follow the same cost trajectory as solar or batteries. In fact, between 2020 and 2024, the cost of electrolyzers increased by 40%—a staggering reversal of expectations that should have set off alarm bells across boardrooms and ministries.We also tackled the real-world energy transition playing out in China. While Western nations argue over tariffs and watch supply chains buckle, China is installing 350 gigawatts of solar and wind in a single year—ten times its nuclear additions—and prioritizing direct electrification over hydrogen. It’s not just policy rhetoric; it’s industrial reality.This divergence is becoming painfully clear in the transport sector. European advisors have publicly declared hydrogen “dead for trucks,” pointing instead to the obvious solution: battery-electric vehicles and megawatt-scale charging infrastructure. The market is responding. Companies trying to straddle both hydrogen and battery bets—Van Hool, Quantron, Nikola—are struggling or collapsing. Romm calls this “narrative disarticulation”—an elegant way of saying that serious people are quietly walking away from the hydrogen dream.His final warning is unequivocal: investing in hydrogen based on outdated assumptions is a recipe for stranded assets and political distraction. Industry’s call to support “dirty hydrogen now, clean later” isn’t just a bait-and-switch—it’s a carbon trap dressed up in green branding. If we’re serious about climate, it’s time to let go of the hydrogen mirage and double down on what we know works: clean, efficient electrification.Want to rethink your assumptions on hydrogen? This is the episode to listen to.

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• 50. Geothermal: Drilling for Decarbonization (2/2)

  Simon Todd is back with Michael Barnard for part 2/2, and this time he’s drilling deeper—both literally and figuratively. In this second round, the Managing Director of Causeway Energies walks us through the hard tech and hard truths of geothermal energy, especially as it applies to the UK and Ireland. What emerges is a grounded, brutally realistic look at where geothermal works, where it doesn’t, and how to separate serious solutions from science fiction. We kick off with the cross-pollination of oil and gas tech into geothermal—rotary PDC bits, custom drilling muds, and all the bruised geology that comes with punching into granite. The oil patch may be sunsetting, but its tools are still getting a second act. Todd highlights how firms like Fervo are making surgical improvements to geothermal drilling by leveraging fracking's dirty tricks for clean heat, aiming to stimulate natural fractures in hot granite. It's technically elegant, but there’s a catch: the economics are still brutal. EGS systems might sound great on paper, but $150–$250 per megawatt-hour isn’t going to win against wind or solar anytime soon. Todd doesn’t sugarcoat it. The question isn’t if Fervo’s system works—it’s whether it can keep working at nameplate for 25 years straight.He then turns to the UK and Ireland's own geothermal potential. Unlike the flashy volcanic zones of the western U.S. or Iceland, we’re working with Hot Sedimentary Aquifers and radiogenic granites. The geology is less forgiving, but far from useless. Causeway’s bet is on moderate-depth wells—500 to 1,500 meters—which fall into what Todd calls the "Goldilocks zone": hot enough to matter, shallow enough to stay affordable.And this is where Todd really breaks from the crowd. Forget chasing deep geothermal megaprojects with 5 km drill strings and power plant dreams. Causeway Energies has pivoted to something far more practical: industrial heat. About half of emissions are tied to heating, most of it well below 100°C. Modern high-temperature heat pumps—some hitting 150°C—make pairing geothermal with industrial facilities like breweries and hospitals an obvious win. The kicker? These systems offer round-trip efficiencies that embarrass hydrogen and electrify sectors gas can’t reach.One technology worth highlighting here is the Standing Column Well—basically a turbocharged hybrid of open and closed-loop systems that’s 3 to 5 times more thermally potent than your average ground loop. It thrives in fractured aquifers that aren’t fit for drinking water, dodging some of the regulatory red tape. And with a century’s worth of oil and gas borehole data lying around, Causeway has a treasure map to the best locations.Simon Todd isn't pitching geothermal as a silver bullet. He’s carving out a niche: targeted, replicable, cost-effective solutions for decarbonizing industrial heat. It’s not glamorous. It’s not headline-grabbing. But it works. And in the climate transition, that might just be the most disruptive idea of all.Follow the podcast to hear more from the people actually building the energy future, not just imagining it      

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• 49. Geothermal: Drilling for Decarbonization (1/2)

  In this eye-opening episode (part 1/2), Host Michael Barnard invites Simon Todd, Managing Director of Causeway Energies and a man whose geological expertise spans from the chalk beds of Northern Ireland to the drilling decks of BP. Simon joins the podcast to drag geothermal energy out of its misunderstood niche and into the spotlight it deserves.Simon, who spent 25 years at BP before pivoting hard into the future, lays out a vision for geothermal that’s far more than volcanic spas and Icelandic outliers. He starts by grounding us (literally) in the Earth’s temperature dynamics: from a molten 6,000°C core to the relatively tame gradients of continental crust. We learn that geothermal isn’t just a matter of poking around tectonic hotspots. With modern drilling and clever thermal engineering, you can tap heat just about anywhere—even in the soggy, non-volcanic soils of the UK and Ireland.He gets into the mechanics too, explaining how ground source heat pumps use the shallow earth—those top 10–15 meters that swing with the seasons—to store and retrieve heat. He unpacks the performance metric du jour, the Coefficient of Performance (COP), and shows how deeper wells (500 to 700 meters) vastly outperform air-source systems. The returns? In some projects, a sub-3-year payback. That’s not a climate virtue signal—that’s a boardroom greenlight.But Simon doesn't stop at closed-loop systems. He dives into the real geothermal opportunity hiding beneath our feet: open-loop aquifer systems. These draw warm water from permeable rock formations—‘rock sponges,’ as he puts it—offering faster heat transfer than passive conduction. And yet, while ATES systems thrive across the Netherlands and Belgium, they’re barely used in the UK or Ireland. Why? Bureaucratic inertia, unfamiliarity, and maybe just a lack of storytelling.With directional drilling tech now able to reach aquifers from a single pad, and real-time data steering drill heads with pinpoint accuracy, Simon argues we have the tools and the data. What’s missing is awareness—and maybe a bit of ambition.This episode is a geothermal masterclass from someone who’s lived both the legacy fossil past and the clean energy future. If you're still thinking geothermal is just for hot springs and sci-fi, Simon Todd is here to prove otherwise—with numbers, with tech, and with real-world results.Follow the show for more episodes like this one, where energy myths get debunked, and the future gets explained.

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• 48. Grid Reliability in a Renewable World (2/2)

  In this second part of the conversation, Mark O'Malley returns to discuss with co-host Michael Barnard grid reliability and the evolving challenges of integrating renewable energy.The conversation examines successful examples from Germany, Denmark, and Ireland, highlighting Ireland's unique position as a synchronous island. Texas also emerges as a case study, demonstrating how increased wind and solar capacity has contributed to improved grid stability. While these examples show progress, the discussion underscores the importance of balancing reliability standards with cost-effectiveness and exploring solutions such as flexible supply chains and industrial demand response to manage renewable intermittency.The episode delves into the state of research on power system transformation. While planning methodologies for renewables are well understood, gaps remain in implementation and data availability. Inverter-based resources (IBRs) are making strides, but their seamless integration into the grid remains a work in progress. High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology has proven effective, but its interaction with AC systems requires further study. The need for improved models is evident, as utilities and grid operators require greater confidence before deploying new technologies. However, commercial realities often hinder investment in specialized power system analysis tools, further complicating the transition.A key topic is the Global Power System Transformation Consortium (GPST), which is working toward becoming a legal entity capable of managing resources and funding. The initiative aims to support system operators worldwide in implementing cutting-edge research and solutions, requiring significant financial backing. Estimates suggest that $2 billion will be needed for global implementation, with an additional $500 million required for research and demonstrations. Despite these financial hurdles, progress is being made, as developers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) recognize the economic benefits of supporting GPST.Beyond funding, the industry faces another pressing challenge—an acute shortage of highly skilled power system professionals. While the demand for expertise is growing exponentially, talent production is increasing at a much slower pace. Bridging this gap will require targeted strategies to develop a new generation of engineers and researchers, ensuring that the power sector can keep up with the accelerating energy transition.Action items from this episode include reaching out to Mark O'Malley to explore GPST funding opportunities and developing strategies to scale up the production of skilled professionals in the power sector.        

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