As fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, there is renewed interest in what can be done to capture carbon dioxide. Until now, most of the investment in carbon capture has gone into projects to take those emissions and store them underground forever. But what if we could make use of that captured carbon?

To find out what role carbon capture and utilization, or CCU, could play in tackling climate change, host Ed Crooks is joined by three experts in the sector. He is joined by Sarah Lamaison, who is the CEO and co-founder of CCU start-up Dioxycle, Tim van den Bergh, the climate tech innovation lead at the World Economic Forum, and John Ferrier, a senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. Together they unpack what CCU actually is (and isn’t), and where it can deliver the biggest punch; for example in the chemical industry, which is a sector in large part built on carbon.

Sarah explains how Dioxycle’s carbon electrolysis can turn carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into high-value molecules such ethylene using electricity and water. It is effectively “dual” decarbonization: it uses captured carbon instead of fossil feedstock, and also avoids process emissions.

But despite those compelling advantages, CCU faces some steep challenges. The gang examines the policy landscape, and the economics that can make or break CCU projects. John outlines why support has historically skewed toward carbon storage rather than utilization: it offers measurable, near-term reductions and simpler business models. To accelerate the growth of CCU, it needs clearer incentives, and standardized lifecycle assessment of carbon emitted and avoided.

Sarah compares Europe’s current framework, which can disadvantage CCU, with more supportive tax credits that are available in the US. She explains that the choice of product to be made using CCU really matters. For fuels, conventional feedstocks such as crude oil and natural gas are hard to beat on cost. For complex chemical pathways, there is room for CCU to undercut incumbents as efficiency improves. Tim looks at the system level, calling for global, aligned policies, early markets in cost-competitive niches and “patient capital” to bridge the valley of death that innovative companies face as they scale up.

There’s a strong case that can be made for CCU, if policy, finance, and industry can travel in the same direction. This episode explains what would be needed to make that a reality, taking businesses from promising pilots to deployment at scale and cost parity with conventional feedstocks.

UpLink is a World Economic Forum initiative focused on impactful early-stage innovation. It builds ecosystems that enable purpose-driven, early-stage entrepreneurs to scale their businesses for the markets and economies that are essential to a net-zero, nature-positive and equitable future. You can learn more in the World Economic Forum and Wood Mackenzie’s new report on scaling CCU, available here.

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AI is adding to US electricity consumption at a pace not seen in decades. That demand growth is creating new strains on the grid in many parts of the country. But what if AI could instead help keep the system running?

Varun Sivaram is a founder & CEO of Emerald AI and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He says that far from undermining the grid, AI could actually save it. If we can enable AI data centers to provide flexibility during times peak stress, they can become a powerful ally for reliable, affordable, and clean electricity.

Earlier this year, the Energy Gang hosted a conversation with Tyler Norris of Duke University, author of an influential paper assessing the potential for large flexible loads in the US electricity system. He argued that if grid operators could ask data centers to dial back the power consumption when the system is under strain, those new facilities could get online faster without waiting for long transmission and generation upgrades. In effect, flexibility is like a fast-track pass: by allowing short reductions in consumption during peak stress, the grid can handle more demand and data centers can connect sooner.

That’s the theory. In this show we talk about how to make it a reality.

To explain how data center flexibility works, and will work in the future, Varun joins host Ed Crooks, regular guest Amy Myers Jaffe, Director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, and resident investment expert Shanu Mathew, Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Lazard Asset Management.

How can data center developers, operators and customers create flexible loads? Spread computing tasks across multiple sites, pause the less time-critical ones during grid stress, and use smarter software and batteries to smooth short spikes. The gang discuss early real-world tests with utilities and tech companies, and why some regions are considering rules that let them temporarily reduce power to big users rather than risk neighborhood blackouts.

Is this all hype? Some of the claims being made are running ahead of what is actually being achieved in the industry today. And even as chips get more efficient, demand for AI is growing even faster. But Varun wants to run more pilots, reward flexibility with quicker hookups, and build toward a “virtual power plant” made of data centers that can respond in milliseconds. If the irresistible force of AI development is to overcome the immovable object of power grid capacity, that is the kind of innovation that is going to be needed.

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The COP21 climate talks in Paris in 2015 were hailed as a historic success. They resulted in a global agreement to curb climate change, and set a framework for every country in the world to contribute to achieving that goal.

Ten years on, the conference no longer looks such a triumph. Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, and so are global temperatures. The Paris agreement’s goals for keeping global warming in check seem to be slipping out of reach.

So what is the world really getting out of the UN’s annual COPs? (The name stands for the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.) Every year, pledges are made and commitments agreed, but real-world changes have not been nearly fast enough to achieve those international goals. COP30 is coming up fast: it will be held in Belém in northern Brazil, a little over two months from now. What can we expect from this latest attempt to drive forward global action on climate?

To look ahead to the meeting, host Ed Crooks is joined by climate and energy journalist Simon Evans, deputy editor at the climate science publication Carbon Brief. Simon and Ed were on the ground in Azerbaijan last year at COP29. They reflect on the outcomes from that meeting, and the progress that has been made – and not made – in the months since then. Regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe – director of NYU’s Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab – is also back on the show, asking about the broader context of international efforts on climate change. She raises the question of whether China and the EU have stuck to their commitments under that historic Paris Agreement.

They ask: is COP30 is likely to be a success or a failure? And is it time for a completely new approach to global cooperation on climate?

With the UN strategy for curbing global warming in crisis, Ed, Simon and Amy discuss the effectiveness of COPs, the potential for carbon pricing, and new ideas for strengthening international climate efforts.

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