Let Me Sum Up

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for the latest on the domestic gas reservation policy!Our latest bonus episode features Luke, Tennant and audience fave Alison Reeve talking about the gas reservation bill currently before the nation's parliament. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to get access to this sweet, sweet boco!---It’s a pre-COP cornucopia of climate content as your intrepid hosts gear up for a blockbuster  COP31 in Antalya! That’s right, Luke, Frankie and Tennant are off to Turkiye - tshirt merch and cannon possibly in tow - to see what will Australia as COP President of Negotiations can corral the almost 200 parties to the Paris Agreement to commit to at this Implementation COP. Geopolitics? Take yo pick: US antagonism from afar, Iran and Ukraine wars, China tech dominance and possible host of COP33! Multilateralism? In need of affirmations! Overshoot? Let’s minimise it! 1.5C? Still alive! Fossil crises? Time to electrify now! Just a few things on the radar. Stay tuned in to mainline our COP content direct from Antalya over the next couple of weeks!Our main courseSo apparently this whole *electrification* agenda is has legs, whoddathunkit? Well, no less than energy institutional heavyweight, the International Energy Agency, that’s who! Commissioned by the COP31 Presidency, the IEA have delivered a weighty tome in the creatively titled, Electrification: Special report. In this very special report, the smartfolks at the IEA have synthesised a BUNCH of analysis on the prospects for electrification by sector, region and technology across two main scenarios. Their verdict is in: a target of 35% electrification of final energy demand by 2035 - “35 by 35” - is no flight of fancy and the world could be in striking distance of this under a high electrification scenario and more progressive policies. Momentum is building, not least via the global Electrify Now campaign, which one of the co-hosts of this very podcast may have a little bit to do with.One more thingsTennant’s One More Thing: is a sad fate for Allam Cycle hopes. Frankie’s One More Thing: a plug for the Investor Group on Climate Change’s 2026 summit, A New Investment Reality, happening just after COP31 in Sydney on 24-25 November and featuring some familiar faces!Luke’s One More Thing: the official, COP31 theme song: Let’s COP! Warning: it’s an earworm.And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head toletmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

NoteFolks, we recorded this week’s episode before the horrific incident involving independent MP and allround wonderful humn, Helen Haines. We are sending huge love to Helen, her family and team, and best wishes for her recovery.Helen's family has asked that we show our solidarity and support through a donation to Save the Children – you can do that here.—It’s that time of year folks, when your intrepid hosts are readying for COP travels and reading the tea leaves for what might come out of the annual global climate negotiations. Following the powerful Pacific voices from Pre-COP, and the strong language of the The Taku Pakasoa Declaration,the stage is set in Antalya for political text recognising overshoot of 1.5C and what must be done to minimise it: featuring, electrification! Methane!! Transition away from fossil fuel language is looking as hard as ever! Engineered removals!?! Added to the mix, expect a big focus on access to finance and some commitment on oceans! Also, check out the latest report from the fab folks at Climate Resource. Our main courseClimate change is increasing both temperatures and atmospheric moisture, making dangerous humid-heat events more frequent, intense and widespread. A bracing report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Lethal humidity and the systemic risks of climate change, authored by Dr. Robert Glasser with support from Minderoo, says 50-75% of the world's population to dangerous humid-heat conditions by the end of the century if current warming trends continue. This is an issue championed personally by Twiggy Forrest and the report highlights how humid heatwaves create cascading societal impacts, not just health consequences, across different systems - from power grids, to housing to healthcare and agriculture. Indonesia is highlighted as a case study of growing risk in the Indo-Pacific and ASPI calls out the need for a focus on its potential impacts in China. Notwithstanding a bit of caution about the emphasis being placed on this risk over others, there are a lot of sensible recommendations suggesting both a mitigation and adaptation focus will needed into the future.One More ThingTennant’s One More Thing: PENGUIN COLONY. Frankie’s One More Thing: the HUGELY exciting announcement from the Korean government on its Korea-Green Transformation (K-GX) that amounts to over a trillion dollars of investment across renewable energy, electrification of transport and green industry. This can only be a good thing for Australia as a key trade partner!Luke’s One More Thing: an episode of the Shift Key podcast that looks at a potentially controversial paper from US analyst Peter Erickson that posits that attempting to limit new fossil fuel infrastructure could be a big distraction for the climate movement.And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head toletmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Pre-COP31 in Fiji and Tuvalu has just wrapped. Its premise was to provide an opportunity for the world to hear directly from the Pacific. In that spirit, we're pressing pause on the summing up this week, and bringing you a selection of the most affecting addresses made at the Pre-COP in Nadi. On to Antalya.

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for a squiz at some IEA data on global emissions in 2026This week our Bonus episode includes Frankie, Luke and Tennant having a look at some sharp analysis in Carbon Brief on the impact of the Iran War on global emissions. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon.—Nothing like the 300ish page Intergenerational Report launched earlier this week for an appetiser this week and Frankie in particular has been hanging out for this one. The treatment of climate and energy divided lots of folk (just like the rest of the report) but your intrepid hosts - or at least one of them - maintain IGRs are an important chance to push bold reform!Our main courseIt’s pet indulgence week this week as we dive into a cracker from Wolfram et al 2026 who bring coordinated CBAMs into the frame for their own version of the Bill Nordhaus Climate Club.  Is this one more convincing? The big idea: there are lots of economies doing carbon pricing cautiously. If they work together, recognise each other, and border-adjust non-members, they can raise carbon pricing ambition without losing their industries.We also refer way way back to Episode 20, Watch out, free riders! It’s the Bill’s Angels’ where we covered Climate Clubs 1.0, for your additional listening pleasure!And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head toletmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for some much needed Good News Stories on climate!This week our Bonus episode includes Frankie, Luke and Tennant look to the light to focus on some of things that have us excited and optimistic about climate action - because goodness knows, we could all use an upper! Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to get this sweet, sweet BoCo!—The Great Data Centre Debate rages on and your intrepid hosts are here trying to inuit just what has been going on at National Cabinet lately. The official text out of the recent meeting isn’t much to go on, but according to the Bluesky community that collectively lost its mind, its carveouts galore for coal and gas powered data centres! Not so says Minister Bowen, who hosed the outrage down, but where does this leave us? State owned generation will be able to seek a Commonwealth-decided exemption from the fully-offset-with-renewables piece - IF - it will not raise costs for other users. This goes beyond just NT and QLD state owned energy (hi there TAS), but where is all the actual investment going anyway? Mostly NSW and VIC. So much more to play out here, and you know the LMSU crew is along for the rideOur main courseThe Albanese Government’s long-anticipated-and-finally-arrived ‘Securing Australia’s Cleaner Fuels Industry: Consultation paper on a demand mechanism’ provided the feedstock for this episode’s main course! Low carbon liquid fuels would help bolster Australia’s fuel security and resilience, and provide a lower emissions alternative to fossil fuels, but Australia has been exporting feedstocks like canola for other countries to make LCLFs. Can Australia grow a domestic LCLF industry? What will the costs of LCLF turn out to be with more demand and supply - are learning rates a thing here? And should electrification feature more centrally in this policy response? Your intrepid hosts muse on these - and more! - in this thoughtful consultation paper.We also refer back to Episode 77, ‘Hey Big Spender, Blend A Little SAF For Me (Low Carbon, So Refined)’ where we covered the CEFC and Deloitte paper on LCLFs.One more thingsTennant’s One More Thing is: Irrelevance, redux: Spooky Funny Island Edition! Tennant reckons Widow’s Bay is worth a watch (but don't watch it alone, OR all at once!)Frankie’s One More Thing is: the just published report from UNEP ‘Limiting Overshoot: Navigating exceedance of 1.5C and pathways towards return’Luke’s One More Thing is: an article in Renew Economy from energy eminence Alan Pears on battery integrated appliances like induction cooktops and their role in the electrification nation!And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head toletmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for some AMA action flowing from our 100th episode! This week our Bonus episode includes Frankie, Luke and Tennant revisiting a question we didn’t get to for our recent 100th episode spectacular: do we think we’ve got anything wrong over the past few years of doing the pod, or are there any positions we’d revisit if we could? Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to hear Luke’s controversial response to this worthy question from Baethan Mullen. — To REZ or not to REZ, is that the question? This week your intrepid hosts recap developments in NSW and VIC as divergence between the major parties emerged on commitments to some of the Big Build projects supporting the renewables rollout. From the Vic Liberals promising to cancel VNI West (replaced with new gas?), repeal the gas substitution roadmap and appliance bans to NSW Liberals pledging to review and scale down the New England REZ, and implement urban REZ zones in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle and an outback NSW REZ - there’s a bit going on. Our main course Grab a stiff drink for a super fun happy time Summerupperers as we dive into - for the first time on this here pod - NOT a paper, but a website: after2c.com! This is the product of Georgetown University professor Dagomar Degroot and the students in the “Existential Risk” class who’ve envisioned, drawing on established science, how climate and other impacts may play out in four different futures. Starting from a ‘central scenario’ termed ‘The Great Hunger’ where emissions plateau, warming continues and the synchronised harvest failures break the global food system in a worldwide famine in 2046, we look at four possible futures - the best of which sees us come ‘Back From the Brink’ and stabilise emissions at 1.9C in 2100. Your intrepid hosts could have discussed this for waaay longer, but given we’re looking ahead to a particularly challenging summer driven by an El Nino event, we think it’s important to get real about why this matters. One more things Tennant’s One More Thing is: the irrelevant, junk food, derivative, irresistible-to-Tennant Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. Frankie’s One More Thing is: a PSA for consultation palooza and a few notable reviews having kicked off in the last week: efficiency of climate related financial disclosures! Low Carbon Liquid Fuels market measure! Hop onto it folks. Luke’s One More Thing is: a reflection on chats he’s been having with fellow Melbournians who are noticing the unseasonable warmness of the winter they’re experiencing, thinking ahead to the El Nino summer ahead and the priority placed on climate action in response to what happens. And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to letmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for some unsolicited advice to the next Victorian Energy Minister! This week our Bonus episode includes Frankie, Luke and Tennant providing some free (unsolicited) advice to whomsoever occupies the hotseat as Victorian Minister for Climate Change and Energy following this year’s state election. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to hear which hills your intrepid hosts think are are worth dying on. — This week your intrepid hosts have their eyes on Canberra for the entree and main course, and begin with a substantial speech from Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen at the National Press Club. Lots to digest in here, but the big ticket was the minister’s announcement to expand the Small Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) to include deemed incentives for 5 years’ generation until 2030 of solar PV systems up to 1 MW, up from 100 kW. This idea has been doing the rounds for years and we reckon, it’s an idea whose time has well and truly come! Also packed into the speech was some more meat-on-bones for data centre energy requirements in the forthcoming National Standards - but lots more to come on that front! Our main course Summerupperers, this is the kind of episode your intrepid hosts were born for! This week we chow down on some classic LMSU content. That’s right, we speak of the government’s just-released 2026-27 Safeguard Mechanism Review consultation paper. Adding to our collection of Safeguard-related episodes, we go long on this one! Much anticipated and promised since 2023, this review is looking at how effective the current settings are in delivering the government’s 2030 emissions target, and whether adjustments are needed, as well as what the post-2030 settings should be. In the mix: decline rates! Financial support! To ACCU or not to ACCU! Thresholds! Cost of containment! And dare we say it, a little border carbon adjustment, just adjusting carbon at the border? Let’s make BoCA a thing, people! One more things Tennant’s One More Thing is: Research showing US Permian Basin methane leakage was nearly halved from 2019 to 2023. Effort, and regulation, make a difference!  Frankie’s One More Thing is: a PSA for some soon-to-be-published research from her day job at Investor Group on Climate Change on proposed reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism! The report will be launched in Canberra early next week, so keep your eyes peeled here. Luke’s One More Thing is: a rant about some seriously shortsighted and retrograde comments made by the Federal Opposition, committing to replace the National Construction Code with a basic housing standard based on the 1988 building code, before things like energy efficiency provisions were added. Where to start on this particular head scratcher? Hard to imagine a parliamentarian arguing for higher energy bills for vulnerable households, but these are topsy turvy times we live in.  And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to letmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for a dissection of the latest cracks in the ECMC Federation This week our Bonus episode includes Frankie, Luke and Tennant dissecting the spicy, spicy goings on in the latest  Energy and Climate Ministerial Council meeting. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to hear which state dissented from the latest communique, and wild speculation on why! — Another day, another few gigawatts of data centre proposals to ponder! Your intrepid hosts continue their burgeoning obsession - alongside the nation’s polity, big business and interest groups aplenty - on the continued hype around the growth of AI, data centres and Australia’s role in all of the above. No question it is THE hot button issue of the day, the most recent proof point being the PM has given a great big speech on it! Australian Standards will be made! Copyright and content protection is high on the list! ECMC is on the case, with an eye on energy requirements for data centres! The prospective numbers around investment are super high - but are we heading for an AI bubble deflation? And how much productivity is actually going to be delivered by the bots? One thing is for sure, this won’t be the last time LMSU convenes this corner. Our main course This week our main course is a slab of statistical delight - that’s right! - we’ve looking at the latest Statistical Review of World Energy, now in it’s 75th year! Started in 1952 by bp and stewarded for many years thereafter, these days, the baton has been passed to the UK Energy Institute with assists from Ember, KPMG, Kearney and Wattage Consulting. If you’ve never ventured into this document’s tabular depths you are in for a real treat! This globally watched, massive comprehensive account details exactly where the world’s energy is coming from, with *a bunch* of fascinating stories to unpack. When you look past the limitations of data presented as Primary Energy, it is clear that big structural shifts are underway - but the story from region to region looks very different! One more things Tennant’s One More Thing is: AEMO QED Q2 2026! Battery rampage continues, Data Centre connection queue swells 67%! Always quality content, 4 times a year - hop on it people! Frankie’s One More Thing is: a plug for the latest report from The Superpower Institute, ‘How Australia can break its foreign fuel dependence, complete with some handy video explainers. Luke’s One More Thing is: a back pat for Australia! Sourced from the just-released IEA Mid-Year Electricity Update 2026, showing an intriguing data point with Australia bucking the trend for wholesale electricity price spikes caused by the fuel crisis. Our saviour? Batteries! And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to letmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for a chat on Diesel Fuel Tax Credits! This week our Bonus episode includes Alison, Frankie, Luke and Tennant breaking down what is going on with the various pushes to remove, reform - and preserve! - diesel fuel tax credits. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out. — Your intrepid welcome back super friend of the pod and sometime co-host Alison Reeve as we boot Luke out for a chat on two things LMSU’s unimpeachable governance has determined he can have no say in! First up, it’s been two laps around the sun since our deep dive into the 2024 Integrated System Plan and so into the 2026 ISP we must dive! What’s different from the last one? Well, in news that some of us energy wotchers will find comforting, this is a bit more boring than the last ISP because the central scenario is broadly pretty consistent with the last one! Data centre load hype replaces hydrogen load hype, batteries continue to eat into the role for gas but a bit more gas capacity is needed - how to finance this remains a key question! We also ponder the extent to which constraints on the ISP to reflect current government policies well into the future and reflect vastly different pictures across states is at all realistic.  Our main course This Menzel-free main course is serving Big G GOVERNANCE as we tuck into Power Dynamics: Energy Governance in Australia, authored by long time climate and energy policy knower Rob Murray-Leach for the Energy Efficiency Council and RACE for 2030 CRC. It follows previous work from the EEC, ACOSS, Australian Industry Group and Property Council of Australia and contains a cornucopia of common sense ideas. Central to the reform philosophy proposed is a better balance of centralised and decentralised elements, and coordinating institutions and resources to focus on the tasks they’re best suited to. Simples, right?   One more things Alison’s One More Thing is: the NSW Government’s current parliamentary inquiry into an EV road user charge and the potential for more constitutional challenges! Governments really need to decide who’s doing what here (lookin at you Commonwealth). Tennant’s One More Thing is: Blithering ballpark numbers for space-based sunshades (solar powersat and sailcraft versions!) to mask global warming, buying time for emissions reductions without spraying sulphur or diamond dust in the stratosphere.TL;DR is there are easier ways to solve climate change change guys. Frankie’s One More Thing is: a HUMUNGOUS shoutout to all the folks who have been working on and advocating for a national home energy rating system for the last two decades - it is finally here! Go check it out at https://www.homeenergyrating.gov.au/. Now let’s giddyup on mandatory disclosure please! Luke’s One More Thing is: Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address. Compulsory viewing for climate and energy wonks concerned with understanding the seismic shifts in Australian politics and how this impacts efforts to combat climate change. And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to letmesumup.net to support us on Patreon, procure merch, find back episodes, and leave us a voicemail!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for Germany industrial decarb tour and London Climate Action Week debrief! This week our Bonus episode includes a debrief from Luke and Tennant on their recent tour of Germany looking for inspo for Australia’s industrial decarbonisation journey plus extra side BoCo on BoCo reportage of the goings on at London Climate Action Week, including the launch of #ElectrifyNow global campaign! Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out. -- In an unprecedented move of late your intrepid hosts temporarily abandon Energy Crisis Corner (we’ll be back fo sho) for a look at China’s just latest and just-published Five Year Plan! On first review of the climate and energy parts, it looks to be weak on carbon and large scale renewables targets but respected Respected China Energy Watchers also argue it’s incredibly strong on the growth of storage and flexibility, and electrification? Already miles ahead of the global ambition in the new #ElectrifyNow campaign for 35% of final energy demand by 2035 - China reckons they’ll get there by 2030 at a steady cruise! Our main course The time has come! Muskovic’s Methane Musings takes to the main stage - as it was always destined to! - and we dive into the Climate Change Authority’s latest consultation paper, ‘Fossil methane: A near-term abatement opportunity’. The good folk at the CCA are being pragmatic and laying out the facts when it comes to sources of methane in Australia, but they’re zeroing in on near term abatement opportunities in the coal and gas sectors, because there’s a lot we can do! Tune in for the opening debate on GWP20 vs GWP100, why measurement and reporting could be better and what kinds of technology and policies could be looked at federally (lookin at you Safeguard) and at the state level. Consultation closes on 7 August so hop on it folks! One more things Tennant’s One More Thing is: Orica reaching final investment decision on the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, with a lil’ help from the Hydrogen Headstart program! Frankie’s One More Thing is: a shoutout to Summerupperer Rowan Moorey from Springmount Advisory for alerting us to some cool stats from the IEA showing the significance of energy efficiency compared to electrification, renewables and nuclear on energy and cost savings globally in response to the global fuel crisis. Efficiency for the win! Luke’s One More Thing is: a shout out for the global electrification campaign ElectrifyNow.world launched at London Climate Action Week during a record-breaking heatwave. TL;DR is London isn’t set up for extreme heat and some innovative solutions (cushions stuffed in windows, anyone?) were being deployed across the city to keep folks comfortable. *cough* Adaptation *cough* And that’s it for now, Summerupperers. There is now a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to letmesumup.net