Upgrading the world’s biggest machine: The Grid Series

Zero: The Climate Race

Bloomberg

Technology, Business, Science

4.7 • 219 Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2024

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Even before we turn on a light switch or plug an appliance into an electric outlet, the atoms that power our daily life have traveled a long journey across the grid to reach our homes. And to meet the demands of a net zero future, that grid will need an upgrade. BloombergNEF analysis estimates that the world will need to nearly double its grid network to 111 million kilometers– a distance almost three quarters the way to the sun– by 2050. How will we get there? Former BNEF grid expert Sanjeet Sanghera, who is now working on strategic futures at the National Grid, tells Akshat Rathi about the challenges and opportunities presented by the enormous transformation of the world’s biggest machine.

Explore further:

Past episode with Stacey Abrams on how Americans can switch to electric heating and appliances in their homes
Past episode with Jenny Chase of BNEF on how the world can triple renewables by 2030.
Past episode with MIT’s Priya Donti on how AI’s climate change applications may include grid optimization
Past episode with Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen on the recovery and growth of the wind industry

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Mythili Rao. Special thanks this week to Siobhan Wagner and Matthew Griffin. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Zero. I am Akshadrati. This week, the world's biggest machine.
0:17.6	I often think as a reporter that, you know, when you think about fossil fuels, people kind of know what coal looks like, what oil looks like, you know, what gas burns like.
0:28.7	But electricity is something that people don't have a very intuitive grasp on.
0:34.9	Yes, it comes out of a plug, and yes, it powers a lot of our lives now.
0:39.4	But how does it move? How do you make it move? How do you manage its movement? It is a
0:46.5	mysterious form of energy even today, even though we've been using it at scale for 100 plus years.
0:55.7	Should I respond to that?
0:56.7	Just respond, yeah.
0:58.0	I'm just curious.
0:58.6	That might be the intro, actually.
1:00.0	Yeah, yeah.
1:00.5	I was moved.
1:03.6	That was poetic.
1:05.5	I think you're exactly right.
1:07.1	And this part of what drew me to this sector to begin with,
1:09.8	it's everywhere all at once
1:11.3	and not to be seen at the same time. Now, I don't believe in God. And I'm trying to understand
1:19.0	why I launched into a sermon with this week's guest. I think it's because I'm obsessed with
1:24.4	electricity these days in all its mysterious beauty.
1:29.3	And for the next three episodes, we are going to bring you conversations about the machine
1:33.9	that brings you electricity.
1:36.6	The world's biggest machine, the grid.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bloomberg, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Bloomberg and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.