Let Me Sum Up

Summerupperers, we’ve made it! 100 episodes in and your intrepid hosts are still banging on about the latest developments and papers in climate and energy, because, THERE REALLY IS TOO MUCH.

This week the LMSU crew marked the centenary occasion by recording this episode together - in real life! - on Bidjigal and Gadigal country, where we fielded questions and provocations from you, our amazing community of listeners.

A huge shout out and thanks to Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Clare McLaughlin, Erwin Jackson, Julian Soo, Georgina Woods, Anna Hancock, Beth Richards, Alison Reeve, Carlos Flores, Anna Skarbek, Barry Sterland, Tom Quinn and the ghost of Queen Elizabeth II for calling in with your questions and well wishes!  

Over 100 episodes and four and a bit years, one of the best parts of doing LMSU has been hearing from all of you. Emails, shout outs on socials or encounters in the wild - hearing you've enjoyed the pod or find it useful doing the important work you do to advance climate action is why we're still in your ears, every fortnight, summing up the latest developments in climate and energy.

And a very special thanks to our Super Sumerupperers who support us on Patreon. Without you, we absolutely would not be here! Your continued support means we can work with the fabulous Mark Spencer, who edits the pod, thereby saving our collective sanity and relative work life balances.

If you listen to us on the regular, consider joining our Patreon and getting access to special subscriber only bonus episodes.This week, our bonus episode involves unlocking the archive and airing Episode 0 - our very first pilot episode! Walk, don’t run, over to 

letmesumup.net

for all your LMSU needs.

Send us a voicemail to mark Let Me Sum Up’s upcoming 100th Episode!

Your friendly neighbourhood climate and energy podcast of record is about to clock up its 100th episode! Global VP for Marketing and Extortion kindly requests Summeruppers to send us a voicemail with your questions for LMSU’s intrepid hosts or favourite anecdotes from listening to the pod. All contributions welcome!

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In Episode XII of Global Energy Crisis Corner the current fuel crisis might have slipped off the radar of everyday Australians because, well, it’s all been Very Much Under Control And Nothing To See Here Except Higher Than Pre-Crisis Domestic Fuel Reserves. That doesn’t stop your tired, but resilient-in-our-nerdery intrepid hosts from another serving of what-is-actually-going-on-out-there chat! The latest IEA Oil Market Report makes it clear things are still VERY BAD but the impacts have been softened by countries drawing down on their domestic reserves - particularly China. But how much longer can this last? And how is this being experienced outside rich countries like Australia that can afford to pay extra to bolster imports? This article in the Economist does a good job outlining the impacts across Asia. Buckle up for Episode XIII folks.

Our main course

Your intrepid hosts dive out of the fire and into the frying pan to dissect ‘Power Flexible AI Factories: A UK-First Demonsration of Grid-Responsive AI Infrastructure’, a paper from Chris Williams et al and supported by Emerald AI, Electric Power Research Institute, the UK’s National Grid and Nebius. So what does BIG AI think the solution is to managing the growth of power-hungry data centres across the globe? 

Unsurprisingly this paper is optimistic on the potential for data centres to operate in practice as a form of demand response, to smooth peak demand around significant events (tea kettle breaks for UEFA matches, anyone?) and reduce power consumption by up to 40%. The trial documented in the paper provides some real cause for optimism and throws out some suggestions for reform, but bigger trials and key questions - like who pays for the flex? And how about that water consumption? - still need grappling with. 

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: a techno-optimist double delight! CATL deal for 60 GWh sodium-ion batteries for grid storage shows sodium is here and lithium constraints aren’t going to be a problem AND Fervo IPO - geothermal startup raises US$1.89b and market values it at $10b+ - they will have the money to get their first 500MW plant up and running this year (Cape Station, Utah).

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a sneaky peak into LMSU’s post Budget analysis to alert folks to a tantalising reference to the Government’s work on a ‘market measure’ to drive demand for new Australian LCLF production (page 12 of BP1 to be precise). Watch this space!

Luke’s One More Thing is: some electrification optimism percolating around the country - from the $40m funding in the Budget to help electrify Australia Post’s operations to Incat in Tasmania taking their ferries all electric!

LMSU also heartily commends to Summerupperers the book ‘Power, Prosperity and Planet: Climate and Energy Policy For All’ from friend of the pod, Thom Woodroofe!

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!

Send us a voicemail to mark Let Me Sum Up’s upcoming 100th Episode!

Your friendly neighbourhood climate and energy podcast of record is about to clock up its 100th episode! And our Global VP for Marketing and Extortion kindly requests Summeruppers to send us a voicemail with your questions for LMSU’s intrepid hosts or favourite anecdotes from listening to the pod. All contributions welcome!

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for Pre-Budget Palooza or Grab our Sector Plan Odyssey Six Pack on its own!

This week our Bonus episode includes wild and semi-informed speculation on what to expect for climate and energy in this year’s Federal Budget. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out.

And if all you really wanted from LMSU’s BoCo bonanza of late was our six pack of sector plan coverage, you can grab that on its own too. 

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In a trend that shows no sign of abating, your intrepid hosts reconvene Global Energy Crisis Corner because, it’s been another two weeks and There Is Too Much. Since our last episode global oil prices are back up but local fuel prices are down. Que pasa? Government credit on import deals is subsidising fuel? Lag to global price spikes? Panic hoarding largely passed? A little bit of everything we reckon. So where does this leave us? The crisis doesn’t look like it'll be done anytime soon, time to explore efficiencies and longer term pivots to better storage and electrification we reckon!  

Our main course

Your intrepid hosts think it’s not a bad time for countries to be discussing the transition away from fossil fuels, so cue a global summit we prepared earlier! Last week the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels was held in Santa Marta, Colombia. We unpack where the conference came from (a few COPs in the making!), who was there (lots of constituencies, about half of COP parties pushing for stronger action to phase out fossils), who was not there (the other half of COP countries less keen on faster action, a bunch of business) and what happened! We dive into the Santa Marta Action Repertoire (SMART) Summary, the academic dialogue of the conference, edited and overseen by Friedrich J. Bohn, Jesse Burton, Andrea Cardoso, Frank Jotzo, Sissi Knispel de Acosta, Kjell Kühne, Pao-Yu Oei, Annette Zou. From overcoming economic dependence, to transforming supply and demand and advancing international cooperation and climate diplomacy, ideas abound and some spicy disagreement between your hosts emerges!

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: the IMO Net-Zero Framework is back under discussion! The outcome was continued technical refinement work, with adoption decision not due to be re-opened til October 2026.

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a hasty convening of Muskovic’s Methane Musings to plug the just-published IEA Global Methane Tracker 2026. What does it say? Frankie’s not sure but Tennant suggests there are claims Australia’s methane fugitives are *way* higher than reported.

Luke’s One More Thing is: some reportage on the recent high level dialogue hosted by the IEA in Paris with Turkiye and Australia, at which some encouraging comments were made from Turkiye’s COP31 President Kurum on support for electrification and energy sovereignty… NOW?

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!

Grab your limited edition ‘Energy Sovereignty Now!’ t-shirts!

There is now an insufficiency of energy sufficiency AND sovereignty tees in the world, but don’t worry, the LMSU merch store has got you covered! Promises made, promises kept folks - grab your limited edition t-shirt right here.

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon so you too can SafeGuarder!

This week our Bonus episode unpacks the second year of data from the reformed Safeguard Mechanism with a side serve of national accounts figures. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out.

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Your intrepid hosts reconvene Global Energy Crisis Corner because, There Is Too Much. Since our last episode we’ve seen the PM’s performative tour de force to short up energy contracts in the region, the launch of a mass media campaign gently suggesting we Keep Calm and Take Public Transport Where You Can, one of two Australian fuel refineries ON FIRE, the Great Gas Tax Debate, the blink-and-you-miss-it-open-and-close-of-the-Strait-of-Hormuz, aaand some alarming reporting revealing the inner workings of the Trump administration’s decision to start a war with Iran. Or in other words, just a day ending in Y for 2026!

Our main course

This week, we read a paper from two political science researchers, Jared J Finnegan and Jonas Meckling, ‘Fighting the Future: Short Term Investors and Business Opposition to Climate Policy in which they’ scour US corporate data for answers to why some businesses oppose regulatory climate policies more frequently or intensely than others. Their focus? Not differences in company emissions intensity, already well studied, but differences in time horizon. Their conclusion? Businesses with more pressure to deliver short term results are more likely to more actively oppose climate policy. Some of this is a bit Captain Obvious, but there are a couple of gems in here, even if there’s a worrying reliance on US political donations data! Extra props must be given for the X-Files Movie reference in the title!

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: the IEA Oil Market Report for April 2026 - free! Exciting! Full of uncertainty! 

Frankie’s One More Thing is: a reconvening of Muskovic’s Methane Musings featuring the currently open DCCEEW consultation on the 2026 National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Scheme Updates, including updates to accounting for fugitive methane emissions from coal and gas mining!

Luke’s One More Thing is: two shout outs! One for sometime co-host and friend of the pod, Alison Reeve, for the paper recommendation this week, plus one for another friend of the pod, Jan Rosenow, who continues to provide on-point analysis throughout the current, and previous, crises!

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!

Grab your limited edition ‘Energy Sovereignty Now!’ t-shirts!

There is now an insufficiency of energy sufficiency AND sovereignty tees in the world, but don’t worry, the LMSU merch store has got you covered! Promises made, promises kept folks - grab your limited edition t-shirt right here.

Subscribe to LMSU’s Patreon for the latest episode of My Little GSOO™

This week Tennant and Frankie give Luke the slip as we unpack AEMO’s 2026 Gas Statement of Opportunities. Electrification at pace? You betcha! Gas import terminals? Some still like ‘em! Global fuel crisis? So far unaccounted for, but we can’t say the same for one c-word. Run, don’t walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out.

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Wouldn’t you know, the world is *still* cray cray, but extant so let’s take that win! The PM is one national address into this crisis and throw in the National Cabinet’s latest four point plan (the National Fuel Security Plan) and some COVID-style PTSD is kicking in! But not to worry folks, we are at Level Two and the message is very much Don’t Panic, Take The Train Or Work From Home If You Can. We reckon this is a fascinating exercise in laying down markers for messaging that will be ramped up, and we’ll continue to speculate over some of the woolier bits in Levels 3 and 4. WATCH THIS SPACE.

Our main course

There’s no shortage of ideas abounding at the moment on how exactly not to waste the current fuel crisis, but your intrepid hosts landed upon the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ latest paper, ‘The perfect storm to boost energy security: How Australia can reduce its oil exposure in the wake of the Iran conflict.’ Brought to us by Kevin Morrison and Amandine Denis-Ryan, the crew at IEEFA do a splendid job of laying out the history and context around Australia’s current predicament of much more marginal reserves than our IEA counterparts and while they’re at it, serve up a menu of sensible solutions on the supply and demand side, to ensure we don’t find ourselves in this particular pickle again. Bilateral crisis supply agreements? We’re seeing some signs of that! Electrification and energy efficiency? That sounds like a thing we’re about!

One more things

Tennant’s One More Thing is: true nerd appreciation for the just launched Artemis II! A cool, technically stupendous and peaceful adventure into space! Fun fact: Apollo-era NASA took funding peaking at about 4.6% of US GDP to land men on the moon. Artemis-era NASA is rebooting this while getting about 0.1% of US GDP

Frankie’s One More Thing is: A plug for the NSW Net Zero Commission's advice to the NSW Government intended to help inform the work underway for the new NSW Net Zero Plan to 2025, due to be released in mid-2026. They’re big on electrification and methane, and Frankie is, unsurprisingly, a fan.

Luke’s One More Thing is: the just released movie of The Magic Faraway Tree. Luke had some trepidation noting Enid Blyton’s outsized impact on his childhood reading, but the ultimate verdict was 3 out of 5 stars - from Menzel and his younguns!

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!