Inside Energy

Welcome to 2050. AI manages your solar panels, heat pump, and EV, making thousands of daily decisions to slash your bills. In this episode, Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley stares deep into Britain's energy future, and explains how it's arriving faster than 2013 projections dared imagine. We also look beyond the UK. Climate futurist Michael Barnard explains the rise of ‘crocodile economics’, where GDP rises while emissions fall. Discover how the Netherlands captures CO2 for greenhouse farming, how Pakistan installed 17GW of solar in one year using YouTube tutorials and why Africa's transformation comes next. From coal to AI-powered grids, Britain's green revolution accelerates. The future isn't coming - it's here.

By 2030, the UK government aims to achieve 95% clean energy, driven by a switch to wind, solar, hydro, battery storage and EVs. To make it happen, we as consumers need to be flexible with our energy consumption. But what does that look like? Ofgem’s Marzia Zafar, Ashley Malster and Nina Klein talk about the road to Clean Power 2030, the role of automation, and how consumer choice, convenience and cost are about to matter more than any time in the past 300 years. Meanwhile, Tom Luff from innovation experts, Energy Systems Catapult, explains what the data tells us about current consumer behaviour and how it can shape the energy products and services of the future. 

The universe's most abundant element, Hydrogen has long promised to be the energy of the future. Has its moment finally arrived? Discover why green hydrogen is dividing experts. While critics call it "70% inefficient," pioneers like Lhyfe are building commercial plants in Tyneside that produce 6.5 tonnes daily. Ofgem's Hilary Hill, Lhyfe’s Boris Davis, and energy author Chris Goodall reveal hydrogen's true potential: not heating homes, but decarbonising heavy industry. With 10GW targeted by 2030, could hydrogen finally stop being tomorrow's fuel and become today's solution? 

Britain's energy system is becoming intelligent. Discover how smart meters are unlocking flexibility and transforming consumers into "prosumers" who sell energy back to the grid and earn money. Ofgem's Liam Bennett and award-winning former retail energy chief Monica Collings OBE reveal the reality behind the buzz. 34 million smart meters have already been installed, but that’s well under the government's target of 80% of households by 2025. So where are we heading? Digital infrastructure monitoring assets in real-time, algorithms making split-second decisions, and the extraordinary truth that only 10% consumer participation can transform an entire market. Smart isn't science fiction—it's rewiring Britain's energy future right now.

Early sceptics declared wind and solar impossible, but today's grid runs on 60% renewables. So in this episode, we track Britain's move towards renewable energy.We discover the S-curve of clean energy adoption: the slow beginnings plagued by doubt, then explosive growth driven by feed-in tariffs, which rewarded early adopters, and finally, the accelerating race toward net zero.Energy researcher Chris Goodall, Ofgem's Sophie Thorpe and Chair Mark McAllister reveal how battery storage, offshore wind and rooftop solar are transforming Britain's energy landscape—and why the UK's control over half the North Sea could power all of Europe.

Tell Sid he started a revolution. The 1986 privatisation of British Gas kicked off a transformation of Britain's energy landscape, from state monopoly to competitive marketplace. With it, a need for strong regulation. Ofgem's Jenny Boothe and Akshay Kaul reveal the regulator’s story from its inception 25 years ago. Meanwhile, 2024 was Earth's hottest year, and carbon dioxide concentrations are rising faster than ever. Met Office scientist Dr Emily Wallace delivers stark truths on the climate crisis and how the energy industry needs to lead the way.Clare Nasir is joined in this episode by Akshay Kaul, Director General for Infrastructure, OfgemJenny Boothe, Director of MHHS, OfgemDr Emily Wallace, Fellow in Weather and Climate Extremes, the Met OfficeMark McAllister, Chair, Ofgem

In this episode, the pivotal decisions and explosive moments that shaped our energy system in the 20th Century. Built in recession, battle-tested in war, we learn about the foundation of the National Grid and how it came to provide energy to homes and businesses across Britain. We also hear how the OPEC Crisis of the mid-1970s caused oil prices to quadruple overnight and led to decisions to diversify energy production to reduce vulnerability. But with bills skyrocketing during the Russia-Ukraine war, have lessons been learned? And were these past energy shocks a precursor to today's green transition?Clare Nasir is joined in this episode by Akshay Kaul, Director General for Infrastructure, OfgemDr Jonathan Aylen, Visiting Senior Researcher, Manchester Institute of Innovation ResearchProfessor Ian Wereley, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton UniversityProfessor Ian Fells, former UK government energy advisor

Journey through Britain's remarkable energy transition, from depleting woodlands for fuel in the 16th Century, to becoming an industrial superpower in the 19th and 20th Centuries.With the help of three leading experts, this first episode of Inside Energy tells the interconnected tales of innovation, conflict and transformation that shaped modern Britain. How coal fueled the British Empire, how oil helped to transform the Navy in the First World War, and how natural gas revolutionised how we heat our homes.We also hear from Ofgem Chair, Mark McAllister, on the role the regulator plays in helping people understand the energy system as it undergoes its biggest transition yet.Clare Nasir is also joined in this episode by Dr Ben Curtis, Postdoctoral Research Officer at Swansea UniversityProfessor Ian Wereley, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton UniversityProfessor Russell Thomas, Visiting Professor, University of Strathclyde