Despite accounting for nearly half of global final energy consumption and 37% of energy-related emissions, heat is frequently overlooked in conversations around decarbonisation, mainly due to the complexity of the problem. As with the power sector, electrification is often touted as the solution – but is it that simple?

Join us as we tackle the question: is electrification really the answer to decarbonising heat?

This episode features insights from Blaine Collison, executive director at the Renewable Thermal Collaborative and former director of the Green Power Partnership at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Chris Bataille, adjunct research fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, Cecilia Springer, principal associate at Synapse Energy Economics, and Neil Harrison, co-founder and director at Reheat.

⁠Jackie Park⁠, editor-in-chief of GlobalData's energy titles, is the host and producer of this episode of Energy Technology: Industry Insights.

Find more news and strategic insights into all things energy on ⁠Power Technology⁠, ⁠Offshore Technology⁠ and ⁠Mining Technology⁠, all free to access. For quick daily updates, make sure to subscribe to our ⁠newsletters⁠.

(00:00) Intro

(03:32) Diving into electric technologies

(5:50) Where electrification works – and where it doesn’t

(7:45) Market and policy: what’s needed

(13:09) Outlook

Soon after the start of Trump’s second term, the pitfalls of the US’ reliance on China’s rare earths and other critical minerals were laid bare. The trade war between the two countries last year further underscored the precarity of the US’ position, when China, where roughly 70% of global rare earths are mined and around 90% is processed, restricted the US’ access to its supply and related technologies.

While tensions have since died down, Trump’s efforts to secure domestic supply chains have only multiplied. His two main strategic levers? Onshoring and friendshoring.

In this episode, we discuss how effective these strategies have been in countering China’s mineral dominance, with insights from the US Geological Survey’s mineral resources program coordinator Colin Williams, Graphite One’s senior vice president of mining Mike Schaffner and GlobalData senior mining analyst Gayathri Siripurapu.

Candiece Cyrus is the host of this episode and editor of GlobalData's mining titles.

Jackie Park is the producer of this episode.

Find more news and strategic insights into all things energy on Mining Technology, Offshore Technology and Power Technology , all free to access. For quick daily updates, make sure to subscribe to our newsletters.

(0:00) Intro

(1:19) Trump’s onshoring strategy

(1:52) Graphite One on permitting reforms

(2:58) Expanding federal ownership of domestic projects

(3:57) USGS on processing and refining

(5:53) Trump’s friendshoring strategy

(7:34) Analysis of friendshoring impact

(9:07) Onshoring vs friendshoring

Autonomous robotics offer an attractive solution to oil and gas operators navigating the four Ds, which define the bulk of the sector’s roles: dull, distant, dirty and dangerous. Robots can remove humans from risky situations, and provide high level insight in the most remote environments, but deployment isn’t plain sailing.

Join us to discuss one adopter’s experience and the innovation behind it, as we zoom in on the gas-sensing, microphone-wielding quadruped Roberta, and its deployment at the Northern Lights facility.

This episode features insights from Equinor’s head of asset autonomy Magnus Rørvik Brandtzæg, alongside ANYbotics’ senior director of sales and key accounts Mukesh Mukundun and department head of ANYmal X Joël Schlienger. Their expertise is supported by GlobalData analyst and author of a recent robotics report, Sathwika Addela.

Eve Thomas is the host of this podcast and associate editor of GlobalData's oil and gas titles.

Find more news and strategic insights into all things energy on Power Technology, Offshore Technology and Mining Technology, all free to access. For quick daily updates, make sure to subscribe to our newsletters.

(00:00) Intro

(00:30) Global robotics market

(01:06) Leading robotics manufacturers and adopters

(02:48) Technologies in autonomous robots

(03:06) Roles robots will take over

(03:48) The evolution of autonomy in robotics

(05:21) Roberta the robotic ‘dog’

(05:40) Roberta at Northern Lights

(06:38) Equinor’s work with ANYbotics

(07:24) The technologies in ANYbotics’ robots

(08:37) Why autonomy matters in O&G

(09:56) What is next for autonomy in robotics

(13:18) Concluding thoughts on future demand

(14:30) Outro

Links to resources from this episode:

• GlobalData's Strategic Intelligence: Robotics in Oil and Gas Report
• Equinor's autonomous robotics: inspection 'dogs' and record-holding subsea drones
• GlobalData energy intelligence: datasets and analysis