Episodes
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Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for Bonus Bonn bons!
This week our Bonus episode has Frankie interrogating Luke and Tennant for some reportage of all the goings on at the Bonn intersessional talks. Overnight cross country German roadtrips! Electrification! Action agenda! Trade talk snafus! Run, donât walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon for this especially sweet Boo!
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In what will most-definitely-absolutely-hunge-percent be the last episode of Global Energy Crisis Corner because: We Have A Deal! Or do we? At the time of recording a ceremonial signing was in the works for Zurich on Friday so YOU Summerupperers know better than us whether Trump is leaning in on the art in this deal. Will the Strait of Hormuz be open by the time this episode drops? No tolls - just fees!
Our main course
Your intrepid hosts take a closer look at the Australian Governmentâs Domestic Gas Reservation Scheme: draft Design Framework, currently out for consultation. We track back over how exactly we got here, key design elements of the scheme and what remains to fleshed out and we reckon all this means for gas users, gas producers and that little thing called the energy transition.
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: a recommendation almost certainly made in the delirium of not enough sleep: anyone who hasnât yet seen John Wooâs Hard Boiled should know T rates this a hard recommend.*
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a reconstitution of Muskovicâs Methane Musings (complete with jingle) to telegraph our very own Climate Change Authority has released a consultation paper on abatement opportunities for fossil methane! Hop on it folks.
Lukeâs One More Thing is: some free BoCo from Michael Liebreichâs recent visit to Australia, including a keynote at the Energy Efficiency Councilâs recent National Conference. Hereâs the keynote, fireside Q&A and appearance at the National Press Club.
And in light or recent announcements out of Bonn, LMSU also gives a massive shout out to Australiaâs Team Electrification, led by the inimitable Anna Freeman, whoâs been herding cats on the global electrification pledge launched by Turkiye in Bonn!
And thatâs 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!
*sort of.
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Summerupperers, weâve 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, donât run, over to
letmesumup.net
for all your LMSU needs.
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Episodes manquant?
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Send us a voicemail to mark Let Me Sum Upâs 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 LMSUâs 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, itâs all been Very Much Under Control And Nothing To See Here Except Higher Than Pre-Crisis Domestic Fuel Reserves. That doesnât 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 âPower Flexible AI Factories: A UK-First Demonsration of Grid-Responsive AI Infrastructureâ, a paper from Chris Williams et al and supported by Emerald AI, Electric Power Research Institute, the UKâs 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
Tennantâs 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 arenât 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).
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a sneaky peak into LMSUâs post Budget analysis to alert folks to a tantalising reference to the Governmentâs work on a âmarket measureâ to drive demand for new Australian LCLF production (page 12 of BP1 to be precise). Watch this space!
Lukeâs One More Thing is: some electrification optimism percolating around the country - from the $40m funding in the Budget to help electrify Australia Postâs operations to Incat in Tasmania taking their ferries all electric!
LMSU also heartily commends to Summerupperers the book âPower, Prosperity and Planet: Climate and Energy Policy For Allâ from friend of the pod, Thom Woodroofe!
And thatâs 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!
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Send us a voicemail to mark Let Me Sum Upâs 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 LMSUâs intrepid hosts or favourite anecdotes from listening to the pod. All contributions welcome!
Subscribe to LMSUâs 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 yearâs Federal Budget. Run, donât walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out.
And if all you really wanted from LMSUâs 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, itâs 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 doesnât 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 itâs 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 KĂźhne, 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
Tennantâs 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.
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a hasty convening of Muskovicâs Methane Musings to plug the just-published IEA Global Methane Tracker 2026. What does it say? Frankieâs not sure but Tennant suggests there are claims Australiaâs methane fugitives are *way* higher than reported.
Lukeâs 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 Turkiyeâs COP31 President Kurum on support for electrification and energy sovereignty⌠NOW?
And thatâs 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!
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Grab your limited edition âEnergy Sovereignty Now!â t-shirts!
There is now an insufficiency of energy sufficiency AND sovereignty tees in the world, but donât worry, the LMSU merch store has got you covered! Promises made, promises kept folks - grab your limited edition t-shirt right here.
Subscribe to LMSUâs 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, donât 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 weâve seen the PMâs 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 administrationâs 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, âFighting the Future: Short Term Investors and Business Opposition to Climate Policy in which theyâ 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 thereâs 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
Tennantâs One More Thing is: the IEA Oil Market Report for April 2026 - free! Exciting! Full of uncertainty!
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a reconvening of Muskovicâs 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!
Lukeâs 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 thatâs 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!
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Grab your limited edition âEnergy Sovereignty Now!â t-shirts!
There is now an insufficiency of energy sufficiency AND sovereignty tees in the world, but donât worry, the LMSU merch store has got you covered! Promises made, promises kept folks - grab your limited edition t-shirt right here.
Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for the latest episode of My Little GSOOâ˘
This week Tennant and Frankie give Luke the slip as we unpack AEMOâs 2026 Gas Statement of Opportunities. Electrification at pace? You betcha! Gas import terminals? Some still like âem! Global fuel crisis? So far unaccounted for, but we canât say the same for one c-word. Run, donât walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to check it out.
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Wouldnât you know, the world is *still* cray cray, but extant so letâs take that win! The PM is one national address into this crisis and throw in the National Cabinetâs 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 Donât 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 weâll continue to speculate over some of the woolier bits in Levels 3 and 4. WATCH THIS SPACE.
Our main course
Thereâs 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 Analysisâ latest paper, âThe perfect storm to boost energy security: How Australia can reduce its oil exposure in the wake of the Iran conflict.â 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 Australiaâs current predicament of much more marginal reserves than our IEA counterparts and while theyâre at it, serve up a menu of sensible solutions on the supply and demand side, to ensure we donât find ourselves in this particular pickle again. Bilateral crisis supply agreements? Weâre seeing some signs of that! Electrification and energy efficiency? That sounds like a thing weâre about!
One more things
Tennantâs 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
Frankieâs 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. Theyâre big on electrification and methane, and Frankie is, unsurprisingly, a fan.
Lukeâs One More Thing is: the just released movie of The Magic Faraway Tree. Luke had some trepidation noting Enid Blytonâs outsized impact on his childhood reading, but the ultimate verdict was 3 out of 5 stars - from Menzel and his younguns!
And thatâs 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!
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Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for the political commentary BoCo pod you didnât know you needed in your life!
Politics junkies? Guilty as charged! Nothing was going to keep your intrepid hosts from grabbing the popcorn and settling in to watch the SA election this past weekend. Run, donât walk, over to www.letmesumup.net and subscribe to our Patreon to hear what we make of the Malinauskas empire and an orange wave.
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The world is still cray cray and your intrepid hosts are here to bear witness to what Fatih Birol has called a fuel crisis worse in its impact than the two 70s oil crises combined. CRIKEY was that a wake-up call for us Aussies who hadnât yet seen electricity or gas prices spike, but started using public transport and buying more EVs as fuel prices hit $3/L. Where to next you ask? Who knows what batshit crazy moves the orange man will make, but the more uncertainty over where its all going creates delay in supply chains readjusting to the new reality. And could we finally see the imposition of a gas export tax that actually collects revenue? WILD TIMES.
Our main course
While Dr Birol - longtime IEA maestro - was on Australian shores, he was spruiking their hot-off-the-press report âSheltering from Oil Shocks: measures to reduce impacts on households and businessesâ which promotes a menu of ten options to cut oil consumption through demand side measures. Whatâs on the IEA wishlist? Public transport! Carpooling! Slowing down on highways! More efficient truck driving! Donât fly for work! Change to electric cooking! And some doozies that maybe wonât go down well in some quarters (yep, the olâ WORK FROM HOME idea). This is a striking bit of comms from the IEA. Absolutely right to focus on the here and now, but the longer term actions like ramping up EVs, electrification and reducing reliance on fossil fuels altogether appeared in a modest epilogue. It had your intrepid hosts wondering if the US threat to the IEA to drop that crazy net zero stuff is having an impact. Time will most surely tell!
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: a Fraunhofer Institute study of data from 1 million European cars, indicating PHEVs use 3x the fuel they are estimated to using regulatory tests. The reasons: drivers donât plug them in that much; and the cars tend to run their fossil engines during electric mode more often than regulators assumed.
Frankieâs One More Thing is: the formal establishment of Muskovicâs Methane Musings with the exciting development that NSW EPA have just announced they WILL IN FACT regulate methane emissions from coal mining.
Lukeâs One More Thing is: a shameless plug for the Energy Efficiency Councilâs annual conference, coming up in Sydney on May 27-28 at which some guy who apparently does another energy podcast, (Michael Liebreich?) will in fact appear in all three dimensions and corporeal form in Sydney at this conference. If youâve heard of him, I guess you better go check it out.
And thatâs 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!
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Another regional conflict precipitating another energy security crisis has your intrepid hosts feeling some deja vu as we find ourselves in an increasingly familiar setting as we contemplate the opportunities and challenges presented in the current US-Israel war on Iran. Beyond the horrific human toll of the Trump administrationâs latest incoherent, all-tactics-no-strategy foray into the Middle East, there are some complex consequences to world energy markets playing out and itâs too soon to tell where this all goes from here. Global oil prices? Spiking! And likely to lead to airfare cost increases. Gas prices? Also spiking! But not in Australia, say whaaat? Like we said, âItâs Complicatedâ.
Our main course
We stick solidly ON THEME this week with âFossil energy minimum viable scale: unseen infrastructural threats to safety and decarbonization may arise as fossil energy systems are phased outâ from Joshua Lappen and Emily Grubert, published recently in Science. This compact paper packs a punch and has a couple of big ideas to engage with. One is that energy transition types have been want to assume legacy fossil fuel infrastructure will carry on at the required capacity over the required timeframes to see replacement renewables in place. NOT SO say our authors, who contend that minimum viable scales for operation are not well understood and are certainly not being factored into planning for the transition, when it comes to physical, financial and managerial constraints. Their advice? DO better modelling, planning and managing of these issues at an asset level. Elements of this paper felt super familiar (hello gas distribution network death spiral) whole others worrying novel (oh hi there fuel-refinery-that-wonât-operate-under-65%-capacity). Liked the provocations here we did!
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: Cloud Carrierâs proposal to power a new data centre in NSW entirely by natural gas. Lots of debates sure to come!
Frankieâs One More Thing is: continued excitement at all things methane abatement focused, from the CCAâs stated priority to look at this in 2026 to the NSW EPAâs consultation on measures it may implement to reduce or destroy fugitive methane emissions from coal mining.
Lukeâs One More Thing is: listener voicemail from none other than Baethan Mullen, CEO of the Superpower Institute, who left us a note with his reaction to our reaction to their recent paper on pricing carbon pollution. Thanks TSI for keeping us busy reading your excellent work!
And thatâs 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!
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Itâs 2026 and weâre back, baby! Clearly not much has been happening in the world since we left you appreciating the one liners of dreamy cult classic The Princess Bride, so this weâll keep brief. HA!
Your intrepid hosts cast our sights beyond the binfire of domestic politics for a moment to the latest international institution to draw the ire of the Trump administration - this week featuring the International Energy Agency! The IEAâs recent biennial ministerial gathering in Paris last week saw the US demand climate be dropped as a priority â and specifically that net zero scenarios be dropped from their projections â Or Else! In this case, Or Else means a US withdrawal along with their dollars. Will the IEA succumb to these demands? Your intrepid hosts think unlikely, but Australia and other countries will need to stand firm and/or pick up more of the tab.
Our main course
The folks at The Superpower Institute must have known the LMSU crew leapt into 2026 ravenous for climate content and oh boy, did they deliver. Their recent paper, âThe Case For Pricing Pollution,â authored by 2025 Wonky Award winner Reuben Finighan and Ingrid Burford packs not one BUT TWO big ideas for your intrepid hosts to digest. A âPolluter Pays Levyâ would see a price on carbon applied to fossil fuel production/supply with price eventually pegged to the EU ETS, combined with a âFair Share Levyâ, a two-way cashflow tax of 40% on oil and gas (but mostly gas) producers, replacing the current and not effective Petroleum Resource Rent Tax. In other words: don your meat dress, crank One Direction, and tax rents and carbon while planking. YOLO (again)!
Why has TSI âgone thereâ? we can hear you gentle listeners ask. We are not on track to meet our net zero commitments, structural budget deficits demanding spending restraint in the face of growing costs attached to worthy social supports, and weak productivity suggests the need for a more efficient way to price carbon and raise revenue ($35.6 Bn a year out to 2050 is big dollars). This report is a bold provocation, aiming to stimulate discussion ahead of the 2026/27 Safeguard Review to suggest itâs time to revisit the policy that until recently dared not speak its name. Your intrepid hosts welcome the provocation and thinks there may be multiple ways to skin the carbon price cat. Also, this should definitely have been two papers. Kthnxbye.
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: another obscure but entertaining pop culture find: V: The Original Miniseries. Available weâre not sure where. Youâre welcome!
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a strange and unexpected role reversal as she plugs the long-awaited, much lusted after in one T Reedâs heart, the final report from the Governmentâs carbon leakage review! Slipped out the same day as #LibSpill2026 no less. TL;DR is: do the CBAM! (and not much change from draft report).
Lukeâs One More Thing is: the currently-showing-in-theatres-Baz-Luhrmann-spectacular âEPiC: Elvis Presley in Concertâ. Stitched together from footage of different Elvis concerts over time, Luke reckons even if youâre not a hunk of burning love for Elvis before seeing this, you might be after.
And we throw in a cheeky plug right at the end for Climate Action Week Sydney! Get on it!
And thatâs 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!
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We're back, and we're kicking off a big year with the first annual LMSU Summer Book Club! That is right, Tennant, Frankie, Luke and Alison curled up with a climate themed read over summer: Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them by Jessica F Green.
What did we make of it? Views were... mixed at best. Tune in to find out more, and if you are so inclined this book is available on Kindle!
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Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by Victorian bushfires over summer, within the climate and energy community and beyond. You can help out by chipping a few bucks to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
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We'll be returning to regularly scheduled programming in a couple of weeks, but until then there is a one-stop-shop for all your LMSU needs: head to
letmesumup.net
to support us on Patreon, procure merch, explore the back catalogue, and leave us a voicemail!
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Give the gift of LMSU BoCo to your loved ones!
In the awkward position of forgetting a Christmas gift for your beloved? Want to set your climate conscious friends up for success in 2026? Look no further than a one year subscription to LMSUâs Patreon which gets you bonus, subscriber-only episodes - unpacking the sector decarbonisation plans with special guests - and all manner of additional absolute silliness, like our recent bonus episode of Luke, Tennant and Frankieâs Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Hop to it!
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The 2025 Wonky Award
Itâs that time of the year when your intrepid hosts dole out the Wonky award for our favourite paper of the year! We revive the recurring argument about the criteria for the award and donât let the fact that two of our three finalists werenât even papers stop us. Our finalists and highly commended for 2025 are:
âAbundanceâ by Ezra Klein and Derek ThompsonâQuarterly Essay 99: Woodside Versus The Planetâ by Marianne WilkinsonâThe New Energy Trade: Harnessing Australian renewables for global developmentâ by Reuben Finighan at The Superpower Institute.While there was no denying the zeitgeisty vibe impact of Abundance on the political discourse in Australia and all-round appreciation for Marianne Wilkinsonâs thoughtful provocation on the influence of gas giant Woodside, your intrepid hosts all rallied around the seminal âNew Energy Tradeâ paper from the Superpower Institute as having a clear-eyed vision and significant and ongoing impact on policy thinking around Australiaâs green export potential. Bravo to Reuben Finighan and colleagues at TSI for winning the 2025 Wonky Award! A custom meme will find its way to your socials in the not-too-distant future!
Holiday Movie Special
Weâve always wondered how many of our eagle-eyed Summerupperers got the movie reference in our podcast title âLet Me Sum Upâ, taken from none other than the iconic, swashbuckling fantasy fairy tale "The Princess Bride" - so it was INCONCEIVABLE that we choose any other movie for our 2025 Holiday Special. From the origin story around choosing the pod name (including the names that didnât make the cut), how this movie has influenced us and where we saw it first, to our favourite moments from an all-star cast and the endless choice of banger quotes, we go long! Such is our mutual love for this movie, there was no containing the joy of this Holiday Special.
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: a bit of light holiday reading with the equally zeitgeisty and current The Secret History by Procopius? You tell us which current Australian political figure comes to mind when you hear Tennantâs quote from the book.
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a very late to the party endorsement for Stranger Things on Netflix, which she is just getting around to watching. Better late than never!
Lukeâs One More Thing is: Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another which is nothing short of masterpiece and still showing in the odd cinema. LMSU says â see it on the big screen.
And thatâs it until the New Year, Summerupperers. Donât forget we are convening a summer book club, diving into âExistential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing And How To Fix Themâ by Jessica F. Green, and will be recording an episode to discuss sometime in January together with sometime co-host Alison Reeve.
And donât forget 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!
P.S. don't big shout out to our friends at The NEMchat Singers, who have a proud tradition of summing the energy year in song. We hope you enjoy one of their 2025 contributions at the end of this episode, and be sure to check out the other here!
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Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for a sector plan BoCo bonanza!
All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements. This week, weâll be joined by Ag sector knower Steve Hatfield-Dodds to unpack the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan. And if somehow that isnât temptation enough for you crazy climate cats, we can reveal that episode two of our dungeons and dragons odyssey is incoming in time for the Christmas listening of Super Summerupperers... so hop to it!
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Main topic(s)
While we have been occupied with Conferences of Parties, developments in Australian energy and climate policy have been coming thick and fast. So what is a summing up podcast with one substantive episode left before the end of the year to do? Why, a demolition derby of All The Things, of course!
Buckle up, and tune in for:
Klimate Krampus, AKA the Coalitionâs abandonment of a net zero by 2050 target (to really get the vibe of the thing, we encourage a close read of the Liberal and National positions, such as they are )Climate Christmas, specifically the Albanese Governmentâs 2025 Climate Statement, the Climate Change Authorityâs 2025 Annual Progress Report and DCCEEWâs 2025 Emissions Projections.Energy Eisteddfod, featuringAEMOâs Draft 2026 Integrated System PlanCSIROâs Draft 2025-26 GenCost ReportAEMOâs 2025 Transition Plan for System SecurityTim Nelson and friends' NEM Review final reportMinisters variousâ ECMC CommuniqueGas Market Review rumblings and reservation speculationHome Battery Program rechargedElectric Car Discount reviewedAnd for dessert, Environment Efflorescence...EPBC reforms passed!One more things
Frankieâs One More Thing is â jumping on a favourite hobby horse, the imperative to tackle methane emissions, noting promising activity in NSW that could help build national momentum!
Tennantâs One More Thing is â a big spruik for our 2025 Wonky Awards! Yes thatâs right, we are once again surveying the papers we covered on the podcast over the last 12 months and picking our favourite! But this year we are inviting you, dear summerupperers, to stick your oar in â leave us a voice note and tell us which paper should reign supreme!
Lukeâs One More Thing is â the announcement of the first annual LMSU summer book club! Because this podcast clearly doesn't have enough corners, angles and side hustles already, Tennant, Frankie, Luke and Alison will be curling up with a climate themed read over summer and once weâve read it, we'll chat about it on a special summer episode of the pod for release sometime in January. And what is our inaugural read for book club? Why it is Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them by Jessica F Green. Available on Kindle for a surprisingly high price! Or for a free taster, hear Jessica chat about the book on the Shift Key podcast!
Plus in special bonus spruiking, Frankie highlights the upcoming LMSU Holiday Special, in which we watch a movie and talk about it. And this year weâre changing things up â we are going to talk about a classic movie that we have heavily referenced on LMSU! But obviously it is rich pickings, so which one? Well that is up to you! Vote in our handy dandy poll now!
That was a lot. But thatâs 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!
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We conclude our Quokka of 2025 COP episodes by sitting down Australia's Climate and Energy Minister â and incoming COP President of Negotiations â Chris Bowen!
Referenced in this episode (in order of importance):
Luke's COP bid parody song
Chris' summer reading recommendation
TĂźrkiye-Australia Partnership Modalities
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And thatâs 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!
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All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements and experts to join us as we venture on. We're four in, two to go and luminaries helping us sum up so far include Dylan McConnell, Davina Rooney, Helen Rowe and Alison Reeve! And if somehow that isnât temptation enough for you crazy climate cats, the only way youâll see evidence of Luke, Tennant and Frankieâs cosplay efforts at our recent Chaos Trivia event is by subscribing on Patreon, so hop to it!
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We make our best attempt to sum up all the thrills and spills of week two of COP30, and boy there were some twists in the tale: a resolution to Australiaâs bid to host COP31 that no-one had on their bingo card; literal conflagrations in the COP30 pavilions; and arguably the most dramatic closing plenary of any COP, ever.
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And thatâs 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!
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All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements and experts to join us as we venture on. We're four in, two to go and luminaries helping us sum up so far include Dylan McConnell, Davina Rooney, Helen Rowe and Alison Reeve! And if somehow that isnât temptation enough for you crazy climate cats, the only way youâll see evidence of Luke, Tennant and Frankieâs cosplay efforts at our recent Chaos Trivia event is by subscribing on Patreon, so hop to it!
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We woke up expecting to record an episode about how to run a successful COP, but news reports suggested Australia may not get to host a COP at all! So ably assisted by Alex Scott â longstanding COP maven and current Senior Associate for Climate Diplomacy at the climate think tank ECCO â we talk a bit about the bid and ways for Australia to maintain a leadership position in a scenario in which it doesn't hold the presidency, the latest from the negotiations on the Big Fourâ˘ď¸, and take some live questions from the audience.
And thatâs 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!
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All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements and experts to join us as we venture on. We're four in, two to go and luminaries helping us sum up so far include Dylan McConnell, Davina Rooney, Helen Rowe and Alison Reeve! And if somehow that isnât temptation enough for you crazy climate cats, the only way youâll see evidence of Luke, Tennant and Frankieâs cosplay efforts at our recent Chaos Trivia event is by subscribing on Patreon, so hop to it!
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So we're in BelĂŠm, Brazil for COP30 where the weather is humid, the caipirinhas are delicious, the NDCs are insufficient and the action agenda is extensive! Thats right folks, we're summing up all the colour and movement of week one, with a particular focus on the procedural gambit of the Brazilian Presidency that saw the 'Big Four' issues (what a pithy coinage that is, hey T?) that threatened to bog down agreement on the negotiating agenda allocated to their own special âinformal backroom consultationsâ, immediately rendering said consultations far more interesting that the primary negotiations!
Featuring: special guest co-host Josh Gabbatiss from Carbon Brief! Also featuring: perhaps our final (we feverishly hope so) round of COP31 host speculation!
And thatâs 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!
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Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for a sector plan BoCo bonanza!
All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements and experts to join us as we venture on. This week, weâll be joined by sometime co-host Alison Reeve from the Grattan Institute to unpack the Industry sector plan. And if somehow that isnât temptation enough for you crazy climate cats, the only way youâll see evidence of Luke, Tennant and Frankieâs cosplay efforts at our recent Chaos Trivia event is by subscribing, so hop to it!
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With COP30 in Belem, Brazil only days away, your intrepid hosts dive into recent remarks from UN Secretary General, AntĂłnio Guterres, widely reported as âthe world has missed 1.5Câ, the reality being much more nuanced commentary from this climate champion as he enters his final year as Secretary General. Undoubtedly, it feels like a threshold moment as he acknowledges the world has breached 1.5C. We are now in the realm of overshoot, but the longer term of objective of stabilising temperature increases to 1.5C is still possible - keeping 1.5 alive - but only if we redouble efforts to focus on decarbonisation here and now, and flags the need to ramp up efforts on negative emissions. Significant remarks and food for thought on the real and difficult choices ahead!
Our main course
Is it 1965 or is whatâs old new once again folks? Your intrepid hosts wade into the technical, controversial, futuristic yet bafflingly bootstrapped proposition that is geoengineering - shooting stuff into the sky and blocking out some sunlight, cooling the earthâs surface. What could possibly go wrong?! Well, this paper, âEngineering and logistical concerns add practical limitations to stratospheric aerosol injection strategiesâ published in Nature and authored by Miranda Hack, V. Faye McNeill, Dan Steingart and Gernot Wagner, has some thoughts! Engineering challenges? Yes! Cost? What better use of diamond dust could there be! Governance issues? A few! What is incredibly clear from reading this paper is that there are no easy decisions when it comes to the need to consider negative emissions technologies or other novel ways of moderating temperature increases. Could it be that on closer inquiry, we should just focus on getting on with decarbonising, or is more research required?
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: more ranting about data centres! Tennant has questions about the ultimate viability of the eyewatering numbers of speculative capacity in new data centre growth, as well as the equally worrying implications for viability coal closures if much of this does come to pass. Bubble or not, weâll find out soon enough!
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a massive shout out and thanks to 150 fabulous folk that fronted up to Chaos Trivia last week in Melbourne, including ultimate winners, No One Likes A Gentailer. Props to our co-hosts Currently Speaking, our MC extraordinaire Mark Spencer and The NEMChat Singers who added colour, movement and grooves to the chaos! With all proceeds going to the brilliant First Nations Clean Energy Network there was much to love.
Lukeâs One More Thing is: a definitely-not-resentful readout of the paper he really wanted us to read this episode, IRENAâs âDelivering on the UAE Consensus: Tracking progress toward tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.â TL;DR is weâre going gangbusters on solar but woeful progress on energy efficiency. More to do!
And thatâs 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!
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Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for a sector plan BoCo bonanza!
All aboard folks! Team LMSU is continuing our BoCo odyssey, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements and experts to join us as we venture on. This week, weâll be joined by Helen Rowe from Climateworks to talk transport and infrastructure.
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With a promise to provide guidance on the next five years âand beyondâ your intrepid hosts digested the Queensland Government Energy Roadmap 2025. It provides a major reset in some respects with continuity in others. Grabbing the headlines was the telegraphed decision to run government-owned coal assets to end of technical life but much detail still âTBCâ when it comes to how decisions on coal will be made.Transmission is getting a big overhaul, renewables still gonna be big but maybe not so much on the wind front. More questions raised than answered here for now as Luke is left pondering the wisdom of scrapping a bicameral parliament in the great northern state!
Our main course
With a tantalising title of âBills Down, Emissions Down: A practical path to net zero electricityâ your intrepid hosts are having what the Grattan Institute is serving! A timely provocation from Alison Reeve, Tony Wood, Dominic Jones and Ben Jefferson on the value - and they argue necessity - of reinstating a price on carbon in the electricity sector. The world has changed since the last time carbon pricing was discussed in the energy sector and the folks from Grattan argue the Safeguard Mechanism presents a ready made vehicle to get the job done. And they donât forget to remind us of earlier work in their report Climate Phoenix that shows how the Safeguard could evolve into a broader emissions trading scheme, Much food for thought ahead of the 2026-27 Safeguard review!
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: his appearance at an event hosted by the University of Adelaide, festively titled, âLivin La Vida BoCAâ! No guesses as to what that was about: a whisper of chat about border carbon adjustments and our man Mr Reed manifests!
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a frustrating one-year delay to the vote by the International Maritime Organisation on the adoption of an emissions levy on shipping, following concerted lobbying from the Trump administration.
Lukeâs One More Thing is: the long awaited and celebrated launch of the Commercial Building Disclosure Roadmap! *Finally* After previous reviews gathered dust on shelves, we finally have a plan for expanding use of Australiaâs globally leading NABERS rating scheme in disclosing the nergy performance of more building types. Huzzah!
And thatâs 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!
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Subscribe to LMSUâs Patreon for a sector plan BoCo bonanza!
All aboard folks! Team LMSU is embarking on a BoCo odyssey over the the next couple of months, adventuring through each of the six sector decarbonisation plans. AND weâre bringing friends! Thatâs right, weâre calling in even nerdier reinforcements and experts to join us as we venture on. For our first deep dive, The Planned and the Penurious (Energy and Electricity Sector Plan), we were joined by Energy wizard Dylan McConnell! Our second outing, 2 Planned: 2 Penurious (Built Environment), will feature buildings maven Davina Rooney!
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While itâs no Planned and the Penurious, your intrepid hosts have been following the final laps of the NDC Grand Prix as a flurry of countries have raced (?) to lodge their 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Chinaâs commitment to cut emissions 7â10% below peak levels by 2035 is dissected: an under promise, over deliver scenario? Almost certainly based on their track record. India is progressing through the pack, Europe stuck in the pit lane with internal negotiations, the US is doing doughnuts in the car park, and what on earth do we make of the corner-cutting of Russiaâs retrograde move? And what about the two-thirds of countries still in the garage that haven't even gotten around to submitting a climate pledge yet? Is this Trump Administration dirty pool? Luke thinks maybe, Tennant is sceptical, but it certainly makes for an interesting COP and raises questions about the Paris Agreementâs âratchetâ mechanism and the consequences (or lack thereof) for backsliding or just ghosting the party altogether. We commend you to Climate Resourceâs NDC country snapshots as a handy dandy resource!
Our main course
One of your intrepid hosts may have described reading the recently published National Climate Risk Assessment as âeating our climate risk vegetablesâ given the dense and confronting nature of this 250+ page report. But jokes aside, team LMSU wanted to shine a spotlight and give our listeners a sense of the breadth and depth of this significant piece of work from Australiaâs Climate Service: fifty six nationally significant climate risks across eight key functional systems, with seven additional risks highlighted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Eleven risks receive deeper analysis, assessed across three warming scenarios (1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C) and three time horizons (2025, 2050, 2090). While your intrepid hosts read the whole thing cover to cover, we reckon itâs designed as a more modular report and for those interested, we suggest reading the executive summary and use the table of contents to navigate to areas of interest.
This paper reaffirmed the âwhyâ many of us are working in climate and energy and team LMSU is thinking of all you Summerupperers out there, more power to your arms!
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: a book on climate change and energy transition, âClearing the Airâ by Hannah Ritchie. Simple and snappy answers to the many and diverse questions people have on climate,Tennant declares lucid, reasonable and a goodun!
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a plug for the upcoming Investor Group on Climate Change Summit 2025, coming up in Sydney on October 16-17 and featuring eminences such as Al Gore and not one, not two, but ALL THREE hosts of LMSU!
Lukeâs One More Thing is: some listener mail from friend of the pod Purdie Bowden who had some thoughts on comments made by Alison Reeve on a previous episode about expertise not being valued in the public service. Sheâs advocating for an overhaul of APS recruitment practices and progression to value specialist skill sets, support public servants to upskill, allow cross pollination between public and private sectors and lots more very sensible excellent suggestions. Hear, hear!
And thatâs 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!
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Time is running out to get your tickets for Chaos Trivia!
Team LMSU is joining forces with the fabulous folks from Currently Speaking for a blockbuster crossover event, with special guests, the NEMchat Singers. Chaos Trivia is set for the first night of the All Energy Conference on Wednesday 29 October in Melbourne, and as predicted, tickets are selling like hotcakes with only a few left! There will be trivia! Role playing? Musical interludes! Food! Drinks! And Tennant is still committed to some wizard cosplay! All proceeds go to the First Nations Clean Energy Network so - RUN, donât walk and snag tix for you or a whole trivia team.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a target! Your intrepid hosts reflect on the many and varied reactions to the slick and stage managed birthing of the Climate Change Authorityâs advice on a 2035 target and the Governmentâs acceptance of their advice to adopt a target of 62-70% emissions reduction on 2005 levels by 2035.
Simultaneously declared âEconomy wreckingâ (Opposition), âWeak and disappointingâ (Greens) and âThe sweet spotâ (Prime Minister Albanese), it looks like business groups broadly land in the âbenign tolerationâ camp and environment groups unhappy with the bottom end of the range. What do we reckon? The real debate starts now on the level of ambition needed in the policies to get to the top of the rangeâespecially since current policies only get us to about 51% by 2035.
Looking for fodder for your own opinion? Check out the op-eds penned by Luke and Adam Morton, and Adam's conversation with CCA Chair Matt Kean.
Our main course
It wasnât just the targets the Government served up last week that had your intrepid hosts salivating at the degustation menu of climate policy offerings to sample. Treasury modelling, NDCs, sector plans, OH MY!
But yâall know the LMSU crew canât resist the sweet tantalising temptation of a seriously nerdy modelling exercise and so it was decided - there was never really any question - to the Treasury buffet we go! With three scenarios to unpack, a friendship of climate models used - TIM, MIRA, EMM, ALEX, anyone? There was a lot to digest in here!
Eye watering economic upsides for green exports, signalling on declining fossil fuel exports, the cost of delay and some seriously refreshing honesty about limitations of modelling, there was something for everyone here and some significant foundations being laid for the future debate of climate policy in Australia.
One more things
Tennantâs One More Thing is: a fun Well Actually post, âWhy every Sankey diagram youâve ever seen is wrongâ by Michael Liebreich
Frankieâs One More Thing is: a shout out from Marian Wilkinson in response to our recent episode on her Quarterly Essay on Woodside, saying she wanted to provoke a broader discussion on the influence of large companies like Woodside on federal and state politics and local communities. Love your work Marian!
Lukeâs One More Thing is: a plug for his other podcast, First Fuel, which features his recent interview with Dr. Saul Griffith at the Energy in WA conference in which Saul predicts the economics of electrification will spur a rapid decline in gas exports and urged a pivot to clean commodities.
And thatâs 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!
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