Energy Evolution

The EU Emissions Trading System is facing its greatest test yet. European leaders and companies are sounding the alarm, warning that high carbon prices are undermining the bloc's industrial competitiveness and threatening to drive manufacturing offshore.
In this episode of Energy Evolution, host Eklavya Gupte examines what's driving the turbulence in Europe's carbon market and what it means for the bloc's energy transition.
First, Irina Breilean, carbon price reporter at S&P Global Energy Platts, explains how political pressure from member states has dragged EU Allowance prices down by almost Eur30/mtCO2e in recent months.
The conversation then turns to Julia Michalak, EU policy director at the International Emissions Trading Association, who breaks down the ETS reforms now under consideration: extended free allocations, the modified Market Stability Reserve, and why industrial competitiveness concerns are dominating the climate policy debate in Brussels.
Eklavya also speaks with Pedro Barata, associate vice president for carbon markets and private sector decarbonization at the Environmental Defense Fund, who offers a perspective on the political economy of carbon pricing and how the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is evolving from a climate tool into an instrument of industrial policy -- with major implications for global trade.

Measuring and reducing upstream methane emissions is critical for US gas producers, particularly as they look to export their product to markets like Europe and Asia, and as the tech industry turns to gas as a key solution to its voracious power demand. 
In this episode, from the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, co-host Dan Testa talks with Courtney Loper, head of government relations and public affairs for EQT Corp., one of the largest US gas producers and pipeline operators, about the steps the company has taken to improve methane measuring. Also joining the episode is Ben Webster, director of policy at MiQ, a nonprofit providing data and certifications to understand and reduce methane emissions.

When it comes to advanced nuclear generation, most North American power producers are in the study and development phases. But Ontario Power Generation is currently constructing the first of four small modular nuclear reactors at its Darlington facility, with the first 300-MW unit scheduled to complete construction and connect to the grid by 2030. The other three reactors are scheduled to be complete in the mid-2030s, totaling 1,200 MW of firm capacity from advanced nuclear reactors. 
In this episode, Dan Testa speaks with OPG President and CEO Nicolle Butcher, from the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, about the state of the advanced nuclear project so far, how OPG selected this reactor design and why public power providers, like OPG in Canada and the Tennessee Valley Authority in the US, are taking the first steps to build advanced nuclear generation in North America.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz was long considered one of the energy market's great hypotheticals -- until it became a reality. In this special CERAWeek series episode of Energy Evolution, host Eklavya Gupte sits down with Dave Ernsberger, president of S&P Global Energy, to examine what may be the most significant energy supply disruption ever and how it's forcing a fundamental redrawing of the global energy map.
With around 20% of the world's oil and LNG usually passing through this key chokepoint, the impact has been asymmetrical and severe -- India faces LPG shortages, Asian refiners are struggling with profitability, and fuel supplies are tightening sharply.
The conversation also explores how this crisis is accelerating a structural shift in energy markets, particularly East of Suez, where the energy trifecta of affordability, security and sustainability has been upended.
Ernsberger also looks at how the conflict is intersecting with the AI and data center boom -- creating inflationary pressures that reach from the Middle East to different states in the US.

Carbon accounting — the math of how emissions are calculated, reported and compared — is poised to move to the forefront of global trade and energy markets.
Three critical developments in 2026 are forcing action: the implementation of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and new industry-driven product-level carbon accounting efforts.
In this episode, host Eklavya Gupte explores why harmonizing carbon accounting matters now, what's at stake, and how the commodity industry is responding to the urgent need for standardized, comparable emissions data.
The discussion features S&P Global Energy Horizons analysts Kevin Birn, head of carbon research and the center of emissions excellence; Roman Kramarchuk, head of integrated narratives and policy analysis; and James Salo, head of partnerships and strategic initiatives.