The energy transition is a one-way race against time — and APAC is the front line.

The way we power the world is the single largest source of carbon emissions — and coal sits at the heart of it. Burning coal alone accounts for roughly 40% of global energy-related CO₂ emissions every year, more than any other fuel. If there's one lever that matters most for the climate, this is it.

But phasing out coal isn't as simple as closing a plant. Every coal unit that comes offline was doing a job — keeping the grid stable, keeping power affordable, keeping the lights on through the night and through demand peaks. Pull it out without a plan, and something has to fill that gap. This is the energy trilemma that policymakers and system operators wrestle with every day: balancing affordability, reliability, and sustainability, knowing that pushing hard on one can strain the other two.

So the energy transition was never just "build more renewables." Solar and wind are cheap and getting cheaper, but they're intermittent — the sun sets, the wind drops, and demand doesn't wait. The real challenge is engineering a system that keeps the lights on using clean sources, around the clock, while staying affordable enough that an ordinary household can live an ordinary life without paying a painful premium for it.

That's the problem I find genuinely worth working on. It sits at the intersection of physics, economics, and policy, and there are no easy answers — only trade-offs to be understood and navigated. Getting it right is how we cut emissions without asking people to choose between a livable planet and an affordable life. Getting it wrong stalls the transition or breaks public support for it. Both outcomes are too costly to leave to chance.