To slash emissions fast, the formula is simple: electrify everything and clean up the grid. But in practice, progress is slowed by all sorts of bottlenecks — from arcane permitting processes to sky-high electricity costs.

This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi sits down with producer Oscar Boyd to spotlight a surprising culprit slowing the transition: a global shortage of transformers, and why it has industry insiders so worried. This episode kicks off Bottlenecks, a new series exploring the lesser known obstacles standing in the way of our electrified future. 

Explore further:
The One Device Throttling the World’s Electrified Future
The Device That Brought Down Heathrow Airport

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to: Jess Beck, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam and Siobhan Wagner. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

To slash emissions fast, the formula is simple: electrify everything and clean up the grid. But in practice, progress is slowed by all sorts of bottlenecks &mdash; from arcane permitting processes to sky-high electricity costs.
This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi sits down with producer Oscar Boyd to spotlight a surprising culprit slowing the transition: a global shortage of transformers, and why it has industry insiders so worried. This episode kicks off Bottlenecks, a new series exploring the lesser known obstacles standing in the way of our electrified future.&nbsp;
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-transformers/">The One Device Throttling the World&rsquo;s Electrified Future</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-03-25/the-device-that-brought-down-heathrow?srnd=undefined">The Device That Brought Down Heathrow Airport</a></li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to: Jess Beck, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam and Siobhan Wagner. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

Zero is about the tactics and technologies taking us to a world of zero emissions. Each week Bloomberg’s award-winning reporter Akshat Rathi talks to the people tackling climate change – a venture capitalist hunting for the best cleantech investment, scientists starting companies, politicians who have successfully created climate laws, and CEOs who have completely transformed their businesses. The road to zero emissions has many paths and everyone’s got an opinion about the best route. Listen in.

Zero: The Climate Race

Zero

The device throttling the world’s electrified future: Bottlenecks Series

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8a83fd8f-eaae-4141-a7fd-b2dd00deaf6d/transcript

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