Hubbry Logo
Michael LiebreichMichael LiebreichMain
Open search
Michael Liebreich
Community hub
Michael Liebreich
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Michael Liebreich
Michael Liebreich
Michael Liebreich
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Michael Liebreich (born 11 August 1963) is a businessman in the field of clean energy. He is the chairman of Liebreich Associates, through which he provides advisory services and speaks on clean energy and transportation, smart infrastructure, technology, climate finance and sustainable development. He is also a senior contributor at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a company he founded in 2004 that was acquired by Bloomberg in 2009.[1][2][3]

Key Information

In July 2020, he launched his weekly podcast Cleaning Up. Guests are leaders in clean energy, mobility, climate finance or sustainable development, and have included Tony Blair and Ban Ki-moon. In March 2021, Michael became a co-founding partner of EcoPragma Capital. EcoPragma is a Growth Equity investor, investing in companies on the cusp of strong commercial growth and contributing to the net-zero transition.[4] In the past, starting in 2020, he was an member of the UK’s Board of Trade.[4][5] In November 2022, Michael was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the Energy Institute.[6]

Personal life

[edit]

Michael Liebreich was born in 1963 in Northolt, West London. Raised in Acton, Liebreich attended Silverdale Prep School followed by Colet Court and St Paul's School of London. He graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge, with first class honours in 1984, specialising in mechanics, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and nuclear engineering. He graduated from Harvard Business School in 1990.[7][8]

From 1985 to 1993, he was a member of the British Ski Team (Moguls) and competed in World & European Cups, World & European Championships and the 1992 Albertville Olympics.[9][10] He is also co-author of The Complete Skier (BBC Books, 1993).[11] Liebreich is an avid cross-country skier and has been a regular participant in the Engadin Skimarathon which he has completed in under 3 hours.

Liebreich was the Chairman of St. Marks Hospital Foundation, the charity arm of St. Mark's Hospital, a centre of clinical excellence which specialises in research and teaching on colorectal medicine.[12]

Professional career

[edit]

Before starting New Energy Finance, Liebreich worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company from 1990 to 1995.[13] He also worked as a venture capitalist with Groupe Arnault, and was commercial director of Associated Press Television (now APTN), and founding director of Sports News Television (SNTV).

Liebreich created New Energy Finance in 2004 as a specialist provider of information on clean energy and resources for the finance and energy industries, manufacturers and policymakers. He reportedly started the company with "the help of interns and a Polish programmer he found on Rent A Coder".[14] By 2011, he had built the company to a staff of nearly 200.

In 2011, Liebreich was the executive producer of a video short illustrating the world's ultimate shift away from fossil fuels, titled "First They Ignore You...".[15]

Liebreich is a member of numerous energy-focused industry groups, including the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on the New Energy Architecture and the UN Secretary General's High Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.[16] Liebreich is a former member of the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative's Energy and Climate Change working group, the selection panel for the Zayed Future Energy Prize, Accenture's Global Energy Board and the UN Secretary General's High Level Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change.[16][17] He is also a visiting professor at London's Imperial College Energy Futures Lab, a board member for Transport for London, a member of the Advisory Panel of the INSEAD Energy Club, and an organiser of the annual ecovillage event at Les Diablerets, Switzerland.[17][18][19][20]

In February 2015 he wrote a piece critical of the draft UN Sustainable Development Goals, due to be adopted later in the year, suggesting instead that they be replaced by 12 alternative goals which are not overtly anti-business.[21]

Bloomberg New Energy Finance

[edit]

Liebreich sold his company (formerly New Energy Finance) to Bloomberg L.P. in 2009 in hopes of strengthening the company's position in the energy industry.

Bloomberg L.P. Chairman Peter Grauer stated: “This acquisition is the next step in Bloomberg’s initiative to develop and promote the carbon and clean energy markets.”[22] Since 2009, Liebreich acted as the CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, where he oversaw the delivery of investment-grade information about the world's energy industry. In January 2014, Liebreich stepped down as CEO of BNEF and is now Chairman of the Advisory Board.[3]

Politics

[edit]

In 2014 rumours began to circulate that Liebreich was a potential Conservative candidate for Mayor of London.[23][24] In June 2014, he was reported to have higher odds of winning than better known politicians including David Lammy and George Galloway according to data from bookmaker Paddy Power.[25]

In March 2015 he wrote a piece entitled “The Good Right must be a Green Right” for Tim Montgomerie’s Good Right project, arguing any truly conservative agenda would include as a foundational principle care for our physical environment.[26]

Awards

[edit]

Liebreich graduated with first class honours from Cambridge University in 1984, winning the Ricardo Prize for Thermodynamics and the Christ's College Wyatt Prize for Engineering. In 1988, he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship by the Commonwealth Fund of New York for his studies at Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar.[7]

In 2003 Liebreich was awarded a Testimonial on Vellum by the Royal Humane Society, which is a charity that grants awards for acts of bravery in the saving of human life. Their commendation says: “Liebreich co-ordinated the rescue of a young woman from a ravine in the Bolivian Andes. Despite an extraordinary team effort, she died from her injuries at the scene.”[27]

In 2005 New Energy Finance was named the Euromoney Ernst & Young Information Provider of the Year. Liebreich is a three-time finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[28] In 2014, Liebreich won a Clean Air City Award for his personal contribution to improving London's air quality.[29]

Philanthropy

[edit]

In 2010, Liebreich set up the Liebreich Foundation, a family charity which applies funds to charitable causes at the discretion of the trustees.

In 2018, Liebreich launched a charitable campaign named Project Bo which raised money to support a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the city of Bo, Sierra Leone. The campaign set out to fund the purchase of a 20 kW solar and storage system in order to provide uninterrupted power to a ward which incurred frequent power shortages resulting in equipment malfunctions and consequently unnecessary deaths.[30][31]

The campaign was successful in reaching its target of £100,000 and the power system went live in September, 2018.[32]

Bibliography

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Michael Liebreich

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

Michael Liebreich (born August 1963) is a British engineer, entrepreneur, and analyst focused on clean energy markets, , and sustainable technologies. He earned an MEng in from the in 1984 with first-class honours, receiving the Wyatt Prize for engineering and the Ricardo Prize for , followed by an MBA from as a Baker Scholar. Liebreich founded New Energy Finance in 2004 as a research firm analyzing investment opportunities in and low-carbon technologies; the company grew rapidly and was acquired by in 2009, rebranded as BloombergNEF, where he served as CEO until 2014 and chairman of the advisory board until 2017. Under his leadership, BloombergNEF became a primary data provider influencing billions in global clean energy investments through proprietary analytics on costs, deployment trends, and market risks. He has received lifetime achievement awards from BusinessGreen and the Renewable Energy Association, been a two-time finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year, and was granted an Honorary Fellowship by the Energy Institute in 2022. Now chairman and CEO of Liebreich Associates and senior contributor to BloombergNEF, Liebreich authors essays and frameworks such as the Clean Energy Ladder and Hydrogen Ladder, prioritizing technologies by dispatchability, cost-effectiveness, and scalability while critiquing inefficient paths like widespread use in transport amid the challenges of achieving net-zero emissions. His analyses underscore the empirical hurdles in energy transitions, including grid stability and dependencies, advocating realism over optimism in policy and investment decisions.

Early Life and Education

Childhood and Family Background

Michael Liebreich was born on August 11, 1963, in , , . He was raised in Acton, also in , in a modest family environment shaped by his parents' working-class professions: his father worked as a , and his mother as a nurse. His parents were immigrants, instilling a background of self-reliance, as evidenced by early family experiences involving hands-on repairs and resourcefulness. Liebreich's formative interests included , which he first learned while visiting his grandparents. This pursuit developed into competitive achievement during his youth, leading him to join the British Ski Team (focusing on moguls) from 1986 to 1993 and earning the title of British Moguls Champion in 1991. He represented at the in , , competing in events. These early athletic endeavors highlighted a pattern of discipline and perseverance that influenced his later path, though no direct family ties to energy or business fields are documented from this period.

Academic Background and Early Interests

Michael Liebreich obtained a in from the in 1984, graduating with first-class honours. His studies emphasized , including coursework in , , mechanics, and . For his academic excellence, he received the University's Ricardo Prize for and the Christ's College Wyatt Prize for . These achievements underscored Liebreich's early analytical focus on the physical principles governing systems and , areas central to later technological and market evaluations in the sector. Following Cambridge, he pursued a at , where he was awarded a and Baker Scholarship, honing skills in economic analysis and strategic decision-making applicable to complex industries like . Liebreich's academic trajectory bridged rigorous scientific inquiry into fundamentals with business-oriented frameworks, fostering a data-driven perspective on technological feasibility and market dynamics that informed his subsequent professional pursuits.

Professional Career

Early Career in Finance and Consulting

Liebreich commenced his professional career in at , where he served as an associate and manager in the London office from 1990 to 1995. In this role, he engaged in strategic advisory projects that honed his expertise in , quantitative modeling, and market evaluation, skills essential for assessing complex business environments. Following McKinsey, Liebreich shifted to venture capital and entrepreneurial ventures, initially as UK Managing Director of Groupe Arnault's venture capital arm, focusing on investment opportunities in emerging sectors. From 1995 to 1998, he held executive positions including Deputy Managing Director at Associated Press Television and Founding Director of Sports News Television, contributing to the development of media and telecommunications enterprises. These experiences involved evaluating high-risk investments, forecasting market trends, and structuring financial models for early-stage companies, during which he helped build over 25 firms as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and executive. Liebreich also served as a at , an online investment platform, further applying his financial acumen to retail investment strategies and in dynamic markets. This period in and consulting emphasized pragmatic assessment of commercial viability over ideological drivers, laying the groundwork for his later analysis of sector-specific opportunities through data-driven risk evaluation.

Founding and Growth of New Energy Finance

Michael Liebreich founded New Energy Finance (NEF) in 2004 as a London-based firm specializing in data, news, and analysis on clean energy markets, including renewables, carbon trading, and energy efficiency, targeted at investors, financial institutions, and energy companies. At the time, the clean energy sector faced widespread , with renewables viewed as niche and uncompetitive against fuels due to high costs and technological uncertainties following the dot-com bust and ; Liebreich, drawing from his experience, identified untapped potential in quantifying investment risks and returns through rigorous analytics rather than speculation. NEF's initial emphasis was on building proprietary databases and models to track deal flows, project pipelines, and market pricing, enabling clients to assess causal factors like cost trajectories and policy impacts on viability, distinguishing empirically grounded opportunities from overhyped ventures. The firm expanded rapidly by addressing the need for transparent, evidence-based intelligence in a fragmented market, growing from a small team to over 130 employees across offices in and other global hubs by 2009. This scaling reflected entrepreneurial risks Liebreich assumed, including bootstrapping operations in an era when clean energy investment totaled under $30 billion annually globally, far below fossil fuels, yet NEF's predictive tools—such as early forecasts of solar and cost declines—gained traction among hedge funds and banks seeking causal insights into technology maturation and dynamics. Key successes included annual reports on trends that highlighted empirical shifts, like rising inflows into biofuels and efficiency tech, helping validate renewables' commercial potential amid prevailing doubt. NEF's growth culminated in its acquisition by in December 2009 for an undisclosed sum, marking validation of its data-driven model after five years of independent operation. By prioritizing first-hand deal tracking and econometric over narrative-driven projections, the firm demonstrated how causal realism—focusing on verifiable drivers like learning curves in —could quantify clean 's trajectory, influencing early investment decisions in viable technologies while sidelining less substantiated hype. This phase underscored NEF's role as a pioneer in empirical clean , bridging skepticism with actionable metrics.

Leadership at BloombergNEF

Following the acquisition of New Energy Finance by in December 2009, Michael Liebreich retained his position as of the rebranded Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), leading the integration into Bloomberg's global data and analytics platform. Under his stewardship until January 2014, BNEF scaled its operations, expanding from approximately 140 staff to nearly 200 analysts across 11 international offices, which bolstered its capacity for comprehensive market intelligence on clean energy transitions. This period marked a deepening of research coverage into adjacent sectors such as transportation electrification and , leveraging proprietary datasets to produce forward-looking analyses that informed institutional investment strategies. BNEF's outputs during Liebreich's CEO tenure included detailed sector forecasts and annual outlooks, such as projections on capacity growth and adoption, which tracked investments surpassing hundreds of billions annually in assets by the early . These rigorously data-backed reports distinguished BNEF as a pivotal resource for investors, banks, and policymakers, contributing to the redirection of capital toward scalable low-carbon technologies amid volatile commodity markets. In 2014, Liebreich stepped down as CEO to assume the role of Chairman of the BNEF , a position he held until 2017, where he continued guiding the firm's strategic priorities and high-level research agendas. From 2018 onward, he transitioned to Senior Contributor status, periodically authoring influential essays on dynamics while the organization maintained its expanded footprint in global energy analysis.

Liebreich Associates and Independent Advisory Work

Following his departure from BloombergNEF in 2021, Michael Liebreich established Liebreich Associates, where he serves as chairman and CEO, focusing on independent advisory services in clean energy strategy, transportation, and related . The firm emphasizes data-driven analysis to guide clients on investment and operational decisions amid the , prioritizing empirical assessments over policy advocacy. Services include consulting for boards and C-suite executives, speaking engagements, and strategic reviews of net-zero pathways, drawing on Liebreich's proprietary frameworks like the Clean Energy Ladder. Liebreich Associates has influenced private investment strategies through targeted advisory roles, such as Liebreich's position as a senior advisor and member at Sandbrook Capital, a firm specializing in energy infrastructure investments. This engagement supports data-centric evaluations of assets in renewables, storage, and grid technologies, aiding based on cost curves and deployment rather than unsubstantiated projections. In 2025, Liebreich continued active outreach via digital platforms, publishing on his newsletter "Thoughts of Chairman Michael," where he analyzed dynamics with an emphasis on realistic timelines and technological feasibility; for instance, an August 10 post argued against narratives of transition failure, citing accelerating solar and deployments alongside the need for pragmatic adjustments. He also co-hosted episodes of the "Cleaning Up" , featuring discussions on clean energy leadership, including an August 13 episode examining the structural decline of fossil fuels driven by economic dispatch and shifts. These outputs underscore Liebreich's independent stance, leveraging granular data to challenge overoptimistic or alarmist views in private sector dialogues.

Contributions to Clean Energy Analysis

Development of Energy Transition Frameworks

At New Energy Finance, founded by Liebreich in 2004 and later acquired by Bloomberg to form BloombergNEF, he spearheaded the creation of data-intensive frameworks for modeling the 's economic viability, including bottom-up projections of technology deployment, capital flows, and cost trajectories derived from proprietary transaction databases and global deal tracking. These tools emphasized verifiable inputs such as historical learning rates—where costs decline predictably with cumulative production doublings—over speculative narratives, allowing for scenario-based forecasts that integrated real-world investment trends rather than assuming uniform policy enforcement. Central to these frameworks was the annual New Energy Outlook, which Liebreich helped shape, featuring multiple scenarios like the Economic Transition Scenario that project energy mixes based on current policies and market signals, explicitly dismissing high-emission pathways such as RCP8.5 as inconsistent with of accelerating clean energy adoption and coal phase-outs. By grounding models in observed data—such as solar photovoltaic capacity additions exceeding 50 GW annually by the mid-2010s, far outpacing earlier orthodox forecasts—these approaches rejected RCP8.5's assumptions of unchecked growth, instead simulating transitions where clean energy supply growth outpaces demand by 2-3% annually to achieve decarbonization milestones. Liebreich's frameworks incorporated carbon abatement cost curves to sequence interventions by and abatement potential, prioritizing options like and efficiency gains before higher-cost measures, while differentiating dispatchable baseload sources from intermittents through and storage integration analyses to assess grid feasibility without relying on unproven scaling assumptions. This empirical focus highlighted causal dependencies, such as the necessity of overbuilding intermittent generation by factors of 2-3 times to compensate for variability, backed by levelized cost comparisons showing renewables' competitiveness only when paired with firm capacity. These models fostered investor confidence by delivering falsifiable predictions, such as sustained cost declines via learning curves without endpoint saturation, which aligned with actual outcomes like solar module prices falling 89% from 2010 to 2020, thereby channeling over $1 in annual clean energy investments by directing capital toward scalable, evidence-based pathways rather than hype-driven projections.

Key Publications and Data-Driven Insights

Liebreich's contributions at BloombergNEF included annual "New Energy Outlook" reports, which forecasted global clean energy investment reaching $1.1 trillion in 2022, with comprising $64 billion or 5.8% of that total, highlighting empirical deployment trends in . These analyses debunked myths of stalled progress by quantifying cost trajectories, such as solar photovoltaic system costs halving repeatedly through learning rates, with module prices dropping over 80% from 2010 levels due to scale and efficiencies. Liebreich's 2018 "Scenarios for a Solar Singularity" explored exponential growth potential, projecting solar could exceed conservative estimates of 10-25% of global power by 2050 under accelerated adoption, validated by subsequent capacity additions surpassing baselines. In 2025, Liebreich launched the "Pragmatic Climate Reset" series across BloombergNEF and his , arguing the energy transition's inevitability through data on deployment rates—such as clean technologies comprising 10% of China's economy in 2024 and projected higher shares in —without relying on defeatist narratives or unsubstantiated alarmism. Part I emphasized robust evidence of momentum in renewables and , countering overreach claims with metrics on investment flows and technology maturation, while Part II provoked debate on policy recalibration supported by historical cost validations like polysilicon price declines from $30.5/kg in late 2022 to $21.9/kg in early 2023. Through his Substack "Thoughts of Chairman Michael," Liebreich provided ongoing data-driven insights, including 2025 updates on AI data center power demand as a of total —ranging widely in forecasts but grounded in historical load patterns—and critiques of hype in areas like , where his "Clean Hydrogen Ladder" prioritized applications by -effectiveness and deployment feasibility, drawing on empirical supply chain data to separate viable scales from overoptimism. These publications consistently prioritized verifiable metrics over speculative scenarios, such as validating solar predictions against actual market outcomes to underscore causal drivers like manufacturing volume over policy alone.

Influence on Investment and Policy Decisions

Through the data and analytical frameworks developed under Liebreich's leadership at New Energy Finance (founded in 2004) and later BloombergNEF, investors gained benchmarks for assessing clean energy opportunities, contributing to the allocation of hundreds of billions in annual capital toward renewables. BloombergNEF's Investment Trends reports, for instance, track global flows into renewables, nuclear, , and related sectors, providing granular data on deal sizes exceeding $1 million that inform portfolio strategies and risk assessments for institutional investors. These trackers have documented record inflows, such as $386 billion into new renewable development in the first half of alone, by highlighting viable projects based on cost curves and deployment scalability rather than speculative narratives. Liebreich's emphasis on empirical in NEF/BNEF indices, such as levelized cost of projections, helped redirect capital from over-hyped areas to technologies demonstrating rapid cost declines, like solar photovoltaics, which fell from installation costs supporting only 1.4 GW globally in to dominating new capacity additions today. This contrasted with many contemporaneous forecasts from utilities and governments that underestimated solar's trajectory, enabling data-driven investments that prioritized economic viability over policy subsidies alone. In policy spheres, Liebreich's advisory roles have channeled market-based insights into regulatory frameworks, including service on the International Energy Agency's Commission on Energy Efficiency and advisory input to the on Sustainable Energy for All, where recommendations stressed aligning incentives with observed technological learning rates to avoid inefficient allocations. Such contributions have indirectly shaped regulations in jurisdictions adopting BNEF-style cost-benefit analyses, fostering policies that support scalable deployments without over-reliance on unproven pathways, as evidenced by the integration of similar data in transition strategies.

Views on Energy Transition and Climate Policy

Advocacy for Pragmatic Realism

Liebreich maintains that the decline of fossil fuels is inevitable, propelled by clean energy technologies that offer superior economics and scalability, thereby eroding fossil dominance through compounded annual growth exceeding demand. In his analysis, renewables such as and solar now account for 93% of new global grid capacity additions, while electric vehicles comprise 20% of worldwide car sales as of mid-2025, fostering a tortoise-like progression toward displacement irrespective of fluctuating support. This momentum persists as clean energy expands at approximately 5% annually against 2% energy demand growth, potentially phasing out fossils by around 2065 under baseline market dynamics. He rebuts doomer assertions of transition failure—often rooted in overstated fossil persistence via accounting, which understates clean energy's effective contribution at 32% of final consumption—by emphasizing verifiable deployment metrics over narrative pessimism. Liebreich similarly critiques utopian visions that dismiss physical and economic barriers, urging a balanced realism that harnesses competitive markets and iterative to accelerate viable solutions without relying on unproven panaceas or coercive mandates. This approach discards guilt-laden or apocalyptic framing, prioritizing empirical evidence of cost decimation in solar, batteries, and to drive adoption via and profitability. To bridge gaps in and decarbonize intractable sectors like and , Liebreich endorses and (CCS) where they align with economic feasibility and physical necessities, such as CCS for blue hydrogen production from or nuclear for baseload stability. These technologies serve as interim enablers rather than endpoints, substantiated by their capacity to integrate with renewables amid grid physics constraints and material resource limits, ensuring the transition's realism without halting scalable progress in cheaper alternatives.

Criticisms of Alarmism and Policy Overreach

Liebreich has critiqued what he terms "alarmist" narratives in climate discourse, arguing that implausible scenarios such as RCP8.5—projected to result in 4–5°C warming by 2100 despite representing less than 0.1% probability based on updated emissions data—have been used to generate undue fear rather than inform policy. He contends that such exaggerations, critiqued since 2018, create vulnerabilities exploited by skeptics and undermine credible advocacy for emissions reductions. On the fixation with limiting warming to 1.5°C, Liebreich describes it as dogmatic absolutism, noting that the IPCC's 2018 Special Report on 1.5°C implied carbon prices escalating to $6,050 per ton (in 2010 dollars) by 2030 to achieve it, a level incompatible with economic realities and unfeasible given deployment lags in low-carbon technologies. Alarmists counter that 1.5°C is a non-negotiable threshold under the to avert tipping points, but Liebreich refutes this with empirical trends: clean energy additions have outpaced total demand growth by 3% annually since 2017, enabling a feasible path to 2°C without such extremes, as shares decline gradually to below 2025 levels by 2045 under continued scaling. Liebreich warns against policies mandating premature phase-outs of fossil fuels, such as investment bans or supply restrictions, which he argues inflate energy prices and jeopardize security before alternatives scale sufficiently. For instance, he highlights Europe's 2022 , exacerbated by rushed and gas curbs amid supply disruptions, contrasting with data showing gas's role in grid flexibility during renewables , as evidenced by Spain's July 2022 blackout from voltage instability rather than renewable penetration itself. Proponents of bans assert they accelerate and signal urgency for 1.5°C compliance, yet Liebreich counters with deployment metrics: while and solar costs have fallen 90% since , global capacity factors and grid integration lags mean fossils must bridge demand until clean sources reliably exceed it, avoiding blackouts and in developing economies. Regarding hydrogen, Liebreich has exposed overpromising through his iterative "Clean Hydrogen Ladder," updated to version 5.0 in October 2023, which prioritizes applications by cost-effectiveness and emissions impact, relegating green electrolytic to niche roles like fertilizers and due to its $2–3/kg premium over blue hydrogen (from with CCS). He critiques the EU's 2020 Hydrogen Strategy as politically driven, ignoring economic analyses that limit green 's viable demand to under 10% of total energy needs, with hype cycles leading to stranded investments amid slow electrolyzer scaling (global capacity at ~10 GW in 2023 versus targeted 40 GW by 2030). Advocates claim 's versatility justifies subsidies for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, but Liebreich refutes this with data on alternatives: and biofuels suffice for most uses, while 's 60–70% efficiency losses in production and transport render it uneconomic absent breakthroughs, as seen in persistent cost overruns for projects like Germany's H2Global initiative.

Assessments of Specific Technologies and Scenarios

Liebreich has expressed persistent skepticism regarding the scalability of for broad decarbonization, arguing that its high production costs—stemming from inefficiencies and the intermittency of renewable inputs—render it uncompetitive against direct for most applications. In his 2022 keynote at the World Hydrogen Leaders Congress, he warned that was beginning to resemble an , as potential uses competed with cheaper electric alternatives like heat pumps and battery-powered . This view evolved from earlier analyses, such as his 2020 BloombergNEF primer "Separating Hype from Hydrogen," where he was optimistic about supply-side cost reductions but cautious on demand, emphasizing that clean would be limited to niche industrial uses like fertilizers and chemicals, comprising only about 10% of projected needs. By 2023, in his Hydrogen Ladder Version 5.0 framework, Liebreich ranked applications by merit, placing long-haul shipping and high-temperature higher than grid balancing or residential heating, where proves more efficient due to lower energy losses—'s round-trip efficiency hovers around 30-40% versus over 90% for batteries. He reiterated this in 2025, stating lacks a plausible path to affordability for non-essential uses, prioritizing instead " wins" like efficient motors and LEDs that avoid conversion losses inherent in 's production, storage, and reconversion processes. In contrast, Liebreich remains optimistic about electric vehicles (EVs) and solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, citing their exponential cost declines and deployment scales as evidence of viable pathways under first-principles . Solar PV costs have fallen over 89% since 2010, enabling it to constitute 93% of new global grid capacity additions by 2025, with Liebreich forecasting potential "solar singularity" scenarios where growth continues unabated beyond traditional saturation models due to modular scalability and falling levelized costs below $20/MWh in optimal conditions. For EVs, he highlights prices dropping to under $100/kWh by 2024, driving to over 20% of global sales, though he caveats that grid infrastructure must expand—requiring 2-3x current capacity in high-adoption scenarios—to accommodate charging demands without reliability failures. These technologies succeed, per Liebreich, because they leverage efficiency and material abundance, unlike hydrogen's thermodynamic penalties. Liebreich's 2024 supervillains and superheroes framework assesses transition scenarios by balancing structural barriers against accelerating forces. The "supervillains"—such as materials bottlenecks for rare earths and permitting delays—could cap deployment if unaddressed, potentially limiting net-zero progress to 50-70% by 2050 in pessimistic models. Countering these are "superheroes" like in , EVs, and batteries, which have compounded at 20-50% annually, enabling systems-level solutions such as virtual power plants to mitigate without over-relying on storage. In his analysis, this duality suggests net-zero is feasible but demands pragmatic sequencing: prioritize and renewables first, reserving for irreplaceable cases, with scenarios projecting demand falling 40-50% by 2050 via gains rather than fuel-switching alone.

Political and Public Engagement

Support for Brexit and Sovereignty in Environmental Policy

In May 2016, Michael Liebreich publicly advocated for Brexit in an op-ed, arguing that British environmentalists should support leaving the EU to preserve and enhance the UK's autonomy in environmental policymaking. He contended that the UK's most impactful recent environmental measures, including a unilateral decision to phase out coal-fired power by 2025 and the establishment of a carbon floor price, were domestically driven rather than imposed by EU directives. Liebreich highlighted the UK's creation of the Pitcairn Islands marine reserve in 2015, the world's largest fully protected marine area at over 300,000 square miles, as evidence of independent leadership in conservation, contrasting it with the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, which he described as failing to safeguard fish stocks or promote sustainable practices. Liebreich criticized supranational structures for constraining innovation and agility, pointing to the bloc's scheme as bureaucratic and fraud-prone, alongside stagnant German emissions over 17 years due to nuclear phase-out and new coal investments. He argued that programs like Horizon 2020 prioritized collaborative projects over merit-based funding, allocating only 45 out of 2,000 grants to critical clean energy technologies such as advanced batteries or carbon capture. In his view, would free the from such constraints, enabling tailored policies that leverage national strengths, such as rapid deployment of renewables, without the delays of consensus-driven decision-making. Post-Brexit outcomes have empirically validated aspects of Liebreich's emphasis on sovereignty-driven flexibility, particularly in the 's accelerated . The government advanced the target from 2025 to October 1, 2024, with the final coal-fired plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, disconnecting from the grid on September 30, 2024, after 142 years of operation—marking the first nation to eliminate coal from its power mix. This was facilitated by domestic policies like carbon pricing and subsidies for gas and renewables, unencumbered by EU-wide harmonization requirements, allowing the to reduce coal's share from 39% in 2012 to zero in 2024. Such autonomy underscores broader implications for environmental realism: national permits pragmatic, evidence-based adjustments—such as prioritizing cost-effective transitions over uniform supranational mandates—potentially outpacing slower processes where member states' divergent interests, like Germany's reliance, dilute ambition. Liebreich's pre-referendum case positioned not as a retreat from environmental goals but as a means to assert leadership, free from the bureaucratic inertia he associated with .

Commentary on Global Energy Geopolitics

Liebreich has argued that Russia's 2022 invasion of exposed 's acute vulnerabilities from over-reliance on Russian fuels, such as Germany's dependence on Russian gas for 55% of its supply in 2021, prompting a pragmatic in clean deployment to bolster security and affordability. He views the resulting "Great Energy Price Spike" as having catalyzed policy responses like the U.S. , which allocated $369 billion to clean , while shifts to LNG imports, efficiency measures, and nuclear reactivation rather than unproven alternatives like rapid scaling. This , in Liebreich's analysis, underscores clean 's role in resolving the energy trilemma—affordability, cleanliness, and security—without ideological overreach, as Russia's pivot to Asian markets (potentially 200 billion cubic meters of gas exports by 2030) highlights the folly of assuming stable multilateral flows. Critiquing post-invasion strategies, Liebreich warns against substituting one form of import dependence for another, such as heavy reliance on LNG or future , which carry similar geopolitical risks amid conflicts like Russia-Ukraine. He advocates for domestic resilience through redundant systems, adequate storage to mitigate intermittency in renewables (e.g., avoiding "" blackouts in wind-solar dependent grids), and diversified supply chains resistant to cyber threats or neighbor dependencies. In this vein, he has supported Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries, which reduced Russia's refining capacity and revenues, as a tactical measure to weaken aggressors without compromising long-term transition goals. In 2025 discussions on global strategies, Liebreich critiqued Canada's oil and gas sector for misaligning with geopolitical realities, urging a realistic integration of domestic resources into resilient transition pathways rather than sidelining them prematurely. He emphasizes national sovereignty in , prioritizing security-driven diversification over optimistic multilateral assumptions that ignore adversarial actors like or , as evidenced by gas price surges pushing toward despite transition momentum. This realism, per Liebreich, demands policies that harden supply chains against disruptions, such as those from ongoing conflicts, to sustain clean energy outpacing demand growth by 3% annually without fragility.

Interactions with Policymakers and Media

Liebreich has provided expert testimony on clean energy topics to multiple governmental bodies. On March 7, 2007, he delivered a prepared statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during a hearing on advanced energy technologies, emphasizing the role of finance in scaling new energy solutions. In September 2010, he testified before the U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming on the global clean energy race, highlighting investment trends and competitive dynamics among nations. He has also testified to various U.S. Senate committees, as well as UK and EU parliamentary groups. In international forums, Liebreich has engaged policymakers through panels and addresses focused on energy geopolitics and transitions. At the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in 2021, he participated in a discussion on strategies for the Biden administration to strengthen international energy coalitions. He has addressed the on clean energy ministerial issues. These engagements often involve presenting data-driven analyses to bridge gaps between policy formulation and market realities. Liebreich frequently appears in media outlets and debates to discuss implementation. He debated economist in 2022 on the Cleaning Up regarding reforms, countering arguments for market abolition with evidence on pricing mechanisms. In June 2025, during a keynote interview at the Hydrogen Summit, he responded to industry critiques by questioning cost projections and progress benchmarks for . His media interactions, documented across podcasts like Net Zero Business and Volts, emphasize empirical challenges in policy execution while engaging diverse viewpoints.

Awards and Recognition

Entrepreneurial Achievements

Michael Liebreich founded New Energy Finance in , recognizing an opportunity to provide specialized , news, and analysis for the emerging clean energy and carbon markets at a time when global investment totaled just $32 billion. As Chairman and CEO, he led the firm through a period of rapid expansion, achieving 20 consecutive quarters of substantial year-on-year sales growth amid the uncertainties of nascent low-carbon sectors. This growth reflected his willingness to assume risks in unproven markets, building a team that delivered proprietary insights to investors and policymakers navigating volatile energy transitions. In 2009, New Energy Finance was acquired by for an undisclosed sum, rebranded as Bloomberg New Energy Finance, with Liebreich remaining as CEO to oversee its integration and continued development. The transaction underscored the firm's value in scaling data-driven intelligence for clean energy financing, transforming it from a startup into a cornerstone of Bloomberg's offerings and influencing billions in subsequent investments. Liebreich's entrepreneurial efforts earned him recognition as a two-time finalist for the Entrepreneur of the Year award, affirming his track record of innovation and execution in high-stakes ventures. Prior to New Energy Finance, he had contributed to building over 25 companies as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and executive, honing a pattern of identifying and scaling opportunities in dynamic industries.

Industry Honors and Lifetime Contributions

Liebreich received the Lifetime Achievement from BusinessGreen at its 2017 Technology Awards, recognizing his foundational role in advancing clean energy analytics and market intelligence through the establishment of New Energy Finance, later acquired by Bloomberg in 2009. This accolade highlighted his long-term influence in providing data-driven insights that shaped investment decisions and policy frameworks in and low-carbon technologies. Similarly, the Renewable Energy Association presented him with a lifetime achievement for his contributions to sector growth and , underscoring his analytical work in forecasting energy transitions and technology commercialization. In a departure from his professional focus, Liebreich was awarded a on by the Royal Humane Society in 2003 for coordinating a high-altitude operation in the Bolivian , an act of personal bravery unrelated to his expertise. His ongoing recognition in the industry includes frequent invitations to deliver keynote addresses at major forums, such as the World Leaders Congress in 2022 and the Energy Futures Lab Annual Lecture in 2024, where his pragmatic assessments of technologies and transition pathways have influenced sector discourse. These engagements reflect the esteem in which his evidence-based commentary on scalable solutions versus overhyped narratives is held by professionals.

Personal Life and Philanthropy

Family and Interests

Michael Liebreich resides in with his wife and three children. He met his wife through his professional activities at New Energy Finance. Liebreich's personal interests include , an activity he pursued extensively after and in which he competed as a member of the British freestyle ski team, specializing in moguls. In his earlier years with more available time, he also engaged in , voracious reading, and extensive . Liebreich speaks fluent French and German.

Charitable Activities and Bravery Recognition

Liebreich established the Liebreich Foundation in 2010 as a family grant-making trust to support charitable causes selected at the trustees' discretion, with a focus on areas including climate and environment, disability and inclusion, education, entrepreneurship, sport and health, sustainable development, and aid for veterans, refugees, and victims of violence. The foundation issues occasional small grants, primarily in London, though it has been fully committed to existing pledges as of recent updates, limiting new applications. One notable initiative supported by the foundation is Project Bo, launched in 2018 to fund reliable solar power installation and ongoing maintenance for a neonatal intensive care unit in Bo, Sierra Leone, addressing critical energy reliability for life-saving equipment in a resource-constrained setting. From 2007 to 2017, Liebreich served as trustee and chair of Foundation, a charity dedicated to funding and care for bowel diseases, during which he led its from a passive entity into an active with a sustained record of grant distribution for medical advancements. In 2012, he founded Moving Mountains (initially as Association EcoVillages), a Swiss non-profit promoting pragmatic in mountain communities through economic, ecological, and social initiatives, including annual forums to foster resilient development models in alpine regions rather than broad advocacy. These efforts emphasize targeted, outcome-oriented support—such as specialized and for vulnerable populations—over generalized environmental signaling, aligning with empirical assessments of need in and regional stability. In 2003, Liebreich received a on from the Royal Humane Society, a organization recognizing civilian bravery, for coordinating an attempted of a fatally injured mountain biker during a climbing expedition in the Bolivian ; despite the unsuccessful outcome, the effort involved a group of climbers navigating remote terrain to provide aid. The commendation, issued for actions demonstrating significant risk without expectation of reward, underscores personal initiative in high-stakes humanitarian response.

References

  1. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/MEqVfaDcU0CRuaZXBfuRB7DKUao/appointments
  2. https://liebreich.com/bio/
  3. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/events/flagship-event/global-energy-forum/michael-liebreich/
  4. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-the-unbearable-lightness-of-hydrogen/
  5. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-net-zero-will-be-harder-than-you-think-and-easier-part-ii-easier/
  6. https://www.olympics.com/en/athletes/michael-liebreich
  7. https://www.freeingenergy.com/freeing-energy-podcast-1-michael-liebreich/
  8. https://mcj.vc/inevitable-podcast/michael-liebreich
  9. https://www.empowerinnovation.net/es/custom/events/view/11695
  10. https://www.energyimpactcenter.org/eip/michaelliebreich
  11. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/speakers/michael-liebreich
  12. https://www.ecopragma.capital/michael-liebreich-1
  13. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/americas/bloomberg-buys-new-energy-finance-idUSTRE5B916D/
  14. https://www.freeingenergy.com/bloomberg-new-energy-finance-founder-and-chairman-michael-liebreich-shares-his-views-on-nuclear-solar-and-the-politics-of-energy/
  15. https://finyear.com/Bloomberg-Acquires-Clean-Energy-Data-Leader-New-Energy-Finance_a12919.html
  16. https://www.responsible-investor.com/bloomberg-buys-new-energy-finance/
  17. https://www.fs-unep-centre.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Global_Trends_Report_2009.pdf
  18. https://www.fs-unep-centre.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Global_Trends_Report_2010.pdf
  19. https://about.bnef.com/insights/finance/liebreich-climate-and-finance-lessons-from-a-time-machine/
  20. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-transport/planes-trains-automobiles-electric-remake/
  21. https://www.bloomberg.com/company/press/bloomberg-new-energy-finance-names-top-deal-makers-of-2011-2/
  22. https://liebreich.com/register-of-interest/
  23. https://sandbrook.com/people/michael-liebreich/
  24. https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/the-pragmatic-climate-reset-part
  25. https://www.cleaningup.live/episodes/
  26. https://www.cleaningup.live/
  27. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/new-energy-outlook/
  28. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rcp85-bollox-how-much-longer-michael-liebreich
  29. https://liebreich.com/bnef-energy-transportation-stick-orthodoxy/
  30. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mliebreich_the-energy-transition-is-not-dead-the-pragmatic-activity-7358906884193439744-qsNF
  31. https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/24/2017/05/Liebreich-Six-Design-Principles-for-the-Power-Markets-of-the-Future.pdf
  32. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-the-pragmatic-climate-reset-part-i/
  33. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-the-next-half-trillion-dollar-market-electrification-of-heat/
  34. https://powerlutions.com/long-island/insights-from-jigar-shah-and-michael-liebreich-on-solar-ppa/
  35. https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/linkedin-scenarios-for-a-solar-singularity
  36. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mliebreich_liebreich-the-pragmatic-climate-reset-activity-7355722697093369858-y2n5
  37. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-the-pragmatic-climate-reset-part-ii-a-provocation/
  38. https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/ai-data-centre-power-and-glory-an
  39. https://liebreich.com/tag/bloombergnef/
  40. https://about.bnef.com/insights/finance/energy-transition-investment-trends/
  41. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/climate-change-data-green/investment.html
  42. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/global-renewable-energy-investment-reaches-new-record-as-investors-reassess-risks/
  43. https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/how-solar-beat-every-forecast-to-win-the-renewables-race-20240625-p5jooo
  44. https://zenmo.com/en/better-predictions-in-renewable-energy-2/
  45. https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/the-case-against-blending
  46. https://www.cif.org/sites/cif_enc/files/resource-collection/material/full-report_accelerating-the-energy-transition-in-emerging-markets.pdf
  47. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-need-talk-nuclear-power/
  48. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
  49. https://mliebreich.substack.com/p/hydrogen-ladder-version-50
  50. https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications?ref=SR-2024-11
  51. https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/analysis/liebreich-hydrogen-is-starting-to-look-like-an-economic-bubble-and-here-s-why/2-1-1334006
  52. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-net-zero-will-be-harder-than-you-think-and-easier-part-i-harder/
  53. https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-energy-transitions-5-supervillains
  54. https://www.cleaningup.live/audioblog-12-net-zero-will-be-harder-than-you-think-and-easier-part-ii-easier/
  55. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/24/why-british-environmentalists-should-vote-for-brexit
  56. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-to-coal-power-brought-forward-to-october-2024
  57. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/30/end-of-an-era-as-britains-last-coal-fired-power-plant-shuts-down
  58. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-uks-journey-to-a-coal-power-phase-out/
  59. https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/after-ukraine-the-great-clean-energy-acceleration/
  60. https://about.bnef.com/insights/finance/liebreich-the-quest-for-resilience-what-could-possibly-go-wrong/
  61. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/responses/should-ukraine-keep-attacking-russian-oil-refineries
  62. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2XPS-BRrBk
  63. https://www.congress.gov/110/chrg/CHRG-110shrg36077/CHRG-110shrg36077.pdf
  64. https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/globalwarming/files/HRG/092210Global/liebreich.pdf
  65. https://liebreich.com/speaking/atlantic-council-global-energy-forum-2021-the-geopolitics-of-the-energy-transformation/
  66. https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/2022/11/01/should-electricity-markets-be-reformed-or-disbanded-my-debate-with-michael-liebreich-on-cleaning-up/
  67. https://www.gasworld.com/story/liebreich-provocations-on-cost-spark-debate-at-london-hydrogen-event/2160802.article/
  68. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsHvK7paIqs
  69. https://www.vccircle.com/bloomberg-buys-uks-news-and-data-firm-new-energy-finance
  70. https://www.businessgreen.com/news/3022274/businessgreen-technology-awards-2017-and-the-winner-is
  71. https://www.aaespeakers.com/keynote-speakers/michael-liebreich
  72. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mliebreich_michael-liebreichs-keynote-speech-at-world-activity-6989881784574304256-f7dt
  73. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Q9cuF8zKg
  74. https://liebreich.com/speaking/
  75. https://www.cleaningup.live/rounding-up-season-11-ep159-michael-liebreich-bryony-worthington-1/
  76. https://live.worldbank.org/en/experts/m/michael-liebreich
  77. https://liebreich.com/foundation/
  78. https://www.gofundme.com/f/projectbo
  79. https://www.projectbo.org/team
  80. https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2017/12/12/st-mark-s-chairman-steps-down-leaving-lasting-legacy
  81. https://liebreich.com/foundation/whatever/
  82. https://movingmountainsforum.com/en/home-2/
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.