Get in touch - leave me a message
AI may be booming, but the real bottleneck to it's growth may be turbines. And if firm power can’t scale fast enough, parts of the energy transition hit a wall.
In this episode, I’m joined by Brad Hartwig, Co-founder and CEO of Arbor Energy, to unpack a part of the climate tech and energy transition story that gets far too little attention: the physical machinery needed to deliver reliable, round-the-clock power. Arbor is developing modular supercritical CO2 turbines with integrated carbon capture, aimed at tackling one of the hardest problems in decarbonisation: how to provide firm, scalable electricity while still driving emissions reduction and keeping net zero in view.
We dig into why turbine shortages are becoming a serious constraint on hyperscale data centres, utilities, and industrial electrification, and you’ll hear why Brad believes this is now a critical choke point for both AI infrastructure and climate progress. You might be surprised to learn how stretched the traditional turbine supply chain has become, and why legacy manufacturers may be structurally mismatched to meet the moment.
We also get into oxy-combustion, methane leakage, biomass, carbon sequestration, long-duration storage, and the awkward reality that wind, solar, batteries, and grid expansion, while essential, may still leave gaps when it comes to firm power. This is a grounded conversation about climate tech, policy, energy transition strategy, and what serious infrastructure thinking looks like when the easy slogans run out.
🎙️ Listen now to hear how Brad Hartwig and Arbor Energy are rethinking firm power for a faster, tougher, more honest climate transition.
Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.
Support the show
Podcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:
And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.
🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?
I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition.
Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck
And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice.
If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident