The Interchange: Recent Episodes
Wood Mackenzie
The Interchange: Recharged podcast is a leading global clean tech podcast that has been running since 2017. Each fortnight we invite experts and industry leaders from the world of clean tech and energy to join in a deep dive about their tech, the future of their sector, funding and policy impacts.
We aim to provide a platform for start-ups, new companies and organisations who are innovating and solving real world problems in the energy transition. Our listeners are energy experts, industry evangelists who’re interested in companies that do pioneering work to accelerate the transition.
Our host David Banmiller takes our audience through a 45-60 minute exploration of the revolutionary tech these companies are developing, asking about the history, the ongoing work and the vision our guests have for their business. The conversation often turns to funding and policy as well.
280 million EV’s worth of battery material is sitting on the ocean floor, but do we need to mine it?
The end is nigh for the internal combustion engine Electric vehicles will be phased in across the next decade, with two-thirds of vehicles sold in the US by 2032 mandated to be electric. In California, 100% of cars will need to be electric by 2035. As a result, demand for the precious metals that are needed for EVs is forecast to increase significantly.
Every solution creates its own challenges. Electrification is one of the answers to the net zero question, but it’s created an issue in itself – where are we going to get the minerals?
On this episode, host David Banmiller is joined by Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company. They estimate that there are quantities of metals equivalent to 280 million EVs (comparable to the total US fleet today), sitting on the seabed. Deep see mining is a new frontier – but do we need to start scouring the ocean floor when there’s an abundance of metals on the surface? How ecological is the practice?
Also joining the discussion to answer these questions is Robbie Diamond, Founder, President and CEO of SAFE. SAFE is an advocacy group for US energy security and economic resiliency by reducing dependency on overseas energy supply. They work to ensure that the US and allies secure key aspects of the technology supply chain.
Deep sea mining represents a significant opportunity to alleviate supply chain constraints. The mining, done in international waters, presents a few advantages: minimal impact on ecology (though this is debated, and addressed on the show today), avoidance of issues related to cross-continental delivery and rapid utilisation of resources due to lack of infrastructural hurdles.
Despite the potential of deep sea mining to diversify supply chains, there has been some resistance from NGOs and other conservation groups who are hesitant about the potential environmental impacts. Understanding the benefits of deep sea mining and, as we do on the show, confronting its potential drawbacks is crucial.
Follow us on Twitter - we're @interchange show, or head to woodmac.com/podcasts for more. Subscribe to the show on your podcast platform of choice so you don't miss an episode, out every second Friday at 8am ET. Also do check out our sister podcast The Energy Gang, out on the alternate Friday when the Interchange isn't.
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The energy transition can’t be solved simply by focusing on infrastructure, digital solutions or investment alone. These three parts of the puzzle need to fit together.
The federal government recognises this; at the end of June the Environmental Protection Agency, funded by the IRA, dedicated $7 billion to community solar projects. These projects will focus on supplying solar to lower-income neighbourhoods. This paradigm shift to the community and individual consumer level is welcome news to Michael Pinto, CEO of CleanWatts.
They’re a cleantech company focused on the local energy market – utilising the power of solar farms and AI to provide clean energy to communities. Based in Portugal, they’ve seen a significant increase in community-based renewable energy initiatives. What lessons have they learned in Europe that can be replicated in the US?
Host David Banmiller guides us through a conversation to answer exactly that. Michael explores some of the major stumbling blocks and hurdles facing communities trying to access solar power, and how CleanWatts and others are overcoming them.
In addition to looking for ways to improve energy efficiency, CleanWatts also perceives AI as an essential tool in managing and predicting future energy needs. These digital innovations enable a higher level of control, providing a more stable and resilient grid system in the face of the huge changes the energy transition places on the existing infrastructure.
Two significant challenges that the industry faces are regulatory frameworks and supply chain dependencies. Speedy regulatory approvals for local energy generation constructs are critical to accelerating the energy transition. The latest announcement of funding from the US government could be a significant step on this path.
Coupled with mass-scale infrastructure solutions, local demand-side activation needs to grow rapidly.
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Back in May, we heard from two climate economists – Gernot Wagner and Bruce Usher, both from Columbia University. Together with host of the show, David Banmiller, they explored the flow of capital going into the four largest sources of renewable energy: hydrogen, nuclear, solar and wind. Examining where the money is coming from and where it’s going?
It's coming primarily from venture capitalists, but in the last two months there’s been significant changes and evolutions in the industry.
As we accelerate towards our net zero future, with the goal set for 2050, total capital investment necessary to achieve it has been estimated at $275 trillion. Between 2010 and 2019, investment in renewables topped $2.6 trillion, so with three decades to go we need to increase that amount a hundred-fold.
Today, we get another perspective on the financing for the energy transition. Serge Tismen is Managing Director and Global Head of Clean Energy Transition at Citi in New York and joins David to discuss the market as he sees it.
Is this $275 trillion figure accurate? Serge explains that it could be 270 trillion, but some have estimated it at 120, or 195. What are the key criteria that investors are looking at when considering new projects and infrastructure? A year on from the IRA are we continuing to see impacts in the same sectors?
Diversification is key. Investment in mining for critical minerals, battery recycling and the steady growth of new technologies such as geothermal all need to be considered. Serge and David examine it all.
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Changes to the way emissions are reported will have a big impact on renewable investment.
It might be the most important piece of sustainability material in corporate and climate work that no one’s ever heard of, and it drives a huge amount of corporate behaviour.
In 1998, the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard launched, and set out a standard for businesses to measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. Like financial accounting standards, the GHG Protocol influences corporate behaviour such as investment decisions. So, a planned revision of the rules for reporting Scope 2 emissions is a significant event. The new standard, expected to take effect in 2025, could have a big impact on corporate investment in low-carbon energy around the world.
Now, a consortium of some of the world’s biggest funders of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, such as Amazon and Meta, are looking to refine the current rules with the goal of increasing the accuracy of reporting. Together with 8 other companies, including Intel and Heineken, they’ve co-founded the Emissions First Partnership, which is advocating for changes to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Host David Banmiller is joined by Jake Oster, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy at Amazon Web Services, and Peter Freed, Head of Energy Strategy at Meta, to explain the goals of the EFP and why updating accounting standards is so important.
The EFP says that changes to the GHG Protocol Scope 2 emissions reporting is a crucial step to addressing the climate crisis and decarbonizing the power system. Investment in new renewable technologies from corporates, as a result of the accounting standards being updated in the past decade, is increasing.
Pre 2015, before the current market-based methodology was in place, there was about a gigawatt of installed capacity coming from PPAs. Today, there’s more than 100. The pace of progress in the energy transition is accelerating as reporting standards are refined and the EFP aims to continue this progress.
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Solar is attracting the power generation industry’s best talent. As solar and storage enter a new era of applied strategy, better analytics and tools are accelerating growth. Pine Gate Renewables is aiming to ‘get solar done’ by providing renewable energy to local communities across the country.
On today’s episode of the Interchange: Recharged, host David Banmiller is joined by David Groleau, Senior Vice President of Origination at Pine Gate. Together, they explore how unprecedented demand and regulatory integrations are transforming solar and storage in the US.
Plus, more of the best discussions from a packed Solar and Energy Storage Summit in San Francisco. David Banmiller is joined by solar and storage experts with a focus on community and social enterprise, live from the Wood Mac event, including:
- Patrick Regan of Crossroads Solar
- Bill Jordan of community initiative Share the Sun
- Eric Hafter from Origami Solar
- Nate Webb of Passage Studio & Robert Cross from Cross Consulting Services
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Pine Gate Renewables is a fully integrated renewable energy company powering the nation's energy transition with trusted utility-scale energy and storage solutions. Building projects from a community mindset, Pine Gate is committed to delivering sustainable value where we live, work and operate. Visit pinegaterenewables.com/learnmore
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Host of the Interchange: Recharged David Banmiller is in San Francisco, bringing you the second of three special episodes recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar Energy and Storage Summit.
From the live podcast studio in the Gold Ballroom at the Palace Hotel, David brings you the best bits from a packed second day of presentations and interviews with leading solar policymakers, innovators and specialists. The focus shifts today to storage: how can domestic manufacturing be incentivized? What is required to nurture the development of a thriving localized storage component supply chain?What are the opportunities and challenges for long-duration energy storage implementation?
Join David and five expert guests, as they explore the trends in storage tech, solar finance and managing storage operations.
Make sure you subscribe to the show so you don’t miss our third and final episode of this special series, coming soon and featuring more interviews with solar and storage industry leaders and some bonus behind-the-scenes content.
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Pine Gate Renewables is a fully integrated renewable energy company powering the nation's energy transition with trusted utility-scale energy and storage solutions. Building projects from a community mindset, Pine Gate is committed to delivering sustainable value where we live, work and operate. Visit pinegaterenewables.com/learnmore
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Host of the Interchange: Recharged David Banmiller is in San Francisco, bringing you the first of three special episodes recorded live at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar and Energy Storage Summit.
From the live podcast studio in in the Palace Hotel, David brings you the best bits from a packed first day. Interviews with leading solar policymakers, innovators and specialists uncover the latest trends in the US solar market. One year on from the IRA and the implications for solar are still being discussed. What other policy will help accelerate the adoption of solar? What permitting reform is needed to drive innovation in storage and batteries?
Join David and five expert guests, as they explore the trends in solar finance, the growth and outlook for US manufacturing, and the forecasts for the solar supply chain.
Make sure you subscribe to the show so you don’t miss our recap of Day 2 of the summit, focusing on the innovations behind the latest storage technology.
Follow us on Twitter, we’re @interchangeshow and follow the summit on our LinkedIn (
Pine Gate Renewables is a fully integrated renewable energy company powering the nation's energy transition with trusted utility-scale energy and storage solutions. Building projects from a community mindset, Pine Gate is committed to delivering sustainable value where we live, work and operate. Visit pinegaterenewables.com/learnmore
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In the US last year, solar PV capacity totalled 142 GW, enough to power 25 million homes. Falling costs, advancements in storage and cell technology and supportive government policies drove record growth in 2022. This was an 11% year on year increase. Residential solar in 2022 had a record year, with nearly 6 GW of installations, a 40% increase on 2021.
It wasn’t all plain sailing. We saw some downturns in other market segments as supply chain issues caused delays and roadblocks to adoption. Utility-scale solar was down over 30% year on year, but despite these challenges, the IRA and other market forces have created upside to long-term solar forecasts.
Over the next decade, the industry will grow five-fold. 700 GW of total capacity could power more than 125 million million American homes.
So what can we expect from solar over the next 10 years? More importantly, what is happening now, and what will happen in 2023 that will impact the future of solar energy?
Abigail Hopper is the President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade organization for America’s solar industries. Every quarter, in conjunction with Wood Mackenzie, the S-E-I-A releases their US Solar Market Insight report. It examines the data and analyses installations, costs, manufacturing and demand projections.
John Berger is founder and CEO of Sunnova, a leading residential solar and storage provider.
They both join David on the Interchange to look at some key aspects of the report, and explore the direction of solar in the US in 2023.
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The world is undergoing a slow but much needed transition. The need to phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable sources of energy was a major theme at COP27. But with past efforts to reach certain goals falling short, what technologies are being developed to put us back on track?
On this episode, host David Banmiller is joined by Fredrik Mowill, CEO at Hystar.
Hystar is a high-tech company that specializes in PEM electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen from water electrolysis. With their unique and patented technology, they hope to make the production of hydrogen from renewable electricity significantly more affordable and more accessible.
Join them as they discuss how this technology works, what makes it unique, and what else can be done to further the energy transition.
Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single show and let us know your thoughts and comments.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered. Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control —including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visitse.com/us/eaasto find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
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As we publish this episode, COP27 is well underway. World leaders and policymakers are gathering in Egypt to formulate plans to tackle the climate crisis.
Recent reports, notably a report from the UN in recent weeks, indicate that the current efforts being made by the world are not enough to restrict us to 1.5c of global heating. With the pledges made at COP26 a year ago still not being met, the focus is on the Western world and its responsibility to lead the charge, not least financially. It was proposed that $100b a year would be set aside for spending on climate action, but current figures put the actual amount as being far lower.
On today’s episode, David is joined by Rick Saines, Managing Director at Pollination. They are a climate change advisory and investment firm which aims to deliver net zero, focusing on decarbonization and nature-positive outcomes. They liaise with large NGOs, governments, and investment firms. They have a key focus on investment; advisory insights, as well as understanding trends and analysing the intersection between policy and investment. All of which lead to better decision-making in ESG investing.
Transitioning to a zero-carbon economy is imperative. Through the noise of mid-term elections, and a cost of living crisis, the urgency to act on the climate must cut through. What needs to be changed on a global policy level, as time starts to run out?
Join them as they take a markets-based look at how companies and governments are working toward net-zero, and what needs to be done to ensure governments are sticking to the promises they make.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered. Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control —including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visitse.com/us/eaasto find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Power grids across the world are under huge strain, as communities and businesses struggle to keep up with costs and the unreliability of an aging infrastructure.
We’re seeing it now in the UK as the National Grid warns of planned blackouts throughout the country. While in the US, electricity companies prepare for the winter with an unreliable grid. But how can energy users help restore balance and maintain the grid without breaking the bank?
On this episode of The Interchange Recharged, host David Banmiller is joined by the Senior Vice President of GridBeyond, Wayne Muncaster.
Companies are always looking for new technologies that will keep their energy costs low, while ensuring they have power when they need it. GridBeyond is doing just that. A leader in intelligent energy technology, they are focused on providing industrial customers with real-time solutions to manage every aspect of the energy transition including resiliency and integration of battery storage.
Listen as we discuss the challenges that arise from an aging grid, the uncertainty around energy security and look at how companies can transform energy into opportunity.
Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single show and let us know your thoughts and comments.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered. Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control —including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visitse.com/us/eaasto find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
With 90% of the world's trade being transported by sea, the cost to the environment is significant.
Following our focus on commercial sea travel in the last episode of The Interchange Recharged podcast, we now step onto the decks of Maersk, who are looking to alternative ways to power their engines.
Hydrogen has been seen as the go-to sustainable aviation fuel, but can it power the mammoth ships that transport our freight across the globe? Maersk, one of the largest global shipping companies, doesn’t seem to think so. They want to look elsewhere.
Jacob Sterling, head of ocean decarbonization and innovation at Maersk, joins host David Banmiller to discuss how the company is sailing towards climate neutrality by 2040 with a new fleet of vessels that run on green methanol, a low-carbon fuel.
Maersk is also focused on helping other companies lower their ocean shipping’s carbon footprint with an ECO Delivery service that uses second generation green biofuels, which reduce CO2 emissions by more than 80%.
What led Maersk to choose methanol fuel? How far along are they on the deployment of methanol-powered ships? How much are companies willing to pay to support the global effort for the energy transition? And how realistic are their goals? Tune in as Jacob takes us through the future of shipping fuel.
Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single show, and do let us know your thoughts and comments.
View the landing page to hear all episodes of The Interchange Recharged.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered. Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control —including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visit se.com/us/eaas to find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
On this episode we step aboard a hydrogen-powered ferry that’s hoping to lead the shift away from fossil fuels in a carbon-intensive industry.
We’ve examined technologies that are helping the energy transition on land, such as wave drilling technology and data-driven tools that help consumers slash emissions, and in the air with aviation companies working to develop hydrogen-powered engines and sustainable aviation fuel. Today we’re casting a wider net and looking at sustainability at sea.
Pace Ralli, co-founder and CEO at SWITCH Maritime, joins David to discuss how his company is building the first fleet of zero-emissions vessels in North America. Their flagship zero-emissions ferry, The Sea Change, is currently undergoing sea trials and is powered by hydrogen fuel cells and batteries.
What are some of the challenges SWITCH has faced during this transition? How has the maritime industry evolved and is this the starting point for a wider shift across the industry?
Listen as Pace takes us through his journey as a climate-tech investor and what led him to focus on hard-to-decarbonize sectors like maritime.
Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single show, and please do let us know your thoughts and comments.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered. Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control — including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visit se.com/us/eaas to find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
With major airline companies setting net zero goals by 2050, we’ve talked a lot about the aviation industry and its contribution to our emissions problem.
In recent episodes we have featured several companies which are creating technologies that will get us closer to meeting this goal. We’ve visited the world of sustainable fuel, had a layover in the land of hydrogen-powered engines and today, we’ve arrived at our next destination: speed and sustainability.
On this episode, David is joined by Ben Murphy, Head of Sustainability at Boom Supersonic. Boom is building a supersonic plane they are calling the Overture – the world's fastest airliner.
Boom is redefining the future of flight with their goals of speed, safety and sustainability. The company aims to usher in a new era of supersonic travel by transporting passengers from places like New York to London in only a few hours. The Overture will be equipped with noise-reduction technologies and emit zero carbon. But how will it work? What sustainable aviation fuel will it use?
With major investment already secured from the likes of United and American Airlines, are we inching closer to realising the dream of ultra-fast, carbon-neutral air travel? When will people be able to fly it? Listen now to find out.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered.
Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control — including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visit se.com/us/eaas to find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
The RE+ conference is the clean energy industry's largest and most comprehensive event in North America. This year it’s taking place in Anaheim, California from Sept. 19 through to Sept. 22. Wood Mackenzie is excited to be attending the conference this year and we hope to see you there on the floor. To learn more about RE+, including how to buy tickets, visit woodmac.com/replus
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It’s something we reiterate every episode: we’ll achieve net zero by adopting the new energy transition technologies that are developed every day around the world. Often we focus on the main areas: the solar tech, the ways the industry is maximizing wind power or the developments being made in sustainable aviation fuel. This week however, David turns his attention to an often over-looked but important piece in the energy transition puzzle: how to improve efficiency and create total sustainability in food and medicinal storage.
40% of our total food production is thrown away before it reaches plates. That’s a US$1.6 trillion a year problem, and it’s caused primarily by poor food storage. Refrigerated storage is costly and uses a huge amount of energy.
With the entire world in an energy crisis, the strain on the US power grid has caused states to put caps on the amount of energy being used in businesses and in homes. Restaurants are particularly liable to waste due to food safety laws which demand that food must be thrown away if improperly stored. That can be caused by anything from faulty equipment to food being stored in a place below the required temperature threshold. With energy prices skyrocketing, businesses need a way to improve efficiencies in storage. How can this be solved?
We investigate the ways that the industry can save energy and reduce emissions with founder and CEO of Therma, Manik Suri. Therma is a tech startup that builds safety and sustainability tools to eliminate food waste, improve energy efficiency and reduce refrigerant emissions — protecting consumers and combating climate change.It’s not just refrigeration – Therma also focuses on cooling in a broader sense. Malik claims that improving ventilation is another way of creating efficiencies in energy use and saving individuals money. The world is paying the price for the inefficiencies across the entire supply chain, so streamlining and reducing energy use has a knock-on effect, and ultimately could lead to significant positive impacts for the world in combatting climate change.
The Interchange podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric.
Are you looking for more energy control but worry about the upfront costs of a microgrid and renewables? Schneider Electric have you covered.
Schneider Electric offers Energy as a Service for customers like you who spend $40,000 or more each month on energy. With Energy as a Service, you get customized solutions to help you meet goals for sustainability, efficiency, and cost control — including a microgrid and adjacent energy infrastructure. They also handle every step of the process, and assume financial and operational risks.
Upgraded electrical equipment. Reduced emissions. Predictable long-term pricing. Energy as a Service provides all this, and more.
Visit se.com/us/eaas to find out if Energy as a Service is right for you.
The RE+ conference is the clean energy industry's largest and most comprehensive event in North America. This year it’s taking place in Anaheim, California from Sept. 19 through to Sept. 22.
Wood Mackenzie is excited to be attending the conference this year and we hope to see you there on the floor. To learn more about RE+, including how to buy tickets, visit woodmac.com/replus
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today, the global aviation industry is responsible for around two percent of carbon dioxide emissions. With major airlines pledging to hit net-zero by 2050, all eyes are on sustainable fuel manufacturers to help power these airlines towards their goal. But what if there’s another way?
When it comes to making aviation sustainable, the industry seems to have just two options: make the fuel sustainable or build engines powered by renewable energy. In this episode, we are joined by Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia – a company betting their chips on the second option.
ZeroAvia has developed a hydrogen-powered engine which they hope will provide the foundation for the future of sustainable air travel. Some of the world’s biggest airlines share this hope with United, British Airways and American Airlines invested in the technology. Over 1,000 engines have been pre-ordered.
Val explains why ZeroAvia looks to hydrogen engines rather than investing in processes to make zero-emission fuel. Their engine is undergoing certifications on small propeller planes, but Val and ZeroAvia have their eyes on the ultimate prize: powering wide-body jets and revolutionising the industry. What does their path look like? Let’s find out.
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We talk a lot on the podcast about the technology that powers the latest innovations in energy supply. But what about a solution to the problem of energy procurement? A few episodes ago we spoke to the Founder and Executive Director of WattTime, a nonprofit tech company that uses the power of data to reduce emissions at the consumer level. Using more energy when the grid is powered by renewables and less when it’s relying on fossil fuels; WattTime automatically manages your home energy usage based on a smart metering system. This week we look one step along the energy supply chain, to where we actually get our energy from.
Our guest this week is also a Founder and CEO, Ryan Peusch of Zentility. Ryan’s company uses data and an advanced UI to simplify and streamline the energy buying process for businesses. Zentility links energy suppliers to customers through an automated contract management system.
David looks at the technology in more detail with Ryan, exploring why it could help businesses across the US make smarter decisions with their energy contracts, and lead to a higher concentration of renewables powering our cities. What are the long-term trends for energy prices in the midst of a global fuel crisis? Can the Zentility platform alleviate price woes for customers?
Find out right here, on the Interchange: Recharged.
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The energy transition is a machine with hundreds of moving parts. The problems we face in getting to net zero will be solved by a combination of technology, policy and consumer action. The cleantech sector is awash with technological marvels. Today, we look at a company with huge potential – a tech company that utilises the power of waves.
On the podcast: how harnessing that power can fill in a crucial gap in the energy transition puzzle, when solar and wind can’t deliver enough power on their own. David is joined by Jan Skjoldhammer, from NoviOcean. NoviOcean has developed a wave energy converter which it says can deliver lower energy costs and supplement the solar grid.
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9 months ago The Interchange spoke with Harald Overholm from Alight. Alight is one of the leading providers of Power Purchase Agreements in Europe. Since then we’ve seen massive changes in the market, rampant inflation and stock market turmoil.
To analyse the changes currently underway in the PPA sector, David is joined by Luca Pedretti, from PexaPark. PexaPark use unique data sets to offer pricing across multiple European markets.
The discussion moves from talk of price volatility and how it can be managed, to the future of the renewable sector and what needs to be done to mitigate the negative effects of inflation. There are lessons for the US from Europe. Can a PPA hedge against inflation?
Luca says we need to find a way to incentivise and integrate private capital. How do we do this? Dive into the episode to find out.
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To continue to accelerate the energy transition investment in clean tech companies is essential. We’ve seen more growth in the last 5 years than the last 100 with trillions of dollars flooding the market in the interests of accelerating the path to Net Zero.
On today's Interchange, David is joined by Matthew Nordan for an eye-opening conversation. Matthew is the General Partner of Azolla Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage tech companies with the potential for gigaton-scale climate impact. Azolla have unique evaluation criteria; gigaton scale climate impact, the principle of additionality and only investing in cases where they can see bullet point level seed milestones.
In this episode, David and Matthew discuss the current investor appetite for green tech investments, how the sector deals with green washing and whether SPACS are still an effective tool.
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The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
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Wood Mackenzie’s Solar Energy and Storage Summit has wrapped for 2022.
Across 3 days of talks on solar and storage, David Banmiller was live in San Diego, bringing you highlights from each day of the conference.
On the final day we have a packed show for you, featuring an extended interview with Kelly Sarber from Strategic Management Group and Vanessa Witte, Senior Research Analyst on Solar Storage at Wood Mackenzie, as they go in depth into the current state of the storage market.
We're also joined by Ty Keefe from EPC Power, Justin Hopkins from Franklin Whole Homes, Ananth Benedict from Phoenix Contact, Aaron Bingham from BayWA r.e Solar and Wilfred Audley from eleXsys Energy as they give their thoughts on the future of storage and their tech is impacting the market.
With extra discussions with analysts Rachel Goldstein and Sylvia Martinez on ESG investment this episode is full of analysis on the key role solar storage will play in the energy transition.
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The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Wood Mackenzie’s Solar Energy and Storage Summit is on now, and we’re bringing you all the action from 3 days of talks right here on The Interchange.
Host David Banmiller is live in San Diego, bringing you highlights from each day of the conference.
We're here on day 2 of the summit, and the focus of the day is on the ever-evolving connection between solar and storage. In this recap of the second day, David is joined by Bridget Van Dorsten, Hydrogen Research Analyst, to look at solar-to-hydrogen tech, Matt Cox from Greenlink Analytics to explore the ESG impact on projects in terms of job creation and the displacement of fossil fuels and Michelle Davis, Principle Analyst of Distributed Solar, to talk trends in the solar markets.
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The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
Summary
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Wood Mackenzie’s Solar Energy and Storage Summit is on now, and we’re bringing you all the action from 3 days of talks right here on The Interchange.
Host David Banmiller is live in San Diego, bringing you highlights from each day of the conference.
Across the next 3 special episodes, David talks to some of the best and brightest in solar and storage, exploring new technology and policies.
Day 1 is all about solar. In this recap of the first day, David explores the implications of the Biden administration's recent announcement to boost domestic solar production, with some big industry names: Chris Seiple, Vice-Chairman Energy Transition and Renewables at Wood Mackenzie, Sean Gallagher, Vice President of State & Regulatory Affairs at the SEIA, and Wood Mac's Head of Solar Xiaojing Sun.
Follow us on Twitter @theinterchange
The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It's been 6 months since our new host David Banmiller joined the Interchange. In that time he has journeyed through the world of solar storage, EV policy in the US and UK, carbon capture, and hydrogen. The podcast has explored the power of community solar, geothermal energy technology and sustainable rocket fuel.
We've been joined by CEOs from Alight, Quaise Energy, Ecosene and more and David has spoken with some of the leading innovators in every field of renewable energy, and dived deep into emerging tech that could solve some of the biggest problems facing the energy transition.
For this special episode - we look back at some of the highlights of the past 6 months, featuring clips from Alight, the Coalition for Community Solar Access, WattTime, UC Davis, Quaise Energy and Ecosene.
A message from David:
It’s been a journey on the Interchange: Recharged so far. I’ve learned more in the last 6 months than I ever hoped to as the host of the show, and it’s taken me to some really interesting places. Solar Power Purchase Agreements in Norway, geothermal energy at MIT, sustainable rocket fuel in the UK, and other emerging technologies from all over the world. I can’t wait for the next 6 months, and beyond, so thanks for joining me so far, and I look forward to taking you on the next step of the journey with me.
We’ll be back in 2 weeks and taking a look at the financing of the energy transition, with Matthew Nordan, Partner at Azolla Ventures. The podcast is also going to be heading off to the Solar and Storage Energy Summit from June 6-9, where I'll be broadcasting live from the 3 days of solar and storage talk with some of the biggest names in the industry.
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We are currently going through a reformation of the power grid, and a revitalization process in how we produce clean energy. Not only are there more ways to create and harness energy than ever before, but there are also new ways to store that energy. The energy storage industry is booming, but the modern batteries we use require one key component; lithium. To continue utilizing and perfecting these batteries, however, requires a sustainable and environmentally sound method of lithium and mineral extraction.
On today's Interchange, we had the pleasure of having Zachary Sadow sit down with David for an eye-opening conversation. Zachary is the CEO and Co-founder of KMX Technologies. KMX is an emerging leader in rare Earth mineral extraction and wastewater treatment. Why is this important? Today's modern batteries require high levels of lithium ion, a finite material. KMX is changing the process of how we extract these minerals from the Earth and making sure the wastewater from these processes is returned to its pure form. Not only is KMX improving wastewater treatment processes, but they are in turn improving living conditions around these sites as well.
In this episode, David queries Zac on the traditional processes for extracting lithium. What is the commercial use concentration that the lithium needs to be at? What policy and government action does KMX need to help the progress of its business? As always, we find out if the model is viable, and the technology tried and tested.
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The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
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When the sun stays out for a few extra hours in summer, where do we store the excess energy? This is one of the biggest challenges facing the renewable energy industry. When looking at countries like Norway, which is currently powered by 50% renewable energy, mostly coming from Hydropower, they run into the same old problem: having high influxes of energy and then dips. How do you store energy when you have excess and then use that same energy when the grid is in higher demand? That's where energy storage comes into play.
In today's episode, David Banmiller speaks with Freyr Battery CEO and Co-Founder, Tom Jensen. Tom’s company is currently constructing one of the largest battery cell production facilities in Europe, aiming for capacity of a whopping 43GWH. The facility is based in northern Norway and is being constructed utilizing the abundant renewable energy from the grids. Freyr is committed to supporting cluster-based R&D initiatives and the development of an international ecosystem of scientific, commercial, and financial stakeholders to support the expansion of the battery value chain in their region.
In this episode, David explores why Freyr’s technology sticks out from the crowd. What are some of the roadblocks to furthering battery storage initiatives and how can they be overcome? What are some ways that we can recycle older batteries and give them another life? How is inflation affecting Freyr's current efforts? All of these questions and more, on The Interchange: Recharged.
The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
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If you were offered free software that would automatically reduce the CO2 emissions from your energy usage would you accept it? This week's guest, WattTime, found that 90% of survey participants said “yes” to that very same question. At the other end of the scale, only about 55% of Americans believe in climate change, according to a 2019 survey. New programs that help reduce emissions from domestic utilities can take time to deploy, and are could be more of a hassle than a benefit. WattTime wants to change that. That's why they have developed their Automatic Emissions Reduction Software that can be downloaded by any smart device.
In this week's episode, David sits down with Gavin McCormick, the Founder and Executive Director of WattTime, a nonprofit tech company that uses the power of data to reduce emissions at the consumer level. Gavin holds a master's degree in Energy Economics from UC Berkeley and left his Ph.D. program to pursue his dreams of launching a start-up. Nine years later, WattTime has partnered with a range of companies, from your local utility companies to Google. Gavin has a goal to implement his AER technology into every IoT device to help significantly reduce emissions at home and beyond.
David explores and challenges WattTime's business model, and Gavin’s plans for staying as a non-profit. David asks how WattTime collects, analyzes, and shares the data they retrieve, and poses questions regarding WattTime's place in the net zero transition, as Gavin hopes to implement his software into every IoT device.
It’s a bold idea, and works at the consumer level, but is it scalable? And what’s next? Let’s find out.
The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It feels like every other week we hear news about another CEO or billionaire jetting off into space. Are we entering a new era of the Space Race? instead of politicians and governments gloating about their space programs, we now have billionaires live-streaming their afternoon flights to the edge of the ozone. Every one of these launches emits 300 tons of carbon dioxide into the upper atmosphere. With the frequency of private launches increasing, as well as the demand for space exploration constantly growing, the need for sustainable space travel is urgent.
What environmental impact do these privately funded space programs have? Should governments have more of a say?
In today's episode of the Interchange: Recharged, David is joined by Derek Harris, the CEO of an aerospace fuel company aiming to create a sustainable rocket fuel mix. The company, Ecosene, believes that space travel does not have to be a burden on our environment. They are even taking it a step further, by researching and creating a new fuel that is composed of plastic waste dredged from our oceans. Derek walks us through the science behind the fuel and how it will be applied to the real world. Is it possible for them to solve two environmental issues with one process? Is their plan viable? These questions, as well as the science, financing and ethics behind sustainable space travel are put under the microscope this week, so buckle in.
The Interchange is brought to you by JinkoSolar, a leading solar panel manufacturer and energy storage integrator.
JinkoSolar now offers energy storage for a variety of residential, C&I, and utility projects.
To learn more about Jinko’s EAGLE Storage products visit www.jinkosolar.us/interchange.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Have you ever played around with the idea of installing a solar system for your home? Where would you start? What worries you most about the process? The price? Quality of work? What about the durability of the equipment? These concerns are often a barrier to residential solar. This week in the Interchange recharged we meet Otovo – an interesting business with European roots who are trying to remove the barriers for homeowners to solar installation.
In this episode, David is joined by Andreas Thorsheim the CEO of Otovo, and Chloe Holden a US residential Storage analyst from Wood Mackenzie to discuss the global evolution of residential solar and how to unlock the potential and remove barriers for homeowners. The three also discuss recent solar policies, the future of residential energy storage, and the difference between the US and European solar markets.
Tune in to hear how the CEO of an Oslo-based solar company expanded to over 7 European countries in just 5 years and then stick around to hear what an expert in energy storage has to say when we ask her where the future of storage in the US is headed. Welcome to this week's Interchange, recharged.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Clean Energy Conference: Renewables Integration & Grid Modernization for a Clean Energy Future, happening April 1 – April 2, 2022. Network with leading clean energy experts while utilizing and deepening your knowledge of clean energy justice, finance, technology, policy, and careers. The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Clean Energy Conference: Renewables Integration & Grid Modernization for a Clean Energy Future, happening April 1 – April 2, 2022. Network with leading clean energy experts while utilizing and deepening your knowledge of clean energy justice, finance, technology, policy, and careers. Learn more and register for this virtual event before April 1.
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75% of American households do not have access to solar power. Residents that do not own their own home or who live in apartments are unable to host a solar system and reap the benefits. So, what’s the solution? Community solar. Community solar projects subscribe multiple customers, including households, businesses, municipal buildings, and community organizations. These subscribers receive energy from an offsite solar facility in exchange for discounts on their electricity bills. Subscribing to community solar allows customers who might not otherwise be able to go solar to receive clean energy.
At the National Community Solar Partnership summit, the DOE laid out plans to try to help meet the Biden administration’s goal of powering 5 million homes by 2025 with community solar – with plans to develop 20 GW of new capacity. Meeting this target will require an unprecedented amount of community solar growth. By the end of 2021, 4 GW of community solar had been installed across the country. The latest Wood Mackenzie Community Solar Outlook Report forecasts 4.5 GW to come online in the next five years under current market conditions. The industry has its work cut out for it to reach DOE’s targets.
In today's episode, David is joined by 3 bright lights in the community solar sector. Jeff Cramer is the CEO of CCSA - the Coalition for Community Solar Access. CCSA is a national coalition of businesses and non-profits, looking to increase access to solar for all American households. Kacie Peters also joins us – she’s the Director of Industry Relationships at Pivot Energy, a solar provider that develops, builds and manages solar projects. We’ve also got Rachel Goldstein, Solar Research Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, to offer insight into the Wood Mac Community Solar Outlook Report and examine the policies and market drivers that are fueling solar growth.
What will community solar look like in 10 years? What share of clean energy will be met by community solar? What federal and state-level investment is needed to reach the Administration’s aggressive emission goals? What political reform helps pave the road to more access to community solar? How much can families save on their electricity bills by subscribing to community solar? David and the team tackle these questions and more in this enlightening episode.
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The energy transition is an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ journey. As we know, there is no silver bullet or golden ticket that will get us to where we need to be. Just like our economy, it is compiled of complex systems, smaller markets, and key stakeholders. Another thing about our economy? It is always in a state of motion. Moving from one system to the next - carbon is an invisible stakeholder that is singlehandedly the backbone of modern society. In the past two decades, we have begun to rapidly recognize that the management of carbon is more essential, visible, and crucial than we previously thought.
In today's episode of the Interchange Recharged our host David Banmiller has an eye-opening conversation with Claude Letourneau the CEO of trailblazing carbon capture company, Svante. Claude shares with us his plans and goals for building a carbon capture and sequestration infrastructure that is comparable to what the tech industry looks like today. Claude believes that carbon capture and management will play a large part in moving the energy transition forward and tells us why Svante’s technology has the possibility of creating real tangible results.
Throughout this episode, David and Claude cover the key topics regarding the scalability of carbon capture technology and what the future for Svante looks like. Claude helps describe to our listeners the process of putting a price on carbon, creating a carbon marketplace, and some of the biggest barriers facing carbon capture technology today. Listeners should expect some of the following questions. How much does carbon capture cost? What do the tech industry and carbon management have in common? How does Hydrogen play a role in carbon capture, and what makes this technology different than competitors' from previous years?
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy, training working professionals to accelerate the deployment of clean energy worldwide. To connect with Yale expertise right from your laptop, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, visit yalecleanenergy.info/Interchange and apply before March 13, 2022.
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Geothermal technology is a hugely untapped sustainable energy source. In this episode of the Interchange: Recharged, David ‘drills’ Carlos, the CEO of Quaise Energy, on all things geothermal and the opportunities it presents to decarbonise energy production. Quaise seeks to unlock the potential of geothermal at the Terawatt scale. Carlos studied at MIT and then spent 15 years with Schlumberger, before he moved to The Engine, MIT’s fund where Quaise was born.
Quaise is an emerging clean energy company leveraging decade-long research, combined with cutting-edge new tech, to access the 90% of clean untapped geothermal energy under our feet. What was possible only on paper a decade ago is emerging as a reality today. Quaise is currently creating ground-breaking millimetre drilling technoogy, developed in partnership with MIT, to dig deeper, faster, and safer than ever before. This innovative technology will break down the many barriers currently inhibiting access to geothermal energy: location, outdated technology, infrastructure costs, and scalability.
Carlos and David analyse the potential for geothermal in solving the world's energy crisis and accelerating the energy transition. How many terawatts of energy does the world need to operate in the next 50 years? What is Quaise even looking for 12 miles under our feet? Does this new technology mean we can access geothermal energy in most places on the globe? How does Geothermal compare to solar or wind?" The discussion goes deep, so strap in for this week’s Interchange: Recharged.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy, training working professionals to accelerate the deployment of clean energy worldwide. To connect with Yale expertise right from your laptop, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, visit yalecleanenergy.info/Interchange and apply before March 13, 2022.
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America's energy transition is a complex and intricate process with a lot of moving parts. When discussing decarbonizing the globe, the electrical grid is usually overlooked and left out of the conversation. With an influx of renewable energy entering the grid, a constantly growing energy demand, coupled with record-breaking weather events and ageing infrastructure we have seen the strength of the existing grid tested to the limit. The American Electrical Grid is in need of physical updates and digital modernization.
This week, David is accompanied by two leaders of grid modernization industry, Peter Wells (CEO of Smart Wires) and Hudson Gilmer (CEO of LineVision) whose companies are using data and new tech to enable the grid to cope with the new demands.
Smart Wires uses Modular Power Control to direct power where it's needed and decrease the chances of possible outages and LineVision uses the power of innovative data and analytical tools to ensure the power lines and grid are being optimized and used at their fullest capacity.
David, Hudson and Peter discuss the biggest challenges utility companies across the US are facing. How is the introduction of new renewable energy projects affecting the grid? How reliable is our grid in times of extreme weather events? Is the grid currently on track to keep up with the future projections of energy demand? What are the policy changes required to modernize the grid? All these questions and more, on The Interchange: Recharged.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy, training working professionals to accelerate the deployment of clean energy worldwide. To connect with Yale expertise right from your laptop, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, visit yalecleanenergy.info/Interchange and apply before March 13, 2022.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
On the Interchange this week, David is joined by Alight CEO and founder Dr Harald Overholm. Harald was previously a cleantech venture capitalist and an advisor on solar markets to the WWF and the Swedish Government. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge with a thesis on solar diffusion and PPA. Alight is the leading solar Power Purchase Agreement provider in the Nordics. The company builds, operates, and owns solar projects, onsite and offsite, specializing in solar PPA. They are currently on track to develop more than 500 MW of PPA-based onsite and offsite projects across Europe.
David and Harald discuss the future of large scale commercial solar projects, the benefits of a PPA for businesses and investors, the role of co-located storage and the policies and legislation in the US that impede (or accelerate) progress in the sector. They discuss the past, present and future of solar funding and the M&A landscape.
The Interchange is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Are you building a microgrid? With a microgrid you can store electricity and sell it back during peak times. Keep your power on during an outage. Integrate with renewables. Control energy on your own terms. Having built more microgrids in than anyone else, Schneider Electric has the expertise to help.
The Interchange is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom’s onsite energy platform provides unparalleled control for those looking to secure clean, reliable 24/7 power that scales to meet critical business needs. It eliminates outage and price risk while accelerating us towards a zero carbon future. Visit Bloom Energy to learn how to take charge today.
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President Biden’s Build Back Better bill includes tax incentives for consumers to switch to electric vehicles, and a multi-billion dollar plan for charging stations and infrastructure. The intent is there, but why is EV adoption in the US still lagging behind the rest of the world?
This week on The Interchange, David is joined by Professor Gil Tal from UC Davis, and Professor Peter Wells from Cardiff University, to compare the attitudes towards electric vehicles in the US and Europe.
What are the barriers standing in the way of mass EV adoption? And what tech and policy breakthroughs are we seeing to overcome these hurdles? Tesla’s market share of EVs hovers around 80%, so what are other manufacturers doing to increase their share of the ever-growing market?
The Interchange is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Are you building a microgrid? With a microgrid you can store electricity and sell it back during peak times. Keep your power on during an outage. Integrate with renewables. Control energy on your own terms. Having built more microgrids in than anyone else, Schneider Electric has the expertise to help.
The Interchange is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom’s onsite energy platform provides unparalleled control for those looking to secure clean, reliable 24/7 power that scales to meet critical business needs. It eliminates outage and price risk while accelerating us towards a zero carbon future. Visit Bloom Energy to learn how to take charge today.
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You can develop enough renewable energy to power the world, but without energy storage systems, those developments are rendered somewhat moot. To achieve President Biden’s target of 90% renewables by 2035, the US needs an additional 9 terawatts of solar storage.
What do our current storage solutions look like? Are batteries leading the charge?
To answer those questions David turns to Rebecca Ciez, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University.
David and Rebecca look at the current storage options. Are batteries powerful enough to deliver power during outages or periods of no sunlight? Rebecca talks about the materials needed for solar batteries and how we can improve the technology to reduce the strain on supply chains. Investment and government incentives are then thrust under the microscope by David, before the discussion wraps with examining the technological advancements in the space.
The Interchange is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Are you building a microgrid? With a microgrid you can store electricity and sell it back during peak times. Keep your power on during an outage. Integrate with renewables. Control energy on your own terms. Having built more microgrids in than anyone else, Schneider Electric has the expertise to help.
The Interchange is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom’s onsite energy platform provides unparalleled control for those looking to secure clean, reliable 24/7 power that scales to meet critical business needs. It eliminates outage and price risk while accelerating us towards a zero carbon future. Visit Bloom Energy to learn how to take charge today.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Why wouldn’t everyone invest in solar? Well, for that reason exactly: it’s an investment. Although it’s praised for its low maintenance costs and long-term savings, it is still a hefty investment in terms of individual finance cost, manufacturing, and installation. The production of solar panels requires expensive raw material, such as high-grade silicon, and silver for the wiring and cells.
If the industry could just get the cost of materials down, the climate and environmental benefits would extend far beyond the energy sector.
An Australian organization called SunDrive solar recently made headlines for their use of copper wiring in solar cells, opening up the opportunity for solar production costs to plummet and increase global solar adoption.
New host David Banmiller is joined by PV Magazine Founding Editor Jonathan Gifford to examine this achievement, and what it could mean for solar.
They also explore supply chains issues, tackling NIMBYism and together they predict the Next Big Things in solar tech.
The Interchange is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Are you building a microgrid? With a microgrid you can store electricity and sell it back during peak times. Keep your power on during an outage. Integrate with renewables. Control energy on your own terms. Having built more microgrids in than anyone else, Schneider Electric has the expertise to help.
The Interchange is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom’s onsite energy platform provides unparalleled control for those looking to secure clean, reliable 24/7 power that scales to meet critical business needs. It eliminates outage and price risk while accelerating us towards a zero carbon future. Visit Bloom Energy to learn how to take charge today.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
An announcement: this is Shayle Kann's last episode of the show.
The Interchange is being handed off to David Banmiller, the global head of strategic banking at Wood Mackenzie.
In Shayle's final episode, he shares a few words about the history of the show and asks David about his future focus.
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At the beginning of the pandemic, energy prices crashed. We did an episode of this show trying to figure out how oil prices fell to negative $40 per barrel.
Times have changed. Oil is up over $100/barrel. But far more acute is what’s happening with natural gas, particularly in Europe and Asia. In the US, natural gas prices have doubled in the last year. But in parts of Europe, the price has risen more than 5 times.
The disruptions are clear. We're seeing stories of power shortages in China, fertilizer plants being shut down in the UK, and fears about home heating costs in the Northeast US as winter approaches.
So what the heck is going on? How long might it last? And what does it tell us about the future?
To answer those questions Shayle turns to Leslie Palti-Guzman, the President of Gas Vista and a non-resident fellow at NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs.
Shayle and Leslie cover the many demand-side and supply-side issues. Then they talk about what comes next: What does this crisis reveal about the vulnerability of the energy system? And will countries double down on renewables, gas, or both to shore up their resiliency?
The Interchange is brought to you by Schneider Electric. Are you building a microgrid? With a microgrid you can store electricity and sell it back during peak times. Keep your power on during an outage. Integrate with renewables. Control energy on your own terms. Having built more microgrids in than anyone else, Schneider Electric has the expertise to help.
The Interchange is brought to you by Bloom Energy. Bloom’s onsite energy platform provides unparalleled control for those looking to secure clean, reliable 24/7 power that scales to meet critical business needs. It eliminates outage and price risk while accelerating us towards a zero carbon future. Visit Bloom Energy to learn how to take charge today.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We’re rebroadcasting one or our favorite episodes, called “Would I Lie to You?”
We originally ran it right after the 2020 election as a light-hearted distraction during a dark news cycle.
Shayle Kann gets together with Adam James, the Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President at Energy Impact Partners (where Shayle also works) to play an energy-themed version of the British game show Would I Lie to You?
Here are the rules:
Each player selects three energy-related facts or stories. Any number of the three can be lies, and at least one has to be a lie.
They have to be clear lies, not slight adjustments of the truth.
The other person can ask three questions, and they must get an answer.
At the end of the round, the truths and lies are revealed. If the score is a tie, it moves to a penalty shootout where each person offers a fact/story and the other person has to determine whether it is the truth or a lie. If someone misses and the other person gets their next answer right, they win.
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Shayle has been brewing up an investment thesis around how decarbonization will create stratification in traditional commodity sectors, like chemicals and materials.
If you can produce the same thing in the same cost range -- but you can do so in a CO2-free or carbon-negative -- you'll reap the rewards.
Lanzatech is a great test case for that thesis, as well as a great story to tell about the history of this sector. It was founded in 2005 as a biofuels company. Now, it captures industrial waste gasses, such as CO2 and CO, and recycles them into the chemicals used to make everything from plastics to medical supplies to fabric for Lululemon. It has even spun out an entire company focused on jet fuel.
Shayle talks to CEO Dr. Jennifer Holmgren about carbon recycling and the big dent it could make in global greenhouse gas emissions. They break down the economics of competing with undifferentiated ethanol, jet fuel, and chemicals and the brand interest driving interest in carbon recycling tech.
Jennifer hints at the potential for applying genetics expertise from medicine to industrial biotechnology; one day Lanzatech hopes to produce acetone, isopropyl alcohol and other valuable chemicals directly from its carbon-eating microbes. She reflects on leading one of the few companies to survive booms and busts of cleantech over the years. And she explains why the Lanzatech team decided not to ask their bacteria to do cartwheels.
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In January 2020, Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft, announced that the company had set a target of becoming carbon negative by 2030.
How does the company plan to do it? What does going carbon negative actually entail?
Brandon Middaugh, the Director of Microsoft’s $1B Climate Innovation Fund, comes on the show to explain. The fund invests in various climate technologies as a part of the company’s overall climate efforts. Investments in its portfolio cover carbon removal, carbon marketplace innovation and the circular economy, among others.
(The fund’s first investment was in Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle is a partner).
Shayle and Brandon break down the sources of the company’s emissions, its climate strategy, and building a climate “fee” into the company’s operations to funnel back into the fund.
They talk about the the need to scale promising new technologies far faster than than even wind and solar, discussing what Microsoft can do to support wide-spread adoption. Plus, Brandon highlights some of the investments she's excited about so far.
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The road to solar glory has been littered with failed companies -- the ones you may know (Solyndra) and hundreds you probably do not.
Will the burgeoning hydrogen space follow a similar bumpy road? Hydrogen is at a similar phase of market and technological maturity, with similar levels of hype.
In this episode, Shayle talks to Raffi Garabedian, the former CTO of pioneering solar manufacturer First Solar and now the co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen Co. (Disclosure: Shayle just led Energy Impact Partners’ investment in the company).
First Solar was one of the very few Western companies that survived the price pressure, commoditization and trade dynamics in the solar industry during its early growth phase. How did First Solar do it? And what does that tell us about surviving the heady-but-volatile hydrogen space?
Shayle and Raffi dig into that history, covering First Solar’s bet on mass-producible cadmium telluride technology, as well as the risky step of retooling manufacturing.
They also cover the parallels to hydrogen: How does a novel technology compete against dominant incumbents? How does that technology navigate the boom-and-bust cycles of an emerging market? How can an executive team pick the most useful metric for its creative teams?
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In the world of venture capital, climate tech is about as hot as it gets. In the first two quarters of 2021, climate tech companies raised $16B from VCs. New designated funds are announced regularly, startup valuations are sky high, and times are frothy. It's never been a better time to be a climate tech entrepreneur.
It's easy to get lost in the noise -- so what does the hard data say? How much investment are we talking about, really? Where is it coming from, and who is it going to? And what does that tell founders about how to operate and grow their businesses?
To answer these questions, Shayle turns to Climate Tech VC, the leading newsletter on climate and innovation. Co-founders Kimberly Zou and Sophie Purdom have gathered and crunched the data in a new report.
Sophie is a sustainability business practitioner and early-stage climate investor, and was a co-founder of the microbial fertilizer company Kula Bio. Kimberly is an investor at Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle is a partner.
Shayle, Sophie and Kimberly define the space, look at hotspots, and discuss where the influx of capital is coming from. Also, be sure to check out the job board and investor list that Clean Tech VC maintains.
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There is no path to deep decarbonization that doesn't involve a clean power sector. And there is no path to a clean power sector that doesn't involve deploying massive amounts of wind, solar, and lithium-ion batteries.
Those three technologies don't solve the entire problem of climate change, but they are the workhorses that will power a broader, multi-sector decarbonization approach.
The power sector itself is around a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. And a net-zero electricity sector is the key that unlocks a host of other decarbonization pathways, from hydrogen to carbon removal to transportation.
So what exactly is happening in the utility-scale renewables market? How cheap are those resources, really? And what might hold them back? And if they work as we think they might, what could they unlock?
This week, Shayle Kann sits down with Sheldon Kimber, the CEO of Intersect Power. Intersect is one of the largest developers and owners of utility-scale clean power and storage in America. Sheldon has a long history in this sector, so we brought in on to discuss where it’s headed.
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The Nobel prize in chemistry in 1918 was awarded to a German man named Fritz Haber for a process to fix nitrogen from the air. The technique, which later became known as the Haber-bosch process, is probably one of the four or five most important inventions of the last century.
Because nitrogen feeds crops. And as our population boomed during the 20th century, nitrogen fertilizer became the core fuel of our food system. It is estimated to have fed about half of the world's population.
Nitrogen fertilizer is incredibly important, and we still produce the vast majority of our fertilizer using this same process. This has all sorts of ramifications that are less than ideal for farmers and crops, but in addition to that, it has become a major source of global warming pollution -- around 5 percent of emissions when you include both the production and application of nitrogen fertilizer.
So it's a big climate issue, and a big ag issue. One company, Nitricity, has a unique technology to produce nitrogen fertilizer at point-of-use, using only air, water and electricity.
In this episode, Shayle talks with Nico Pinkowski, the company's CEO and co-founder, about the world of nitrogen fertlizer, and how you can capture lightning in a bottle to let farmers take control of this key resource.
This podcast is a production of Wood Mackenzie.
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We use the term “energy transition” to define markets, technology, business models. But what about people?
The transition away from fossil fuels isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. The hardest part isn’t building out the clean resources. It’s shutting down the dirty stuff at a pace the science demands. And that means disrupting entire classes of employment and communities that depend on fossil fuel extraction — in other words, helping people find work in another sector. The phrase often used to describe this approach is “just transition.”
We have a guest who’s been researching and writing about this subject for years: Sandeep Pai.
Sandeep is the co-author of Total Transition: The Human Side of the Renewable Energy Revolution. He’s a former journalist and a senior research lead for the energy security and climate change program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
We’ll talk with Sandeep about his analysis of the strategies for transitioning fossil fuel workers in economies around the world.
This episode originally aired in June of 2020.
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Carbon accounting and disclosure is getting attention at the highest levels.
Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, said in July: "I think updates to public company disclosures and to fund disclosures [on climate] could bring needed transparency to our capital markets. When it comes to disclosure, investors have told us what they want. It’s now time for the Commission to take the baton."
Gensler directed SEC staff to pull together a rulemaking proposal on mandatory corporate climate risk disclosure by the end of this year. It could be a watershed action, so to speak.
The world of enterprise carbon accounting, management and disclosure has been garnering a lot of attention, particularly in Silicon Valley circles. It’s a sexy sector. But it's also an early one -- carbon accounting has seen limited adoption to date, and in its current form is often led by consultants doing pretty high-level annual surveys.
Will this become the next big enterprise software vertical, and maybe the first truly at-scale software sector in climate tech?
Shayle is joined by Taylor Francis, co-founder of Watershed, one of the most well-regarded emergent players in this enterprise carbon management sector.
Taylor and his founding team spun out of Stripe, where they were building internal tools, to help other companies follow suit. They've since raised capital from Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins, along with the co-founders of Stripe themselves.
Taylor has a really thoughtful approach to this market and what companies are going to need as they enter the quickly-evolving world of enterprise carbon management.
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In the great debate over crypto mining vs. climate, there are two camps.
First, the crypto enthusiasts, like Square, say things like, "Bitcoin is key to an abundant, clean energy future".
And then there are the energy wonks, who point out that, if bitcoin mining were a country, it would already be in the top 30 for total energy consumption, rivaling Ukraine.
The energy camp tends to dismiss the crypto enthusiasts’ thinking. They’re skeptical of how crypto mines could be assets to a decarbonizing grid, rather than a strain on it.
So to cut through the noise, Shayle spoke to Nick Grossman, a partner at the respected venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. USV was the largest early investor in Coinbase, which currently has a $49B market capitalization. But USV has gone big on climate tech and raised a specific climate fund. Nick straddles both the crypto and climate worlds, so he's the perfect person to help me make some sense out of this madness.
Nick and Shayle break down the basics of crypto currencies as energy-backed assets. They examine the argument that crypto mines improve the economics of renewables, because they will always be willing to buy cheap renewable power. This, in turn, helps to finance the overbuilding of renewable projects to help meet peak demand, or so the thinking goes.
But do intermittent renewables improve the economics of crypto mines? In other words: Is it profitable to mine intermittently?
They also discuss green bitcoin certificates and alternatives to the energy-intensive proof-of-work crypto security model: proof of stake, proof of space-time, and proof of location
And they evaluate Shayle’s (surely serious) startup pitch to match crypto mines with seasonal renewables: put the mines on barges and shuttle them back and forth between renewable projects in the northern and southern hemispheres.
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Back in 2016, Mateo Jaramillo left Tesla, where he was leading the stationary energy storage business, and started looking for a new challenge to tackle. He took on long-duration energy storage -- not long duration like 8 hours or 12 hours, but days or weeks or more. In 2017 he came on the show to talk about it.
He formed a company, now Form Energy, that has been toiling on this problem in stealth mode. Apart from saying they were building a "metal air" battery, his team held the technology close to the vest.
That is, until last week.
The company announced a $200M Series D financing led by ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, and in the process finally made public the technology, which is an iron air chemistry.
Full disclosure: Shayle led Energy Impact Partners’ investment in Form.
Shayle and Mateo discuss the technology itself and the counterintuitive economics that Mateo believes will make it work. They also examine how it beat out the alternatives and how it might complement more efficient, but more expensive lithium-ion. It turns out financial modeling was far more important than spec sheets in understanding the tradeoffs.
They tackle the critical question: Where exactly are the profitable applications of this technology before we hit very high 80% renewables?
They also talk about the semantics of long-duration storage vs. multi-day storage, why Mateo hates holy grails, and potential partnerships with tofu companies.
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This week, we’ll take a peek at the news. Last week, president Biden unveiled his administration's plan for a $3.5 trillion infrastructure plan which the democrats hope to pass through reconciliation. While the details are still sparse, we do know that one of the linchpins of the Biden administration's climate strategy -- a national clean electricity standard (CES) -- is included in the plan.
It's a big deal. If you care about the power sector, a national CES might be the most impactful piece of legislation affecting it in decades. If you care about decarbonization, almost every pathway drives directly through a decarbonized power sector combined with large-scale electrification of other sectors such as transportation, industry and heating.
But the details are still being worked out, and there’s a labyrinth of parliamentary rules that a CES would have to navigate to make it through the US Senate’s budget reconciliation process.
To shine a light on the process and what a CES could look like, Shayle turns to Jesse Jenkins, an energy modeling expert at Princeton who is helping to design the policy in the bill.
Shayle and Jesse talk about the differences between a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and a CES, crafting a CES through the budget instead of regulation, the role that technology-neutral tax credits could play in the bill, the funds and penalties utilities might face, and how to get the incentives right for the energy transition given the limitations of reconciliation. Helpful links:
- E&E News: Payments or fines: How Dems’ CES would affect utilities
- Jesse’s Twitter thread on designing a CES for the budget, rather than regulation
- Evergreen Action’s explainer on a CES: Everything You Need to Know About a Clean Electricity Standard
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The Interchange is brought to you by LONGi Solar, the world’s leading solar technology company. A global market leader, LONGi has unmatched bankability, quality and performance validated by third-party laboratories, and has breakthrough innovation at both the wafer and module level.
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In this episode, we’re measuring the energy transition -- using “Price is Right” rules.
Our former co-host Stephen Lacey is back on the show to face off against our current host, Shayle Kann. Producer Daniel Woldorff steps in as arbiter.
We’ll guess stats and trivia about climate tech, and discuss what those figures mean for the energy transition. They cover the MSRPs of popular EVs, the cheapest PPA in the world, carbon prices, carbon capture investments, industrial materials and more.
Who won?* Have a listen to find out!
*Note: Our producer Daniel miscounted the score. It didn’t affect who won, but he’s going back to math classes to relearn how to count.
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The Interchange is brought to you by LONGi Solar, the world’s leading solar technology company. A global market leader, LONGi has unmatched bankability, quality and performance validated by third-party laboratories, and has breakthrough innovation at both the wafer and module level.
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Elon Musk’s magic is making huge promises to transform a tech sector -- and then, after a series of setbacks, ultimately deliver.
But the Solar Roof never delivered on its promise of chic, affordable solar-power generating roof shingles, as Dana Hall’s recent article in Bloomberg lays out.
Today, there are some solar roofs on homes. The Gigafactory that was meant to churn them out in Buffalo, New York is humming along, but not nearly at the 1,000 Solar Roofs per week that Tesla was originally aiming for. In the meantime, the company has raised prices on customers, fired a number of executives, and faced a shareholder lawsuit in which the Solar Roof played a central role.
So how did Tesla get here?
We’re re-running one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Austin Carr of Bloomberg about Tesla’s solar woes. It’s from back in June 2019.
We’ll look at the history of SolarCity/Tesla’s manufacturing plans, the derailed plans for the solar roof, and how current manufacturing activity compares with Tesla’s promises to New York.
Read Austin’s reporting on Tesla’s solar business:
- Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?
- Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Tesla’s Acquisition of SolarCity
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The Interchange is brought to you by LONGi Solar, the world’s leading solar technology company. A global market leader, LONGi has unmatched bankability, quality and performance validated by third-party laboratories, and has breakthrough innovation at both the wafer and module level.
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There were about eight years when climate tech was wandering in the wilderness, so to speak. It started after the Solyndra bankruptcy in 2011 and ended about two years ago, when the market began heating up again.
During that time, people in this space examined the valleys of death. What are the stages in a climate tech company’s life cycle that might be painful -- or even fatal -- to go through? And what resources can a company draw upon to cross these valleys?
To tackle those questions, Shayle spoke to Amy Duffuor, a principal at PRIME Impact Fund, which is set up specifically to help startups cross that chasm (Shayle is on PRIME's investor advisory council).
Amy and Shayle name the four major valleys, drawing on Hara Wang and Cyril Yee’s RMI article, “Climate Tech’s Four Valleys of Death and Why We Must Build a Bridge.” Then, they compare the climate tech world of today to 2014, a low point in the space when the Prime Coalition was started, examining some of the biggest changes:
- The influx of generalist investors
- The maturing ecosystem of incubators, accelerators and funds that provide support at multiple stages in a startup’s path to growth
- The explosion of corporate commitments, reflecting the growing demand for climate action from consumers, investors and the general public
- The growing options for exit, such as SPACs and M&As, that are making it easier for entrepreneurs to raise more money, faster
Finally, they look toward 2025 and ask: How might the valleys of death shift in the future?
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The Interchange is brought to you by LONGi Solar, the world’s leading solar technology company. A global market leader, LONGi has unmatched bankability, quality and performance validated by third-party laboratories, and has breakthrough innovation at both the wafer and module level.
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We spend most of our time on this show talking about what's happening in climate tech. What technologies, business models, and markets are being developed? By whom? And how much impact will they ultimately have on decarbonization?
But there's an equally interesting topic. What isn't happening? In other words, where is the white space? What areas, technologies, or markets need more attention?
The mandate of a new non-profit called Actuate is to identify and fill gaps across multiple areas, including climate. They focus on R&D, using a model similar to the US federal government’s DARPA or ARPA-e programs.
Today, Shayle talks to Actuate’s Director of Climate Lara Pierpoint. Prior to actuate she led the Technology Strategy team at Exelon. She's also worked at the US Department of Energy and has a PhD from MIT in engineering systems.
Shayle and Lara talk about:
- Demand response, an example of one type of gap where we have the technology but don’t know how to use it yet.
- Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), a type of nuclear technology used to power spacecraft -- that could also be used planetside as low-density, always on-batteries.
- The exorbitant costs of laying of wires, a potential cost saver for nuclear plants and other power projects.
- High-temperature superconductors (HTS) that could act like high-capacity transmission built at distribution scale. For example: VEIR.
- Sensors and the surprisingly high error bars of many country-level emissions measurements
- Storage and competing against transmission, demand response and overbuilding renewables to solve renewable intermittency
- Oh, and cows. They talk about burp-catching masks and improving the profitability of forests.
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The array of AI applications within climate tech is staggering -- and rapidly expanding.
There are lots of exciting point solutions, but there’s no clear example of AI directly and meaningfully reducing GHG emissions on a global scale. Yet.
Last year we had Priya Donti on the show. She’s a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon and co-chair of the Climate Change AI organization. This week, she came back with her Climate Change AI co-chair Lynn Kaack, a postdoc researcher at ETH-Zurich.
Priya and Lynn were co-authors on a blockbuster paper on the topic back in June 2019, called “Tackling climate change with machine learning.”
They came back on the show to talk about what has changed since that episode -- both the progress and the bottlenecks in applying AI to climate change.
They detail the strengths and weaknesses of AI in climate technology using a few case studies:
- Optimizing power and heating/cooling systems
- Insight into large bodies of data, such as analyzing the physical and transition risk to a company’s assets
- Accelerating technology innovation
They also discuss the organizational approaches to AI: Do you go vertical or horizontal? That is, do you hire AI practitioners to work within an organization with deep domain experience, such as a utility, or is it more effective to leave those challenges to an organization of AI generalists who work across many fields?
Lynn points out there’s a third way: spinning up an AI group within an organization.
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Was 2020 the year of carbon transparency? That’s what our host Shayle predicted back in 2019. Today, we’re checking in on that prediction with a rebroadcast of one of our favorite episodes. It originally aired almost a year ago in late June 2020.
A handful of companies have experimented with labeling the carbon content of their products, but it's never really caught on. Now that might be changing.
Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell recently called carbon “the new calorie" after the electronics maker implemented a CO2 label on all of its packaging. It’s one of many recent attempts by food and consumer goods producers to make the lifecycle emissions of their products clearer to consumers. Is it the start of a trend?
In this episode, we’ll examine the new generation of climate labels. We’ve seen attempts at carbon labeling before. What makes these newer ones different? And will they stick?
Plus, we’ll try to answer listener questions about renewable natural gas, vehicle-to-grid, environmental, social and governance standards, and COVID-19 predictions.
This episode was recorded live in front of hundreds of listeners (remotely).
The Interchange is brought to you by Enel X, a leader in energy storage, DER management software, and smart electric vehicle charging stations to increase project value. Learn what Enel X can do for your business.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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The excitement around green hydrogen has grown dramatically in recent years. Will it live up to the hype?
This week, we turn to technologist, author and investor Ramez Naam.
Ramez and Shayle examine the drivers behind cost improvement -- namely the costs of electricity and different electrolyzer technologies -- and why they are likely still a long way off the deep declines hydrogen needs to scale.
They also cover the hurdles hydrogen may face along the way to scale, including fierce competition from grey hydrogen, fossil fuels, and electrification.
There’s also the location question: Where are you going to make green hydrogen with renewables? The answer: Probably not where you need it, which is a problem given the cost and difficulty of transporting hydrogen.
Ramez breaks down the policy strategies in Europe, North American, Japan and Australia.
Shayle asks: Is blue hydrogen a bridge to green hydrogen, or a bridge to nowhere that will leave niche assets obsolete in a decade or two?
They also assess Michael Liebreich’s grades for hydrogen end uses (Ramez gives ground transport an F).
Finally, given this hydrogen landscape, where do you invest? They find clues in the early days of the solar market.
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A decarbonized power sector will unlock massive opportunities across nearly every other sector, either via direct electrification or via indirect electrification via the production of low-carbon fuels, like green hydrogen.
But here’s the rub. Many of the companies that are working on these solutions rely on pretty heroic assumptions around the cost, availability and cleanliness of electricity in order for the economics to work.
To put it bluntly, many decarbonization business models hinge on a cell deep in their spreadsheets that has 1- to 3-cent per kilowatt-hour electricity. Is it a realistic assumption?
To tackle that question, Shayle turns to his colleague at Energy Impact Partners, Andy Lubershane, the Senior Vice President of Research & Strategy.
They survey the technologies that depend on this super cheap, super abundant power, such as EVs, space heating, carbon removal, green hydrogen and industrial heat.
Then, they examine the talk of cheap renewables, covering the difference between cheap wholesale and more expensive delivered prices. They break down the variables that make up the difference between wholesale and delivered prices, namely transmission, distribution and capacity factors.
So what are the solutions that could shrink that gap?
The Interchange is brought to you by Enel X, a leader in energy storage, DER management software, and smart electric vehicle charging stations to increase project value. Learn what Enel X can do for your business.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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The pandemic has forced just about every part of society to reckon with resilience, but for cities the question is especially urgent. Will the global trend toward urbanization, which has been underway for more than 50 years, change its trajectory? Will increasing density remain the norm?
The intersection of these two issues -- resilience and urbanism -- is relevant in a COVID context, but it's also increasingly important in a climate context.
Shayle has talked about how the increasing prevalence and magnitude of natural disasters are going to slowly but surely foster a "culture of resilience" in society, where we're forced to deal with the likelihood that once in 100-year events are happening much more often.
So what does building better resilience into cities actually mean, and how are we performing?
To tackle these questions, Shayle turns to the co-hosts of Technopolis, a podcast about how technology is disrupting, remaking, and sometimes over-running our cities.
Molly Turner is an urban planner and teaches urban tech at UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Jim Kapsis runs The Ad Hoc Group, a firm that helps climate tech startups navigate and grow in heavily regulated markets.
Shayle, Molly and Jim discuss the changing urban migration patterns and what it means for the future of cities.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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The US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office might be the most talked about -- and yet least understood -- part of the federal government’s efforts to support climate tech.
It has already invested more than $35 billion in everything from Tesla's first big factory to the first two nuclear reactors to begin construction in the U.S. in more than 30 years. It was crucial in getting the first multi-hundred-megawatt solar projects ever developed off the ground.
Today it has more than $40 billion of available loan capacity to throw at the next wave of climate technologies to scale.
And now, as of a couple months ago, it has Jigar Shah as the director. Previously, Jigar was the co-founder and president of Generate Capital. He also founded SunEdison. And, of course, he is the former co-host of our sister podcast The Energy Gang.
Jigar believes we have the technologies we need to put us on the right path toward decarbonization today. And further, that those technologies aren't as risky as the capital markets make them out to be.
Therein lies the arbitrage opportunity Jigar has pursued his whole career. And now he's got $40 billion of federal dollars to test it in a whole new arena.
In this episode, Shayle and Jigar break down the role of the Loan Programs Office and the specific financial products it offers. The backing of the federal government comes with the unique opportunities -- namely to move way faster on market opportunities than traditional debt markets can. But as Jigar explains, it comes with key limitations too.
They also cover the technology sectors that Jigar sees opportunities in -- everything from green hydrogen to small modular nuclear to virtual power plants. And they highlight the stage of companies and types of projects the office might be uniquely suited to support.
Plus, Jigar names the ideas he’s waiting to see (but that no one has pitched to him yet).
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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There are few areas harder to decarbonize than heavy industry. But the stakes are high. Altogether, industry represents over 30% of global GHG emissions, when counting both direct process emissions and industrial energy use.
It’s also a huge opportunity for innovation. This week, Shayle talks with Rebecca Dell, the Director of the Industry Program at The Climateworks Foundation, about the technologies that might transform cement, steel and petrochemicals.
Shayle and Reecca go industry by industry, examining the pathways to decarbonization. They cover a range of technologies, including carbon capture and storage, alternative chemistries, recycling, hydrogen and biomass, among others.
And finally, Rebecca breaks down how we might create demand for low-carbon industrial materials. The problem is that shifting to decarbonized alternatives might massively increase the cost of these commodities -- probably not what the owner of a steel forge, plastics plant or cement kiln is particularly excited to invest in. But as Rebecca argues, we may be looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
For more on Rebecca’s research, check out her report Build Clean: Industrial Policy for Climate and Justice.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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There’s money to be made in climate tech, broadly defined. But where exactly?
As investment pours into climate tech, it’s true that a rising tide lifts all boats. But in markets -- especially fast-changing markets, like batteries, hydrogen, carbon capture, just to name a few -- those boats don't all get the same lift.
Certain parts of the value chain, from upstream mining or manufacturing to downstream deployment models, are far better places to build a business than others. These profitable niches can be thought of as profit pools.
And to make it more complicated, those profit pools shift over time. So it might be a great time to be in the manufacturing business. But just a few years later, it may be the worst place to be.
This week, Shayle and Nat Bullard, Chief Content Officer at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, try to predict where those profit pools might show up.
They examine historical examples, namely wind and solar, where profit pools have shifted from manufacturing to servicing. Along the way, they note some of the winners and losers of those shifts.
Then they turn to the less-mature technologies, focusing on batteries, hydrogen, direct air capture, and carbon accounting. They discuss what lessons can (and cannot) be applied from the earlier generations of climate technologies.
Within these spaces they cover entrepreneurs in this space may be wondering: When should I specialize vs. vertically integrate? Why do investors keep telling me to get out of the commodity business?
Get your swim suits on. It’s time to dive into profit pools.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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The grid of the future lies 850 miles off the coast of Portugal, on an island in the Azores called Graciosa.
The island has always been dependent on fossil fuels. But in 2018, that changed. That’s when a group of developers kicked off a hybrid wind-solar-battery storage power plant to slash diesel consumption.
The plant consists of 1 megawatt of solar, 4.5 megawatts of wind, and a 6 megawatt/3.2 megawatt-hour energy storage system.
The power plant has changed Graciosa’s energy mix. In 2020, there were 128 days when the island was entirely powered by renewable energy. And Graciosa is now saving 190,000 liters of diesel fuel per month.
One of the reasons: a piece of control software installed by Wärtsilä, called GEMS. It uses machine learning to balance the renewables and storage on Graciosa’s grid with inputs from meters, heating and cooling systems, and weather forecasts.
And GEMS is helping grids across the world balance high amounts of variable renewables with energy storage.
In this episode, produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä, we’ll talk with Duarte Silva, the engineer who oversees the island’s power system.
We’ll also talk with Luke Witmer, a data scientist who manages R&D for Wärtsilä’s energy dispatch systems.
Wärtsilä creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. They’re helping clients worldwide meet their clean energy goals in an efficient and cost-effective way. Learn more about how Wärtsilä helped the island of Graciosa transform the grid with the GEMS software.
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This week: artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the many ways they can decarbonize the economy.
From optimizing buildings to modeling new industrial processes to better managing the grid, AI and machine learning are core to many technology strategies for addressing climate change.
So how, exactly, will they be implemented? And what problems can they solve?
With us is Priya Donti, a PHD student at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work is focused on machine learning, grid systems and climate change. She is also the co-chair of Climate Change AI, a group of academics and practitioners looking at machine learning as a decarbonization tool.
This episode was originally broadcast in February 2020.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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In 2017, Google became the first major company to reach 100% renewable energy through corporate renewables procurement.
But it was also the first major company to acknowledge that 100% renewable is not really 100% carbon-free.
So Google set out to go further, and match procurement on an hourly basis, to reach the promised land of 24/7 zero carbon energy.
It's going to be hard. But Michael Terrell, Google’s Director of Energy, thinks it’s doable.
In this episode, Michael talks with Shayle about how it could even become a new norm for corporate and state commitments.
But first: What will it take to get there?
Shayle and Michael cover the datasets, the accounting mechanisms, and the massive scale of transactions needed to make it possible.
They break down about Google’s efforts to shift computing load across its fleet of data centers.
They talk about the power of corporate buyers to push policymakers to clean up grids.
Where current clean technologies fall short, Google is looking at new technologies to fill in the gaps. They talk about that lineup of potential solutions, such as long-duration storage, carbon capture and storage, geothermal, advanced nuclear, and lithium-ion batteries.
And finally they tackle cost and scalability: Will organizations without the capital and expertise that Google enjoys be able to follow its lead?
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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In 2010, solar modules cost a little over $2 per watt. Many people questioned whether solar costs could come down another 50%.
Well, here we are today with solar modules well below 50 cents per watt, far cheaper than most expectations. And it wasn’t some breakthrough revolutionary technology -- it’s been the crystalline-silicon solar panel the whole time.
History has a tendency to repeat itself. Our guest, Jessika Trancik, an associate professor at MIT’s the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, published research earlier this month showing, quantitatively, that lithium-ion batteries have been repeating history and get cheaper, faster, than nearly anyone anticipated.
This matters because it could happen again. The obvious next candidate is hydrogen electrolysis, where experts are saying we might be able to reach the promised land of $1 per kilogram by the end of this decade.
Jessika and Shayle dug into her findings around batteries to see what broader lessons we could learn. We also talked about some other, related and fascinating research she’s done to examine what it will take to reach mass-market EV adoption.
The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.
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The oil majors are slowly recognizing that in a decarbonized world their fundamental business is going to have to change.
So what are they thinking? Where are they deploying resources -- and not deploying resources?
Ed Crooks is the right person to ask. He’s our oil major whisperer. He Vice Chair for the Americas at Wood Mackenzie.
Last time we had him on the show was in May of 2020 when the pandemic-driven collapse of oil demand sent key oil prices negative.
Ed talks with our host Shayle Kann about the rebound since then and how oil and gas companies are using this new influx of cash.
They discuss the longstanding differences between American and European oil majors: The Europeans are more aggressive on new energy investments; the Americans are more conservative. Does this distinction still hold, even under the rising pressure of shareholders, employees and governments on these companies to take climate action?
And if they’re not going to invest directly in renewables and power, how will their business models change in a decarbonized world? Shayle and Ed talk about what it would mean to become a “carbon management company.”
They also talk about the differences between 1.5- and 2.0-degrees-celsius worlds and what each would mean for oil and gas companies.
Finally, they read the tea leaves on carbon pricing. Does the Biden administration’s aggressive stance on climate change the political chances of legislation in the U.S.?
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Heather Rock joined PG&E as director of climate resilience in 2018 -- just two weeks before a faulty PG&E line sparked the most destructive wildfire in U.S. history.
It’s hard to imagine a more complicated or politically-charged role.
Back in November 2019, our host Shayle made a bet. In a Medium post called “The World around Us,” he wrote: “I think we’re on the cusp of a cultural transformation, one in which the idea of investing in resilience gains mainstream status for anyone who owns something worth protecting.”
Heather is one of the people trying to bring a culture of climate resilience into the mainstream.
We desperately need it. Hurricanes, wildfires, winter storms, sea level rise, floods and heat waves, among other threats, have exposed the incredible fragility of our infrastructure and underlined the dire need to bake climate resilience into every utility’s decision-making processes.
So how exactly do we do it?
In this episode, Heather and Shayle talk about the tools organizations need -- namely new models and data supported by our national labs and agencies like NOAA. But they also identify some of the cultural barriers to adopting these tools, plus how to overcome them.
The Interchange is a production of Post Script Audio in partnership with Wood Mackenzie.
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Imagine a battery that costs less than half of today's costs, can charge a vehicle in less than ten minutes, run for ten or more years with heavy usage, lasts over a million miles, and is produced with abundant raw materials found all over the world.
None of those things are true of today's lithium-ion batteries.
But our guest this week, Gene Berdichevsky, predicts that will change in the next decade.
Gene was the seventh employee at Tesla and is now the co-founder and CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies, one of the biggest players in the battery space.
Our host Shayle Kann, a partner at the venture capital firm Energy Impact Partners, talks with Gene about new battery designs and chemistries that are hitting the market right now. By themselves, these advances are incremental. But taken together, they could usher in the kinds of batteries that would revolutionize the grid.
Gene and Shayle cover the fundamental tradeoffs between key battery features, namely energy density, charging speed, cost and longevity. They also talk about more sustainable raw materials, battery recycling, the limits of new investment in this space, and why Gene believes that existing big players will continue to dominate, while the new entrants face an uphill battle.
The Interchange is a production of Post Script Audio in partnership with Wood Mackenzie.
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Two years ago, we made an episode called “Cleantech Venture Capital Is Back.” After a decade in the wilderness, the world of climate tech has experienced a resurgence of investment and early-stage innovation.
So much has happened since then -- an election, a stimulus, low interest rates, SPACs, corporate commitments, and an explosion of advocacy around climate.
So where is the climate tech investment space now?
We check in with Abe Yokell, our guest from that February 2019 episode. He’s a managing partner at Congruent Ventures. He talks with our host Shayle Kann, who is a partner at Energy Impact Partners. They talk about the persistent problem of access to capital for some early stage climate tech startups, SPACs, the Mr. Burns Test, and which technologies are underhyped or overhyped.
The Interchange is a production of Post Script Audio in partnership with Wood Mackenzie.
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Leading climate models point to a sobering reality: Even if the world’s economy reaches net zero emissions by midcentury, we will still have too much CO2 in the atmosphere. And so if we have to not just emit less, but remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, how do we do it?
Today we dive into carbon dioxide removal, or CDR. It’s an increasingly diverse and vibrant technology landscape, with some fundamental business model questions yet to be answered.
To take stock of this space, we spoke to Sarah Sclarsic, a carbon removal researcher at MIT with business acumen to boot: She co-founded the mobility company Getaround. She’s now an investor and on the boards of two SPACs (one of which took XL Fleet public).
We survey the existing technologies, ranging from the old school, like planting trees, to the novel, like direct air capture. And then we take a dive into some theoretical bioengineering approaches.
Sarah argues that we already use powerful biotech tools for medicine and food. She shares her research on the potential to apply these biotech approaches to CDR, laying out what these technologies might look like, such as bioengineering microbes to assist with enhanced rock weathering or cultivating fields and fields of carbon-locking cassava.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
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Last summer a record-setting heat wave in California caused rolling blackouts throughout the state. This week, a record-setting freezeknocked out power for millions of people in Texas and the Midwest.
It’s too early for a post-mortem on what happened, but we know that the cold affected all fuel sources, most of all natural gas. Wellheads and gas lines froze. Gas supplies were diverted to residential heating rather than power. This slice of the problem underscores how deeply we still rely on natural gas.
It is arguably the most important current source of energy in the U.S. and many parts of the world. Most long-term net zero projections phase out natural gas, but it’s going to be with us for decades, particularly in heavy industry.
So what do we do with it in the meantime? How do we tackle natural gas emissions and ultimately phase out natural gas in heavy industry?
We spoke to an expert in this space: Cate Hight, a principle at RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute). Last year she wrote a report called “The Role of Gas in the Energy Transition.” Now she’s working on RMI’s Mission Possible Partnership, which aims to decarbonize heavy industries.
Shayle and Cate talk about the rapidly changing emissions detection space, differentiated gas, and the many different colors of hydrogen.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
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Climate change has gone macro -- as in macroeconomics. It’s not just an environmental, health and justice issue. It has become an economic imperative for financial analysts, finance ministers and the biggest asset managers in the world.
For the second year in a row, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink singled out climate change as the biggest priority for the world’s largest asset manager: “I believe that this is the beginning of a long but rapidly accelerating transition – one that will unfold over many years and reshape asset prices of every type,” he wrote in his 2021 letter.
Over many years, “alternative energy” just became “energy.” In the near future, will “climate finance’ just become “finance?”
This week, we have the exact right person to run through this: Kate Gordon, the Director of the Office of Planning and Research for California Governor Gavin Newsom. She's also senior advisor to the governor on climate.
Kate has been on the show before. She was one of the founders of the Risky Business Project, which was among the first ambitious projects to calculate climate risk and infuse it into financial systems.
As you'll hear in her conversation with Shayle Kann, she's thinking about how this will all play out in the world of money every day.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
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Solar scaled first to become king in residential smart energy. But as other residential DER tech has advanced -- EVs, batteries, smart panels, and so forth -- has solar been dethroned as the anchor product in this space?
We’ll walk with Arch Rao, the CEO of Span, about the biggest technological changes underway in home energy.
- How should we sell and manage distributed energy resources?
- Who buys them, and what do we actually do with them?
- What will scale to the mass market?
- How will consumers interact with their DERs?
Span is a startup making a new kind of smart electrical panel. It just raised a $20m VC round and announced an integration with Alexa. Prior to Arch, helped lead the product team at Tesla that built and launched the Powerwall.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
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What if we could see into the future? In 2020, we got our clearest view yet.
Last March, lockdowns swept across Europe, forcing an eerie silence on some of the world’s most iconic and bustling cities. It caused a steep drop in electricity consumption -- putting pressure on thermal generators and giving renewables a greater share of the generation mix.
“And all of that has really provided us a bit of a glimpse of the future to a time where we will have much more flexible supply on the system and renewables will be consistently taking a much greater share of the market,” says Tom Heggarty, a principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
The covid crisis proved that the European grid can handle large amounts of renewable energy -- at levels we didn’t expect to see for another five to ten years.
So how do we take this knowledge and game out the future?
For more answers, we turn to Jyrki Leino, a senior manager for business development at Wärtsilä. “We kind of stepped to the future right away. We saw the systems in a situation where in normal conditions would be in five or 10 years time,” he says.
Jyrki and his team at Wärtsilä wanted to help answer some simple questions: what happens to European power markets if the trends we saw during covid persist? And what happens if renewables are meeting nearly all load?
So they built an open-data test environment, called the Wärtsilä Energy Transition Lab or WET Lab. It’s like a fact-based choose-your-own-adventure for energy geeks. Or a crystal ball.
In this episode, brought to you by Wartsila, we look into that crystal ball.
Check out Wärtsilä's Energy Transition Lab to see the impact of Covid-19 on energy markets, and for clues about Europe’s clean energy transition. It’s an open-source data set that anyone can use.
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What technology will become the dominant means of decarbonizing each part of the economy?
The pattern we see now — and that we expect to continue over the coming couple decades — is a series of battles between consistent contenders: electricity, hydrogen and carbon capture.
Electricity is hitting its stride. The power sector is getting cleaner, and electrification is spreading to light duty vehicles and even residential boilers. But electricity actually has only a 20% market share of all energy end uses. So what do we do with the remaining 80%?
These are tough-to-decarbonize arenas that rely on hard-to-replace fossil fuels: heavy duty vehicles, aviation, maritime shipping, chemical manufacturing, iron and steel.
Shayle called up Andy Lubershane, Senior Vice President of Research & Strategy at Energy Impact Partners to game it out. Andy has been writing about the potential phases of the energy transition and the roles these three technologies could play in different sectors.
Andy and Shayle got the inspiration for Deep Decarbonization Infinity War from Andy’s love of games. He not only uses games as a tool to think about the energy transition, but is actually in the process of creating his own board game.
It’s Deep Decarbonization: Infinity War. Let’s go.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
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We are going to build a lot more wind and solar over the coming decades. It will inevitably lead to oversupply of these resources on the grid. But is that a good thing?
That’s the focus of this week’s show, featuring a conversation between Shayle Kann and Columbia University's Melissa Lott.
The stars have aligned for a rare win-win-win situation: Solar and wind are popular with politicians; they’re popular with customers; and they’re often the lowest-cost resource, making them an attractive bet for investors.
As we build more solar and wind, many regions will start to look like California does on a sunny spring day, or like West Texas does on a windy night: power prices drop to zero or below, producers curtail excess electricity, creating the dreaded "overproduction” of renewables.
So what do we do with all this carbon-free power?
We asked Melissa Lott and it turns out quite a lot! She argues that renewable oversupply can actually be a feature of the grid, not a bug (even if it causes some minor pests along the way). There are all kinds of new resources we can harness with excess wind and solar.
Melissa is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy and she and her colleague, Julio Friedman, wrote a paper laying out the case for intentionally overbuilding capacity — and thus intentionally creating oversupply. They lay out a framework for figuring out what to do with intermittent excess energy and zoom in on a case study in New Zealand.
What happens when an aluminum smelter — one that uses a whopping 12% of the county’s annual demand and is powered largely by hydroelectric power — closes down? It was one decarbonization modeler’s dream.
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
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Net-zero commitments went mainstream in 2020. There are now 22 regions, 452 cities, and over 1,100 companies with revenues over $11 trillion that have pledged to bring emissions to net zero by middle of the century.
In 2021 we’re going to spend a lot of time working backward from that. We’ll be trying to understand the pathways to get to net zero and what it means for today — for the technology and business of decarbonization.
That brings us to this week’s guest: Jesse Jenkins, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton. He’s a well-known expert energy-systems modeler.
Last month Jesse and a team of colleagues at Princeton came out with a massive study called Net-Zero America that examines five pathways for the U.S. to decarbonize the entire economy.
Even without reading the report, you can probably guess some of the headlines: More renewables. More transmission. Electrify transportation. Carbon capture and carbon removal. But there are some other conclusions that are less obvious.
As more and more renewables come online, how will biomass, fossil fuels and hydrogen will fit into the multiple pathways to transition? We also examine the chicken-and-the-egg problem of CO2 transportation and CO2 conversion. And we ask: How much are these massive transition scenarios going to cost, and who’s paying?
The Interchange is brought to you by the Yale Program in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy. Through this online program, Yale University is training working professionals in clean energy policy, finance, and technology, accelerating the deployment of clean energy worldwide, and mitigating climate change. To connect with Yale expertise, grow your professional network, and deepen your impact, apply before March 14, 2021.
We're also brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is building connected power plants of the future by integrating new solar technologies, storage and advanced control software. At the end of the show, we’ll feature part 3 of our series on the future of solar technologies with Nextracker CEO and industry veteran Dan Shugar.
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It’s been a great year for "climate" oriented public companies. Virtually every clean energy or climate company has dramatically outperformed market indices and most now have record-high equity value.
So what's going on here? And what might it mean for the next generation of climate technology companies?
In this final episode of the year, Host Shayle Kann talks with Sameer Reddy, a partner at Energy Impact Partners.
Sameer sits on the board of companies like Arcadia Power, Opus One, and Enchanted Rock. And he, like us, has been marveling over this public market madness and thinking about what it might mean.
Shayle and Sameer discuss the state of the market, the factors driving stock prices upward, historical challenges in the sector, and what could go wrong.
We're brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is building connected power plants of the future by integrating new solar technologies, storage and advanced control software. At the end of the show, we’ll tell you about some really important tech trends in solar with Nextracker CEO and industry veteran Dan Shugar.
Support for The Interchange comes from Trina Solar, a global leader in PV modules and smart energy solutions. With decades of industry recognition and awards, Trina Solar is committed to delivering reliable and fully bankable solar technology to the world. Download the free TrinaPro Solution Guide Book on how to optimize utility-scale solar projects.
The Interchange is brought to you by S&C Electric Company. Today, non-wires alternatives such as microgrids can provide more sustainable, resilient and economical ways to deliver reliable power. S&C helps utilities and commercial customers find the best solutions to meet their energy needs. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this episode: we try to figure out where hydrogen is headed.
In the universe of clean energy, the world seems to rally around one big technology push each decade. This is when governments introduce subsidies, incumbents announce big projects, and a nascent technology gets a chance to scale from tiny to small, in the hopes of achieving liftoff.
In the 1990s, it was wind. In the 2000s, solar. In the 2010s, lithium-ion batteries. And in the 2020s, it seems increasingly clear it's going to be hydrogen.
But hydrogen is a different beast.
For one thing, you can't just harness it like you can solar or wind -- you have to make it. For another, there is a dizzying array of potential end markets for it, ranging from power to transportation to industry.
And finally, there's the pesky problem of the midstream. Assuming we start producing lots of clean hydrogen, and we find a market for it, how will we store it? How will we transport it?
This week, Shayle is joined by Gniewomir Flis, who spends most of his days thinking about these questions. He's an energy & climate advisor at Agora Energiewende and has spent the last few years laser focused on the thornier issues of building a hydrogen economy.
We're brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is building connected power plants of the future by integrating new solar technologies, storage, and advanced control software. At the end of the show, we’ll tell you about some really important tech trends in solar with Nextracker CEO and industry veteran, Dan Shugar.
Support for The Interchange comes from Trina Solar, a global leader in PV modules and smart energy solutions. With decades of industry recognition and awards, Trina Solar is committed to delivering reliable and fully bankable solar technology to the world. Download the free TrinaPro Solution Guide Book on how to optimize utility-scale solar projects.
The Interchange is brought to you by S&C Electric Company. Today, non-wires alternatives such as microgrids can provide more sustainable, resilient and economical ways to deliver reliable power. S&C helps utilities and commercial customers find the best solutions to meet their energy needs. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, Shayle Kann talks with Kiran Bhatraju, the CEO of Arcadia, about who's buying clean energy.
Every pathway toward economy-wide decarbonization drives straight through a dramatic transformation in the electricity sector. But so much of the discussion in that sector focuses on the supply side: how fast will wind and solar displace fossil fuels? what will happen with natural gas?
But there's another important player in this game: the energy consumer.
Consumers tend to be confusing when it comes to energy. It's hard to discern how much we actually care about it in the first place, what our preferences are, what decisions we'll make, what we'll pay for.
Most sectors that have undergone dramatic transformation have been driven by changing customer behavior, and energy may be no different. So we need to understand the consumer, and to find ways to deliver them products and services that will accelerate the energy transition.
Shayle and Kiran discuss the different groups of clean-energy customers, how they respond to options, and how a changing regulatory landscape could influence behavior.
Support for The Interchange comes from Trina Solar, a global leader in PV modules and smart energy solutions. With decades of industry recognition and awards, Trina Solar is committed to delivering reliable and fully bankable solar technology to the world. Download the free TrinaPro Solution Guide Book on how to optimize utility-scale solar projects.
The Interchange is brought to you by S&C Electric Company. Today, non-wires alternatives such as microgrids can provide more sustainable, resilient and economical ways to deliver reliable power. S&C helps utilities and commercial customers find the best solutions to meet their energy needs. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
For all the hype around autonomous vehicles, we're still in the very early stages of a rollout. While most of the attention is being paid to the Waymos and Zooxs of the world, trying to build fully autonomous passenger vehicles on public roads, there's an entirely separate category being created: off-road.
These are similarly autonomous vehicles that are mostly all-electric. But they don't ride on public roads. Instead, they're in shipping yards, distribution warehouses, mining operations, on campuses, and in farming. It's underappreciated how big that shift could be.
In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with Alisyn Malek, the executive director for the Commission on the Future of Mobility. She is also the founder and CEO of Middle Third, a boutique consultancy focused on mobility strategy.
We’ll hear from Alisyn about the state of the technology, different applications, regulatory hurdles, and the near-term promise for deployment.
Support for The Interchange comes from Trina Solar, a global leader in PV modules and smart energy solutions. With decades of industry recognition and awards, Trina Solar is committed to delivering reliable and fully bankable solar technology to the world. Download the free TrinaPro Solution Guide Book on how to optimize utility-scale solar projects.
The Interchange is brought to you by S&C Electric Company. Today, non-wires alternatives like microgrids can provide more sustainable, resilient, and economical ways to deliver reliable power. S&C helps utilities and commercial customers find the best solutions to meet their energy needs. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This is a sponsored episode produced by GTM Creative Strategies in collaboration with Wärtsilä.
In August, California’s grid operators shut off power for millions of residents during an historic heat wave.
The blackouts caused confusion and outrage in the state. People were looking for someone to blame: an agency, a utility, or a technology like renewables.
We now know what happened. The cause was detailed in a lengthy, multi-agency investigation. It was a unique combination of factors, including a lack of preparation for extreme events. So will this hurt California’s decarbonization efforts?
“I do not think it changes the decarbonization goals. I think, if anything, it calls for the acceleration of moving toward a system that is more resilient, that is decarbonized,” says Amisha Rai, managing director at Advanced Energy Economy.
So if California’s blackouts accelerate clean-energy efforts further, how can we apply lessons from this summer? That’s what we’re covering in this episode, produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä.
“Now, it is very important to figure out a practical and realistic plan. I think California is working very hard on it. Without the plan, you will end up in ad hoc situations easily,” says Jussi Heikkinen, director of growth and development for the Americas at Wärtsilä.
In this episode, Jussi will outline all the optimal scenarios for decarbonizing California’s grid -- even while managing the threat of extreme events.
Wärtsilä creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. Read the “Path to 100% for California” report discussed in this episode.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Need a distraction from the election? Shayle Kann and Adam James have you covered, with an energy-themed version of the game show "Would I Lie to You?"
Rules:
- Each person selects three energy related facts or stories. Any number of the three can be lies, and at least one has to be a lie.
- They have to be clear lies, not slight adjustments of the truth.
- The other person can ask three questions. And they must get an answer.
- At the end of the round, the truths and lies are revealed. If the score is a tie, it moves to a penalty shootout where each person offers a fact/story and the other person has to say truth/lie. If someone misses, and the other person gets their next one right, they win.
Support for The Interchange comes from Trina Solar, a global leader in PV modules and smart energy solutions. With decades of industry recognition and awards, Trina Solar is committed to delivering reliable and fully bankable solar technology to the world. Download the free TrinaPro Solution Guide Book on how to optimize utility-scale solar projects.
The Interchange is brought to you by S&C Electric Company. Today, non-wires alternatives like microgrids can provide more sustainable, resilient, and economical ways to deliver reliable power. S&C helps utilities and commercial customers find the best solutions to meet their energy needs. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Net-zero carbon pledges are heating up. Japan just committed to reaching net zero, just four weeks after China did the same. In total, seven of the 10 largest economies in the world (not including America, India and Brazil) have made such commitments. And that's on top of all the subnational players, the corporates, and others.
It has become increasingly clear that we're unlikely to reach net-zero at any significant scale without some pretty heavy carbon management. That means carbon capture, carbon removal, and carbon utilization.
As a result, the carbon management sector has seen a frenzy of activity over the past couple years, ranging from research to investment to innovation. Just this year we've seen venture capital flow into companies protecting forests, sequestering carbon in the soil, capturing co2 directly in the air, and converting captured CO2 into a range of products from cement to jet fuel.
So in this episode, we make sense of both the economics and the technology.
Shayle Kann talks with Dr. Julio Friedmann, a senior research scholar at the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy. Julio is an expert on all things related to carbon management.
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
When we talk about climate change on this show, and what causes it, we are usually talking about gases that come from vehicles or from the electricity sector.
But what about the built environment? This week: we’re talking about the embedded emissions in our buildings.
There’s the natural gas that gets burned in them, and there’s all the electricity that it takes to power them.
And then there’s another category – all the upfront energy that went into making the buildings in the first place. That’s called “embodied carbon” or “embedded carbon” or sometimes “upfront carbon.”
In the next few crucial years when we can bend the arc of climate change, most of the emissions that come from buildings are going to come from the embodied carbon. So how we choose to build buildings really matters.
Our senior editor Ingrid Lobet has a special interest in buildings and wrote recently about embodied carbon for Greentech Media. Read that article here.
Just before everything shut down with the pandemic several months ago, Ingrid was at a conference on this subject organized in part by Ed Mazria. Mazria has been at the forefront of a growing faction of builders, engineers and designers intent on remaking buildings into a climate solution. She spoke with him about the biggest opportunities in decarbonizing buildings.
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: consolidation and cooperation in the distributed energy market.
Just as federal regulators in the U.S. are making batteries, solar systems, electric cars, generators and other similar resources more valuable in wholesale markets, we’re seeing a new wave of business activity.
Wood Mackenzie predicts that U.S. distributed energy resource capacity will reach nearly 390 gigawatts by 2025. And a lot of companies are getting in on the action.
Amazon is jumping deeper into the smart-home game. Generac, one of the top generator companies in the U.S., just made another acquisition to help it manage batteries and pumps and motors and possibly other clean energy resources.
And Calibrant is a new company being formed by industrial multinational Siemens and MacQuarie Capital, part of the Australian financial services giant. Calibrant will offer businesses and industry and schools and hospitals no-money-down, on-site energy systems known as Energy-as-a-Service.
What do all these business moves mean for the future of this market?
Additional resources:
- Amazon Blog: Alexa’s New Energy Dashboard (Coming Soon)
- Greentech Media: Generac Acquires Enbala, Boosting Plan to Harness Behind-the-Meter Energy Resources
- Greentech Media: Siemens and Macquarie Form Calibrant Energy to Tackle Distributed Energy Market
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
California plans to ban new internal-combustion vehicles by 2035. But are electric vehicles ready to take their place?
We know that there are dozens and dozens more models of electric cars on the market. Ranges are increasing. Consumers like the driving experience. And total costs are creeping downward.
But America’s electric vehicle market is anemic. Dealers aren’t pushing them. Consumers aren’t demanding them. And there are still very real infrastructure challenges.
So in this episode, we’re unpacking those trends in the context of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order mandating a halt to new gas-powered cars in 15 years.
This is a conversation between co-host Shayle Kann and his colleague at Energy Impact Partners, Andy Lubershane. It’s a detailed look at the underlying trends that could complicate California’s plans.
In this conversation, they touch on the state of the EV transition, the state of the technology and consumer habits, and the impact of lots of EVs on the grid.
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In recent weeks, five million acres have burned across California, Oregon and Washington State -- killing dozens, displacing tens of thousands of people, and causing untold damage.
In California, over three million acres have burned since the start of the year. At the height of the current wildfire outbreak, western cities had the worst air pollution in the world for days.
It makes the solutions we talk about on this show -- renewables, grid resilience, microgrids, decarbonization -- that much more urgent.
This week, we’re replaying a conversation that we taped last fall, just after a different round of record fires. It’s Shayle talking with Kate Gordon, the director of the office of planning and research in California. She's also a senior advisor to Governor Newsom on climate.
Kate details the diverse range of climate risks that California faces -- and how it's impacting every decision the state makes.
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The market for initial public offerings dropped way down this year. Or did it? There is a surge in activity in a different kind of IPO: a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. It’s also known as a reverse merger.
These are shell companies listed on exchanges with a mission to buy private companies and convert them into public ones.
According to a tally from Barron’s, there have been 70 IPOs through this method in 2020, with proceeds totaling $27.7 billion.
It’s creating a path for little-known, pre-revenue cleantech companies to get access to public markets. Does all this frothiness make sense? And why now?
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
There are still questions about what exactly caused California’s blackouts during last month’s heat wave. We know that imports were down, natural gas plants tripped off line, and wind generation fell.
But what about all those air conditioners, batteries and industrial loads that are supposed to support the grid? What role did they play -- or didn’t they play -- in helping California’s stressed grid?
We’re going to look at how distributed resources are being used today in different grids around the U.S.
With us this week is Dr. Elta Kolo, a content lead on the grid edge team at Wood Mackenzie. She’s an expert on utility business models, grid integration, and demand response.
She’s going to help us understand the technology and market-design landscape for demand response. With California going through another round of grid stresses due to a heat wave and wildfires, this conversation is particularly relevant.
The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: how an innocuous grid-modeling project became a threat to Trump’s efforts to save coal -- and then languished inside the Department of Energy.
It’s one of many pieces of research that have been suppressed by the current administration.
What is the study? What does it tell us about the systematic dismantling of government under Trump? What are the implications for a cleaner grid?
Journalist Peter Fairley joins us to talk about his investigation, which was a collaboration between InvestigateWest and The Atlantic.
The Interchange is brought to you by Stem, a global leader in artificial intelligence-driven energy storage services. By combining advanced energy storage solutions with Athena, a world-class AI-powered analytics platform, Stem enables customers and partners to optimize energy use by automatically switching between battery power, onsite generation and grid power. Find out more.
The Interchange is also brought to you by GTM Creative Strategies. You’ve got a story to tell, and we’re here to help you tell it, including custom podcasts. GTM Creative Strategies leverages unmatched editorial credibility, top creative minds and seasoned analysts to drive unparalleled brand awareness that puts you ahead of your competitors. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Before the pandemic, one of the biggest news stories of the year was BlackRock’s decision to make climate risk a central part of its investment strategy. This isn’t your average family office; this is BlackRock, a company with $7 trillion under management.
It brought more mainstream attention to ESG, or environmental, social, governance. ESG is a set of standards for valuing ethical business practices, including decarbonization. Suddenly all kinds of ESG funds focused on sustainability are popping up, worth $1 trillion.
The concept is not new. But activity has ramped way up in the last few years. BlackRock’s splashy climate declaration only ramped it further.
It’s also a world that is not well defined, not well regulated, and still very messy. Will that messiness derail progress in the world of sustainable investing?
The Interchange is brought to you by Stem, a global leader in artificial intelligence-driven energy storage services. By combining advanced energy storage solutions with Athena, a world-class AI-powered analytics platform, Stem enables customers and partners to optimize energy use by automatically switching between battery power, onsite generation and grid power. Find out more.
The Interchange is also brought to you by GTM Creative Strategies. You’ve got a story to tell, and we’re here to help you tell it, including custom podcasts. GTM Creative Strategies leverages unmatched editorial credibility, top creative minds and seasoned analysts to drive unparalleled brand awareness that puts you ahead of your competitors. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We’re constantly going through waves of hype in different energy sectors: flexible solar panels, vertical-axis wind, electric planes, vehicle-to-grid, the smart home, blockchain. Some are real, some are not. Some just need to mature.
So what phase are we in now? In this episode, Shayle and Stephen are digging into different sectors and trends at various stages of the climate tech hype cycle.
They’ll decide whether to buy, sell or hold based on the current level of fanfare. In other words, do we think it's overhyped, underhyped or just right?
We’re going to do this for six sectors, some of which came from listeners.
- Green hydrogen
- Micromobility
- Residential battery storage
- Direct air capture (tons of people on twitter suggested this one)
- Blockchain
- Virtual power plants
And here’s Shayle’s climate tech hype cycle chart that we discuss on the show.
The Interchange is brought to you by Stem, a global leader in artificial intelligence-driven energy storage services. By combining advanced energy storage solutions with Athena, a world-class AI-powered analytics platform, Stem enables customers and partners to optimize energy use by automatically switching between battery power, onsite generation and grid power. Find out more.
The Interchange is also brought to you by GTM Creative Strategies. You’ve got a story to tell, and we’re here to help you tell it, including custom podcasts. GTM Creative Strategies leverages unmatched editorial credibility, top creative minds and seasoned analysts to drive unparalleled brand awareness that puts you ahead of your competitors. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We may be facing one of the worst economic downturns in American history, but it hasn’t stopped the surge in battery storage development.
We’re constantly hearing the phrase “world’s largest” or “record breaking” as new gigawatt-scale projects are unveiled weekly.
Small-scale batteries are being attached to more than one-third of residential solar systems for leading installers, making distributed batteries a staple of home energy offerings.
New markets like Texas are heating up. And utilities are putting batteries front-and-center in their 100% clean energy plans.
As a result: we will likely see a 14-fold increase in batteries deployed on the grid in the US over the next five years, according to our analysts at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.
With us is the reporter at the front edge of all these developments: Julian Spector, a staff writer at Greentech Media.
Read Julian’s coverage here. And check out his newsletter.
The Interchange is brought to you by Stem, a global leader in artificial intelligence-driven energy storage services. By combining advanced energy storage solutions with Athena, a world-class AI-powered analytics platform, Stem enables customers and partners to optimize energy use by automatically switching between battery power, onsite generation and grid power. Find out more.
The Interchange is also brought to you by GTM Creative Strategies. You’ve got a story to tell, and we’re here to help you tell it, including custom podcasts. GTM Creative Strategies leverages unmatched editorial credibility, top creative minds and seasoned analysts to drive unparalleled brand awareness that puts you ahead of your competitors. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The world looked bleak for startups in the spring.
According to figures from Crunchbase, venture capital deals were down 44 percent from March to June compared with last year. Seed-stage deals took the biggest hit, down nearly 60 percent. But series B deals also took a hit. It was difficult at any stage of funding.
Deals are finally coming back. Obviously, travel startups won’t be a hot category for a long time. But what about climate and cleantech? Are they insulated? And what does the reorientation tell us about who’s still all-in on the category?
We’re joined by Abe Yokell, managing partner and co-founder of Congruent Ventures. He and Shayle dig into a wide range of venture capital trends:
- COVID impacts on the “climate tech” venture revolution. We’ll check back in on what we talked about last time, given the new state of the world.
- The rise of the tech company mega-climate-fund
- Public market madness. What, if anything, does this say about exit prospects for climate tech startups?
- Hot sectors: where is the smart tech talent going?
The Interchange is brought to you by Fluence, a global leader in battery-based energy storage technology and services. From commercializing the first grid-connected battery systems in 2008 to the multi-gigawatt fleet being deployed for customers globally today, the Fluence team is ensuring that storage is the cornerstone of the electric future. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Coronavirus is reshaping the way we move around. Will we emerge from this pandemic with smarter planning? Or will it dismantle already-weakened public transportation systems?
When economies across the world shut down all at once in March, the impact on transportation systems was immediate. According to the International Energy Agency, activity on roads globally was down 50% compared to the 2019 average. Commercial flights were down 75% compared to 2019. Many cities saw a more than 90% drop in public transport ridership. And leading ride sharing companies saw between an 80-90% drop in usage.
Activity has since picked up, but people are still moving around a lot less. The pandemic will likely shape behavior long-term, which will influence how we design our roads, bike lanes and public transit systems.
Our guest is on the front lines of these changes: Tiffany Chu, the CEO and co-founder of Remix. Remix works with hundreds of cities around the world to help them better plan multi-modal transportation in an environmentally sound and equitable way.
The Interchange is brought to you by Fluence, a global leader in battery-based energy storage technology and services. From commercializing the first grid-connected battery systems in 2008 to the multi-gigawatt fleet being deployed for customers globally today, the Fluence team is ensuring that storage is the cornerstone of the electric future. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Earlier this month, Sunrun, the largest residential solar company in the U.S., declared its intent to acquire Vivint Solar, the second largest installer. It’s an all-stock transaction that would value the combined entity at over $9 billion.
It's a big deal -- literally. The enterprise value attached to Vivint is $3.2 billion, which makes it the largest single transaction in the history of the distributed energy market.
It’s also a big deal because of what it says about the state and future of distributed solar, plus adjacent markets like energy storage and maybe even electric vehicles.
So that's what we're going to talk about today. Shayle sits down with Austin Perea, a senior solar analyst for Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, to talk about the strategy behind this deal and what it tells us about the next phase of the market.
Assuming the acquisition goes through, how big will this new entity be?
The Interchange is brought to you by Fluence, a global leader in battery-based energy storage technology and services. From commercializing the first grid-connected battery systems in 2008 to the multi-gigawatt fleet being deployed for customers globally today, the Fluence team is ensuring that storage is the cornerstone of the electric future. Learn more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: is carbon transparency finally coming?
Electronics maker Logitech became the most recent company to offer carbon labels on its products. Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell called carbon “the new calorie.”
It’s one of many attempts by food and consumer goods producers to make the lifecycle emissions of their products clearer to consumers.
In this episode, we’ll examine the new generation of climate labels. We’ve seen attempts at carbon labeling before. What makes these newer ones different? And will they stick?
Plus, we’ll try to answer listener questions about renewable natural gas, vehicle-to-grid, ESG standards, and COVID predictions.
This episode was recorded live in front of hundreds of listeners (remotely). Thanks to everyone who joined us!
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint. Get your system today.
We’re also brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with The Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy, an open-access tool based on the modeling of 145 countries and regions worldwide to illustrate the cost-optimal 100% renewable energy systems.
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There is a widely-held perception that data centers -- the giant facilities that hold networks of society’s supercomputers -- are an out-of-control energy suck.
We’ve all seen headlines like this:
- “Your Netflix binge may be frying the planet”
- “Cut back on email if you want to save the environment”
- “Every Google search you do contributes to climate change”
- “Bitcoin could be the final nail in the coffin for climate change”
It’s actually not true, says our guest. These myths are rooted in bad projections and false statements from coal advocates, dating all the way back to the 1990s.
Yes, data centers collectively use a lot of energy. But they’re becoming hyperefficient. They’re a magnet for renewables development. And they’re helping us unlock the powerful software, algorithms and heavy computational tasks that run the clean energy economy.
Our guest has been researching data centers for decades. It is Jonathan Koomey, an expert on sustainable IT. Jon was previously a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and a lecturer at Stanford. Today, he runs his own research and consulting outfit on the environmental impacts of information technology.
We’ll talk with him about the different ways that data centers are at the cutting edge of energy and sustainability.
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint. Get your system today.
We’re also brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with The Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy, an open-access tool based on the modeling of 145 countries and regions worldwide to illustrate the cost-optimal 100% renewable energy systems.
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A boisterous CEO who brags of “out-Eloning” Elon Musk; a reverse merger that makes a little-known fuel cell trucking company as valuable as Ford; and no actual cars or trucks in production.
This week, we try to make sense of Nikola Motor.
Nikola Motor went public last week through a reverse merger, achieving a ~$13 billion valuation. As the markets closed on Wednesday, the company’s market cap was at $23 billion.
But with a non-traditional IPO, an enigmatic CEO, and zero revenue or actual vehicles, it’s become one of the more befuddling stories in cleantech in recent memory.
We’ll dig into the company’s claims and business model. Is this just another overhyped penny stock, or is there any substance to Nikola’s plan?
- LA Times: Electric Truck Maker Nikola Looks Like Tesla 2.0 — Except Even Riskier
- CNBC: Meet Nikola, the Speculative Electric Vehicle Stock
- Barron’s: Truck-Building Tesla Competitor Nikola Draws the Attention of a Short Seller
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint. Get your system today.
We’re also brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with The Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy, an open-access tool based on the modeling of 145 countries and regions worldwide to illustrate the cost-optimal 100% renewable energy systems.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We use the term “energy transition” to define markets, technology, business models. But what about people?
The transition away from fossil fuels isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. The hardest part isn’t building the clean resources. It’s shutting down the dirty stuff at a pace the science demands.
And that means disrupting entire classes of employment and communities that depend on fossil fuel extraction -- in other words, helping people find work somewhere else.
The often-used phrase is the “just transition.”
We have a guest who’s been researching and writing about this subject for years: Sandeep Pai.
Sandeep the author of “Total Transition: the Human Side of the Renewable Energy Revolution.” He’s a former journalist and a current PhD student and public scholar at the Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia.
We’ll talk with Sandeep about his analysis of the strategies for transitioning fossil fuel workers in economies around the world.
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint. Get your system today.
We’re also brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with The Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy, an open-access tool based on the modeling of 145 countries and regions worldwide to illustrate the cost-optimal 100% renewable energy systems.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Greed is good. At least, it’s good for decarbonization.
This week on The Interchange podcast, we have a new edition of the fantasy decarbonization draft -- this one focused on acquiring and restructuring public companies.
We’re joining the ranks of corporate raiders like Carl Icahn, T. Boone Pickens and Gordon Gekko by taking over public companies and bending their strategies to our will. (For benevolent reasons, of course.)
Shayle and Stephen will pick their portfolio of companies. And then listeners choose who has the best investment strategy. (Vote over at @InterchangeShow on Twitter.)
Here’s how it works:
- We each have $25 billion to spend
- We can acquire a maximum of eight companies each. There’s no minimum.
- The cost of any given company is its market cap at the time of choosing.
- Our acquisition targets must be publicly traded
- Once we’ve acquired a company, we can control its strategy.
- The goal is to accelerate decarbonization in our chosen sector
- Our geographic focus is North America
Make sure to listen to our first and second decarbonization drafts.
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint. Get your system today.
We’re also brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with The Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy, an open-access tool based on the modeling of 145 countries and regions worldwide to illustrate the cost-optimal 100% renewable energy systems.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we’re talking about the new wave of carbon offsets. Will startups and corporates be able to solve accountability problems?
Right up until the global economy stopped working in March, the carbon offset market was surging. In 2019, offset sellers saw a 5-fold increase in purchases, after years of low demand in the wake of the financial crisis.
Flight-shamed consumers were demanding them. The world’s top companies were buying them in record numbers.
But then came the coronavirus shock. The steep drop in fuel and electricity consumption has slowed consumer demand for carbon offsets in the short-term, but there are still underlying trends that may herald the return of carbon offsets.
Is this time different? Can new players improve the quality and traceability of carbon reductions?
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint.
We’re also brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with “The Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy,” an open access tool based on the modeling of 145 countries and regions worldwide to illustrate the cost-optimal 100% renewable energy systems.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: where does the COVID detour take us as we map the energy transition?
We’re once again thinking through the practical and theoretical consequences of the pandemic, in the near-term and well into the future.
Shayle and Stephen talk with Ramez Naam, a futurist, science-fiction author and energy expert. Ramez joined us last August to talk about some future scenarios for energy. The world is a dramatically different place today, so we’re bringing him back to recalibrate our sights.
We’ll talk about a wide range of subjects, including: oil consumption, behavior changes, demand for electric cars, and whether we’re delaying the energy transition.
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint.
We’re also brought to you by the Wood Mackenzie power team. WoodMac is delivering actionable real-time data on how our new reality is shaping power markets. Learn more about how we can help you understand the future of energy.
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Electricity grids can handle a lot of wind, solar and water resources. But what will help us get from 80% renewable energy to 100% renewable energy?
The missing piece may be renewable synthetic fuels.
“When we really want to decarbonize the whole electricity system, absolutely synthetic fuels will play a key role,” says Matti Rautkivi, the director of Business Development and Strategy at Wärtsilä.
In this episode, produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä, we’re looking specifically at how to use green hydrogen to create renewable fuels -- and burn those fuels to create the fully-renewable electricity system.
There’s some uncertainty about how exactly this market will evolve. But experts like Rautkivi are confident that renewable fuels are going to become a vital solution.
“When we have excess electricity available, instead of curtailing it, we are going to put it through the synthetic fuels process and convert the electricity to fuels that we can store and use it later,” says Rautkivi. “So it provides flexibility to the electricity system.”
This is the third in a three-part series produced with Wärtsilä. You can listen to part one and part two.
Wärtsilä creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. They’re helping clients worldwide meet their clean energy goals in an efficient and cost-effective way. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Destruction. Dislocation. Collapse. A permanent reset. Read any news about oil markets, and these are the vivid descriptions you’ll encounter.
We are now deep into an historic pause for oil demand across the globe -- shutting down oil fields, causing negative pricing, overwhelming our storage abilities, and forcing up to a million job losses this year.
"We are looking at a major demand destruction that we don't even know will come back," said Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden on a recent investor call.
So if demand doesn’t come back, what happens? What are the direct consequences to the oil industry? And what are the opportunities for a “new energy order,” as the World Economic Forum is now calling it?
This week, Stephen and Shayle talk with Ed Crooks, vice chair for the Americas at GTM’s parent company Wood Mackenzie. Ed is a former editor at the Financial Times. He’s one of the go-to people watching oil market dynamics and how they intersect with the clean energy transition.
We had so many listeners write in during our live show about what’s unfolding in oil markets. So we’re going to try to tackle them.
The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Famed software pioneer and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is out with a new piece, called “It’s time to build,” that is making the rounds among the thinkfluencer crowd. It’s part call-to-arms and part flogging over America’s inability to build.
“Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, what are you building? What are you building directly, or helping other people to build, or teaching other people to build, or taking care of people who are building?” writes Andreessen.
Andreesen is a partner at the VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz. He is considered one of the more important people in software. He co-founded Netscape and wrote a manifesto in 2011 called “Why software is eating the world” that has been a guiding light for many venture investors and people starting companies.
Now he has a new focus on building physical things.
His new article sparked a surprising number of counter-reactions in the press, from think tanks, and from YouTubers. And it got us thinking about how to apply the thesis to the low-carbon economy.
Read Shayle Kann’s climate-focused response to Andreessen’s call to action, which forms the basis of our discussion.
Want to join the conversation? Form your own list of climate-focused stuff we should be building, and tweet it at @InterchangeShow.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we bring you a joint episode of The Interchange and The Energy Gang recorded in front of a live audience from our quarantine quarters around the country.
When we started making our podcasts seven years ago, it was clear that the energy transition would be a difficult one.
Both shows were designed as a forum to grapple with tough issues in an accessible, candid way. The clean energy industry has faced its share of crises over the years — but nothing quite like the current pandemic and economic freeze.
Supply chains are in limbo, funding opportunities for startups have vanished, and once-growing companies are at a standstill. Meanwhile, political leaders are trying to get money to struggling people and businesses, setting the stage for trillions more dollars in spending on infrastructure.
How will it all pan out? We’re trying to figure it out, just like you.
In this episode, we take listener questions about how to use the current crisis as an opportunity. We use some thought exercises as a way to break up the gloom, and do a mental health check-in with each other.
Listeners submitted over 120 questions. We’ll be considering them on future shows. If you have any other show topic ideas, tag The Energy Gangand The Interchange on Twitter. (And please give us a rating and review on Apple podcasts!)
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We have a live show coming up on Wednesday, April 22. It's free! Sign up here. And submit questions here.
What will be the “new normal” in the energy economy when coronavirus starts to dissipate?
The longer this goes on, the more dramatically it will alter how we make things, where we make them, what kind of companies grow or fail, and who suffers and who benefits
This week, Shayle and Stephen speak with Amy Meyers Jaffe, a senior fellow and director of the energy and climate change program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Amy focuses on oil markets, geopolitics, and the emerging clean energy sectors.
Amy recently penned a piece on whether we’re going to come out of this situation with a lasting impact on carbon emissions.
We hopped on a call to discuss many of the themes she’s writing about, including behavioral changes, the stimulus, and the future of oil.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: coronavirus is rewriting the cleantech startup survival guide.
The implosion for early-stage companies has been swift. According to a New York Times analysis, 6,000 people at 50 startups have lost their jobs since the middle of March.
Once fast-growing companies are losing their revenue overnight, laying off or furloughing up to 50 percent of their staff.
Companies in travel, consumer goods, or fintech are the hardest hit by the current economic freeze. The full impact on climatetech and cleantech companies is still unknown. That will depend on the sector they’re targeting, whether they’re generating revenue, and how long this crisis lasts.
Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey talk with Dr. Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, and Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse about how startups can make it through the current economic calamity.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We were feeling a little stir crazy this week, so we hopped behind the microphone with Chris Nelder, host of The Energy Transition Show for some wonkery while in quarantine.
In this episode we are exploring two simple questions: What was an unknown about the energy transition five years ago that we now know? And what is a question that has emerged in 2020 that is still unanswered?
And as expected, those questions brought us to some complex answers.
Thanks to Chris Nelder for a fun (socially distant) conversation.
Want to connect with us while stuck at home? Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we're coming to you from our home isolation, partially frozen in time.
We're wondering how long things will be this way. How we will work? How he will keep healthy? How we will run our companies? How will we move forward?
It can feel like each day those answers are only further away. This week on The interchange, Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey get real on how the pandemic has changed their daily lives and their thinking about covering the energy disruption in the months ahead.
Will the current economic disruption lead to permanent changes that lower carbon emissions?
How does this economic disaster change the field for startups and large companies in clean energy?
Mentioned on the show:
- Kate Lister: Workplace Analytics and Telecommuting
- Twitter: Infectious disease expert Laurie Garrett
- NYT: Climate Change Has Lessons for Fighting Coronavirus, Somini Sengupta
- IEA: Put clean energy at the heart of stimulus plans to counter the coronavirus crisis
- Guardian: Financial Crises are Filtering Mechanisms for Startups
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: What does the load curve look like in a time of pandemic?
We are in the middle of a sudden, jarring economic shift. Store fronts, arenas and office buildings are dark in many cities. Homes are becoming the center of our activity -- and for many of us, our work.
That is causing sudden shifts in the way we consume energy. We’ve seen it play out in China, France and Italy.
So what is happening to the daily shape of electricity load here in the U.S.? And what are the long-term consequences to power providers if this goes on for a long time?
Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey talk with someone who knows how to read a load curve: Nick Chaset. Nick is Chief Executive Officer at East Bay Community Energy and on the board of the California Community Choice Association. He’s worked as Chief of Staff to the head of the California Public Utilities Commission and was special advisor to Governor Jerry Brown on distributed energy resources.
Nick will share some data about his CCA’s changing load curve.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: What can meal kits tell us about the energy intensity of the food system?
When you get meal-kits delivered to your home -- are they a net benefit to the environment? Or are these time savers carbon-heavy?
Since 2012, there’s been a surge in meal-kit delivery options. Online buying and delivery is now the norm. There’s a surge in interest in healthy eating. And we’re all insanely busy. And that’s making Meal-Kits like Home Chef, Blue Apron and HelloFresh a $5 billion business.
But how guilty should you feel unboxing that pre-measured parsley, or berry sauce for that salmon? How does the carbon that got burned to make that packaging and drive that delivery van, compare to buying the ingredients yourself? Has anyone done the math?
We found someone who can actually answer this question for us: Dr. Isabella Gee, an engineer at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas. She did her thesis on this exact question -- and she spends her time looking at the food system broadly.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: what one entrepreneur's story tells us about the migration of talent from tech to climate.
Jason Jacobs is the founder of My Climate Journey, a podcast, newsletter, and slack room that brings together a high-level group of people who are dedicating their careers to addressing climate change.
Co-host Shayle Kann talks with Jason about his own journey -- and about what his story tells us about the shift underway in the world of tech.
The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.
We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The 100% renewable energy future doesn’t start with a country, state or region. It starts with a city. One power plant in a city, in fact. In Glendale, California.
Glendale is a city of 200,000 people just north of Los Angeles. And in 2014, the was in a tricky spot. The city’s natural gas plant was old. The City Council faced a decision that would impact the city for decades to come: revamp the 252-megawatt gas plant, or find local alternatives?
After modeling many different types of local resources, the city found the perfect mix: 75 megawatts of utility-scale storage; 15 megawatts of solar, efficiency and demand response; and 93 megawatts of Wärtsilä engines for backup reliability. It saved the city millions of dollars.
“And it's just a huge win...and really, an important model for the future of energy,” says David Millar a resource planning consultant at Ascend Analytics, who helped model Glendale’s energy system.
In this episode, produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä, we look at the hidden hero of the 100% renewable future: power systems modeling.
This is the second in a three-part series produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä. You can listen to part one here.
As cities, states and countries make tough choices about cleaning up their power systems, they need to rely on sophisticated models.
We’ll look at the experience of Glendale. And then turn to Joe Ferrari, the general manager for utility market development at Wärtsilä North America. Joe is an expert on how utilities are planning for the 100% renewable energy future.
“The technology is there. It's just understanding how to put all the pieces together,” explains Ferrari.
Wärtsilä creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. They’re helping clients worldwide meet their clean energy goals in an efficient and cost-effective way. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we are talking about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and many ways they can decarbonize the economy.
From optimizing buildings to modeling new industrial processes to better managing the grid, AI and machine learning are core to many technology strategies for addressing climate change.
So how, exactly, will they be implemented? And what problems can they solve?
With us is Priya Donti, a PHD student at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work is focused on machine learning, grid systems and climate change. She is also the co-chair of Climate Change AI, a group of academics and practitioners looking at machine learning as a decarbonization tool.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: predictions for the future of home solar and batteries.
Big rooftop solar installers are competing with the largest utility-scale plants in terms of yearly deployed capacity.
Batteries are making their way onto more installations, opening up new advancements in software and power electronics.
Tesla finally says it’s making progress on the solar roof.
Meanwhile, extreme weather, wildfires and power shutoffs in California are providing a new entry point for consumers.
What does it all amount to? In this episode, we have a conversation with Barry Cinnamon, the CEO of Cinnamon Solar.
Barry has been installing solar for nearly 20 years. He knows the on-the-ground trends and where they fit into the broader market picture. He regularly writes about the industry on Greentech Media.
Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey sit down with Barry to talk battery applications, home control, EV charging, Tesla’s solar roof, and more.
Read along with us:
- Greentech Media: 10 Rooftop Solar and Storage Predictions for the Next Decade
- Greentech Media: 10 Mistakes I’ve Made Selling and Installing Battery Storage System
- Mercury News: Why Every House in California Will Have Solar Power
- Listen to Barry’s podcast: The Energy Show
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A lot of companies and governments are committing to 100% renewable energy. But a target of that scope without considering time of use isn’t technically or economically optimal.
So how do we get 24/7 renewables for offices, data centers, municipal buildings, cities, and eventually countries?
Calculating renewables consumption on an annual basis isn’t sufficient. If we really want to make them an effective decarbonization tool, we need to match them to real-time demand. And there are a lot of ways to do it.
In the last few months, we’ve seen examples of large corporations taking the challenge head on. We’ve also seen the negative consequences for a city when it failed to account for time of use.
Dr. Melissa Lott, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, joins co-host Shayle Kann for a deep dive into 24/7 renewables.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
“Climatetech” is suddenly the hot new thing in venture capital.
For years now, venture investors have stayed away from the cleantech category, a hangover from the Solyndra days that we have thoroughly documented on The Interchange.
But we appear to be in a new phase of interest. Prominent investors are publicly declaring their push into the space. Influential voices in tech are calling on more investors to do the same -- including Kara Swisher, who wrote a persuasive piece in The New York Times last week. And now startups of all kinds are getting a second look.
So. What’s going on? And have investors internalized the lessons from the previous investment wave?
With us to weigh in on those questions is returning guest Abe Yokell. Abe is a managing partner at Congruent Ventures.
Co-host Shayle Kann, a managing director at Energy Impact Partners, sets up the trend. Then Shayle and Abe dissect lessons from cleantech venture capital 1.0.
The basis of this conversation came from Shayle’s tweet. Read the responses and add your thoughts.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
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Less than one percent of all hydrogen produced today comes from renewables. Is that about to change?
The vice president of Siemens Middle East just called green hydrogen the “new oil” in the coming decades. A lot of big industrial companies and oil majors are taking another serious look at hydrogen. Why?
In an era of extremely cheap renewables that are increasingly being curtailed, hydrogen production could finally be an attractive use. There are emerging regulatory pressures on existing hydrogen production.
This week, we talk with Ben Gallagher, an expert on emerging tech at Wood Mackenzie. He’s the author of a new piece of research on the market. Ben will help us understand what’s different about today’s hydrogen hype.
Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage, or looking for back-up power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We’re undergoing some great changes here on The Interchange! We’re bringing on a new producer and we’re going to be featuring new voices that will help us tackle the energy transition in new and compelling ways.
So while we reorient ourselves, we are bringing you an episode from 2018 called “8 bets about the future.” We debated and bet on a bunch of different scenarios for the coming decades.
This is one of our favorite shows. It’s a good one to bring up from the archives as we prepare ourselves for the decade ahead.
The bets we discuss:
Bet #1: Bug will control machines with her voice more than with her keyboard.
Bet #2: Bug will never personally drive a car.
Bet #3: By the time Bug buys her first home, especially if she’s in an urban environment, her surroundings will transformed.
Bet #4: By the time Bug shops for her own groceries, >20% of her produce will be grown indoors
Bet #5: In Bug’s first home of her own, more than half of her electricity load will dynamically respond to grid or price signals
Bet #6: By the time Bug reaches 30 (in the year 2050), electricity’s market share of final energy consumption will more than double.
Bet #7: More than 50% of Bug’s electricity, as represented by the national breakdown, will come from renewables by the time she’s a sophomore in high school.
Bet #8 : Bug will live over 200 years, and for most of her life, electricity will be her only food.
Want to share your opinion about these predictions? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage, or looking for back-up power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We’re now in the 2020s. Many of the tropes about this era from films and literature may not have come true, but there’s a lot happening around us that does feel futuristic.
And this week, we are offering up proof that we are living in the energy future — right now.
Shayle and Stephen are each going to pick a use of technology that once seemed futuristic, but is now a reality.
We’re also going to choose a technology that we thought would arrive but now, but is still seemingly off into the future.
What’s your pick? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.
This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage, or looking for back-up power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This show has a very simple mission: break down the complexity of the global energy transition in a clear way.
Whether that’s digging through reports, concepts, acronyms, business deals, or trends, we are constantly trying to make these topics accessible, yet wonky.
Some of our most popular episodes of 2019 featured guests who were particularly good at delivering on that mission. So we’re going to serve up some snippets of those conversations.
In this episode, we'll hear from:
- Dr. Leah Stokes from our July episode on the politics of the Green New Deal.
- Futurist Ramez Naam on the exponential trends disrupting energy.
- Analyst Adam James on the promise of aggregated distributed energy resources.
Happy new year! Please rate and review us as a gesture of support to close out the year. It’s very helpful for other people who are just finding the show.
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Countries, states, cities, utilities and corporations are all setting increasingly ambitious targets for clean energy.
There are lots of variations on the theme: 100% renewable energy, 100% clean energy, 100% carbon-free energy. They all require ambition -- and lots of planning.
In this episode, the first in a three-part series from Wartsila, we are exploring the causes and consequences of this 100% trend.
How did we get to this point where utilities and states are all committing to 100% zero-carbon or 100% renewable energy goals? What are the limitations? What is the potential? And what’s the pathway to achieving them?
Producer Lisa Barfai speaks with Emma Foehringer Merchant, a staff writer at Greentech Media, who describes the origin of the trend.
Then we’ll talk with Jussi Heikkinen, director of growth and development for the Americas at Wartsila, who outlines the practical consequences for the electricity system.
Wartsila creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. They’re helping clients worldwide meet their clean energy goals in an efficient and cost-effective way. Find out more.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It’s our last episode of the decade! We’re looking back over the last 10 years and making our choices for:
- The most important statistic
- The most impactful piece of research
- The top buzz phrase
- The most unexpected twist
- The most pivotal deal
- And the dark horse trend of the 2020s
Thanks to everyone who’s been listening to this show since 2014. We appreciate your feedback and support. Please continue to suggest topics via Twitter so that we can evolve over the next decade.
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
America’s physical infrastructure is in the dumps. The American Society of Civil Engineers regularly gives the country’s infrastructure a near-failing grade.
We need to rebuild a lot of stuff. Hardening our roads, grids, buildings, transit systems has a climate context to it: we need to do it better and we need to do it cleaner.
This week, we are exploring the cleantech opportunities in physical infrastructure. What are the most compelling trends shaping the way we optimize our electrical equipment, pipelines, streets, homes and buildings?
This conversation is based on Shayle Kann’s piece, titled “The World Around Us.”
We’re breaking the conversation into four parts:
- The geospatial revolution: how the combination of new sources of geospatial data (satellites, drones, sensors), combined with the data revolution, will allow us to gain a real-time operational picture of our infrastructure and ultimately optimize it.
- The culture of resilience: how increasing natural disasters will start to make investing in resilience (via anything from batteries to building retrofits) mainstream.
- The re-platforming of our streets: how the arrival of new modes of transport (autonomous, micromobility, package delivery) will force us to rethink the orientation of our streets, which are currently designed for a single master – the passenger vehicle.
- The impacts of 100% clean: how all the commitments to 100% will force us to confront the biggest challenge we’ll face in electricity for the next few decades: how to unlock grid flexibility, particularly behind the meter.
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we have a special addendum to our deep decarbonization draft.
We’re talking with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, the vice president of communication and engagement at Project Drawdown.
Katharine is one of the minds behind the Project Drawdown solutions list that we used as the basis for our draft. We chose the list because it spans so many different areas of the global economy.
Katharine is a renowned expert and self-proclaimed “climate solutionary.” She has a very popular TED Talk on gender equality and climate change, and she speaks regularly to the press about climate issues.
She was the lead author on the Project Drawdown book, which goes deep on the top 100 decarbonization solutions.
If you haven’t listened to our draft, go back and check it out. This conversation will make a lot more sense.
We talk with Katharine about the biggest wins for decarbonization, the most surprising opportunities, and how do they break down along the lines of high-tech and low-tech.
We’ll also get her opinion on who won the Deep Decarbonization Draft — Stephen or Shayle?
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we offer our second installment of the Deep Decarbonization Draft — our fantasy sports event for energy and climate nerds.
Last year’s draft inspired similar versions at conferences and in the classroom. We’re bringing the game back by popular demand.
The premise is simple: Shayle and Stephen choose their teams of decarbonization technologies and methods, and then pit them against each other to determine who’s best at saving the planet.
This year’s list climate solutions comes from Project Drawdown. You can find their list and scores here.
Producer Daniel Woldorff has anonymized the list. We need to choose seven draft picks from the 80+ solutions across seven sectors. After all the picks, one steal is allowed.
Once the scores are locked in, we’ll tally up the total CO2 reductions and the total savings and determine a winner. Bonus points for the person who made the highest-scoring pick.
Listen to last year’s decarbonization draft.
Thanks to Matt Farley for the theme song.
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present the final episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. We’re going deep on the housing market.
Our guest co-authored an important study quantifying extreme weather risk in the U.S. housing market — and identifying how banks are shifting that risk to us, the taxpayers.
Shayle Kann talks with Amine Ouazad, a professor of applied economics at the graduate business school HEC Montreal. He recently co-authored a study calledMortgage Financing in the Face of Rising Climate Risk.
The New York Times summarized the research, asking we're facing problems similar to the previous housing crisis.
Topics covered on this episode:
- The role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the mortgage market: what happens when mortgage loans get securitized to them?
- Why does the decline in poor FEMA mapping and flood insurance create additional risk for lenders?
- How are risky mortgage loans in vulnerable areas getting sold to Fannie and Freddie — putting taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in risk?
- What happens after a large disaster in terms of new loans? What is the significance?
- What might this mean for the health of the housing market as natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and magnitude? Will there be a cascading effect?
- What parallels can we draw from the 2008 financial crisis that resulted from the housing market collapse?
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Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present the second episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk.
As the latest wildfires in California finally get under control, residents and public officials are in a state of panic. The scope and frequency of these disasters is expanding quickly. And it’s not solved by sprinkling more wind and solar on the grid — it’s a planning issue of the highest magnitude.
Our guest is someone who is thinking through the complexities of dealing with the growing impact of climate change on the geography, economy and the infrastructure of the world’s fifth-biggest economy.
In part 2 of our climate risk series, Shayle Kann talks with Kate Gordon, director of the office of planning and research for California. She is also senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom on climate.
It sounds like a dry job title. But it is an incredibly complicated role.
Topics covered in this episode:
- What are the risks the state of California faces due to climate change, today and in the future? How are the expanding?
- How should we think about housing policy and urban planning in light of wildfire risk? Should we be rebuilding homes that were burned down? How do we deal with rising insurance premiums?
- How might climate change contribute to water scarcity in the state, and what can be done today to mitigate that risk?
- What other climate risks should be at the forefront of Californians' minds — flooding, temperature, rise, impact on agriculture, etc?
- Are events like wildfires and power shutoffs galvanizing the public into taking action around climate resilience? If so, in what form?
- Does California look to any other countries as exemplary in building climate resilience? Who is doing it right?
Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcast
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present the first episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. How do we measure and quantify both the physical and economic risk of a warming planet?
This question has very real consequences for the way companies are run, the way cities are planned, and the way markets are valued.
In this episode, Shayle Kann speaks with Trevor Houser, a partner with Rhodium Group.
Rhodium Group and Blackrock recently wrote a report on the underpriced risks of climate change throughout the economy.
Topics covered in this episode:
- What counts as "climate risk,” and how is it distinguished from all the risks we face independent of climate change?
- The state of climate risk reporting: How has our ability to measure climate risk improved? How much certainty can we provide today? What gaps remain?
- Examples of climate risk in municipal bonds, commercial real estate, and energy & utilities.
- How big a challenge is it to get different players (investors, insurers, corporations, etc) to account for climate risk? How should they be thinking about it?
Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcast
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present a special episode in collaboration with Centrica Business Solutions and GTM Creative Strategies.
For the last decade and a half, we’ve been hearing about how the internet-of-things would completely reshape how our buildings operate -- and how people operate within them.
But while the layer of digital tech in buildings is advancing all the time, the IOT revolution is taking longer to play out than some expected.
“In short, a lot of the promise has not been fulfilled,” says Paul Kuehn, a senior sales director for distributed energy at Centrica Business Solutions.
“I don't think it's necessarily a measure of the technology at this point. We've gotten past the hype of having the devices. It's the use of the devices and the competency of the operators to be able to figure out how to solve problems with those devices,” explains Kuehn.
By next year, there will be 10 billion IOT devices connected to the cloud globally. In another three years, the number will more than double to 22 billion.
Billions of those devices -- sensors, intelligent lighting and HVAC systems, control systems -- are being deployed in commercial buildings and industrial facilities. They’re making buildings smarter. But are they making the people who run buildings any smarter?
We brought Paul Kuehn together with Darren Cooper, the president of Renteknik Group, to answer that question and discuss the state of play for IOT in C&I buildings.
This podcast was produced on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions. Centrica is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed technologies to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: three barometers of the energy transition.
There are a lot of numbers flying at us every day — and it is our job to figure what they indicate about change.
In this episode, we’ll choose three different numbers from the transportation, heating and electricity sectors, and explain what they mean.
At the end, we’ll choose which stat is most important.
Follow along with us:
- Stat 1: 200 million
- Stat 2: 22 percent
- Stat 3: 50 percent
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Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
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Venture capital is an effective source of money for scaling companies quickly. But what if your company needs 15 years to prove itself?
That’s the time horizon for many “tough tech” companies in energy that are developing new semiconductors, industrial processes, chemical production methods, and long-duration storage systems.
The first cleantech bubble showed the limits of VC in backing tough, capital-intensive tech. So we are asking: can venture capital ever step up to the big industrial-scale challenges of our day?
Our guest, Katie Rae, believes it can. Katie is the CEO and managing partner at The Engine, a venture firm based in Cambridge, Mass that invests in a wide-ranging sector she calls tough tech.
Katie joins us to explain why she’s hopeful that startups doing difficult things are finding more opportunities to connect with investors.
You can also learn more about The Engine’s upcoming Tough Tech summit next week.
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The market for home batteries is picking up.
Residential storage capacity installations outpaced utility-scale installations in the second quarter of this year. There were more residential batteries installed in Q2 than in all of 2017.
So what’s driving the mini-boom?
Residential storage doesn’t mirror other technologies like solar. It’s more of an emotional sell — and there are a lot different value propositions that contribute to battery sales.
In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with GTM Staff Writer Julian Spector about the latest trends in residential storage.
Read GTM's recent coverage of the battery market:
- Coverage of record quarter for residential batteries
- On California’s new battery rebate for wildfire zones
- Generac’s strategy for entering the storage market
- Sonnen’s groundbreaking home battery development with utility contract
Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
There are $70 billion worth of natural gas-fired power plants planned in the U.S. through the mid 2020s. But a combination of wind, solar, batteries and demand-side management could threaten 90 percent of those investments.
New modeling from the Rocky Mountain Institute shows that more than 60 gigawatts of new gas plants are already economically challenged. And by the mid 2030s, existing gas plants will be under threat.
How severe is the threat? Could we eventually see tens of gigawatts of stranded gas plants?
RMI set out to answer that question in two reports on the economics of gas generation and gas pipelines. The tipping point is now.
Our guest, Mark Dyson, is a principal at RMI and one of the co-authors of the analysis. He joins us to talk about the modeling, the threat, and the consequences to power providers and investors.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy. The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
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We are now in a new age for clean energy: the age of 100%.
Every week, we get some new declaration from a corporation, a city, a state or a utility that they are going 100%.
But not all targets are created equal. 100% what? 100% clean? 100% renewable? 100% carbon free? Net zero emissions?
To someone who doesn’t follow energy closely, they may all seem like the same thing. But these targets often vary wildly in terms of timing, ambition, and complexity.
So this week: we are surveying the range of targets: which ones matter, what do they add up to, and have they changed what’s possible?
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
New York State offered Tesla $750 million to turn Buffalo into a solar manufacturing hub — why hasn’t Tesla delivered on the vision it promised?
It’s been five years since SolarCity first declared plans to become a solar manufacturer, and nearly three years since Musk unveiled the solar roof. Tesla had plans to pump out thousands of solar roofs per week by now. But the company has quietly struggled to build out any meaningful production in its Buffalo location.
Customers are angry. Buffalo locals and New York politicians feel burned. And employees are jaded. What do we make of the Gigafactory 2 debacle?
We’re joined by Austin Carr, a reporter at Bloomberg, who’s been covering the Tesla solar story better than anyone else.
We’ll look at the history of SolarCity/Tesla’s manufacturing plans, the derailed plans for the solar roof, and how current manufacturing activity compares with Tesla’s promises to New York.
Read Austin’s reporting on Tesla’s solar business:
- Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?
- Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Tesla’s Acquisition of SolarCity
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
The Interchange is brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: how much methane are U.S. oil & natural gas drillers emitting? The data is accumulating — and it’s not looking good.
A recent Wall Street Journal analysis found yearly methane emissions were equivalent to 69 million cars on the road. Some estimates are higher. The United Nations says yearly methane leaks may amount to adding nearly 100 million cars.
As activist investors put more pressure on oil & gas drillers to deal with methane leaks, producers are now admitting there’s a problem. Meanwhile, they’re also touting “sustainably fracked” gas that comes from sources with fewer methane emissions.
But what will happen to industry efforts to clean up methane leaks now that the Trump Administration is rolling back regulations?
We are talking with Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Elliott, who’s been covering this leakage issue very closely. She’ll detail investor pressure, the impact of regulations, and why so many big drillers support slashing methane.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
The Interchange is brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
You can listen to Uplight’s five-part podcast series, called Illuminators, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we have an interview with Christopher Leonard, author of a new book, “Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America.”
Earlier this month, David Koch passed away. And it suddenly got everyone talking about the Koch Brothers again.
It got us thinking about them too — not just their role in politics, but about the company they built. Koch Industries is one of the most influential energy and industrial firms in the world. And the way the Kochs have run their company tells us a lot about their approach to conservative politics.
With David and Charles Koch back in the public spotlight, we’re talking with Christopher about their business practices, libertarian philosophies, and influence on politics.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
You can listen to Uplight’s five-part podcast series, called Illuminators, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we explore a possible financial time bomb for renewable energy: merchant risk.
Since the dawn of grid-connected wind and solar, long-term power purchase agreements were the financial glue that held projects together. Developers could rely on relatively simple multi-decade contracts, thanks in large part to policy that encouraged or mandated utilities to enter those agreements.
Today, things are a lot more complicated. It’s much harder to secure a long-term PPA, so more wind and solar projects are getting exposed to the risks of the market. Contract terms are being cut down to 10 years or less. And that means a vast majority of the electricity produced by those wind and solar projects must get sold on the competitive market.
Wind and solar face “covariance risk” — a negative relationship between electricity output and price. These resources must sell their electricity during the time of day when lots of other solar and wind farms are also generating, thus depressing wholesale prices.
In a not-so-distant future with high amounts of renewable energy, will developers be able to make money from their projects on the open market?
In this episode, we explore the risks of merchant wind and solar. We’ll talk about why contract terms are changing, what kind of hedging strategies have emerged, and why this trend matters.
Our guest is Christine Brozynski, a senior associate at the global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. She’s represented lenders, sponsors and risk managers on gigawatts of wind, solar and gas deals worth billions of dollars.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: To offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
You can listen to Uplight’s 5-part podcast series, called ILLUMINATORS, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we’re talking about a trend that’s picking up in electricity markets: aggregation of distributed resources.
Utilities have been remotely switching off air conditioners to manage demand for a long time. But a range of emerging resources — solar paired with batteries, smart thermostats, intelligent water heaters, electric car chargers — are creating new kinds of virtual power plants.
People have been talking about the virtual power plant concept for years. And it’s finally happening in a meaningful way — although rolling out very differently in regional markets around the U.S.
In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with Adam James about the nuances to DER aggregation. They’ll highlight specific projects around the country and talk about how the business models work.
Shayle is our co-host and managing director at Energy Impact Partners. Adam is the chief of staff at Energy Impact Partners.
Adam previously worked at SolarCity/Tesla. He’s also a former analyst at GTM Research.
Stephen Lacey will be back from paternity leave next week.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: To offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
You can listen to Uplight’s 5-part podcast series, called ILLUMINATORS, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Note: after this episode, we will be on hiatus for a few weeks while Stephen Lacey goes on paternity leave.
This week, a conversation about what the Green New Deal reveals about public opinion on climate change.
Why are national climate politics frozen? The conventional understanding is that Americans are deeply divided on the issue along party lines.
Until recently, Democrats have been scared of talking too often about climate in national campaigns because they think the electorate is split; and the Republican Party has been outright hostile to climate policy, believing that’s what the majority of conservative voters think.
And then, in steps the Green New Deal. It’s revealing something extraordinary.
According to a Yale survey, 81 percent of registered voters say they would support the Green New Deal. And 64 percent of Republicans say they would support it. Other polls have shown similar levels of support.
So what does this reveal about how climate plays among the electorate? And is there a disconnect between what people want and what policymakers think they want?
We’re joined by Dr. Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is an expert on political behavior — which includes public opinion, voting behavior, and how policy is influenced.
Leah describes why the Green New Deal plays well with voters. She also talks about how climate is shaping the presidential campaign, why Trump is now talking about the environment, and describes the role of fossil fuel incumbents in shaping public opinion.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.
The goal is still the same: To offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.
You can listen to Uplight’s 5-part podcast series, called ILLUMINATORS, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present a special episode on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions.
The Green New Deal is now a driving force in climate politics. But up until now, it’s been mostly theoretical.
And then, in April, Mayor Bill De Blasio declared that New York City is creating its own version of the Green New Deal. As part of the law, large commercial buildings will need to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050 — or face steep fines.
After so much theorizing about the Green New Deal, we can finally see what happens when a resolution meets reality.
And the impact is not what you might think. Many building upgrades in the city are now stalling because of uncertainty around the law.
“No matter who I’ve spoken to, nobody’s disagreeing with the goals. It’s the application of how we benchmark. There are clearly buildings that can become vastly more efficient. But this legislation doesn’t prize density, it doesn’t prize efficiency, for some of our most modern buildings,” explains Paul Kuehn, sales director for distributed energy at Centrica Business Solutions.
In this episode, we dive into New York’s new building emissions mandate. We’ll explore the short-term unintended consequences and the positive long-term impacts for clean energy.
What can other cities — and eventually the entire country — learn from its complexities?
We’ll have a conversation with Paul Kuehn of Centrica Business Solutions and Aaron Miller, a partner at Gotham 360, about how the details may play out.
This podcast was produced on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions. Centrica is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed technologies to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Every year, we see a wide range of models for the future global energy system.
The scenarios come from a wide array of organizations: International Energy Agency and the Energy Information Administration; oil companies like BP, Shell and Equinor; and research outfits like Wood Mackenzie and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
And the conclusions are all over the map.
So a group of experts at Resources for the Future put them all together and created their own model — a way to compare the scenarios in a meaningful way and get a more accurate picture of how the future may play out.
In this podcast, we’ll dig through the report. Can clean energy start to replace fossil fuels, or will it simply compliment them?
You can read the Resources for the Future report (PDF) here.
Looking for another podcast this summer? Listen to ILLUMINATORS, a 5-part series about the history of business disruption from Tendril. What can energy companies learn from radical change in other industries? Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
On the docket this week: curtailment of renewable energy.
Historically, we’ve thought about curtailment as a waste of valuable clean electricity — a financial penalty for renewable generators who need to monetize every last electron.
It’s already an issue today. California has so much solar power, in certain months it is dialing back tens of thousands of megawatt-hours of PV generation. It’s happening in other states, to a lesser degree. And it’s so many people are focused on storage.
But our perception of curtailment is changing. New modeling suggests that overbuilding wind and solar is actually the most economic solution for achieving high levels of renewables — not necessarily relying on storage.
So, how should we think about curtailment? As a liability for generators and grid operators, or a tool for cleaning up the grid?
Recommended reading:
- LA Times: California Has Too Much Solar Power. That Might Be Good for Ratepayers
- GreenBiz: A Radical Idea to Get a High-Renewable Electric Grid
- Clean Power Research: Curtailment of Low-Cost Renewables a Cost-Effective Alternative to Seasonal Storage
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we’re challenging our long-held beliefs about whether individual actions matter. Even if we drastically altered our lifestyles, would it do anything to address climate change?
We all want to believe that our individual life choices will have a meaningful impact on carbon emissions. But a focus on solar panels, LEDs and vegetarianism may just be a distraction.
This week, Stephen is going to take the position that individual actions are inconsequential. Shayle will argue the other side.
This is the second installment that addresses this theme. Last episode, we asked: do people care about energy? Listen here.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Over the next two weeks, we are challenging our long-held assumptions about energy.
We’re going to take the opposite stance of an argument that we agree with. Can we change our minds?
In part 1, we’re revisiting the assumption that most people do not care about energy.
Most people care about convenience, lifestyle and price. But do they care enough about their energy use to make a change for environmental reasons without external pressure?
Shayle is going to take the opposite stance of what he believes — he’s going to argue that consumers do care. Stephen will respond by arguing that people don’t care.
For your reading pleasure, here’s the article Shayle references on “flight shame” in Sweden.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We present a special episode produced in collaboration with Centrica Business Solutions.
In 2006, Kate Sherwood left her job in strategy consulting to work in solar.
“I realized what I had been doing wasn't getting me out of bed anymore,” says Sherwood. “So, I took a very big pay cut to move into carrying a bag, into being a salesman.”
Selling solar to corporate customers at that time wasn’t easy. But C&I solar blossomed as the technology got cheaper, financing got better, and companies got more comfortable.
Today, Kate is the vice president and head of sales at Centrica Business Solutions. There, she runs a team that packages all kinds of energy tech for commercial and industrial customers — solar, batteries, combined heat and power, demand response.
So much as changed since 2006. There’s a new company committing to 100% renewables every week; tech firms and industrial giants are looking to procure gigawatts of wind and solar for their operations; and extreme weather is forcing a lot of companies with critical infrastructure to build on-site generation with a green twist.
In this podcast episode, produced in partnership with Centrica Business Solutions, we’ll speak to Kate Sherwood about the biggest shifts in commercial energy since she first found her calling in the space.
"I think corporate energy buyers have gotten more sophisticated. Hats off to the commodity suppliers and even the brokers and aggregators out there who have helped educate large customers on that their energy load, their spend is not just a liability, but also an asset that they can deploy. I think customers today are more sophisticated on average," says Sherwood.
Centrica Business Solutions is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed energy tech to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance. Learn more here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What would a truly bold presidential plan to decarbonize the economy look like?
Democratic candidates are offering up their visions.
Elizabeth Warren is focusing on banning fossil fuel extraction on public lands and using the military to counter climate threats; Beto O’Rourke is looking to executive action; Joe Biden is teasing a “middle ground” plan.
Then there’s Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. He just released his second climate plan — it’s more of a manifesto — called the The Evergreen Economy. It’s a culmination of a decade and a half of his thinking, writing and policymaking on climate.
The document was so good, we decided to devote a whole episode to talking about it.
You can read it here. And check out Dave Roberts’ supplemental analysis here.
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Uber and Lyft are now public — and now under more investor pressure to expand quickly. What does that mean for energy use and carbon emissions as more cars hit the roads?
Multiple new studies show that these transportation networking companies are causing more traffic and pulling people away from public transit. Meanwhile, cities and states are trying to clean up those fleets by promoting electrification.
Will we be able to clean up ride-hailing fleets fast enough?
This week, in honor of the Uber and Lyft IPOs, we are looking at the negative and positive consequences of ride hailing.
Recommended reading:
- GTM: Electric Ridesharing Benefits the Grid, and EVgo Has the Data to Prove It
- PBS: Why is Your Uber or Lyft Stuck in Traffic? Most lLikely bBecause of Uber and Lyft
- Schaller Consulting: Lyft, Uber and the Future of American Citi
- Streets Blog: Uber and Lyft Caused U.S. Transit Decline
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Big energy giants around the world are investing heavily in renewables and cleantech. But there’s a whole class of companies making moves in the sector behind the scenes.
In this episode, we’re looking at the unsung corporate heroes of the clean energy transition.
Shayle and Stephen share their picks for companies that are making surprising moves into renewable energy, electrification and clean materials.
What does it tell us about how deeply clean energy is embedded in the corporate world?
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It’s taken decades for renewables to compete with fossil fuels. But we’re now entering the third phase of the clean energy transition, when new renewables are beating existing coal and gas plants on price alone.
"We’re on the verge of a new, radically different point in history,” argues futurist and technologist Ramez Naam.
This phase of the energy transition will bring change that is faster and more disruptive than at any point in history.
But will it happen fast enough?
This week, we’ll ask Ramez to outline the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for our energy future. We’ll look at how the energy transition may unfold, and what we can learn from other tech sectors.
In the second half of the show, we’ll talk about long-duration storage, the system-wide benefits of cheap batteries, the future of small-modular nuclear, and artificial superintelligence.
Ramez is chair of energy & environmental systems at Singularity University. He is a computer scientist who worked at Microsoft developing products like Outlook and Internet Explorer. And he’s also the author of the award-winning science fiction series, “Nexus.”
Recommended reading from Ramez:
- The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be the Most Disruptive Yet
- Clean Technology is Disrupting Fossil Fuels Faster Than Ever
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: we dig into the causes of PG&E’s latest bankruptcy: wildfires.
PG&E’s restructuring is one of the biggest in U.S. history — and it could be considered the first climate bankruptcy.
The utility faces tens of billions of dollars in liabilities after investigators pinned over a dozen wildfires on PG&E equipment. What does it tell us about the health of utility infrastructure and corporate preparedness for climate risk?
The future structure of PG&E is still uncertain as it moves through bankruptcy proceedings. And California lawmakers are struggling with how to both protect and penalize utilities for wildfire damages.
We are going to explain what wildfires mean for PG&E and other California utilities. We’ll speak with Katherine Blunt of the Wall Street Journal about what her reporting has uncovered.
Our current Interchange sponsor is PG&E. Please note: our sponsors have no influence on our editorial content in our podcasts.
Read some of Katherine Blunt’s reporting:
- California Governor Proposes Fixes to State’s Wildfire Crisis
- PG&E Delayed Safety Work on Power Line That Is Prime Suspect in California Wildfire
- Judge Moves to Curtail PG&E’s Dividends Until it Reduces Wildfire Risks
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Global energy giants have been on a distributed energy acquisition spree over the last few years. With the formation of its New Energies unit in 2016, Shell is leading the oil & gas majors in investment and vision.
Shell New Energies plans to invest $2 billion dollars in renewables, microgrids, batteries, electric vehicle charging, and other emerging tech every year. That number is just a tiny sliver of Shell’s fossil fuel and chemical businesses, but it’s enough money to start re-arranging the competitive landscape for clean electrification.
Most recently, the company acquired sonnen, a leading behind-the-meter battery company, and First Utility, a UK retail supplier and smart home service provider. Shell is developing smart home offerings through both companies.
This week, Brian Davis, the VP of energy solutions at Shell, joins us to discuss the company’s strategy.
His job: to help reshape the strategy of Shell and build up new businesses around biofuels and electrification. What does the New Energies strategy tell us about where Shell thinks the world is headed?
We’ll cover the following topics:
- Shell’s acquisitions over the past two years: why those companies? How do we fit those puzzle pieces together?
- To what degree do they optimize for near-term profit vs. land-grabs in key areas?
- How will shell integrate all these businesses, both strategically and culturally?
- What are the biggest risks to Shell's strategy?
- What's the long-term profitability of the new energies business? How does it become more profitable?
- Will all supermajors eventually follow in Shell's footsteps?
The most recent acquisition of First Utility provides snapshot of Shell’s customer strategy:
“We’re offering a suite of smart home solutions, starting from smart thermostats that control your heating remotely. And then clearly over time we can offer an electric vehicle charger…we can come in and offer the benefits of energy storage if you have onsite solar. So we’re offering all of that as packages to meet the needs of our customers under the Shell brand in the UK,” says Davis.
Recommended reading/listening:
- Reuters: Shell Goes Green as It Rebrands UK Household Power Supplier
- GTM: Shell New Energies Director on Investing in Clean Energy: ‘It’s About Survival’
- The Interchange: Solar Dwarfs Oil and Gas as World’s Primary Source of Energy in Shell’s Sky Scenario
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Within the next decade, automakers will invest up to $300 billion in electric models, according to a recent tally from Reuters. These automakers are also spending billions more on autonomy to compliment those investments. It could result in 21 million new electric cars, trucks and SUVs on the roads.
A lot of that activity is happening in China. But we’re also starting to see new investments in EV manufacturing in the U.S. For example, VW, Ford and Chevy are collectively putting over $2 billion into new or upgraded factories to produce EVs with autonomous functions.
So with all this money sloshing around, who’s doing what? And are any definitive leaders emerging?
On this week's Interchange podcast, we'll look at the competitive landscape for EV manufacturing.
Additional resources:
- GTM Squared: Major Auto Brands Unveil Their New Year’s EV Resolutions
- GTM Squared: The Rise of China’s World-Leading EV Market
- Reuters: Analysis of 29 Global Automakers’ EV Spending
- Bloomberg: Ford Invests $900 Million to Build Electric Vehicles in Michigan
- CNBC: VW Boosts Electric Vehicle Production by 50%
- Quartz: Are Automakers Overestimating Consumer Demand for EVs?
Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.
We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We asked on a recent Interchange episode: how are we going to manage all this distributed energy on the grid?
This week, we’re asking: how to we manage all this centralized renewable energy hitting the grid?
The answer is both simpler and more complex. We need to build a lot more transmission, yes. But getting that transmission in place is one of the hardest and most controversial pieces of decarbonizing the electric grid.
There’s plenty of disagreement about how exactly we clean up the grid. Whatever your preferred plan, it probably needs to include way more transmission infrastructure -- like $600 billion worth by 2050.
This week, we’re going to look at why lots of transmission is needed, how much is actually needed, and if we can even build it. What are the current models telling us?
Recommended reading:
- New York Times: Missouri Regulators Approve Midwest Wind Energy Power Line
- Utility Dive: Electrification could drive $600B in transmission spending by 2050
- GTM: Siemens Buys Transmission Line to Take Iowa Wind to the Eastern Grid
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We're on spring break this week. So we're offering a replay of an earlier episode -- it's all about pivots.
Did you know that Nokia started out as a paper mill in Finland? Or that Nintendo once made instant rice? Many of the world's leading companies start out in radically different markets.
Cleantech is the same. Sales cycles are often slow, technologies don't work as planned, and customer needs are constantly evolving. In the tumultuous world of energy, companies pivot all the time.
On this week's episode of The Interchange, we celebrate the pivot.
We'll look back throughout history and choose the most successful and unsuccessful pivots of all time. What do they tell us about how to succeed in this market?
Recommended reading:
- Forbes: 14 Famous Business Pivots
- Wall Street Journal: How a Florida Utility Became the Global King of Green Power
- LA Times: How SunEdison Went From Wall Street Star to Bankruptcy
- Vestas: The History of Vestas Wind Turbines
- GTM: Hard Lessons From the Algae Biofuel Bubble
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, the history and future of Tesla Energy.
Back in 2006, Elon Musk posted a manifesto outlining his vision for a high-end sports car that would push unit volume and lower costs. It also included hints about an integrated company that will sell solar and batteries alongside cars.
More than a dozen years later, that vision is being put to the test. After launching a distributed and grid-scale battery business, acquiring SolarCity and then launching a half-baked solar roof, Tesla’s energy services division faces a questionable future.
Battery delays are a problem, the company is no longer a major solar player, solar roof production is feeble, and Tesla is moving entirely to online sales.
So what exactly is Tesla Energy?
We’re going to revisit the chronology and explore where it’s all headed.
Recommended reading:
- Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?
- Listen to our earlier episode with Tesla’s grid storage architect, Mateo Jaramillo.
- Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Elon Musk’s $2.6 Billion Acquisition Of SolarCity
- GTM: What Happens to Tesla’s Solar Business as Retail Stores Close and Sales Go Online?
The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Distributed energy resources (DERs) are going to double on the U.S. grid by 2023, according to our researchers at Wood Mackenzie.
By then, we’ll likely have somewhere around 100 gigawatts of flexible capacity — made up of distributed solar, combined heat and power, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, and battery storage. Those technologies alone could amount to the current bulk power system in Texas.
Today, utilities are less likely to see those DERs purely as a threat. But figuring out how to manage all those resources is still a monumental challenge.
Now that we’re squarely in the middle of this doubling of DERs, how do we get markets right? This is an age-old question that many are working to answer — and we think it’s a good time revisit it.
We’re joined by Andy Lubershane, senior director of research at Energy Impact Partners, for a wide-ranging discussion about DERs from the utility perspective: the state of DERs, how they fit into utility operations, and whether better pricing can actually help.
This conversation was adapted from Andy’s article on the subject. Read his analysis here.
The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Don’t forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, Shayle and Stephen stumble into career counseling.
There are now 3.4 million people in America working in clean energy, spanning across transportation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental services and many other related areas.
It’s a big number. But it also means there are tens of millions of others with the right skills or the desire who haven’t yet joined the advanced energy economy.
We’ve gotten numerous career questions from listeners — some starting careers, some later in careers, and some in consumer tech looking to find a more meaningful job addressing climate change. This week, we’re going to address some of them, using our own experience and drawing from others.
We’ll hear from Nicole, an anonymous manager in tech who is looking for a way into the field.
We’ll hear from Astrid Atkinson, a former senior Google engineer who quit her job to start an energy software company.
We’ll hear from Mark Hughes, an engineer at Sila Nanotechnologies, who offers some advice on finding your unique voice.
And we’ll speak with Liz Dalton, executive director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, about the many pathways into the industry.
Looking for some more resources? Here are a few we mentioned on the show:
- Greentech Media’s newsletters
- The Clean Energy Leadership Institute
- Jobs With Impact
- Women in Cleantech and Sustainability
- Young Professionals in Energy
- A list of renewable energy trade groups
Don’t forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present an original podcast episode, brought to you by Wunder Capital. This is the third part of our three-part series produced with Wunder.
In this episode, we’ll hear the story of Dave Riess, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Wunder.
Well before co-founding Wunder, Dave found himself in a tricky spot. Even after building a successful career in software development, he was uninspired: “I’m working really hard solving these problems and fundamentally I'm helping big brands spend money more effectively on Facebook. And, nobody cares about that, including me.”
So Dave created a framework for evaluating his career path. And it took him in an entirely new direction into solar.
“The framework is quite simple. If I’m going to characterize myself by the work that I do, then why would I not work on the most important problem?”
Dave eventually landed on energy, education and health care as the main problems to solve. “Energy, in my opinion, is the obvious winner of those three. You can have a fantastic education system and a fantastic health care system, but if you don’t have a planet to live on it’s not a very bright future.”
So how did he establish the framework? And how did he make the decisions that ultimately led him to co-found Wunder?
This week, we present an episode about first principles: we cover the value of the beginner’s mind; 10x problem solving; and how to design a career, a product, and a startup team with intention.
Listen to our other episodes produced with Wunder:
Meet the Women Doing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Solar Deals
How a Solar Bromance Cracked the Code for Commercial Solar
Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
After a long downturn, cleantech venture capital investments are back on the upswing.
According to year-end numbers from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, venture and private equity investments into the sector grew 127 percent in 2018 over the previous year, amounting to $9.2 billion. That is the highest total since 2010.
Years after venture capital plummeted in 2012 — when investors ran from clean technologies after getting burned by bad bets — we’re seeing a new wave of activity. Oil majors, billionaires and a wide range of corporations are getting in on the action. And there’s a wide range of new funds focusing on both software- and hardware-specific startups.
So, is this spurt of activity different from the last one? For one, fewer people are using the term "cleantech."
This week, we're joined by Abe Yokell, managing partner at Congruent Ventures. He and our co-host Shayle Kann, a senior VP of research and strategy at Energy Impact Partners, will talk about the changing landscape for venture capital.
In this episode, we'll address:
- What went wrong for VCs in the first cleantech boom? What should we have learned from that wave? Should we still call it "cleantech"?
- Are we in a new cleantech VC renaissance? What's the current state of supply/demand for capital for a cleantech startup? How much does it vary by stage?
- What to make of a few new classes of major entrants: utilities, oil majors, incubators/accelerators, and long-horizon investors.
- How should the risk of a looming recession impact this market?
- Where to funds get their capital, and what is the appetite for LPs to deploy capital into the space?
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Desperation has taken hold in climate policy. People are so anxious to do something meaningful, allies are fighting against each other over the solutions.
Is the right approach a Green New Deal to re-engineer the energy and labor markets with renewable energy? Or is it better to just price carbon in order to allow all kinds of technologies and carbon mitigation efforts to flourish?
We need both, says Hal Harvey, the CEO of Energy Innovation. In this episode, we’ll get beyond the tribalism and look at the suite of policies that will decarbonize the economy quickly and cost-effectively.
We’re going to talk about Hal’s new book, “Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy.”
Topics we’ll cover on the podcast:
- The Green New Deal and the reliance on renewables as a climate strategy. How far does the wind-solar-water plan get us?
- The debate about the effectiveness and elegance of a carbon tax. Is it really the end-all solution?
- The most under-appreciated climate policy.
- The role of nuclear and seasonal storage.
- Hal’s reaction to our choices for the deep decarbonization draft picks.
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
As the trend toward electrification speeds up, what type of company will dominate the market?
We're hosting a cage match to find out.
On this week's episode of The Interchange, we pit utilities, oil & gas majors, mobility providers and consumer tech companies against one another. We're throwing them inside a voice-activated, electrified cage to see who will emerge as the energy company of the future.
Throughout this episode, we are trying to answer a straightforward-yet-complicated question: who is best positioned to win the long-term power game?
To set up the match, we’re going to profile each competitor and look at the evidence for their competitive edge.
Then, we’ll ring the bell. We’ll address the following: How might each competitor win? What areas will they be strongest in? What are their weaknesses? What will their dominance look like?
We’ll finish with some post-match color commentary and make our picks for the winner.
Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
After a period of moderation, heat trapping gases are going up in the U.S. and around the world. In 2018, global emissions rose by 2.7 percent. And U.S. emissions rose by 3.4 percent, according to an early tally from the Rhodium Group.
This week, we're going to put some meaning to those emissions numbers. We are joined by Brad Plumer, an energy and environment reporter at the New York Times, who will help us dig into each sector.
We will answer the following questions:
- Why aren't wind and solar making up for coal closures?
- Which sectors are becoming the worst emitters?
- Will the "Trump bump" accelerate the emissions trend in the medium term?
- If we were king/dictator/wizard for a day, what sector would we address first?
Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!
Read along with us:
- Rhodium Group: Preliminary US Emissions Estimates for 2018
- NYT: U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants Closed
- NYT: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accelerate Like a ‘Speeding Freight Train’ in 2018
Follow us on Twitter: @InterchangeShow
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we present a special episode brought to you by the Energy News Network.
We profile State Senator Bob Steinburg, a local North Carolina politician who spent a lot of time in his republican primary campaign talking about the benefits of renewable energy.
We also talk with Elizabeth Outzs, a journalist at the Energy News Network, who covered Steinburg’s campaign.
“What we’re seeing in the way politicians are behaving and the way that people are responding to these polls is that clean energy is increasingly like mom and apple pie,” says Ouzts.
Read Elizabeth’s story about the campaign here.
For plenty more in-depth coverage on the clean energy transition in the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and West, head on over to energynews.us.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Forget everything you think you know about solar.
A growing body of research and real-world experience shows that solar can be a flexible, dispatchable resource. And it can potentially rival gas plants in providing grid regulation services — without the use of batteries.
We’ve had the technology to allow solar and wind to provide grid services for years. So how do we open up markets to unleash their full potential?
In this episode, we’ll look at some new modeling from First Solar, E3 and Tampa Electric Company that outlines how to use utility-scale solar power plants for spinning reserves, load following, voltage support, and frequency response. (Read Colin Meehan's tweet storm about the report, mentioned on the show.)
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we’ve got our year-end recap — with an Interchange twist.
We’re going to cover the following topics:
- The story that didn’t warrant the attention it got.
- The story that should have gotten more attention than it did.
- The energy tech/sector/personality that had the biggest breakthrough of the year
- The energy tech/sector/personality that had the biggest setback of the year
- A notable trend that you wish you had predicted.
- The "most 2018" story of the year. In other words, a story that embodies the zeitgeist.
Get your GTM Squared discounted membership here using the promo code, PODCAST.
This podcast is sponsored by Sungrow. Sungrow is the leading pure-play solar inverter supplier with a range of solutions for both solar and storage applications. Find out more about how Sungrow is investing in U.S. solar.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we've got a live episode recorded at GTM's storage summit. We'll talk about the hottest energy storage stories of 2018, Oscars style.
Julian Spector and Stephen Lacey debate nominees and award recipients in the following categories:
- Best original policy and regulatory development
- Best application for storage in a hybrid or supporting role
- Best foreign storage market
- Best new artist
- Best financial contribution
- Best storage project in a market leading role
- Plus, we remember the fallen storage companies of 2018.
If you didn't make it to the summit, GTM Squared members can watch every single panel here.
The Interchange is brought to you by Sungrow. Sungrow is the leading pure-play solar inverter supplier with a range of solutions for both solar and storage applications. With more than 2 gigawatts of inverters shipped to the Americas, find out how Sungrow is investing in U.S. solar.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we’re road tripping across Europe.
In Poland’s coal country, diplomats are breathing in smog-filled air, preparing to strengthen a global climate deal.
In France, angry protestors are rioting in the streets over a gas tax as part of the president’s climate policy.
And in the U.K., Britons may leave the European Union without a deal in place, threatening the health of energy markets and the economics of renewable power plants.
So as we close out the year, what better time to take a tour of the top European stories?
During our tour, maybe we’ll scope out a few subsidy-free offshore wind farms and battery manufacturing plants along the way.
We're joined this week by Jason Deign, GTM’s prolific contributing writer, who reports on a range of international energy topics for us. He’s with us from Barcelona, Spain.
Read Jason's reporting for GTM here.
If you want to go deeper, read Jason's deep reporting for GTM Squared on materials supply constraints caused by the battery boom.
Want access to our deep editorial analysis? If you sign up for GTM Squared using the promo code PODCAST, you'll get $50 off. Help support our reporting and treat your mind!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We’re back with another edition of “consensus” this week. GTM Co-Founder Scott Clavenna joins us to explain the arcane and hyped up world of blockchain to our listeners in the energy business.
We promised not to discuss blockchain on The Interchange until we saw some newsworthy developments — now we have too much to sift through. So we’re going to survey the most important stories of the last year.
We’ll start with a quick rundown of Amazon’s plan to develop blockchain-as-a-service: does this signal anything special about the market?
Then we’ll address a basic question: where are we in the hype cycle? Are people moderating their expectations?
Other stories we’re tracking:
- How did WePower tokenize Estonia’s grid data?
- Why did Grid+ face so many regulatory hurdles in Texas’ electricity market?
- The year of standardization: how are the players rallying around data and privacy standards?
- The cryptocurrency price drop: how does it impact investor enthusiasm in these new energy applications?
We’re giving listeners major discounts this fall. Use the promo code PODCAST to get a $50 discount for a GTM Squared membership and 20% off our final GTM conferences of the season.
Get your GTM conference discount here.
Get your GTM Squared discounted membership here.
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
There are tradeoffs to everything in energy. So why not put those tradeoffs to a test?
We recently crowdsourced some "would you rather" scenarios from our listeners. On this week's Interchange podcast, we'll choose our favorites and debate the scenarios.
Here are the scenarios:
- Would you rather have $10 billion in renewable deployment funding, startup funding, or R&D? (Bryan Birsic, CEO of Wunder Capital)
- Would you rather see oil suddenly go to $20/bbl or $200/bbl? (Eric Hittinger, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology)
- Would you rather have perfect load forecasting capabilities or perfect wind + solar forecasting algorithms? (Elizabeth Buechler, PhD student at Stanford)
- Would you rather have a national HVDC overlay grid or ready-to-go next generation nuclear plants with excellent ramping capability? (Michael Noble, CEO of Fresh Energy)
- Would you rather have an Electric @Ford F-150 or $15,000 EV? (Matt-Stephens Rich, electric vehicle specialist at Electrification coalition)
- Would you rather have shared autonomous fleet or more mass transit coverage in cities? (Brinda Thomas, engineering and public policy at Stitch Fix)
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
When you grow plants with electrons rather than the sun, what happens to the grid?
This week, we’re talking about the energy profile of indoor plant factories.
Indoor farming is having a moment. Venture capitalists are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into vertical farming startups growing in urban, industrial facilities. Cities are easing restrictions to encourage more plant factories. And even Elon Musk’s cousin founded a vertical farm.
We’re tackling this booming business: what’s driving it, what’s the potential, and what are the energy consequences?
We’re joined by Logan Ashcraft, an indoor agriculture expert who previously served as the manager of energy & power at Plenty. She’s currently doing research on the broader impact of these operations on the energy system.
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we’re taking bets on the future of energy. Shayle wrote a piece celebrating his colleague’s expected daughter, nicknamed Bug.
Bug will be born at the beginning of 2019. She’ll enter high school in 2033 and turn 30 in 2049. What will her future look like?
In this episode, we outline 8 different scenarios that Bug may face in her lifetime — and decide whether or not to take Shayle’s bets.
The bets:
- Bet #1: Bug will control machines with her voice more than with her keyboard.
- Bet #2: Bug will never personally drive a car.
- Bet #3: By the time Bug buys her first home, especially if she’s in an urban environment, her surroundings will transformed.
- Bet #4: By the time Bug shops for her own groceries, >20% of her produce will be grown indoors
- Bet #5: In Bug’s first home of her own, more than half of her electricity load will dynamically respond to grid or price signals
- Bet #6: By the time Bug reaches 30 (in the year 2050), electricity’s market share of final energy consumption will more than double.
- Bet #7: More than 50% of Bug’s electricity, as represented by the national breakdown, will come from renewables by the time she’s a sophomore in high school.
- Bet #8 : Bug will live over 200 years, and for most of her life, electricity will be her only food.
Would you take these bets? Hit us up on Twitter!
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How are residential customers shopping for solar?
This week, Stephen shares his solar experience. He’ll explain how and why he made his decision — and what it tells us about the way people look for solar offerings today.
Brian Sadler, the VP of project development at Revolusun, describes the residential solar sales cycle.
Vikram Aggarwal, the CEO of EnergySage, talks about how installers can better serve the solar window shopper.
Josh Garrett, an account director at Antenna Group, shares his bad experience with community solar.
Kiran Bhatraju, the CEO of Arcadia Power, explains the residential “energy concierge” concept for community solar, wind RECs, smart home devices and other services.
Recommended reading:
- Vikram Aggarwal's column at GTM: It’s Time for the Solar Industry to Embrace Window Shoppers
- Josh Garrett's colum at GTM: My Experience With Community Solar: Excessively Complicated and Frustrating
- GTM: Shopping for Community Solar? Contract Terms Are Getting Friendlier
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, a conversation with Joe Aamidor, an expert on smart buildings.
Over the last two years, large multinational energy firms have dumped billions of dollars into commercial energy management — acquiring companies in smart lighting, demand response, battery storage, energy billing, microgrids, smart controls and software.
But there’s no one-size fits all approach to the built environment. Creating a scalable business that serves the diverse needs of building owners is tough. Joe explains.
Read Joe Aamidor’s three-part series for GTM Squared on building energy management.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
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This week, we present an original podcast, brought to you by Wunder Capital.
Katie and Becca do a lot of solar deals. They're closing tens of millions in commercial solar projects every month.
Karen is an SREC trader and longtime real estate pro. She recently approached Katie and Becca with a complicated merchant solar project. The three of them worked hard to refinance the project -- and when it was all over, formed a deep relationship.
Katie Lynch is lead director of finance at Wunder Capital. Becca Gallery is the manager of business development at Wunder. And Karen Lichtin is the president of Cleanlight Power + Energy.
Despite their ability to do high volumes of deals, they often get the same reaction from men: "You are not what I expected."
Solar is more diverse than other energy sectors. But there are few women working on the business side of projects.
In this episode, talk with Katie, Becca and Karen about how they do deals, how gender dynamics play out in the solar industry, and why more diverse teams are good for business.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Self-flying electric airplanes are closer than you think. But how close?
Andrew Beebe, managing director at Obvious Ventures, has been watching the space intently. His firm recently invested in Lilium, a startup making a vertical takeoff and landing jet.
"In the near future, this industry could vastly change how and where we all live, work and play. There are indeed threats and challenges to this vision, but the wheels are already in motion, and the future is much closer than most people think," wrote Beebe and Joe Blair in a recent column.
A combination of improvements in batteries, software and sensors are forming the "corners of a very clear roadmap," says Beebe, speaking on The Interchange.
When electric aviation finally becomes commercialized — both battery-hybrid conventional planes and vertical-takeoff-and-landing jets — what will be the consequences for our communities and transportation systems?
In this week's episode, we talk with Beebe about the flight path for electric aviation.
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Everyone is paying close attention to Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
On Thursday, Trump's Supreme Court nominee will face questions from Congress about alleged sexual assaults. In most cases, Supreme Court confirmation hearings aren't made-for-television affairs. But a new poll out from PBS and NPR shows that 58 percent of Americans will be paying attention to this week’s confirmation hearings.
Since so many people are fixated on Judge Kavanaugh, it’s a good opportunity to discuss his extensive record on energy and the environment.
This week on The Interchange podcast, we're joined by Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Michael is familiar with some cases that Kavanaugh has heard as a circuit judge — and he’s going to help understand Kavanaugh’s judicial philosophy.
Wara calls him an "extreme textualist" who rarely gives deference to agencies. "He tends to discover that words in legislation can only mean one thing — and that 'thing' happens to mean that the agency can't regulate. Putting him on the court in combination with Gorsuch would likely mean a significant curtailment of agency authority to make judgments."
Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
We're also supported by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we take stock of the market for solar and storage.
How much solar and storage are getting built — and at what cost?
We’re joined by MJ Shiao, director of Americas research for Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, for a look at the factors currently driving PV development and battery deployments.
We'll answer:
- How have tariffs impacted pricing?
- How did the sudden slowdown in China influence the U.S. market?
- How is the tax credit stepdown pushing development?
- What goes into record-low solar-plus-storage bids?
Support for The Interchange comes from Wunder Capital. According to GTM Research , Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
The Interchange is also brought to you by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This spring, electric bikes and electric scooters started showing up on the streets of a handful of major U.S. cities in droves. Where did they come from? They were put there by a new breed of Silicon Valley companies focused on creating a new "last mile" ride sharing service.
The startups have spread so quickly, Uber and Lyft are now trying to get in on the action.
This week, we talk with Emily Warren, the senior director of public policy at Lime. Lime one of the leading "micromobility" companies hitting the streets. We'll talk with Emily about what this new form of mobility borrows (and hopes to avoid) from the last six years of ride sharing.
"That first wave of on-demand transportation has now prepared the public and the market to accept a much broader variety of transportation modes. They've now opened the door for a whole bunch of additional kinds of options that are coming on the scene. Frankly, I don't think any of us expected that scooters were going to be the thing," says Warren.
Recommended reading:
- Vox: Electric Scooters' Sudden Invasion of American Cities, Explained
- Washington Post: The Electric Scooters Swarming Our City Won’t Solve Our Commuting Calamity
Support for The Interchange comes from Wunder Capital. According to GTM Research, Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.
The Interchange is also brought to you by Shoals Technologies Group, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
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The clean energy industry may not have a lot of money to spend collectively on advertisements. But over the years, we've seen numerous TV ads, infographics, slogans, and all kinds of marketing campaigns from individual companies.
So this week, we are going to rank some of our favorite – and least favorite – marketing efforts. We'll also debate the perennial question: do we need a "Got Milk" campaign for clean energy?
We're joined by Tor Valenza, a marketing expert better known as Solar Fred. Tor founded the marketing firm UnThink Solar and is currently the director of marketing at SepiSolar.
Firstly, what is unique about clean energy that makes branding so important – yet so hard? Then, what are the best marketing campaigns in history outside of energy? Why are they so good? Finally, we’ll pick our favorite and least favorite ads or marketing campaigns in cleantech.
Below are links to our picks for best and worst campaigns.
Best non-cleantech campaigns:
- Mac versus PC ads
- Got Milk commercial
Our favorite cleantech ads or pop-culture placements:
- Nanosys thin-film solar mention from "Wall Street 2"
- Sunrun dolphin babies ad
- Mr. W
Our least favorite cleantech ads or campaigns:
- Yingli's World Cup sponsorship
- Solar freakin' roadways
- Solon AG ad
- SolarWorld's racist Christmas card
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
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This week, we’ve got an investigation into the always-on vampires lurking in your home.
Actually, one vampire in particular: your DVR box.
The engineers over at Sense Labs recently started opening up and testing DVR boxes. They found that power-save mode doesn’t actually do anything — it only saves about a watt of energy.
Compared to smart televisions, gaming consoles or smart phones, the power-save mode of DVR boxes is abysmal. But the cable industry says that it’s the overall efficiency of devices that matters — and they’ve slashed total power consumption by half since 2012.
Should consumers expect more? In this episode, we investigate.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
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This week, we present an original podcast, brought to you by Wunder Capital. If you’re interested in learning more about is connecting investors and installers at a record pace, read the company’s 2018 mid-year review.
Nick and Nick are good friends. They’re fellow solar geeks. They do business together.
In fact, they may have cracked the commercial solar code together.
Nick Kerwin is the director of partner development at Wunder Capital. Nick Giannotti is the president of New Columbia Solar in Washington, DC. The two met randomly when Nick Kerwin was on a trip in DC.
They formed a bond over solar that resulted in a single deal. And then another. And then 26 deals. And now it’s closing in on 40. In a single year, Wunder and New Columbia closed $7 million in small commercial solar projects — some of the hardest projects to finance. “That was the beginning of the solar bromance,” said Kerwin.
How are these companies blowing up so fast? Just this year, Wunder Capital financed 48 projects worth 33 megawatts of capacity all around the U.S. That’s $869 million in projects in just the first half of 2018. Isn’t commercial solar supposed to be really hard?
We spoke with Nick and Nick about why they’ve had so much success. Have we finally created a replicable model for commercial solar?
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on Watt It Takes: We’ll hear from Susan Kennedy, the CEO of Advanced Microgrid Solutions, about her transition from politics to behind-the-meter energy storage.
Kennedy was an important player in California environmental politics. She influenced some of the biggest pieces of legislation that launched the state’s solar industry and cap-and-trade market. She also worked as a senior advisor to some the biggest names in both parties, including Dianne Feinstein and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
After two decades in policy and politics, Kennedy set out to build a company that could take on the unique challenges of distributed energy integration. AMS was born. It has since become one of the most important startups in the booming behind-the-meter storage market.
"You have to believe that you can do anything. You have to have courage and faith to do what you've never done before."
Watt It Takes is a collaboration between Powerhouse and Greentech Media. The series is recorded in front of a live audience at Powerhouse headquarters in Oakland, California. Buy tickets for upcoming events.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
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Ten years ago, in the summer of 2009, the U.S. House passed a landmark cap-and-trade bill. Then it died in the Senate a year later.
The politics of climate have been completely frozen ever since.
The rise of the Tea Party, Republican anti-Obama sentiment, and an influx of money against pro-climate candidates derailed the issue. Republicans stopped engaging — and the ones who did believe in finding solutions were either "primaried" out of office, or just fell silent.
One group, RepublicEN, has been working hard to rally grassroots support in Congress for conservative, free-market climate solutions. It's a small organization looking to influence a party in the midst of a tumultuous transition. But Alex Bozmoski, the group’s managing director, thinks it's still possible to move the needle on climate in Congress.
In this week's episode of The Interchange, we'll talk with Bozmoski about how to reach conservatives, how to categorize Republican lawmakers on climate, and why convincing politicians may not be as hard as it might seem.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
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Elon Musk recently laid out his plan for a government on Mars in one tweet: “Direct democracy by the people. Laws must be short, as there is trickery in length. Automatic expiration of rules to prevent death by bureaucracy. Any rule can be removed by 40% of people to overcome inertia. Freedom.”
That got us thinking. Could we craft an ideal U.S. energy policy in less than 280 characters?
On this week’s podcast, take up the challenge.
Stephen and Shayle will each lay out their overall approach to policy and then argue each one.
Stephen’s policy: Price climate pollution and send the money back to citizens or local governments. Put an end to supporting energy with the tax code. Establish fair and open access for all technologies on the grid. Electrify everything. Don't dogmatize renewable energy. Double ARPA-E's budget.
Shayle’s policy: Remain in Paris Accord. Retain CPP but increase targets. Resume and increase CAFE standards. Introduce federal green bank. Triple R&D on clean energy enabling tech. Federal push for HVDC transmission. Major infrastructure investment in public transit system. Freedom.
We want to hear from you. Craft your energy policy, take a screenshot and tweet it out to @InterchangeShow. Make sure to tag #energypolicyinatweet.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Ah, the pivot.
Did you know that Nokia started out as a paper mill in Finland? Or that Nintendo once made instant rice? Many of the world's leading companies start out in radically different markets.
Cleantech is the same. Sales cycles are often slow, technologies don't work as planned, and customer needs are constantly evolving. In the tumultuous world of energy, companies pivot all the time.
On this week's episode of The Interchange, we celebrate the pivot.
We'll look back throughout history and choose the most successful and unsuccessful pivots of all time. What do they tell us about how to succeed in this market?
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- Forbes: 14 Famous Business Pivots
- Wall Street Journal: How a Florida Utility Became the Global King of Green Power
- LA Times: How SunEdison Went From Wall Street Star to Bankruptcy
- Vestas: The History of Vestas Wind Turbines
- GTM: Hard Lessons From the Algae Biofuel Bubble
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The politics of energy independence are both deeply bipartisan and deeply partisan.
Every president since Richard Nixon has declared a goal of eliminating America’s dependence on foreign sources of energy. But each President approaches independence from a very different political lens. Jimmy Carter was the first to make renewable energy a centerpiece. Ronald Reagan dismantled that strategy and instead focused on lifting price controls on oil and gas.
Later, George W. Bush focused on domestic oil production, but also put in place some foundational policies to support domestic renewables. Barack Obama, of course, put renewables front and center.
Today, we have Donald Trump, who has made coal-powered "energy dominance" the centerpiece of his energy policy. What does that mean exactly?
And after nearly 50 years of talk about energy independence, how are we doing?
Joining us this week is Sarah Ladislaw, a senior vice president and director of energy and national security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She'll help us America's energy import-export balance in a historic, geopolitical context.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- Foreign Policy: A Short History of Energy Independence
- Sarah Ladislaw testimony: Geopolitics of U.S. Oil and Gas Competitiveness
- Wall Street Journal: Is the U.S. On Track for Energy Independence?
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
On this week's Interchange podcast, we saddle up to some adult beverages in a back room at GTM's grid edge conference to discuss the biggest topics in the industry.
First, to artificial intelligence and machine learning: What do we exactly mean by "distributed intelligence?" We'll examine some clear use cases.
Then to utility innovation: How do power incumbents grapple with the technologies that could break open their business models? We'll give a candid take how they're doing.
Finally to GE, Siemens and other industrial giants: Have power generation leaders — even those heavily invested in clean energy — completely underestimated renewables?
Stephen and Shayle are joined by David Groarke, the managing director at Indigo Advisory Group.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Have a question for us? Record some audio on your phone or computer and send it to podcasts@greentechmedia.com.
Recommended reading/watching from the Grid Edge Innovation Summit:
- What You Missed at the Grid Edge Summit: Blockchain, Data Cleansing and Distributed Intelligence
- Distributed Energy Poised for ‘Explosive Growth’ on the US Grid
- What Will It Take to Build the Market for Virtual Power Plants?
- A Reckoning for Power Giants: Siemens May Sell Its Gas Turbine Business
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Coal has taken center stage publicly within the Trump Administration. But solar is the real innovation star behind the scenes.
This week, we're talking with Charlie Gay, the director of DOE's solar technologies office, about all the activity happening in the agency.
We'll discuss the solar power plants of the future: advances in power electronics; the normalization of energy storage; new ways to value and distribute solar electrons; and integration with the internet of things. We'll also discuss the winning politics of PV in Washington.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Have a question for us? Record some audio on your phone or computer and send it to podcasts@greentechmedia.com.
Recommended reading and watching:
- GTM: DOE Announces $105 Million in New Funding for Solar R&D
- GTM: To Become Truly Mainstream, Solar Will Need to Cost 25 Cents per Watt by 2050
- YouTube: A Brief History of Photovoltaics With Charlie Gay
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Would electricity work during a zombie apocalypse?
Does Elon Musk own Amazon or Uber?
Are electric vehicles better for the environment?
These are questions that people are asking Google — and we're going to answer them.
This week on the Interchange, what our collective search history tells us about our perception of Elon Musk, electric vehicles and zombies.
Plus, we'll have the results of last week's Deep Decarbonization Draft. (Listen to that episode, if you haven't already.)
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading on electric vehicle emissions:
- Manhattan Institute report on electric vehicle pollution
- Union of Concerned Scientists report on the cleanliness of electric cars
- Department of Energy calculator for comparing electric vehicle emissions
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Like fantasy sports? Listen to our deep decarbonization draft.
In this episode, Shayle and Stephen choose their rosters of nine technologies to decarbonize the global economy. The goal: find the best resource mix to keep global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.
After they battle it out, listeners decide who has the best team of technologies. Vote in our Twitter poll.
Here are the rules:
- The draft has nine rounds. The “team” resulting from each person’s picks will need to stand on its own.
- Each pick must be a unique technology. For example, “energy efficiency” is not a pick, but “LED lighting” is.
- Technologies with major subsets must be picked separately. For example, rooftop solar and centralized solar are two different picks.
- The existing technology mix will stand. (We don’t need to pick “transmission & distribution" in order to have electricity.)
- The time horizon will be through 2050.
- The winner will be chosen by listeners.
Once you've listened to the episode, access our GTM poll or our Twitter poll. We'll tally the results for a future episode.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on The Interchange, a listener tries to convince his office building owner to install solar: "he's open to the idea, but we're struggling with the question of who pays," says Daniel from Menlo Park, California.
This conundrum gets to the heart of C&I solar's complexity. We'll address the landlord-tenant split that plagues commercial solar — and the broad range of financing and policy solutions.
Later in the show, we'll talk with two of our senior solar analysts at GTM Research, Michelle Davis and Allison Mond. Both residential installers and commercial developers have customer acquisition problems — only they’re the exact opposite problems.
Residential installers now have more attractive loan options for ownership, but it’s getting harder to find the next tier of customers who want PV on their roofs; meanwhile, commercial solar developers are seeing more demand for third-party ownership, but projects are still bespoke and complicated.
Davis and Mond unpack the latest financing and customer acquisition trends in residential and commercial PV.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- GTM Research: Commercial Solar Consumer Finance Trends
- GTM Research: U.S. Residential Solar Finance Update: H1 2018
- DOE Better Buildings (PDF): Promoting Solar PV on Leased Buildings Guide
- Kacie Peters: But What If I Sell My Building? Transferability in Commercial Solar
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The solar industry is talking about battery storage almost as much as solar these days.
On this week's Interchange, we're addressing the shift toward storage in residential solar. Sunrun, a top installer, is at the forefront of the trend. In California, the company is adding storage to 20 percent of rooftop PV systems — and it believes other states will soon catch up.
Sunrun now thinks of itself as a grid services provider. We'll talk with Sunrun Chief Policy Officer Anne Hoskins about how this broadened focus influences the way it interacts with utilities, regulators and customers.
Shayle and Stephen will also talk about how batteries are changing the way consumers shop around for solar.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- Sunrun white paper: A Better System Created by the People, for the People
- GTM: Sunrun Keeps Growing, While Prepping for a Whole New Grid Services Business
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Europe was once the world's biggest solar spender, until the region's PV market fell into a structural decline after subsidies were pulled back. Now Europe is on the upswing once again — this time, with far less government spending.
As European countries embrace competitive auctions, the Old World of solar is getting new attention. The region is expected to install 10-17 gigawatts a year through 2022, bringing cumulative installs from 111 gigawatts to 182 gigawatts, according to GTM Research. A good portion of that capacity won't see any direct government support.
Competitive auctions will make solar growth much more sustainable. But will it be enough to make up for the tens of gigawatts of coal and nuke plants closing around the region?
Tom Heggarty, a senior global solar analyst with GTM Research, joins us on The Interchange to grapple with that question. We'll put the new trends into a historical and macro-economic context.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- GTM Research: Europe Solar PV Market Outlook 2018
- GTM: Here Are Solar’s Next Gigawatt-Scale Markets
- GTM: Germany's Course Correction on Solar Growth
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Shell, the world’s sixth biggest oil and gas company, just published a future "sky" scenario that's getting a lot of attention.
That potential future: By 2050, renewables could overtake oil, gas and coal as the primary energy source; by that date, it could be “impossible” to purchase a new internal combustion car; and by 2070, there could be 10,000 carbon capture plants operating globally.
Shell's energy transition report is receiving mixed reaction. Many energy experts are hailing Shell for putting together such an ambitious document. A lot of environmentalists are cynical, since oil and gas still play a prominent role in the company's future vision.
In this week's episode, we're going to walk through the different scenarios outlined by Shell. We'll also discuss what Shell's business might look like beyond 2050, as the company acquires more electricity retailers, EV charging assets and renewable energy developers.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- Shell: The Energy Transition report
- Shell: The New Energies business
- Washington Post: Shell Just Outlined a Radical Scenario for What It Would Take to Halt Climate Change
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Blockchain is largely untested compared to its potential. We know it’s likely transformative — we just don’t know exactly how.
There are hundreds of potential applications in the electricity business. Which ones will win out?
To kick off this week's show, Shayle, Scott and Stephen will examine different pathways for the technology. We'll answer:
- Of all the scenarios for the future of blockchain in energy, which one is most likely?
- Imagine a future in which blockchain doesn’t take off. What is the likely reason?
- Are there any pilots or trends underway now that push us in any of these directions?
In the second half of the show, we’ll talk with Kristen Brown, a business technology expert at Commonwealth Edison, about how the regulated utility sees blockchain influencing operations.
We’ll also talk with Michael Horwitz, a partner with Greentech Capital Advisors, about how he evaluates investment opportunities in the space.
If you missed the companion episode, listen here.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
Recommended reading:
- GTM Squared: Does the Energy Industry Need Its Own Blockchain?
- GTM Squared: The Live Broadcast From Our Blockchain in Energy Forum
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Out of the 122 startups (and counting) that GTM Research is tracking in the energy-blockchain space, 22 are focused on peer-to-peer energy trading.
Sharing electrons directly with peers sounds cool, but why do it in the first place? Would it help the grid? Will it be a catalyst for more distributed energy? Or is it just a novel application?
In this episode of The Interchange, we're exploring the potential of peer-to-peer trading. We'll start with a segment of Consensus, where we explore a specific blockchain tech or concept.
Later in the show, we'll talk with Colleen Metelitsa, a grid edge analyst with GTM Research, about investment trends and emerging applications in the energy-blockchain space.
Finally, we'll talk with three blockchain startups -- Electron, Leap and Omega Grid -- about their experiences building partnerships with incumbent energy companies.
This podcast is supported by Wunder Capital, the easiest way to invest in large-scale solar energy projects across the U.S. With Wunder, you can help finance renewable energy projects while earning up to 7.5 percent annually. Get started here to diversify your portfolio and support American solar projects.
Recommended reading:
- GTM Research: Blockchain for Energy 2018: Companies & Applications for Distributed Ledger Technologies on the Grid
- GTM: Energy Blockchain Startups Raised $324 Million in the Last Year. Where’s the Money Going?
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Gina McCarthy isn't happy watching Scott Pruitt dismantle the climate plan that she helped President Obama build. But she doesn't think Pruitt will be successful.
"They've made a lot of announcements, they haven't made a lot of progress," she said in an interview on The Interchange podcast. McCarthy predicted that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will keep getting "slapped back" by legal challenges.
And even if Pruitt makes progress, the markets have spoken against him. "The market has already dictated that strategy, and it's a clean energy future," she said.
In this week's podcast, we talk with McCarthy about the EPA under the Trump Administration. We'll talk about the viciousness of environmental politics, the coal industry's impact on politics, shifts in the energy markets, and why she's optimistic about the future. "The clean energy train has left the station and it's moving," she said.
McCarthy is currently the director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard University.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
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Last year was a tough one for many U.S. solar companies. For the first time, America's solar market saw a decline in growth and solar employment.
What gives? In this podcast, we're going to walk through the sector-specific factors that threw solar off its axis in 2017.
Some of the questions we address in this episode:
- Residential customer acquisition: why is it getting so much harder to find new customers?
- Solar-plus-storage: where are batteries getting the most traction?
- Utility-scale solar: what's the latest data on pricing?
- Sunrun and Tesla: why is Sunrun doing so well, while Tesla keeps shrinking?
- Non-residential: why is this sector outshining others in terms of growth?
Don't forget to come to our 11th annual Solar Summit in San Diego, where we'll be dissecting data in the top solar markets around the world.
This podcast is brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Recommended reading:
- GTM: US Residential and Utility-Scale Solar Markets See Installations Fall for the First Time
- GTM Research: U.S. Solar Market Insight report
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Since 2015, large corporations have signed deals for more than 7 gigawatts of renewable energy.
As activity picks up, these companies are grappling with increasingly complex deals. They're no longer just thinking about renewable energy credits or average consumption over the year; they're now looking at matching wind, solar and hydro supply directly with their on-site demand in a more granular way. Consequently, energy storage is becoming more attractive.
This week, we're talking with two leading buyers of renewable energy, Google and Microsoft.
We'll talk with Neha Palmer, Google's head of energy strategy, about hitting 100 percent renewable energy. Then, we'll talk with Brian Janous, Microsoft's general manager of energy, about how deals around the world are structured.
We'll also grapple with a bigger question that corporate buyers are facing: what happens to their procurement when the gigawatts and gigawatts of renewables they’re buying literally reshape how markets function?
This podcast is also brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Recommended reading:
- GTM: The Latest Trends in Corporate Renewable Energy Procurement
- Google: We’re Set to Reach 100% Renewable Energy -- and It’s Just the Beginning
- Microsoft: Transitioning to Zero-Carbon Energy
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Ryan Hanley is convinced that the distributed electric grid will create vastly more economic, security and societal value than today's centralized system.
Over the course of his career as a civil engineer -- working at Pacific Gas & Electric, SolarCity, Tesla and now Advanced Microgrid Solutions -- Hanley has worked to understand and extract that value.
"A macro theme that I've been tracking in my career is that exchange of value over the grid [that] I'm convinced will only become more transactive over time. More value will be exchanged in markets as the system relentlessly tries to take out economic fat from the system."
In this week's conversation, Shayle Kann talks with Hanley about the tools at hand to re-engineer the distributed, transactive grid system.
Topics addressed in this interview include:
- What distributed energy resources actually look like to utility distribution engineers and planners.
- The ultimate outcome of net metering battles and the market's natural "equilibrium."
- How markets can extract maximum value from solar, storage and load control.
- What it takes to build a 100-megawatt battery in South Australia in 100 days based on a tweet from Elon Musk.
- The role of blockchain in future electricity markets
- Plus, we'll play a bonus round of "who said it" and quiz Hanley on quotes from executives from PG&E, SolarCity, Tesla and Advanced Microgrid Solutions.
This podcast is also brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In 2009, Sara Ross and her husband bought a dilapidated farmhouse in Massachusetts, intending to turn it into a net-zero home.
Solar was an important part of the plan. And then came the price tag: $81,000 in cash. Their local solar installer had no financing options at that time.
Ross cobbled the money together, but she became obsessed with the buying process: "How are other members of our family going to do this? How are our friends supposed to do this? How is this supposed to work? How are we going to scale this awesome thing if it's so very hard?"
Finally, she harnessed that obsession (and her six-year-old daughter's college fund) and started a solar loan company, Sungage Financial. This was before anyone was serious about loans.
Today, more rooftop solar in the U.S. is financed through loans than leases.
In this week's edition of the live podcast series Watt It Takes, Ross sits down with Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch to discuss how she built Sungage -- evolving from solar customer to solar entrepreneur.
Watt It Takes is a live interview series produced by Powerhouse in partnership with GTM. The conversation was recorded live in Oakland, California.
Listen to our other episodes of Watt It Takes:
Previous episodes of Watt It Takes:
- Nancy Pfund’s Pro Tips for Getting Started in Cleantech
- SunPower Founder Dick Swanson’s Guide to Launching a Cleantech Startup
- Lessons From the Fall of Sungevity
- Dan Shugar, the King Midas of Solar
- A History of Greentech Media With Scott Clavenna
This podcast is also brought to you by Shoals, the gold standard for solar and storage balance-of-systems solutions. Learn more about how Shoals can make your project operate at the highest level.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Like our shows? Make sure to give The Interchange and The Energy Gang a rating and review on Apple podcasts. And make sure to subscribe to both shows on Apple podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Nothing can stop solar's growth trajectory -- except maybe solar itself.
This week, we have a deep discussion on the future of solar photovoltaics. Solar is exploding around the world, but have we grappled with the technology and market limitations that could stop the next order of magnitude in growth for PV?
On this week's episode of The Interchange, Shayle Kann sits down with Varun Sivaram, author of the new book, Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet.
Shayle and Varun examine every angle of the solar transition. They consider numerous possible futures, good and bad, for the technology.
"If we do not take the right actions and urgently in innovation today, I warn that in the medium term we might run into a penetration ceiling for solar. And by the time that happens, it might have been too late to start investing in these long-term innovations that only pay off after you've invested for a little while," explains Varun.
Varun Sivaram is the Philip D. Reed Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations, and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Nancy Pfund is perhaps the most recognizable venture capitalist in the clean energy space.
Before she raised multi-hundred-million-dollar funds at her firm DBL Partners and made early investments in the likes of Tesla, SolarCity, Off Grid Electric, PowerLight, NEXTracker and Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Pfund had to start somewhere.
"In college, I didn't know what a venture capitalist was -- I was an anthropology major," she said at the January recording of Watt It Takes, the live podcast from GTM and Powerhouse in which cleantech founders tell their stories.
In this edition of Watt It Takes, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch interviews Pfund about her successful venture capital career.
Watt It Takes is a live interview series produced by Powerhouse in partnership with GTM. The conversation was recorded live in Oakland, California.
The next live Watt It Takes taping will feature Sara Ross, co-founder and CEO of Sungage Financial, who turned her frustration at the lack of rooftop solar financing into a business opportunity -- with a little help from her daughter's college savings fund. It's happening Wednesday, February 21. Click here for tickets.
Recommended reading:
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Breakthrough Institute was founded on the idea that traditional environmentalists were wrong about how to protect the planet.
Back in 2004, the co-founders called for ending the "politics of limits" pushed by environmental groups. Rather, they saw economic growth, technological innovation, and human ingenuity as the most important tools for environmental progress -- not necessarily regulatory limits. That angered large swaths of the environmental community.
Over the last decade, the Breakthrough Institute has thrust itself into the tribal warfare that grips the energy and climate movement. Energy innovation versus deployment? Renewables versus nuclear? GMOs versus organic food? The organization brings strong views in those areas.
In this episode, we’re going to talk with Alex Trembath, the communications director at Breakthrough, about where the think tank stands on renewables, nuclear, climate policy, and energy intensity. We'll also spend some time on tribalism itself -- and how to get beyond it.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Recommended reading:
- The Death of Environmentalism (2004)
- An Ecomodernist Manifesto
- Nature Unbound: Deocoupling for Conservation
- GTM: What the Struggling Nuclear Industry Can Learn From Boeing, SpaceX and Big Pharma
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Blockchain is coming to the energy industry in a big way.
We're at the beginning of a fierce hype cycle, when new startups are emerging weekly to tout their Initial Coin Offerings and tokenization platforms for energy trading. Utility executives are grappling with yet another distributed technology that proponents say will demolish the traditional power delivery business.
Still having a hard time understanding why all this matters? Getting lost in the maze of new terminology? We've got you covered.
On this week's Interchange podcast, we're starting a new segment called "consensus."
We'll bring a blockchain-related topic that we don’t understand -- a term, a business model, or an application -- and present it to GTM’s resident blockchain enthusiast, Scott Clavenna, to see if he can help us out. Hopefully we'll reach consensus.
In this week's segment, we're bringing two questions to Scott: How does WePower's tokenized energy trading work? And how to different variations of cryptocurrency mining?
If you need a blockchain 101 course, try listening to our earlier Interchange episode on the subject.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Recommended reading:
- GTM: Can We Prevent a Global Energy Crisis From Bitcoin Mining?
- GTM: WePower Expansion Hints at Adoption of Blockchain for Energy Trading
- Come to our Blockchain in Energy Forum in New York City
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Trump Administration just imposed 30 percent tariffs on imported solar cells and modules. How much will it stunt solar growth in America? Will it spark a broader trade war?
There are a lot of questions about the impact. In this podcast, we’re giving you the answers – or, as many answers we have, just a day after the decision.
This week, we'll bring together our teams from The Interchange and The Energy Gang together to answer listener questions about the tariffs. We'll also talk with GTM Research's Cory Honeyman about how (and where) the 30 percent penalty will impact projects around the U.S.
Thanks to podcast sponsor, Fiveworx. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed.
In this episode, we address:
- What does a 30 percent tariff mean for project economics in the residential and utility-scale sectors?
- How will the 2.5 gigawatt cell quota work?
- Will the decision help domestic U.S. manufacturing? Will it hurt domestic installation jobs?
- What kind of challenges will we see at the World Trade Organization?
- Is there a pathway toward a negotiation with China?
- How could local policy blunt the negative impact of these tariffs?
Read all our previous coverage and analysis of the Trump Administration's solar tariffs:
- GTM Research: New Tariffs to Curb US Solar Installations by 11% Through 2022
- GTM: Trump Administration Issues 30% Solar Panel Import Tariff
- GTM: Foreign Solar Manufacturers Weigh Opening US Facilities as Tariff Decision Looms
Like our shows? Make sure to give The Interchange and The Energy Gang a rating and review on Apple podcasts. And make sure to subscribe to both shows on Apple podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Grid nerds have spent the last few months whipped into a frenzy over Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s hastily-written plan to prop up aging coal plants in the name of grid resiliency.
And then, last week, federal energy regulators rejected it. Secretary Perry’s team couldn’t come up with the basic legal argument needed for FERC to consider the proposal.
The door is not fully closed, however. Regulators say they want to revisit the idea of grid resiliency -- and now they’re asking regional grid operators to report back on their actual needs.
So, it’s worth stepping back and asking the same question. What does the grid actually need? In an age when renewables -- and already, in some cases, batteries -- are the lowest-cost resources, how should we really be planning?
This week, we're joined by two grid experts who’ve been asking this question for years: Sonia Aggarwal and Robbie Orvis of the analysis firm Energy Innovation.
Sonia is the vice president of Energy Innovation. She heads up the firm’s work on power sector transformation and energy policy. And she also launched America’s Power Plan, a collection of insights about rapid change underway in the electric sector.
Robbie is the policy design projects manager at Energy Innovation, where he works on power sector transformation issues. He’s a contributor to America’s Power Plan.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Recommended reading:
- A Year-End Update on Electricity Policy from the Field
- Wind and Solar Are Our Cheapest Energy Generation Sources: Now What Do We Do?
- Grid Flexibility: Methods for Modernizing the Power Grid (PDF)
- A Roadmap for Finding Flexibility in Wholesale Markets (PDF)
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
When President Trump took office, U.S. coal was in a state of decline. Between 2007 and 2016, coal production and consumption each fell by more than a third, and mining jobs fell from 125,000 to 75,000.
Trump promised to reverse that trend. Did his deregulatory agenda work?
In 2017, U.S. coal production grew by 6 percent. That increase, however, came from a factor unrelated to Trump Administration policy: demand in foreign markets. Meanwhile, domestic coal consumption fell by 2.4 percent last year.
This week, we talk with Trevor Houser, a partner with the Rhodium Group, about where things stand in America's coal sector. It still doesn't look good.
In this conversation, we unpack some of the big themes we're grappling with as 2018 unfolds: coal demand, electric system reliability, and possible directions for climate policy. Houser will also explain why we've "achieved escape velocity" in renewable energy, and why that matters for our emissions trajectory.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
Recommended reading from the Rhodium Group
- The Year in Coal
- Electric System Reliability: No Clear Link to Coal and Nuclear
- Preliminary US Emissions Estimates for 2017
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We spend most of our time talking about other companies. For our first podcast of the year, we're turning the tables and reflecting on GTM.
In this edition of Watt It Takes, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch interviews GTM Co-Founder Scott Clavenna about the origins of our company, the challenges of being a startup in the cleantech world, and our recent acquisition by Wood Mackenzie.
Watt It Takes is a live interview series produced by Powerhouse in partnership with GTM. The conversation was recorded live in Oakland, California.
As we prepare for the onslaught of news in 2018, this interview will give you more insight into how we operate as a company.
This podcast is brought to you by Fiveworx, a turnkey customer engagement platform for utilities. Find out more about how Fiveworx can help your customer engagement program succeed -- and get you beyond the meter.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Three months after Hurricane Maria, there are still large swaths of Puerto Rico that don’t have power. It took two months to get half the island’s residents power again -- and hundreds of thousands of people are still without grid access as the holidays approach.
After a slow start, there are mainland crews there working day and night to restore electricity. They've been making progress, but the situation is still dire.
In the aftermath of the disaster, we’re finally getting a sense of what a resilient Puerto Rican grid could look like. The Puerto Rican Energy Commission recently asked for ideas about how to rebuild the grid, and some of the biggest heavy hitters in the industry responded.
In this week's episode, we're talking with Chris Shelton, the chief technology officer at the global electricity provider AES. He'll describe the company's vision for a network of solar-storage mini-grids the most competitive way to make Puerto Rico more resilient from future storms.
This podcast is sponsored by Schneider Electric. Now, you can reap the benefits of a microgrid with no upfront capital through the new microgrid-as-a-service business model from Schneider Electric. Find out how it works.
Recommended reading:
- GTM: Group of Energy Heavyweights Unveils Plan for Puerto Rico’s Future Grid
- The Hill op-ed: Puerto Rico Needs a Weatherized Mini-Grid Network to Survive the Next Maria
- AES Corporation: A Vision for Restoring Puerto Rico’s Grid
- Smart Electric Power Alliance: Build Back Better for Puerto Rico
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Energy storage has arrived.
This year brought numerous record-breaking battery projects, dozens of acquisitions and partnerships, and over a dozen utility integrated resource plans that factor storage. Within a decade, the U.S. storage market could be 25 times bigger than it is today -- swamping natural gas peaker plants, and enabling a vast array of new grid applications.
In this week's episode, we open up our vault of data and describe the state of storage in America: which sectors are dominating, how utilities are thinking about the technology, where the economics stand, and what to look for in 2018.
Plus, we'll have a conversation with Green Mountain Power CEO Mary Powell about how customer-sited battery storage fits into the utility's broad culture and tech shift.
This podcast is sponsored by Schneider Electric. Now, you can reap the benefits of a microgrid with no upfront capital through the new microgrid-as-a-service business model from Schneider Electric. Find out how it works.
We're also sponsored by Mission Solar Energy, a solar module manufacturer based in San Antonio, Texas. Find out more about Mission’s American-made, high-power modules.
Recommended reading:
- GTM Research: U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, Q4 2017
- GTM: The 10 Stories That Defined Energy Storage in 2017
- GTM Squared: Watch the Live Broadcast From US Energy Storage Summit 2017
Make sure to subscribe to The Interchange on Apple podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your audio.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Something feels different. In the last two years, there’s been a material shift in the way renewable energy and other distributed resources are discussed.
For so long, believers of wind, solar, batteries and microgrids have focused on targeted government support. But direct subsidies and mandates are diminishing in importance.
One example: utility-scale solar in the U.S., which was once almost exclusively driven by state mandates and tax credits, is now mostly being driven by economics. And tax credits are on a path to being phased out.
We now have a proven class of resources that can perform the same function as traditional power plants -- often at a lower economic and environmental cost. And these resources are hitting the grid at an accelerating pace.
Now that people are waking up to this reality, the conversation is shifting toward markets.
How do you put rules in place that fairly value the responsiveness, resiliency and environmental performance of distributed resources like aggregated batteries, real-time energy efficiency and commercial microgrids? And how do you manage the surge of wind and solar so they don’t crush wholesale markets by flooding them with cheap power at the wrong time?
That’s the framework we’re operating in today. It's uniting groups across the political spectrum that favor of open markets and oppose the Trump Administration's agenda to prop up coal.
This week, we'll talk with two experts who are focused intensely on the evolution of markets: Lenae Shirley, the senior director of technology innovation and market adoption at the Environmental Defense Fund; and Devin Hartman, a senior fellow with the R Street Institute.
How much should we read into this alignment?
This podcast is sponsored by Schneider Electric. Now, you can reap the benefits of a microgrid with no upfront capital through the new microgrid-as-a-service business model from Schneider Electric. Find out how it works.
Recommended reading and listening:
- R Street Institute: Refreshing Price Formation in Electricity Wholesale Markets
- EDF: More Subsidies than You Think Influence the Cost of Electricity
- The Interchange: Renewables Are on a Collision Course With Power Markets
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tesla built the world's biggest lithium-ion battery ahead of schedule. It's an important milestone for the technology, and Tesla itself.
But is it coming at a cost to smaller players in the industry?
This week on The Interchange, we'll talk about how Tesla's battery supply constraints are hitting downstream installers and developers. We'll bring GTM Staff Writer Julian Spector on the show to discuss his recent reporting on Tesla's delivery delays.
Then, we'll cover some of Spector's other big stories this year: how gas is suddenly challenging natural gas peaker plants around the world; and why New York is struggling to put a cohesive energy storage framework in place.
This podcast is sponsored by Schneider Electric. Now, you can reap the benefits of a microgrid with no upfront capital through the new microgrid-as-a-service business model from Schneider Electric. Find out how it works.
Recommended reading:
· Tesla Fulfilled Its 100-Day Australia Battery Bet. What’s That Mean for the Industry?
· NRG Asked to Suspend Its Controversial Gas Plant Application. What Does That Actually Mean?
· Can Batteries Displace Gas Peakers in South Australia’s Fast-Changing Grid?
· Years In, NY REV Lacks Major Storage Action. That May Have to Change Soon
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Dan Shugar lives, breathes and bleeds solar.
"If you cut my wrist, pure silicon comes out," he exclaimed in an interview with Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch, as part of the Watt It Takes interview series.
This week, Shugar steps behind the microphone to talk about turning his passion for PV into deals and acquisitions worth over $1 billion.
Shugar has a storied career. Some call him the "King Midas" of solar, because he's turned so many ventures into gold. He's the former president of Powerlight, the pioneering developer acquired by SunPower in 2006. He's now CEO of the tracker company NEXTracker, which was sold to Flextronics for $330 million last year.
In this edition of Watt It Takes, Shugar describes the moment he realized solar's potential while working for PG&E how Powerlight was founded and funded; the risks he took when getting into solar; his passion for the environment; and why everyone is underestimating the growth of PV.
This conversation was recorded live in Oakland, California at Powerhouse. In the next episode, GTM Co-Founder Scott Clavenna takes the stage.
This podcast is sponsored by Schneider Electric. Want to protect yourself from escalating energy costs? Invest in a microgrid. Find out more: www.schneider-electric.us/microgrid
Listen to earlier episodes of Watt It Takes:
- SunPower Founder Dick Swanson’s Guide to Launching a Cleantech Startup
- Lessons From the Fall of Sungevity
Like our shows? Make sure to give The Interchange and The Energy Gang a rating and review on Apple podcasts. And make sure to subscribe to both shows on Apple podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We've spent a lot more time lately looking at the structure of U.S. power markets. Why? Because they're about to get shaken up.
It's already begun. In this episode, we'll look at how renewables are upending wholesale power markets today -- and what we can do about it.
We'll examine the issue from a few different angles.
How the growth of renewables is depressing power prices: Wood Mackenzie's Prajit Gosh describes why low-price events are becoming more common in wholesale markets than high-price events. He'll also look at the impact on other generation sources.
How prices are decreasing: MAKE Consulting's Dan Shreve talks about what's driving cost reductions in wind.
And GTM's Shayle Kann will look at the "vicious cycle" of low prices, and how to manage the wholesale market transition in the U.S.
This podcast is sponsored by Schneider Electric. Now, you can reap the benefits of a microgrid with no upfront capital through the new microgrid-as-a-service business model from Schneider Electric. Find out how it works.
Recommended reading:
GTM: The Rise of Renewables Creates Uncertainty in US Power Markets
GTM: Next-Generation Energy Technologies Are Constrained by Outdated Markets. Here’s How to Fix Them
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week: a conversation with Andrew Birch, the co-founder and CEO of Sungevity.
For those who’ve been following the wild ride in solar, you’re going to want to listen to this conversation.
Sungevity was once one of the biggest residential solar installers in the U.S. – until it filed for bankruptcy protection at the beginning of the year. In this interview, Andrew Birch talks candidly about how Sungevity was founded, what killed an acquisition deal to save the installer, how market forces and the political landscape hurt the business, and where he thinks global solar trends are headed.
This interview was conducted on-stage at Powerhouse, an incubator based in San Francisco. It’s part of the “Watt It Takes” series on how top cleantech entrepreneurs built their companies. The series is produced by Powerhouse, in partnership with Greentech Media.
This podcast is sponsored by the New York Times ClimateTech conference, held in San Francisco on November 29 and 30. Engage with influential leaders from key industries and explore how innovation of all stripes can help solve one of the most pressing issues of our time. To apply and receive a 20% discount, visit www.nytclimatetech.com and use code GTM20.
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Still looking for a scary costume for this Halloween? Here's a terrifying idea: Dress up like an "attack vector" or an "advanced persistent threat."
This week's topic of conversation is a combination disaster movie and cat-and-mouse political thriller -- encompassing extreme weather, hacking and political espionage.
We're talking security threats to the electric grid with Dr. Paul Stockton, an international security expert based in Washington, DC.
Paul is the managing director for Sonecon, where he advises utilities and other operators of critical infrastructure on a wide range of security threats. Before that, he was Assistant Secretary of Homeland Defense and America’s Security Affairs, where he directed the agency’s response to Superstorm Sandy and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In this interview, Dr. Stockton describes the many different vulnerabilities along the electric grid. How are they evolving? What can we learn from them?
Recommended reading:
Paul Stockton analysis: How the Nation’s Electric Utilities Can Speed Recovery from Cyber-Induced Blackouts
GTM: Energy Sector Ups Cybersecurity Amid Growing IT Threats
GTM e-book: How Superstorm Sandy changed America's Grid
Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Two unproven startups just raised a combined $65 million to test out real-world use cases of blockchain in energy: Grid+ and Power Ledger.
Blockchain for energy is starting to get traction, and there's actual money flowing into the space. So what do these companies actually do?
In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with Scott Clavenna about the ideas, strategies and risks behind each of these startups. Then we talk about the heady world of ICOs -- initial coin offerings -- and why so much capital is flowing into this market all at once.
This is an update to our previous conversation on blockchain and energy. Listen to that episode for a primer on blockchain.
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This week, we’re unveiling a new podcast collaboration between Greentech Media and Powerhouse, called "Watt it Takes." Watt It Takes is produced and recorded live at Powerhouse, a cleantech incubator and seed fund in Oakland, CA. Each month, a founder of a top clean energy company shares the personal story behind the company they’ve built. Our first episode features Dick Swanson, founder, and former CEO and CTO of SunPower, who talks about the wild ups and downs of building one of the largest solar companies in the world. The show begins with Shayle Kann, SVP at GTM, providing some market context. And then Powerhouse Founder and CEO Emily Kirsch leads the interview with Swanson. Want to meet these industry luminaries and watch a live recording? Get tickets for future events: wattittakesoct2017.splashthat.com.
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Thought that controversial grid resiliency report ordered by Energy Secretary Rick Perry was only an intellectual exercise? It didn't take long for the Department of Energy to put it into action -- in exactly the way that critics feared when the report was first announced. Last week, Perry asked federal energy regulators to consider new rules that would value coal and nuclear plants with 90 days of fuel on hand. In other words: find a way to help keep struggling baseload plants open by offering them a new financial incentive. Or, as a supposed free-market proponent like Perry might put it for any other technology, "pick winners and losers." After months of prebuttals from renewable-energy interest groups, the final DOE study was widely considered a straightforward account of power plant retirements on the U.S. grid. Travis Fisher, the project coordinator at the DOE, joined us on the podcast to talk through the process and his team's findings. While many cleantech enthusiasts disagreed with the lack of attention on distributed resources in the report, there was wide agreement that it was not a political document. That is, until Perry issued his letter to FERC last week. Now the politics are center stage. And it's going to get messy. In this week's Interchange podcast, Shayle Kann interviews Ari Peskoe, a senior fellow in electricity law at Harvard Law School. They'll talk about the specifics of Perry's "flimsy" request, and, more importantly, what it could mean for regulatory priorities under FERC. Has the government found a new way to keep coal alive? Or is this a half-baked attempt to prop up struggling plants? "This seems to be a total retreat from market-based principles," explains Peskoe in the podcast.
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There’s a paradox in energy. While new technologies are accelerating faster than ever, the adoption of those technologies by incumbents remains slow. This presents a captivity problem for startups, particularly in electricity. They need incumbent utilities to reach customers and integrate new technologies at the grid edge –- but this reliance significantly slows progress, creates tension, and potentially destroys their chances of success. Will the situation ever change? Or is it just the reality that startups (and their investors) need to accept? And what about utilities? What is at the root of their hesitancy to quickly adopt new technologies? In this week’s show, we talk with GTM Senior Manager Nick Rinaldi about a new in-house survey that addresses all those questions. Read the survey: http://bit.ly/2wkooRU
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In the four decades since congress passed the 1974 Trade Act, there have been 75 cases when U.S. industries used the law to argue that imports caused them injury. The list of aggrieved industries is wide-ranging: footwear, CB radios, mushrooms, lamb meat, clothespins and steel. And now, solar. Over the years, the International Trade Commission has ruled in favor of petitioners roughly half the time. But according to a study from Georgetown Law, which analyzed the impacts of import penalties on lamb meat, line pipe and gluten, "none of the three industries were restored to sustained competitiveness" because of protectionist measures. Last Friday, the ITC determined that US solar manufacturers faced harm from imports. If penalties are imposed, will the result be any different? This week, we discuss the next steps in the solar industry's latest controversial trade case. Recommended reading: The Effects of Section 201 Safeguards on U.S. Industries: http://bit.ly/2wh5tHL 6 Ways to Encourage American Solar Manufacturing Without Import Duties: http://bit.ly/2yBZ9fp Foreign Solar Manufacturers Weigh Opening US Facilities as Tariff Decision Looms: http://bit.ly/2hhX97Z
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We're having a bit of a moment for "resiliency" in the U.S. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have forced a conversation about climate resiliency for coastal communities. Meanwhile, the Energy Department has made grid reliability and resiliency central to its mission. This brings us to an important resiliency tool: microgrids. Microgrids became a major part of resiliency plans in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. We’ll look at how that’s influencing the conversation today in the wake of Harvey and Irma. We'll also get a snapshot of how microgrids in Texas fared during the storm. This week, GTM Grid Analyst Colleen Metelitsa joins us to talk about microgrid applications, the limits of certain technologies, and where they fit into the resiliency picture.
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It's difficult to keep up with cost and performance trends for technologies like batteries and solar PV. It's particularly hard for regulators and policymakers, who often rely on outdated analysis. The latest example comes from California, where the California Independent System Operator is using three-year-old data on battery and solar costs as it evaluates alternatives to a natural gas peaker plant. The cost of lithium-ion batteries and solar PV have come down precipitously since then. So why are regulators using such ancient data to make this crucial decision? This is not an isolated incident. In this episode, we talk about the questionable analysis behind the Puente natural gas plant in Southern California. We'll also discuss some other examples of faulty data being used for energy planning decisions. Finally, we'll speculate on some possible solutions to the chronic problem. Read Julian Spector's story on the faulty analysis: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-storage-nrg-puente-gas-peaker-plant-cost
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We are getting a clearer picture of the Energy Department's direction under Secretary Perry. In the four months after Perry requested special report on threats to baseload power plants, we saw an unprecedented number of prebuttals from groups worried that it would assist in President Trump's mission to revive the coal industry. We finally got the end result last week. While some environmental groups didn't like the report, it was a straightforward account of the factors changing the grid -- not a booster for coal, or any other technology. But there are still a lot of outstanding questions. Are emerging distributed resources discounted in the report? Where does climate change fit in? How does the report inform policy going forward? This week, we’ve got a wide-ranging interview with Travis Fisher, a senior advisor at the Department of Energy, who took the lead on the study. He talks to us about the process, critical reactions, key findings, and recommendations for market designs. Recommended reading: DOE staff report on electricity markets and reliability: http://bit.ly/2wlKV1v DOE's Grid Study Is a Rorschach Test for the Future of Electricity: http://bit.ly/2xubKA5 GTM Squared -- Getting Into the Weeds of DOE’s Grid Report: http://bit.ly/2wfTEUq
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What makes Elon Musk tick? What will the grid look like in 2030? This week, we (re)answer both of those questions. We're featuring a couple of our favorite podcast segments for your summer listening enjoyment. First up, a 2015 Energy Gang interview with Ashlee Vance, a Bloomberg reporter and author of the book, Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Vance gives us an intimate look at why Elon operates in such a unique way. It's been two years since the book was released, but it's still just as relevant. In our second interview, we dig into The Interchange vaults and serve up a conversation about what the grid may look like in 2030. It’s like a literary review of geeky grid fan fiction, written by Shayle Kann. Sign up for our live Energy Gang in New York City on September 19: This podcast is sponsored by Mission Solar Energy, a solar module manufacturer based in San Antonio, Texas. Visit Mission Solar at the upcoming Solar Power International conference at Booth 3975. You can find out more about Mission’s American-made, high-power modules at missionsolar.com. Recommended reading: Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Quest for a Fantastic Future -- https://www.amazon.com/Ashlee-Vance/e/B003YLHAJG How the Grid Was Won: Three Scenarios for the Distributed Grid in 2030 -- https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-the-grid-was-won
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It’s been 10 years since Google shifted its attention from bits and bytes toward the world of therms and electrons. It started with a wide-ranging investment and R&D initiative, called RE
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That nuclear revival that many people hoped for? It’s not looking so good. The latest blow came last week, when two South Carolina utilities backed away from a half-completed nuclear project in the state, after already spending $9 billion. Nuclear is struggling, particularly in the U.S. In the second half of the show, we'll talk with Jessica Lovering, the director of energy at the Breakthrough Institute, about how to rethink nuclear. What can we learn from other industries in order to foster innovation, support advanced nuclear technologies, and push the industry to evolve faster? We'll start the show by turning our attention to natural gas -- an abundant resource coincidentally responsible for eroding the economics of nuclear in America. Our team of analysts has been evaluating the economics of batteries versus gas peaker plants in select markets. We'll give an update on how batteries are stacking up against gas. Recommended reading: What the Struggling Nuclear Industry Can Learn From Boeing, SpaceX and Big Pharma: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/struggling-nuclear-industry-breakthrough-institute-trump GE Digital Gas Plants vs. Utility-Scale Batteries: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/ge-digital-gas-plants-vs-utility-scale-batteries This podcast is brought to you by Wunder Capital, an award-winning investment platform that allows you to invest directly in solar projects and earn up to 8.5 percent annually. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/gtm.
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While venture capitalists swoon over startups devoted to making people click on ads and stare at their phones longer, they’re decidedly less interested in solving more difficult real-world problems -- like transforming the energy sector. Yes, we’ve been talking about this downward trend for years now. And there are still a number of venture firms actively pursuing opportunities in energy decarbonization and decentralization. But startups are realizing they can’t rely on venture capitalists like they used to. So where do they turn for support? This week, we feature a conversation with four execs from incubators around the country. We chat about the emergence of new funding sources, different business models for incubators and accelerators, and the importance of corporate partnerships. Joining the conversation: Emily Kirsch, the founder and CEO of Powerhouse, a software-focused incubator and accelerator in Oakland, California: https://powerhouse.solar/ Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, a hardware-focused incubator in the country, based in Somerville, Massachusetts: https://www.greentownlabs.com/ Path Sapinsley, managing director of cleantech initiatives at the Urban Future Lab in Brooklyn, New York, which houses the ACRE incubator: http://ufl.nyc/ Beth Hartman, project manager at the IncubateEnergy Network at the Electric Power Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado: https://incubatenergy.org/ This podcast is brought to you by Wunder Capital, an award-winning investment platform that allows you to invest directly in solar projects and earn up to 8.5 percent annually. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/gtm.
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We’re back in familiar territory on the podcast this week. Once again, we are revisiting Mark Jacobson’s famous -- some might say infamous -- 100% renewable energy scenario. This week, we’re rounding out our previous conversation with Professor Jacobson by turning to Dr. Christopher Clack, the lead author of a critique of Jacobson’s modeling, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in June. Dr. Clack is the CEO of Vibrant Clean Energy, a grid modeling firm. His expertise is in mathematics, statistics and optimization. He formerly worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Clack is also the co-lead author of a 2016 paper in the journal Nature Climate Change looking at how the U.S. could slash carbon emissions by 80 percent. In this podcast, we talk about Clack's rebuttal, Jacobson’s rebuttal to Clack’s rebuttal, the meaning of the debate over 100 percent renewables, and the reason so many academics targeted Jacobson’s work. This podcast is brought to you by Wunder Capital, an award-winning investment platform that allows you to invest directly in solar projects and earn up to 8.5 percent annually. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/gtm. Read the critique of Jacobson's work: http://www.pnas.org/content/114/26/6722
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In April, Energy Secretary Rick Perry requested an analysis on whether renewable energy poses a threat to baseload power plants and the broader health of the grid. Last week, an early draft of that highly-anticipated report was leaked. It concluded that renewables are not destabilizing the power sector. The leaked version pointed to a natural gas glut, aging power plant fleets and flattening demand as the cause of baseload retirement -- not wind and solar. Now the question becomes: how will the final version change? And does it now put the department in an awkward position? We debate the ethics and consequences of the leak. In the second half of the show, we talk with Hervé Touati, managing director of the Rocky Mountain Institute, about the latest trends in corporate renewable energy purchasing. The federal government may have walked away from its climate commitments, but corporations are doing more than ever -- and we’ll look at how deals are getting more complex. Read the full text of the leaked study: fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/reuterscom/1/32/32/GRID%20Study.pdf This podcast is brought to you by Wunder Capital, an award-winning investment platform that allows you to invest directly in solar projects and earn up to 8.5% annually. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/gtm.
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Not long ago, energy nerds were pondering the feasibility of 20 percent renewables on the electric grid. We're long past that. Today, the conversation is centered around 100 percent renewables economy-wide -- thanks largely to a body of work developed by Stanford Professor Mark Jacobson and his colleagues. Since 2009, he's argued that 100 percent renewables is not only feasible, it's desirable. But as the stakes get higher, the debate gets more intense. Jacobson has picked up many high-profile supporters -- but he's also picked up a lot of critics, who believe his work is faulty and short-sighted. That criticism to a head last month when a group of researchers published a lengthy rebuttal to one of Jacobson's 100-percent renewable scenarios. The internet exploded with points and counter-points and counter-counter-points. In this episode, we talk with Jacobson himself. He responds directly to criticisms of the paper, sheds light on his modeling, and talks about the role of his work in setting energy policy. This podcast is brought to you by Wunder Capital, an award-winning investment platform that allows you to invest directly in solar projects and earn up to 8.5 percent annually. Create an account for free at WunderCapital.com/gtm. Jacobson's initial 2009 study: https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/revsolglobwarmairpol.htm Jacobson's 2015 study: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15060 The rebuttal from 21 researchers: http://www.pnas.org/content/114/26/6722.abstract
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Over the last 18 months, blockchain has evolved from an obscure concept in cryptocurrency circles into a mainstream corporate tool for "disrupting” entire industries. If you don’t have a blockchain strategy, you are not innovating hard enough. People love throwing around the term. But wait, what is it again? And why is it relevant to energy? In this week's episode, we'll get some context from GTM CEO Scott Clavenna. We explore how it’s already being applied to utility operations and energy markets, and where the long-term potential lies. The conversation was recorded at GTM's Grid Edge World Forum. The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible and more reliable. Find out more: aesenergystorage.com/interchange
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What happens when the most important market signal for energy storage gets stripped away virtually overnight? That’s what happened earlier this year when the regional transmission operator PJM put in place new rules for storage as a provider of frequency regulation. Between 2011 and 2015, hundreds of megawatts of storage were put in place to balance the grid in PJM territory. A strong market signal made development extremely easy, causing an explosion of growth. We’re in a different world today. New rules have lowered revenue for a 20-megawatt/5-megawatt-hour storage system from $623 in 2014 to $86 today, according to GTM Research's analysis. Storage developers are now looking to other markets and other types of grid services to make money. GTM Research Senior Storage Analyst Dan Finn-Foley has been tracking the regulation of frequency regulation in PJM and other markets. This week, we chatted about the impact on America's storage industry. We also looked to future revenue models in other regional markets. The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://bit.ly/2oxZ5dT Make sure to subscribe to The Interchange podcast via iTunes, SoundCloud or Stitcher, or integrate our RSS feed into the podcast app of your choice.
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Utility executives poured into Boston from across the country this week for the Edison Electric Institute’s annual conference. They talked about everything from crazy national politics to rate design to artificial intelligence and the future of workers. We brought our recording gear and tracked down some top names in the industry. In this episode, we hear what's on the minds of utility executives. Here are some highlights from the interviews: Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, on why decarbonization will continue under Trump: "We don't chase fads. Our business approach, our strategies, our models, have a much longer life than any political party or any particular administration." Pat Vincent-Collawn, PNM Resources CEO, on automation and the future of work: "We're not thinking about that enough yet." Julia Hamm, the CEO of SEPA, on how distributed energy is wrapped up in smart cities and artificial intelligence: "Utility executives are really starting to think about how does that suite of distributed energy resources fit into an even bigger picture." David Owens, retiring VP of regulatory affairs at EEI, on the new priorities for investor-owned utilities: We've gotten very aggressive in the industry's vision. And that vision is focused around cleaner energy, a smarter energy infrastructure, and providing customized or individualized solutions so we can respond to customer needs." And here's our reading list mentioned at the top of the show: R Street Institute report on why baseload retirements don't necessarily mean unreliability: bit.ly/2sA7uAH Rocky Mountain Institute piece on outdated notions of baseload power: bit.ly/2swyRdY Researchers debunk the premise of Rick Perry's baseload report in The Conversation: http://bit.ly/2rnBH1k GTM article summarizing a report on why ARPA-E is a success so far: http://bit.ly/2sGFevU Wall Street Journal article on oil giants shifting their focus to electricity: http://on.wsj.com/2tuE2bL The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://bit.ly/2oxZ5dT Make sure to subscribe to The Interchange podcast via iTunes, SoundCloud or Stitcher, or integrate our RSS feed into the podcast app of your choice.
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There are two stories playing out in solar today. One of them is decidedly negative. The other is extraordinarily positive. And they're both unfolding at the exact same time. In this week's podcast, we detail the different stories playing out in solar. We'll weave reflective conversation together with excerpts from Shayle's keynote address at last month's Solar Summit. In part one, the brutal year for many businesses: Public solar companies are getting thrashed; module oversupply is causing severe financial pain for manufacturers; and even downstream companies who’ve benefited from cheaper equipment and growing demand have struggled. What does this tell us about the state of in the industry? In part two, the macro trends: While the industry is in upheaval, the prospects could not be better for the technology. It’s one of the strange contradictions in solar. Where do we stand on the growth trajectory today? In part three, preparing for explosive growth: How do you manage the coming wave of solar with better market design and integration techniques? The Interchange is brought to you by AES Energy Storage. AES is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: bit.ly/2oxZ5dT
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Here we go again. America's solar industry is in the midst of yet another trade dispute. In late May, the U.S. government officially accepted Suniva's request to review the impact of imported cells and modules on domestic solar manufacturers. If trade officials request tariffs and minimum prices at the levels suggested by Suniva, it could set industry equipment pricing back to 2012 levels and installed system pricing at 2015 levels. A lot of planned utility-scale solar projects would be destroyed. And a number of states would be out of reach for residential installers. If the International Trade Commission agrees with Suniva's complaint, it will send recommendations to the president. And no one knows what Trump will do. In an industry already facing a slowdown in growth, high duties on imported solar equipment could be a disaster. But is it a doomsday scenario? In this week's podcast, we look at the potential consequences for solar businesses upstream and downstream. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: bit.ly/2oxZ5dT
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Sunrun is now the largest standalone solar company in the U.S. And as a public company, it faces increased scrutiny of its solar services model from investors who are skeptical about residential solar conditions. After reporting solid quarterly numbers for the end of 2016, the company is now dealing with accusations that it hid customer cancelation rates. Executives aren't commenting on an SEC investigation into canceled contracts, but analysts believe it's a distraction from the real metrics used to value Sunrun. The company also says it is a distraction, and that the allegations are false. On stage at the Solar Summit, we talked about some of the immediate challenges -- investor sentiment, customer acquisition costs, and streamlining installations -- that Sunrun is grappling with. (Squared subscribers can watch every single session.) After that session, we whisked Jurich into a back room for a podcast interview about Sunrun's long-term outlook. We asked about the role of solar as a grid resource, the company's growing storage deployments, its new partnerships with utilities, and the evolution of customer choice. It offers a glimpse into her leadership style as the CEO of one of America's top solar companies. "We often get stuck in the short term noise, we often miss this bigger, massive structural shift that's happening," she said. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. Find out more about the company's storage solutions for utilities: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange
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Mary Powell has a simple mantra: "Culture eats strategy." Since taking over as CEO of Green Mountain Power, she's implemented a startup culture that represents a dramatic departure from a traditional utility model -- obsessing over the customer, mixing employees in order to uncover new ideas, testing out new products and re-imagining the power delivery business model itself. She used to call Green Mountain Power the "un-utility." These days, Powell doesn't even like to talk about her company as a utility at all. This week, we feature a live conversation with Mary Powell from the Clean Energy Trust Challenge in Chicago. She talked about her unconventional approach to managing a utility, and her outlook on how customer interaction with the grid will change. Above all, she explained why understanding customers matters so much to people: "One of my biggest fears is being out of touch with what people want and what really matters to people." Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange
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Since the day Tesla was founded, executives saw stationary storage as a compliment to the electric car business. That was Martin Eberhard's plan when he co-founded the company and envisioned the Tesla Energy Group. Years later, after launching the Powerwall, CEO Elon Musk said the storage business could soon eclipse automobiles. Today, storage is an integral part of Tesla's package of offerings for consumers, and its development plans for utilities. In 2009, Mateo Jaramillo was hired to execute Tesla's storage strategy. Well, eventually. First, he was responsible for developing the company's powertrain. Over time, he became more heavily involved in stationary storage -- eventually building Tesla's in-house storage development arm and the team that designed the Powerwall and Powerpack. He drew on his years of experience at Gaia Power Technologies, where he worked on some of the earliest behind-the-meter battery systems in New York. Last December, Jaramillo left Tesla to focus on his next career move in storage. The LinkedIn description of his new job job reads: "The Next Thing." This week, we caught up with Jaramillo to talk about what that "next thing" might be. We talked about the history of behind-the-meter storage, the evolution of Tesla's approach to the market, and where storage business models and applications are headed. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. The grid is changing. Fast. And AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange Make sure to subscribe to the Interchange: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-interchange/id1221460035?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-interchange Our RSS Feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:298570872/sounds.rss Bookmark our Interchange web page: https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-interchange
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In April of 2014, three of New York's most influential figures in energy -- Governor Andrew Cuomo, state "energy czar" Richard Kauffman and then-chief regulator Audrey Zibelman -- launched one of the most ambitious reform efforts in the history of electricity. It was called Reforming the Energy Vision. It was simple, but extraordinarily bold. Here's how Zibelman explained it: “By fundamentally restructuring the way utilities and energy companies sell electricity, New York can maximize the utilization of resources, and reduce the need for new infrastructure through expanded demand management, energy efficiency, renewable energy, distributed generation, and energy storage programs.” We’re a few years on since that vision was first articulated. And so it’s a good time to ask: what has REV accomplished so far? Is the state any closer to redesigning the electricity market than it was three years ago? This week, we're talking to Lisa Frantzis, a senior vice president at Advanced Energy Economy, who’s been knee-deep in the acronyms, buzzwords and orders. And she’s going to guide us through REV. Thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. The grid is changing. Fast. And AES Energy Storage is helping utilities harness the power of battery-based energy storage to make the electric power system cleaner, more flexible, and more reliable. Find out more: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange
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How wealthy are the households that install rooftop solar? This question has surfaced repeatedly, most often when policymakers or regulators are considering solar incentives and/or changes to electricity rates. This week, GTM Research and PowerScout released a report that offers -- for the first time -- household-level data on the relationship between residential solar and household income. In this episode, we dig in. Access the free report here: https://www.greentechmedia.com/research/report/how-wealthy-are-residential-solar-customers Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage. Learn more about AES' industry-leading storage solutions for the grid: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange
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What will it take to slash carbon emissions in the electric sector by 100 percent? We're already making immense progress in the electric grid. And we could use wind, solar and storage to cost-effectively cut grid emissions in half. But to go from 50 percent reductions to 100 percent -- that will take a much more diverse range of technologies. That is the conclusion of a new literature review of 30 studies, written by Jesse Jenkins and Samuel Thernstrom. Jesse Jenkins joins us on the podcast. He’s an energy thinker, writer and a PhD candidate at MIT with an expertise in electric power system engineering. In this week's episode of The Interchange, we define "deep decarbonization," discuss the limitations of our current pathway, and talk about the intense tribalism that feeds the debate over how to transition to a zero-carbon system. We're re-launching the show this week publicly. Make sure to subscribe to us on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher Radio or simply copy and paste our RSS feed into the podcast app of your choice. Big thanks to our launch sponsor, AES Energy Storage: Make sure to subscribe to the show! Links below: http://aesenergystorage.com/interchange iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-interchange/id1221460035?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/theinterchangepodcast Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-interchange Our RSS Feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:298570872/sounds.rss Bookmark our Interchange web page: https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-interchange And other links from the show are below. What we're reading: https://foresightdk.com/in-search-of-a-cure-for-cannibalisation/ Jesse Jenkins' paper on deep decarbonization: http://bit.ly/2oeRvBb
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It’s been 15 years since Cape Wind -- the project meant to be America’s first offshore wind farm -- was first proposed. For years, the 130-turbine, 450-megawatt project was held up as the start of an entirely new industry in the U.S. But fierce legal opposition and project financing problems eventually brought the project down. The offshore wind industry is now virtually all in Europe. In 2001, Europe had a few hundred megawatts of offshore wind projects. Today, it has nearly 13,000 megawatts of capacity -- and developers are on track to make offshore wind the cheapest form of new electricity. In fact, new projects are now beating 2020 price estimates. When will America finally capture a piece of this budding industry? This week's guest is well equipped to answer that question. Alicia Barton is the former director of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, the former Chief of Operations at SunEdison’s global utility group, and is now the co-chair of the cleantech practice at the global law firm Foley Hoag. She joins us to talk about the regulatory and business activity underway on America's East Coast.
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