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China is a hotbed of innovation, filling nearly half of the world’s new patents every year. Much of that work is in the world of clean tech and a whole ecosystem is growing to help make these breakthroughs commercial. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Tonny Xie, chairman of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, a China-based nonprofit organization that’s helping to grow the next era of climate startups. Read more: Bluetech Clean Air Alliance website Zero: Inside China’s $7 Trillion Green Finance Market Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to Lili Pike, Sommer Saadi and Alyssa McDonald. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Climate Week in New York was supposed to be about climate. Instead, the conversation kept being pulled back to energy security, resilience and the growing sense that the world has entered a more volatile era. Conflict in the Middle East, drone attacks on critical infrastructure, the weaponisation of energy supply, and the surge in power demand from AI are all forcing policymakers, companies and investors to ask a harder question: how do you build an energy system that can absorb shocks without pushing costs even higher for consumers?In this special live edition of Energy Gang, recorded at NYU, host Ed Crooks is joined by regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe and three guests with very different vantage points on that question: Neil Brown, managing director at KKR; Anna Shpitsberg, Wood Mackenzie's head of global power and renewables research; and Sarah Kapnick, global head of climate advisory at JPMorgan. Together they explore how geopolitics, technology and climate risk are colliding to reshape the energy agenda.Neil argues that the attacks on Gulf infrastructure mark a strategic break with the past: energy systems are no longer exposed only to familiar market risks, but to cheaper, more agile forms of disruption that can inflict outsized damage. He makes the case that the Gulf states have shown real resilience through defence spending, sovereign capital and economic diversification, but warns that the deeper problem is political. In his view, the prospect of a durable settlement in the region looks remote, raising the risk that energy markets are entering a prolonged era of instability rather than a temporary shock.Sarah and Anna widen the lens. Sarah argues that resilience now means more than access to fuel: it means the ability to keep supplying energy through geopolitical, technological and climate volatility. Anna points to Ukraine's experience to show why distributed systems can recover faster than large centralised assets, while also stressing that resilience is not the same as self-sufficiency. Building a more secure system may require domestic capacity, strategic partnerships, industrial policy and a willingness to pay for optionality at a time when affordability pressures are already intense.That tension runs through the whole discussion. AI and data-centre growth are lifting electricity demand, but no one is certain how fast that demand will materialise, how efficient future computing will become, or where investment should land first. The result is a more complex energy system with fewer easy answers: decentralisation can reduce single points of failure but create new cyber risks; trade policy can support domestic manufacturing but raise prices; and climate policy becomes much harder to sustain when voters no longer feel they can afford the transition. The stakes, the panel argues, are no longer just about decarbonisation in the abstract, but about whether energy systems can stay secure, investable and politically durable in a more dangerous world.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This interview is disseminated on behalf of Good Purpose Investments Inc.Good Purpose Investments (CSE: GPIN | FSE: 8BS) CEO George Tsogas and R&D Director Eduardo Garza introduce Clario, an environmental technology company developed internally by the company to help businesses better understand and manage product and supply chain data. They discuss how Clario turns fragmented operational data into environmental intelligence, including through its first two solutions: Q-Trace for supply chain traceability and Enerx for supply chain energy management.Learn more: https://good-purpose.comWatch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/g-LS5ETexjoAnd follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@stockstowatchofficial➡️ Check out https://StockTA.com for FREE Stock Technical Analysis and Trading Tools to make smarter investment decisions.
Tell us what you think of the show! [Reupload]This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey. On this episode, Clarion Events Content Director Jeremiah Karpowicz is filling in for Paul Gerke.This week's episode features special guest David Fickling from Bloomberg, who discusses how the Bangladesh's garment industry is coping with the Iran war's disruption of the energy supply chain. This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Dr. Joe Romm, a physicist and one of the most influential voices in the fight against climate change, who passed away unexpectedly this month. Joe served at the Department of Energy under President Clinton and turned his focus to climate after his brother lost his home in Hurricane Katrina. He founded the blog Climate Progress, which Time called the web's most influential climate-change blog, and he was chief science advisor for the Emmy-winning series Years of Living Dangerously. Rest in peace, Joe. This Week in Cleantech — September 25, 2026 The New Clean Tech Meta and Google Are Turning to Power AI — BloombergSenate inches closer to US infrastructure permitting reform bill — ReutersAfrica's cement boom signals next great shift in global energy use — ReutersIran war causes global pain at the pump — AxiosYour $30 Jeans Are Running Out of Cheap Power in Bangladesh — BloombergEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
A fresh shock to global energy markets has pushed an old question back to the center of the climate debate: When supplies tighten and prices rise, do governments double down on the transition, or reach for the fastest fossil fix? From the Strait of Hormuz to rising demand for cooling, the pressure is no longer just about fuel availability. It is about whether power systems can stay secure and affordable while demand keeps climbing and decarbonisation deadlines get closer.In this special Climate Week NYC episode, host Ed Crooks is joined by Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Kayte O'Neill, chief executive of the UK's National Energy System Operator (NESO), and David Calabrese, Executive Vice President at Daikin US Corporation. Together, they test whether efficiency, electrification and long-term system planning can offer a credible response to a crisis that is global, political and increasingly shaped by both AI and air-conditioning demand.Damilola argues that the discussion cannot be reduced to a rich-world debate about prices and reliability. Nearly 600 million people still lack access to electricity, and 2.4 billion do not have access to clean cooking. In that context, the real risk is not simply a temporary return to fossil fuels in advanced economies, but a much larger lock-in of diesel and petrol generation across emerging markets. Her case is that energy access and energy transition have to move together, supported by integrated national plans, targeted finance and more support for clean distributed systems such as solar, storage and inverters.Kayte makes the case that decarbonisation and system reliability are not competing goals if the grid is planned properly. She points to the UK's progress in moving away from coal, its high share of renewable generation, and the growing importance of demand flexibility as new loads arrive. With data centres and cooling demand reshaping power curves, the question is not only how much new generation gets built, but how intelligently demand can respond. David brings that argument down to the appliance level, arguing that heat pumps, inverter compressors and more efficient cooling systems can cut energy use while also helping the grid by acting as flexible load rather than blunt spikes in demand.What ties the discussion together is a shared insistence that the short term cannot be separated from the long term. Crisis management that relies only on more supply risks entrenching the very vulnerabilities the energy transition is supposed to solve. But a clean system will not build itself: it needs policy support, workforce training, flexibility, and capital that reaches the places where future demand growth will be greatest. That is the real stakes question for policymakers now, not whether to choose between security, affordability and net zero, but whether they can still design systems that deliver all three.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In dieser Folge von DeepDive CleanTech spricht Saskia Burzynski, Team Lead PR bei DWR eco, mit Maike Lambarth, Mitgründerin und CEO von Cyclize, über die Frage, wie sich die Chemieindustrie defossilisieren lässt. Cyclize, ein Spin-off der Universität Stuttgart, wandelt gemischte Abfälle und CO2 über ein nicht-thermisches Plasma-Reforming in Synthesegas um, eine Mischung aus Kohlenmonoxid und Wasserstoff, aus der sich Kunststoffe, Kraftstoffe oder Düngemittel herstellen lassen. Das Verfahren liefert einen Grundbaustein, den die Chemie bislang aus Erdgas gewinnt, und schließt den Kohlenstoffkreislauf, ohne die etablierte Wertschöpfung dahinter anzutasten. Im Gespräch geht es um Maikes Weg von der Forscherin zur Unternehmerin und darum, warum das Team seinen Prozess nicht publiziert, sondern selbst zur industriellen Reife gebracht hat. Lambarth erklärt, warum Cyclize ohne Vorsortierung des Abfalls auskommt und was das Plasmaverfahren von mechanischem Recycling, Depolymerisierung und Pyrolyse unterscheidet. Sie ordnet ein, wo das Unternehmen heute steht, von der Pilotanlage in Stuttgart über die industrielle Anlage, die in den Chemiepark PCK Schwedt überführt wird, bis zur laufenden Series-A-Runde und der ersten großindustriellen Anlage. Außerdem spricht sie über die ungeklärte Massenbilanzierung beim chemischen Recycling auf EU-Ebene, über Genehmigungsverfahren, in die eine neue Technologie nur schwer passt, und über ihre Erfahrungen als Gründerin in einem männerdominierten Deep-Tech-Umfeld, in dem nur rund zwei Prozent des Wagniskapitals an weiblich geführte Unternehmen gehen.
Colombia's power system was built around a powerful advantage: abundant hydropower backed by domestic gas, delivering electricity that was relatively cheap, relatively clean, and largely local. But that model is coming under pressure from two directions at once. Climate volatility is making dry years more dangerous, and gas is no longer the easy fallback it once was. As a potentially severe El Niño approaches, the central question is no longer just how much installed capacity the country has on paper. It is whether the system has enough firm, flexible energy to meet rising demand without driving up prices or risking shortages.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Álvaro Villasante, Vice President of Business Management and Innovation at Grupo Energía Bogotá, to examine how that shift is changing the energy debate in Colombia. Their core argument is that hydropower remains a strategic strength, but it can no longer be treated as a sufficient foundation on its own. As gas production declines and imports become more important, the backup system is getting more expensive and more exposed, turning what used to be a relatively stable balance between hydro and thermal generation into a more fragile equation shaped by infrastructure, timing, and security of supply.A large part of the discussion focuses on what can realistically be done before the next stress event arrives. Álvaro argues that long-term renewables auctions are directionally right, but they do little to solve an immediate risk window running through 2026 and 2027. In the near term, the priorities are more practical: manage reservoirs carefully, accelerate gas-import infrastructure, and treat demand response and energy efficiency as system tools rather than side issues. The broader lesson comes from Brazil, where a more diversified generation mix and stronger transmission buildout have made it easier to move power across regions and absorb volatility, offering a useful contrast for a Colombian system still trying to catch up on grid investment.The episode also broadens the conversation beyond market design and megawatts. Álvaro makes the case that energy security is ultimately about people: whether infrastructure reaches communities, whether electricity remains affordable, and whether reliable access is treated as a development priority rather than an abstract policy goal. The takeaway is that Colombia's next energy challenge will not be solved by one technology alone. It will be decided by how quickly the country can move from discussion to execution on gas, transmission, renewables, storage, and demand-side measures before climate pressure exposes the full cost of delay.You can learn more about the solar schools Alvaro speaks about in this episode here: https://www.grupoenergiabogota.com/actualidad-geb/comunicados-2022/aulas-solares-interactivas-apuesta-de-innovacion-del-geb-para-cerrar-brechas This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
WATCH the video on Substack by clicking the play button above or on YouTube (here).STREAM audio only on Apple Podcasts (here), Spotify (here), or your favorite podcast player app.DOWNLOAD a pdf of a moderately edited transcript and the slide deck using the blue Download buttons below.We have been presenting “A View From Wall Street” at the annual Oxford Energy Seminar since 2006. The seminar brings together around 50 “next generation” leaders at national oil companies, Western majors, refiners, and various government agencies from around the world. The opportunity to join this esteemed gathering at Oxford each year is a career highlight. The participants, we would note, spend 10 days on campus hearing from a range of speakers such as yours truly while also engaging in group projects/discussions meant to foster networking and diverse perspectives on the outlook and challenges facing the energy sector. It skews “oil” in terms of participant representation and is run by the former CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Company.This year, one of the participants asked me what common themes and lessons have I learned in over 20 years of speaking? How had the outlook changed? It is a great question. So, what we are going to do this week is take a look back on what we were saying at the time, what we got right, what we got wrong at the time relative to how things ultimately played out. 0:00 Introduction 2:12 1992-2001: $15-$25 Forever 7:29 1st OES: Isn't The Rise to $60 Just Speculation?10:04 2014 OES: “Normal” Discussions About Outlook12:09 2019 OES: Can Shale Endure at $50?14:03 OES 2023: Energy Transition Doom & Gloom 16:23 OES 2026: “Thank You For An Optimistic Take”18:32 Alternative Energy to Clean Tech to Geo Security22:43 Lesson For Traditional Energy26:59 Lesson For New Energies33:27 Biggest Surprises or Change In View 40:27 On A Personal Note: Oxford
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Jake Spring from The Washington Post, who discusses the EPA's move to repeal Biden-era limits on carbon pollution from power plants.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Dulcie Madden, co-founder and CEO of Dig Energy. Her small startup spent five years developing its technology in a New Hampshire barn, and this month it completed its first commercial job, drilling a set of geothermal wells for a Boston office building using a high-pressure water jet that cut water use by 90%. The approach could cut geothermal drilling costs by up to 80%, and the company's already booked with jobs into mid-2027. Congratulations Dulcie!This Week in Cleantech — September 18, 2026 A solar industrial complex is turning Republicans into believers — POLITICOTech giants launch flexible-power coalition for data centers — AxiosOil Executives Say the Great Fuel Crisis Is Here — The Wall Street JournalThere is no ‘one size fits all' solution for the energy transition — The Financial TimesTrump's EPA is ending one of the nation's biggest climate protections — The Washington PostEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
As federal support for climate action in the US is cut back, a difficult question is coming into focus: what happens to clean-energy projects that still make economic sense, but no longer have Washington behind them? For low-income communities in particular, this is not just a policy story. It is about electricity bills, resilience during storms and heatwaves, access to financing, and whether practical projects such as solar, storage, and efficiency upgrades can still get built.Host Ed Crooks is joined by Amir Kirkwood, Chief Executive of the Justice Climate Fund, and Melanie Allen, Chief Executive of the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. Together, they explain how a network of community lenders, philanthropies, green banks and local partners is trying to keep momentum alive even as federal climate funding is frozen, litigated or wound back.A central theme of the conversation is that the real constraint is not just ideology or even demand for clean energy, but the structure of finance. Amir argues that many community projects do not need breakthrough technology so much as access to affordable capital and better risk sharing. His case is that catalytic tools such as credit enhancements, loan-loss reserves and blended capital can still unlock much larger pools of private investment, even if they cannot fully replace the scale of federal support that the Inflation Reduction Act was meant to provide.Melanie brings that argument down to ground level with examples of what those projects look like in practice. In Texas, local “hub homes” equipped with solar panels and batteries are giving neighbourhoods places to charge phones, run medical devices and stay cool during outages. In North Carolina, a stalled solar project for a wastewater facility was revived through a mix of local partnership and creative financing. In Georgia, a church cut its monthly energy bill sharply after installing solar, storage and EV charging. Across those examples, the point is the same: in many communities, clean energy is advancing less as an abstract climate commitment than as a practical answer to affordability, reliability and local resilience.That tension between climate ambition and kitchen-table economics runs through the entire discussion. Both guests argue that people move first for pocketbook reasons, and that the strongest case for these investments is often lower bills, stronger community institutions and better protection against system shocks. The politics may have changed in Washington, but the local need for cheaper, more reliable energy has not. In that sense, the conversation suggests that the next phase of US climate action may be driven less by federal grants and more by the ability to assemble credible local deals that solve several problems at once.But Melanie and Amir are also clear-eyed about the limits of that approach. Philanthropy can be catalytic, not substitutive. Tax-credit changes, direct-pay deadlines and higher supply-chain costs are all making projects harder to close. The question, then, is whether this emerging blend of community finance and private capital can keep enough projects moving to prove the model at scale. What is at stake is not only the pace of decarbonisation, but whether the benefits of the energy transition will still reach the communities that need them most.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Fluxnium's fibers can extract uranium directly from seawater, which has enough of the nuclear fuel to power thousands of generations. Also, Hang Ten is a Palo Alto startup and says it has landed multiple seven-figure enterprise contracts within months of launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The pressure on the power system is no longer theoretical. AI, data centers, electrification, and new industrial load are arriving faster than utilities can build generation and transmission through conventional timelines. One of the least glamorous but potentially most consequential answers to that problem is how to get more capacity out of the wires already in the ground and hanging overhead. Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by JD Sitton and Theodore Paradise of CTC Global to examine why advanced conductors are moving from a niche grid technology to a mainstream tool for utilities under pressure to deliver speed, affordability, and reliability at the same time. They explain how replacing traditional steel-core conductors with carbon-core alternatives can sharply reduce sag, increase thermal performance, and in many cases double capacity on existing rights-of-way without rebuilding towers or waiting a decade for a new line.The conversation explores why that matters now. As Theodore argues, the grid was already under strain before AI accelerated the problem, with aging generation, load growth from electrification, and mounting congestion already testing the system. What changes in this moment is the pace. A reconductoring project can be completed in roughly 18 months, compared with five to seven years for a rebuild and 10 to 15 years for a new parallel line. JD and Theodore make the case that this speed advantage is not just about meeting data-center demand. It is also about cutting costs, easing permitting friction, reducing community opposition to new infrastructure, and improving safety by lowering the risk of heat-driven sag and vegetation contact. Crucially, the episode asks what reliability should mean in a grid era defined by bigger load swings, tighter operating margins, and rising public scrutiny over cost. From wildfire resilience to real-time line monitoring and the ability to operate with greater confidence under stressed conditions, advanced conductors are presented not as a silver bullet, but as a proven, underused tool that could help utilities move faster and make better use of capital already committed to the system. The larger question running through the episode is whether the industry will look back on this moment and conclude that one of the simplest grid-capacity solutions was available all along.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Electric cars changed the conversation around transportation.Could the tractor be next?On this episode of Vigilantes Radio Live, Coach Dini sits down with Patrick Sherwin, founder and CEO of GoSun, for a forward-looking conversation about solar technology, energy independence, entrepreneurship, and why Sherwin believes electric tractors are the future of farming.GoSun's latest move brings renewable energy directly into agriculture through the Moonrider 27, a 27-horsepower electric tractor designed for farmers, homesteaders, landscapers, and property owners looking for an alternative to traditional diesel equipment.Patrick breaks down why GoSun entered the agricultural equipment market, how electric tractors could reduce fuel and maintenance costs, what solar charging can realistically contribute, and whether electric equipment can handle the everyday demands of mowing, hauling, tilling, and working the land.The conversation also goes deeper into the economics facing small farms, the role of clean technology in organic agriculture, the importance of energy independence, and what farming could look like five to ten years from now as batteries, solar power, and electric equipment continue advancing.And Coach Dini asks the question that matters most:Can an electric tractor actually earn the trust of a farmer whose livelihood depends on the machine working every single day?From solar entrepreneurship to the next generation of agricultural equipment, this is a conversation about innovation becoming practical.Welcome to The Frequency of the Fearless—No Surface Talk.Website / Link for Listeners - GOSUN.COhttps://www.instagram.com/gosun/https://www.facebook.com/gosun.co/https://www.youtube.com/@GoSunSolarhttps://www.tiktok.com/@go.sun?lang=enhttps://x.com/gosunhttps://www.pinterest.com/gosun/https://www.linkedin.com/company/gosun-stove/?viewAsMember=trueBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/vigilantes-radio-live--2166168/support.Vigilantes Radio Live! by The Only One Media Group ℗©2026Episode Credits:Produced, edited, mixed, and written by Demetrius "Whodini Blak" Reynolds, Sr.Artwork designed by Demetrius "Whodini Blak" Reynolds, Sr.Show Introduction by KateSegment jingles composed & produced by Demetrius "Whodini Blak" Reynolds, Sr.Additional music licensed through 7th Sign RecordingsLinks:onlyonemediagroup.comhttps://www.instagram.com/vigilantesradio/https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-vigilantes-radio-live-29999229/https://www.instagram.com/whodiniblakin3d/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26009230/To support our show, please leave reviews, ratings, or you can help fuel the passion over at buymeacoffee.com/vigilantesradioEmail us at onlyonemgt@gmail.com
Electricity markets are under renewed pressure. Surging demand forecasts from data centres and other large loads are colliding with anxiety over reliability, rising consumer bills, and the pace of new investment. In markets such as PJM and ERCOT, those tensions are turning an arcane debate about market design into a live political question: can competitive power markets still deliver affordable, reliable electricity in a period of rapid growth?Host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe are joined by Stacey Doré, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Vistra, one of the largest competitive power producers and retailers in the US. Drawing on Vistra's growth from Texas utility successor to multi-state owner of gas, nuclear, coal, solar and battery assets, Stacey makes the case for competitive markets as the best way to drive efficient investment, innovation and customer value.The discussion starts with a challenge to the dominant narrative around load growth. Stacey argues that some of the most eye-catching forecasts for new demand are overstated by speculative projects and duplicative queue requests, and that the grid already has enough existing generation to serve most near-term growth for the vast majority of hours in the year. In her view, the real bottleneck is not an absolute lack of power, but the failure to connect new load to the grid quickly enough, alongside delays in transmission, distribution and interconnection processes.Are competitive markets sending the right signals to build what is needed next? Stacey says yes, pointing to rising capacity and energy prices in PJM, bilateral contracts with large customers, and a wave of announced investment in new and upgraded generation. She argues that the better near-term solution is not to force every new large load to wait for one-for-one new generation, but to connect customers faster, use co-location where possible, and rely on demand flexibility, backup generation and storage to manage the system's few true peak-stress hours.Amy pushes on the consumer side of the equation. Even if competition can work, who pays when prices rise, and are current cost-allocation rules fair to households? The conversation digs into the distinction between wholesale generation costs and the rapidly rising transmission and distribution portion of electricity bills, with Stacey arguing that getting more large loads onto the grid would help spread fixed system costs more broadly. Amy counters that cost allocation may be the first reform policymakers need to tackle if they want to protect residential customers while accommodating a new wave of industrial and data-centre demand.What emerges is less a simple argument for or against deregulation than a sharper question about what the grid actually needs now: faster interconnection, better load forecasting, clearer price signals, and a more honest debate about who should bear system costs. Whether policymakers double down on competition, let regulated utilities build more rate-based generation, or rethink cost allocation altogether, the stakes are clear: keeping the grid reliable while bringing on new demand without pushing affordability further out of reach.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today's guest is Ian Naccarella, CEO and Co-Founder at 83 Sciences. Founded in 2026 and backed by Y Combinator, 83 Sciences is an AI materials discovery company that transforms unpublished experimental data into searchable scientific knowledge. Its platform captures information from laboratory notebooks, voice notes and scientific instruments, helping researchers optimize experiments, accelerate materials discovery and turn overlooked data into publications, patents, commercial products and industry-academic partnerships.Prior to co-founding 83 Sciences, Ian was an entrepreneurial fellow at MIT focused on commercializing new climate technologies with professors. He was also a strategy manager at battery materials company Sila Nanotechnologies and a consultant with Boston Consulting Group, focusing on areas such as Climate and Sustainability, Cleantech, Consumer Tech, Public Sector and Financial Institutions. Ian also holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.In the episode, Ian talks about:0:00 His journey from engineering and consulting to an AI materials startup3:48 Turning frontier AI discoveries into synthesizable real-world materials5:21 How AI discovers enabling materials that accelerate core battery innovation7:17 How Frontier AI links material synthesis, structure and properties10:42 Scaling experimental data pipelines to automate materials discovery12:53 The opportunity to build an AI science company and team from scratchTo find out more about all the great work happening at 83 Sciences, check out the website www.83sciences.ai
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Tim McDonnell of Semafor, who discusses how solar has overtaken coal as China's top power source for the first time, after a massive build-up. This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Kofi Asante, founder and CEO of Bluecore Energy. Just two months after launching out of stealth, Asante's startup closed an oversubscribed $50 million seed round this week to build small nuclear reactors mounted on floating barges, generating clean power for ports and nearby infrastructure without needing a fixed site. This Week in Cleantech — September 11, 2026 Massachusetts Will Require New Data Centers to Use Clean Energy — BloombergCarbon Capture Won't Save Us Anytime Soon — The New RepublicWhy California Is Reconsidering Its Decision to Shun Nuclear Power — The New York TimesChina's cleantech exports are widening the “energy dominance” gap — Latitude MediaChina's solar beats coal — SemaforEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
Join Ravi Shekhar, Founder and CEO of Terra-X, for an honest, no-nonsense exploration of sustainable fashion-tech and the real mechanics of eco-friendly footwear manufacturing. The fashion industry produces billions of shoes annually, yet the vast majority end up in landfills—bound together by non-biodegradable synthetic polymers, petroleum-based foams, and toxic glues. While many legacy brands rely on "greenwashing" buzzwords and superficial recycled-plastic marketing, real sustainability requires a fundamental overhaul of supply chains, materials, and product performance. Drawing from extensive global experience working across Milan, international sourcing networks, and top-tier luxury labels (Armani, Dior, Marc Jacobs), Ravi shares how Terra-X builds high-performance, 95%+ bio-based footwear that rivals synthetics in durability while gently returning to the earth.
AI is turning compute into a strategic resource, and the scramble to secure GPU capacity is starting to look a lot more like a commodity market than a traditional cloud-services business. As data-centre developers, lenders and energy companies try to price the next wave of AI demand, a new question is coming into focus: Can the industry build the kind of benchmark and hedging tools that already exist for oil, gas and power? Host Ed Crooks is joined by Peter Keavey, Global Head of Energy and Environmental Products at CME Group, and Carmen Li, Founder and CEO of Silicon Data. Together, they explore the case for a futures market in GPU compute: a financial product designed to bring more transparency, liquidity and risk management to one of the fastest-growing corners of the AI economy.Carmen explains how the market works today. Most users are not buying chips outright; they are renting access to GPU capacity by the hour, often through longer-term agreements with hyperscalers, neo-cloud providers and data-centre operators. That market is already large, global and increasingly active, but it remains fragmented and opaque, with prices varying by provider, chip type and contract structure, and much of the trading still happening through bilateral deals and requests for quotes.Peter sets out the logic for moving from that over-the-counter world to an exchange-traded one. In his view, a GPU futures contract could do three things at once: reduce counterparty risk through central clearing, concentrate liquidity in a transparent order book, and create forward benchmark prices the wider market can use. The proposed product is financially settled against an index of spot prices, translating an hourly rental market into a standardised monthly contract that could eventually extend several years forward.The bigger issue, though, is energy. Power is not the whole cost of GPU compute, but it is the most volatile variable input, which means a GPU hedge could eventually sit alongside gas and power hedges for data-centre operators, lenders and infrastructure investors. The discussion keeps returning to what that means for markets such as Texas and Virginia, where the AI build-out is already shaping decisions on generation, grid access and where capital should go next.Both guests stress that this is still a young market, but already a volatile one. Rental rates have swung sharply as chip scarcity eases and then tightens again, while banks, traders and developers are trying to make long-dated decisions without a reliable forward curve. If this market develops the way Keavey and Li expect, GPU futures would not just serve traders: they could become an important signal for anyone trying to judge how durable the AI boom really is, and how much energy the system will need to support it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
After a decade of flat demand, power markets are being forced to absorb a very different problem: rapid load growth arriving faster than transmission, large-scale generation, and utility interconnection processes can respond. The focus shifts from utility-scale procurement to the distributed edge of the system, where commercial and industrial solar, community solar, batteries, and microgrids may prove to be some of the fastest tools available for adding capacity, managing costs, and improving resilience.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Tim Montague, host of Clean Power Hour and a longtime C&I solar operator and advisor, to unpack what distinguishes distributed generation from utility-scale solar in practice. Tim explains why the differences are not just about megawatts, but about interconnection, contractor capability, state policy, and execution risk. He also lays out how the phase-down of the ITC and the July 4 Safe Harbor deadline sharpened those differences: sophisticated developers with capital and pipeline visibility bought themselves runway through 2029, while smaller players that missed the deadline now face a much tighter path to commercial operation.The conversation then turns to the economics and mechanics of the market. Tim argues that state-level frameworks remain decisive for C&I and community solar, pointing to states such as Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Colorado, and New Mexico as the sector's core proving grounds. From workforce rules and training pipelines to tax-credit capture and commercial lending, he describes a market that is far more fragmented than utility-scale power, but also more flexible. Financing can range from a local business borrowing through its existing commercial bank to larger developers using institutional capital to safe-harbor equipment and scale portfolios, while PPAs remain available but often introduce longer, more complex contracting cycles.Crucially, the episode looks at why distributed energy is moving from a niche resilience play to a system-level answer for affordability and speed to power. Rising electricity prices, data-center demand, and long utility interconnection queues are improving the case for solar-plus-storage behind the meter and at community scale. Tim makes the case that batteries, community solar, distributed computing, and eventually community-scale microgrids can complement, not replace, utility-scale buildout by delivering capacity where it is needed faster and with more local value. The core question running through the episode is whether the next phase of the energy transition will be defined not only by bigger projects, but by a more distributed grid architecture built for flexibility, resilience, and cost control.This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Evan Halper from The Washington Post, who breaks down new drama surrounding the Trump administration's settlement requiring RWE to abandon offshore wind leases in exchange for $1.2 billion.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Emily McAteer, co-founder and CEO of Odyssey Energy Solutions, which just closed $74 million to scale a platform that connects more than 6,000 solar installers and EPCs across 50-plus countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with financing and bulk equipment procurement. The company's already facilitated $3.6 billion in capital and unlocked 1.5 gigawatts of distributed solar projects, with activity in India up 205% over the past year.This Week in Cleantech — September 4, 2026Meet the super PAC working to crush clean energy's political foes — Canary MediaData Center Backlash Reaches the Ballot Box — Data Center KnowledgeIs electricity dimming oil's political power? — POLITICOFervo bets big on geothermal energy — CNBC$900 million from a canceled wind deal will benefit a Trump donor — The Washington PostEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
Can the Philippines become a testbed for Southeast Asia's clean-tech future? Kicking off Season 19 of Cleaning Up, guest host Marie Cheong meets Jaime Z. Urquijo, Urban Estates Group Head at Ayala Land, one of the Philippines is largest real estate and development companies. Ayala Land is a subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation, which has been part of the Philippines' economic story for almost 200 years, and ACEN, its energy platform, has gone from a standing start in 2011 to more than 7GW of renewable capacity across Asia-Pacific. Marie and Jaime explore how the Philippines can build cleaner energy, transport and cities from the start while its economy and population continue to grow. They discuss replacing coal with renewables, retiring coal plants early, building resilient cities and making growth less carbon-intensive. From batteries and rooftop solar to green steel and electric buses, they ask what it will take for the Philippines to leapfrog to a cleaner, more resilient economy. Topics covered in this conversation: The Philippines' clean-energy challenge Can growth be decoupled from emissions? Making corporate sustainability profitable ACEN's renewable-energy transformation Southeast Asia's renewable-energy gold rush Can coal plants retire early? Building resilient cities for climate Electric buses and better transport Green steel and cleaner construction Leadership Circle: Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information about the Leadership Circle, visit cleaningup.live Links: Jaime Urquijo's bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaime-urquijo-96526799/ Ayala Corporation: https://ayala.com/ Ayala Land: https://ayalaland.com/ ACEN: https://www.acenrenewables.com/about-us/ Monsoon Wind Project: https://www.monsoonwindasia.com/ Marie's past appearance on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/RE2ZeGd8aaI Acronyms: WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development BPO: Business Process Outsourcing SBTI: Science Based Targets Initiative. MDC: Makati Development Corporation. EDC: The Energy Development Corporation EPIRA: Electric Power Industry Reform Act FIT: Feed-In Tariff ETM: Energy Transition Mechanism BRT: Bus Rapid Transit System ICE: Internal Combustion Engine LGU: Local Government Unit Chapters: 00:00: Intro 04:34: The Philippines 07:49: Ayala's history 10:42: Sustainability strategy 16:16: Net zero 27:32: Energy liberalisation 34:09: Regional challenges 36:27: Coal retirement 42:07: Resilient cities 47:45: Green steel 52:14: Green construction 54:55: Innovation tailwinds 58:27: Energy decentralisation 59:07: Future growth 01:01:43: Outro
In the AI revolution, one of the critical constraints is how much additional electricity can be made available to power new data centers. And it is often argued that one of the key constraints on the growth of electricity supply is capacity in the equipment supply industry. The rate at which electricity supply can grow is determined in part by how fast the equipment industry can supply new turbines, transformers, switchgear and circuit breakers.In this episode Roger Martella, Chief Corporate Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer at GE Vernova, one of the world's largest suppliers of electrical equipment, joins the show to explain how the company is meeting the challenge of soaring demand. Roger talks to host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Melissa Lott, Partner for Energy at Microsoft, about his route from industrial Pennsylvania to the leadership team at GE, via the Environmental Protection Agency. And he explains why, when the old conglomerate GE broke up, he chose to go with the energy business. The company is driven by a sense of purpose, he says: bringing electricity to the world both raises living standards and supports decarbonization.Electricity demand growth created by new data centers for AI is one driver for GE Vernova's rapidly growing order book, but not the only one. The company is also responding to other sources of growing demand around the world, including the need to strengthen energy security in Europe and to support economic growth and development in emerging Asia.In the US, GE Vernova has announced $1.3 billion in investment and 1,800 new manufacturing jobs, to support expanded production of switchgear, circuit breakers and turbines. It plans to increase its turbine manufacturing capacity from 18 gigawatts a year to 30 gigawatts a year by 2030.Roger rejects the idea that equipment supplies are the main bottleneck restricting electricity supply growth. Other issues, including permitting and grid interconnections, are more fundamental difficulties for project developers. If anyone has built a turbine stand, but doesn't have a turbine to out on it, he says, he will find a turbine. Ed raises the issue of the industry's cyclicality. The gas turbine market has been through boom and bust in the past, and the uncertainty over the future of AI naturally raises the question of whether we are in another bubble today. Roger's answer is that the company is looking at the range of needs that are driving electrification, not making a bet solely on AI.As its production increases, GE Vernova needs to hire more workers. Roger, Ed and Melissa discuss the familiar consensus around skilled trades. Just about everyone agrees that America and other countries need more electricians, plumbers and welders to deloiver the build-out of infrastructure. But skills shortages persist. So what are the solutions that would actually increase the workforce in these sectors to meet demand? Are pay, job security, training and the status of industrial work being addressed in the right ways?One of the more exciting technologies for meeting electricity demand in the 2030s and beyond is the new generation of nuclear plants using small modular reactors (SMRs). GE Vernova has a new nuclear plant using SMRs under construction at Darlington in Ontario, and is targeting commercial operation by 2030. Ed pushes on the key question: can SMRs move from a promising concept to a repeatable, cost-competitive business? Roger says the first project has to be a proof point. The nuclear business cannot be run as a hobby, he says. The lessons from the first-of-a-kind Darlington plant must be used to drive down costs for subsequent units.The discussion also covers High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission and cutting-edge technologies for grid management, including uses for drones and AI. Roger ends with a message to policymakers: the missing ingredient is policy durability. If the industry is to invest enough to meet long-term needs, it has to have policy frameworks that survive political cycles, court challenges and changes of administration.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Dan Gearino from Inside Climate News, who lays out how new tariffs and the phaseout of federal tax credits have dealt a heavy blow to the rooftop solar industry. This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Richard Wang, CEO and co-founder of Voya Energy, which just raised $35 million to turn scrap aluminum into backup power for data centers. Instead of diesel generators, Voya's system runs an electrochemical reaction that pulls energy out of aluminum with zero carbon pollution, aiming to be quieter, smaller, and cleaner than the diesel backup that's become a flashpoint in local data center opposition. The company plans to have generators ready for on-site testing by the end of 2027, with nearly a dozen companies already lined up for pilot demonstrations.This Week in Cleantech — August 28, 2026 Exclusive: 75% of Americans Now Oppose Local Data Center Development — HeatmapThe Clean Energy Transition Has A Grid Problem. Here's How To Fix It. — AtmosUS building twice as much gas-fired capacity as China in AI boom, analysis finds | Fossil fuels — The GuardianHyperscalers' Off-Grid Power Push Comes With Risks — The Wall Street JournalRooftop Solar Is Having a Rough One — Inside Climate NewsEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies recorded live at SF Climate Week, founder and host Preethy Padmanabhan sits down with Rajesh Swaminathan, Partner at Khosla Ventures. Drawing on decades of deep tech and climate investing experience, Rajesh breaks down how AI and energy infrastructure have become deeply intertwined, why Climate 2.0 requires a fundamental focus on techno-economics, and how startups can successfully integrate into existing legacy infrastructure. In this episode, we discuss: Why baseload clean energy is the ultimate bottleneck for AI scale and data centers Super hot rock geothermal and nuclear fusion as game-changers for 5-cent kilowatt-hour clean power Solving compute limitations through chip stacking, panel-based approaches, and photonic interconnects Rebuilding U.S. manufacturing leadership across semiconductors, photonics, and energy Strategic learnings moving from CleanTech 1.0 to Climate 2.0 "David AND Goliath": Why integrating into legacy infrastructure beats trying to replace it Top investment themes for the next 3 years: digital grid management, critical minerals, cement, and bio-manufacturing What transforms high-risk science into a venture-scalable company with massive impact Whether you are a deep tech founder, investor, or policy strategist navigating the intersection of AI, climate, and energy—this conversation offers critical insights for building enduring companies. 10X Growth Strategies is a community founded by Preethy Padmanabhan, started as a podcast five years ago and now grown into a community of over 14,000 founders, investors, and executives across Luma and LinkedIn. The community hosts monthly events on timely topics in tech, AI, and entrepreneurship. Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10x-growth-strategies/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/preepadu/ Website: https://grow10x.podbean.com/ Luma: https://luma.com/user/preepadu #AI #Energy #ClimateTech #DeepTech #AIInfrastructure #Geothermal #NuclearFusion #Semiconductors #VentureCapital #10XGrowthStrategies Chapters: 00:00:09 - 00:01:10 - Welcome to SF Climate Week & 10X Community Intro 00:01:11 - 00:02:25 - The 10X Growth Strategies Mission & Sponsorships 00:02:26 - 00:03:33 - Introducing Rajesh Swaminathan (Khosla Ventures) 00:03:34 - 00:04:26 - 18 Years in Deep Tech: Journey into Climate Investing 00:04:27 - 00:06:00 - Climate 1.0 vs. 2.0: The AI + Energy Paradigm Shift 00:06:01 - 00:09:02 - Geothermal & Fusion: Energy as the Deciding Factor in the AI Race 00:09:03 - 00:11:43 - Next-Gen Compute: Chip Stacking, Photonics & U.S. Manufacturing 00:11:44 - 00:13:34 - Geopolitics, Policy Inconsistency & Building Resilient Infrastructure 00:13:35 - 00:16:12 - Techno-Economics: How Khosla Ventures Structures Seed to Late-Stage Risk 00:16:13 - 00:18:44 - The "David and Goliath" Integration Strategy for Hard Tech 00:18:45 - 00:19:35 - High-Priority Themes: AI for Digital Grid, Critical Minerals & EV/Robotics 00:19:36 - 00:23:25 - Audience Q&A: Geopolitical Friction vs. Founder Execution 00:23:26 - 00:24:38 - Vertical Integration vs. Partnering with Legacy Industries 00:24:39 - 00:25:39 - Audience Q&A: Bio-Based Compute and Manufacturing 00:25:40 - 00:27:20 - What Separates a Venture-Scale Startup from a Science Project
As the renewable energy and storage industries grow, and enter more hostile geographies, asset resilience is becoming an increasingly pressing concern. Developers, owners and lenders want to know how solar, storage and other facilities can increase their resilience to the growing risks of physical threats such as hailstorms and wildfires. The rush to add capacity to meet surging demand from new data centres is adding to the pressure, making calculations about the value of asset reliability increasingly complex.In this special episode, host Ed Crooks speaks with Mike Perron, Renewable Energy Market Lead at FM, and Cassian Walker, Operations Vice President and Renewables Engineering Manager at FM, one of the world's largest commercial property insurers. They explain how insurers are starting to build resilience into renewable project design far earlier in the development process, and why that has become a financing issue as much as a technical one.For solar power, that means understanding the inherent physical risks such as hail, then deciding what combination of tracker systems, stowing technology and panels is right for the location. The same equipment that performs adequately in California or New Jersey can become a major liability in Texas or Arizona.Cassian explains how modern trackers can tilt panels away from an incoming storm to turn a direct hit into a glancing blow. Mike contrasts a devastating nine-figure loss at one Texas site with a far smaller loss at another facility that successfully stowed. Those resilience strategies can work only if the system is designed for the local wind and hail conditions, and the performance of the equipment has been tested and verified.From there, the conversation broadens to the economics. Insurance can account for a large share of a project's operating costs, and lenders are asking harder questions about resilience before they finance new builds. FM's case is that better engineering, better hazard modelling and earlier involvement from insurers and independent engineers can lower lifetime risk and improve financial performance, even if they raise up-front costs.Today, renewable developers still often treat insurance as a late-stage procurement exercise, after key technology decisions have already been locked in. Mike and Cassian argue that that is changing, but the industry is still early in that learning curve. As renewables become more important to the power system, those questions will only get harder to avoid.This episode of Energy Gang is sponsored by FM. As one of the world's leading commercial property insurers, FM combines engineering expertise, scientific research, and data-driven insights to help organizations understand, mitigate, and prevent loss before it occurs. From utility-scale solar and battery storage projects to thermal power generation, manufacturing operations, and other critical infrastructure, FM helps organizations build stronger, more resilient businesses. To learn more about FM's engineering-based approach to resilience, visit FM.com. For additional insights on risk, resilience, and business continuity, subscribe to FM's Sound Policy podcast. FM. Protect Your PurposeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Electricity demand is rising, capital is tightening, and nuclear is back in the conversation as utilities, governments, and large power users look for firm low-carbon supply. But the central question is not whether advanced nuclear can attract interest. It is whether any new design can get far enough ahead on cost, manufacturability, and fuel strategy to break from the economics that have constrained conventional nuclear for decades.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Thomas Jam Pedersen, co-founder and CEO of Copenhagen Atomics, to examine one of the more unconventional answers now being put forward: thorium molten salt reactors built around low-pressure operation, standardized manufacturing, and a fuel strategy that could use spent nuclear fuel alongside thorium. Their core argument is that most of the nuclear sector is still trying to improve on a legacy light-water model that may remain too expensive, too complex, and too slow to scale against the pace of future energy demand.A large part of the discussion focuses on what that alternative looks like in practice. Pedersen argues that operating at atmospheric pressure changes the cost and engineering profile of the reactor itself, making smaller units easier to manufacture and potentially easier to deploy repeatedly. He also lays out why Copenhagen Atomics sees spent fuel not only as a waste problem but as a potential input, provided it can be recycled economically and paired with thorium to achieve higher fuel efficiency. The commercial model follows the same logic: standardize the reactor unit, let customers source the rest of the plant locally, and avoid the bespoke, first-of-a-kind economics that have burdened much of the sector.The episode also looks ahead to the harder constraints that will determine whether that thesis holds. Licensing remains slow and expensive, investor appetite is still shaped by the long history of political and regulatory risk in nuclear, and even successful advanced designs are unlikely to make a meaningful dent in global electricity supply before 2035. The takeaway is that the real test for advanced nuclear is no longer just technical credibility. It is whether a new generation of reactor companies can prove they have found a model that lowers cost, reduces deployment risk, and makes nuclear scalable in a very different energy market.This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Episode 285 explores how one woman's personal wake-up call transformed into a mission to improve the air we breathe
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey. Jeremiah Karpowicz, Content Director at Clarion Events, is filling in for Paul this week.This week's episode features special guest Molly Taft from WIRED, who discusses the growing, cross-partisan backlash against AI data centers.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Drew Baglino, founder and CEO of Heron Power. His company builds solid-state transformers that don't rely on the steel causing shortages, and Heron just closed a $140 million round to build a U.S. factory capable of producing 40 gigawatts of the gear a year. Congratulations, Drew!This Week in Cleantech — August 21, 2026OpenAI Locks In Lease for Huge Data Center in Ohio With Backing From Nvidia — The Wall Street JournalThe Blackout That Could Devastate America — The New York TimesBig Batteries to Bolster the Grid Are Stuck Waiting to Plug In — BloombergDOE says we need more transmission, decides building less is fine — Factor ThisHow Data Centers Broke American Politics — WIREDEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
Gas is back at the center of the energy debate. Surging demand for electricity to power new data centres, and growing fears about global energy security resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, are raising some urgent questions for the US gas industry. Consumers want to know whether the US can produce enough gas for the world without losing the price advantage that has benefited American consumers for many years? Can a new era of gas growth strengthen energy security abroad and support cutting-edge technological innovation at home, while also maintaining affordability for most Americans?Host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe of NYU are joined by Toby Rice, Chief Executive of EQT, one of the largest natural gas producers in the US. Toby argues that America has the resources both to meet rising domestic demand and to supply much more gas to international markets, without sending prices soaring. He sets out EQT's case for US gas to drive growth, affordability, reliability and geopolitical influence. He also makes the case for the environmental benefits of gas as a replacement for coal in power generation.The Trump administration often talks about “energy dominance”. Toby says. He prefers to describe the goal as “energy abundance”.US gas prices have been low by international standards for most of the past 20 years. The big question is whether that price advantage can persist, in the face of rising LNG exports and growing power demand from AI. Ed raises the prospect that continued growth in demand for gas could eventually push up domestic prices, weakening one of the US economy's biggest competitive advantages.Toby's answer is that the shale resource base is deep enough to respond. He argues that at the right price signal, producers can bring on enough supply to support both the domestic market and a much larger export system. He also makes the case that increased US LNG export capacity can strengthen American energy security by creating more flexibility in times of stress, rather than simply exposing Americans to global volatility. Amy highlights the increased global focus on energy security. If countries are becoming more anxious about imported energy after recent geopolitical shocks, will they still want more LNG, even if it comes from a reliable supplier such as the US? Or will they step up investment in domestic alternatives, including renewables, batteries, nuclear, and even coal?Finally, Toby talks about his work with Energy Corps, the nonprofit organization he founded to bring energy abundance to emerging markets. It aims to deploy technologies including renewables, gas and propane for clean cooking, to increase access to modern energy, and demonstrate ways to improve the quality of life for billions of people around the world.More information about Energy Corps is available at its website: www.energycorps.com This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Mark Chediak from Bloomberg, who breaks down Trump's new 15% tariffs and price floors on imported polysilicon and its derivatives, including wafers, cells and modules.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Kumo Sharma, founder of Arkaya Energy. His company's milk-source heat pump pulls heat straight out of fresh milk as it's chilled for cheesemaking, then uses that heat to make near-boiling water for washdown — cutting England's Barber's Farmhouse Cheesemakers' electricity use in half and saving them about $94,000 a year. Congratulations, Kumo!This Week in Cleantech — August 14, 2026 Zach Dell Is Raising Money to Put a Battery in Your Backyard — WSJTrump waged war on EVs. Now he's helping them out. — E&E NewsSome Nebraska communities are cashing in on renewables. Others are being left behind. — GristFederal Judge Orders Pentagon to Lift Freeze on Wind Power — The New York TimesHow the US Is Trying to End Solar Tariff Whack-a-Mole — BloombergEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
Solar demand remains strong, storage is scaling fast, and inverter technology is becoming more central to how modern power systems actually function. But the conversation around inverters is no longer just about efficiency, bankability, or price. As these devices take on more intelligence — managing batteries, supporting grid stability, and communicating more directly with the wider system — they are also being treated as a new point of strategic vulnerability. In both Europe and the US, policymakers are starting to respond accordingly.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Joe Shangraw, research analyst at Wood Mackenzie covering solar inverter markets, to examine what that shift means in practice. Their core argument is that inverter policy is moving beyond trade protection and into a more complicated mix of cybersecurity, industrial strategy, and grid risk. They unpack why Europe's March decision to block public EU funding for projects using Chinese-made inverters matters beyond its immediate scope, and why the region's dependence on Chinese vendors — especially in utility-scale string inverters and integrated battery-plus-inverter systems — makes any attempt to diversify more complex than simply switching suppliers. A large part of the discussion focuses on the FCC's July decision to add foreign power inverters to its Covered List, where the real issue is not just whether the headlines overstated the impact, but how narrowly or broadly the rule will ultimately be applied. Shangraw explains that the current language appears closely tied to communications hardware, especially wireless-enabled devices, which creates a more nuanced picture than an outright market shutdown. That distinction matters because it affects not only which new products fall in scope, but how developers, manufacturers, and asset owners start thinking about software updates, grid-code compliance, and long-term procurement risk. The challenge is no longer just cost competitiveness. It is whether an inverter can remain usable, updateable, and policy-safe over the life of the asset.The episode also looks ahead to the next set of decisions facing the industry: whether Europe expands restrictions beyond publicly funded projects, how quickly US and allied manufacturers can localise enough of the supply chain to qualify under tougher domestic-content rules, and where practical bottlenecks are most likely to emerge. The takeaway is that inverter policy is becoming a test case for a much bigger energy-transition problem: how to reduce genuine security risks without creating new deployment constraints. For developers, manufacturers, and policymakers alike, the inverter market is no longer just a technology contest. It is becoming a test of how the energy transition handles security, industrial policy, and system reliability all at once.The report and note and Sylvia refers can be found here: Solar Solar Inverter Market Share Report 2026Ban on inverters from high-risk countries, led by China, to affect 14% of EU solar demand through 2030This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Heather Clancy from Trellis, who discusses why some data center companies see fuel cells as an attractive option for onsite power.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is is Aytaç Yilmaz, Co-founder & CEO of Ore Energy. The Amsterdam-based startup just closed a $43 million Series A for its iron-air batteries, which store renewable power for up to 100 hours by rusting and unrusting iron electrodes, no lithium or cobalt required. Ore's also just signed the largest long-duration storage deal in continental Europe, a 1 gigawatt-hour agreement with Dutch utility Budget Thuis. Congratulations, Aytaç!This Week in Cleantech — August 7, 2026 Solar to Soon Pass Coal as China's Top Power Capacity Source — BloombergHow Solar Donors Helped Take Down a Trump-Backed Republican –– PoliticoThe World Crossed a Major Solar Milestone. No One Noticed –– BloombergThis Is What the New Rush to Mine America Looks Like –– TIME MagazineWhy data center companies Equinix and Oracle are buying fuel cells – TrellisEnergy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast
US electricity prices are rising at well above the general rate of inflation. The data center investment boom, by adding to electricity demand, points to further upward pressure in the future. Consumers are feeling the strain, and they want politicians and regulators to do something about it. One proposed solution is that the rules around competitive power markets need radical reform. In this episode, the Energy Gang looks at PJM, the largest power market in the US, and debates a possible way to add to electricity supplies without pushing bills even higher.Host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe of NYU are joined by Carim Khouzami, Executive Vice President for Transmission and Development at Exelon, one of the largest US utility groups. Carim explains why the landscape of the US power industry has changed fundamentally over the past five years: electricity demand is rising at a pace the sector has not seen in decades, driven by data centres, electrification, and broader economic growth. And that demand surge is colliding with an electricity system that was designed for a very different era.Competitive markets such as PJM were meant to bring down costs for consumers and send the right signals to the industry for new investment. But Carim argues that in many markets, those signals are no longer working as intended. Customers are seeing higher bills and the reliability of the system is under threat. Reserve margins are getting tighter, and the industry is struggling to bring new generation online quickly enough.PJM offers one of the clearest examples of how those tensions are playing out. The region is grappling with soaring demand, especially from data centres, while trying to manage affordability and reliability at the same time. Carim, Amy and Ed explore why PJM has raised concerns with among state governors, federal regulators and the White House. And they explain why its challenges echo similar problems elsewhere.The central issue is about the market structures that will be best able to meet those challenges in the future. How can the next wave of infrastructure can be built in ways that support both the reliability and the affordability of electricity supplies? Carim makes the case that regulated utilities such as Exelon, which are often prevented by state rules from owning generation capacity, should be allowed to run their own power plants. His proposal opens up a wider debate about the future of power markets and electricity systems generally. There is plenty of evidence that competitive markets have delivered benefits for consumers. But can they meet the needs of the new world of AI-driven demand growth? And if not, is utility ownership of power plants the right solution? Amy highlights the risks of overbuilding new power plants, and asks whether alternative solutions such as batteries are being given a fair chance to compete.Carim defends his proposal as the best way to secure reliability and value for customers. The current model is not working, he says, and reform is now the best option. PJM, as it has operated until now, may not be ready for the demands that AI, electrification and the energy transition are about to place on it. Politicians and regulators across the US and around the world will be watching to see how it responds.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This interview is disseminated on behalf of Good Purpose Investments.Good Purpose Investments (CSE: GPIN | FSE: 8BS) CEO George Tsogas joins Stocks to Watch to discuss the company's operating platform focused on sustainability-driven businesses.The conversation covers GPI's strategy to acquire, create, and scale companies across waste reduction, circular materials, sustainable manufacturing, traceability, and clean technology. George also discusses Waste2Wear's revenue profile, international growth opportunities, and how GPI aims to build long-term environmental and shareholder value.Learn more: https://good-purpose.com Watch the full YouTube interview here: https://youtu.be/d8WmxNDqvXkAnd follow us to stay updated: https://www.youtube.com/@stockstowatchofficial
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Clara Hudson from the Wall Street Journal, who breaks down Heineken's plan to use a renewable-powered heat battery to release steam for its beer brewing in Portugal.This week's “Cleantechers of the Week” are Tim Shepherd and Sylvain Marseille from Pelton Shepherd Industries, which makes Nutri Ice – ice packs that you can use to feed plants. It is the only truly compostable gel pack and offers the same performance as a regular gel pack. Congratulations Tim and Sylvain!This Week in Cleantech — July 31, 2026Cracks appear in the vision of off-grid AI data centers — AxiosTrump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics – The Associated PressBP nears deal to sell solar business Lightsource to Kuwait-backed group – Financial TimesTrump admin bans ‘new' foreign-made inverters. What does that mean? — Canary MediaHeineken Is Trying a Heat Battery to Generate Steam for Its Brewing — The Wall Street JournalMore episodes of Factor This Policycast
Copper is moving from background commodity to frontline constraint. Demand is rising fast, high-grade deposits are getting harder to find, and the lead times for bringing new supply online remain brutally long. That matters not just for renewables and electrification, but for the basic energy resilience of modern life: the wires that keep lights on, water running, refrigeration working, and data centres scaling all depend on a metal the industry already knows is becoming harder to source.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Liz Dennett, founder and CEO of Endolith, whose career spans Wood Mackenzie, AWS, and NASA-linked astrobiology research, to explore a biological approach to one of mining's toughest problems. Endolith uses microbial communities, what Dennett calls “the world's oldest miners," to help recover more copper from low-grade ore in existing heap leach operations. The company's core thesis is that copper supply can be made more elastic not by rebuilding mine sites from scratch, but by layering biology, sensing, and robust data architecture into brownfield operations that are already running. Liz explains how that works on site: low-grade ore is stacked into large heaps, irrigated with sulfuric acid, and treated with microbes that accelerate the chemical pathways needed to liberate more copper into solution. The appeal is not futuristic moonshot capex, but a modular, plug-and-play system designed to fit into existing mine infrastructure with minimal downtime. The discussion looks at why that matters economically. Endolith is targeting ore bodies and waste streams that are currently too messy, too low grade, or too contaminated to recover efficiently through conventional routes, including arsenic-rich material that can be especially problematic for smelting. In lab settings, the company has seen significantly higher recovery, and even modest incremental gains in the field could translate into a meaningful unlock when the underlying mine and processing system are already built.The conversation also asks why biomining may be having its moment now, after decades of false starts. Liz argues that the breakthrough is not microbes alone, but the combination of microbial science, cloud-scale data systems, and faster experimentation that lets teams build and iterate far more effectively than even a few years ago. From there, the conversation broadens into the strategic question underneath Endolith's business: how to increase copper supply in a world where demand is being pushed simultaneously by grid build-out, industrial electrification, and the explosive growth of AI infrastructure. The episode closes on the trade-offs that follow from that reality, from financing hard-tech mining solutions to building companies in sectors where the need is obvious, the customers are conservative, and proof matters more than hype.This Horizons episode Liz refers to can be found here: https://www.woodmac.com/podcasts/horizons/red-metal-green-demand/This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand – a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies. twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition – from growth-stage startups to globally recognised industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising and community engagement – they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course – they speak your language on day one. If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Across huge swathes of the global economy, clean solutions are already cheaper than their fossil alternatives, and so a carbon price isn't needed. But in other sections of the economy, the costs of green tech are higher, and so carbon pricing will be needed to make them cost competitive. But what should that price be, and how can it be successfully implemented? This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich is joined by Professor Ross Garnaut, a towering figure in the debate about how to implement carbon pricing, and founder of the Superpower Institute. Having advised successive Australian governments on climate policy since 2007, Ross makes the case for how Australia can export green iron, ammonia, and carbon-based fuels to industrialised economies that don't have the land or renewable resources to decarbonise on their own. They discuss the political history behind Australia's stop-start carbon pricing, the debate over whether green hydrogen can ever get cheap enough to make the superpower vision work, and how First Nations communities are shaping decisions about the land at the centre of it. They also explore the tension between protectionism and genuine security concerns over Chinese supply chains, and whether China's undervalued currency is really what's holding back Australia's competitiveness. Topics covered in this episode: Australian climate policy under different Prime Ministers Australia as a low-carbon superpower Exporting molecules vs exporting electricity First Nations involvement in land use The green hydrogen cost debate Protectionism vs. security concerns Pinning down an actual carbon price Trade imbalances and exchange rates Leadership Circle: Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, Ecopragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information about the Leadership Circle, visit cleaningup.live. Links: Watch our full Deep Dive Australia Series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8cNKXCII70&si=GmXz-zQe3yK42V3o Ross Garnaut's bio: https://www.rossgarnaut.com.au/ Malcolm Turnbull on Cleaning Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9CUGRHCswU Tony Abbott on Cleaning Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_39HmAgq9RY The Superpower Institute: https://www.superpowerinstitute.com.au/ The SuperPower Institute reports: https://www.superpowerinstitute.com.au/work?type=report Ross' book — Superpower: Australia's Low-Carbon Opportunity by Ross Garnaut: https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/superpower
Plus: SAP shares rise after earnings beat. And CATL profit surges on booming battery demand. Imani Moise hosts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Alexa St. John from The Associated Press, who discusses how automakers are increasingly turning their EVs and hybrids into home backup power sources as EV sales growth slows.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Cora Stryker, co-founder of Bright Saver. The nonprofit just started selling zero-markup, plug-in balcony solar kits, starting at about $300, with shipping to 47 states kicking off in August. Cora said that nonprofits are often willing to stomach financial losses in the near term, because its mission is to get solar into the hands of more people, so they can lower their energy bills and carbon pollution. Congratulations, Cora!This Week in Cleantech — July 24, 2026 Data Center Troubles Stoke Industry's Fear of Coming Distress — BloombergWhy States Are Making It Harder to Save Money With Solar Panels — The New York TimesThe Key to Solar and Wind Power Is Battery Storage, and China Is Dominating — The Wall Street JournalState legislatures are getting better at clean-energy permitting policy — Canary MediaNeed backup power? Automakers want you to look no further than their vehicles in your driveway — Associated PressWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.comMore episodes of Factor This Policycast
The old joke about nuclear fusion power is that commercial deployment is 30 years in the future: it always has been and it always will be. It may be time to retire that joke. Private fusion companies have now raised billions in capital, and pilot plants are moving from slide decks and plans into steel and concrete. The questions now are not so much around whether fusion power can ever work, and more about how soon it can reach the grid, and at what costHost Ed Crooks and regular contributor Amy Myers Jaffe, director of the Global Energy, Climate, & Sustainability Lab at NYU are joined by two fusion industry leaders to discuss the rapid progress they are making. Andrew Holland is founder and chief executive of the Fusion Industry Association, and Bob Mumgaard is chief executive of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, one of the companies vying to have the first commercial fusion power plant in operation.Andrew lays out the state of the sector. There are 56 private fusion companies globally, which between them have raised more than $14 billion in private capital. And there is a growing conviction inside the industry that commercial fusion could arrive in the early 2030s. Bob explains why Commonwealth believes SPARC, its demonstration project in Massachusetts, and ARC, its planned power plant in Virginia, can help make that timetable real.Fusion has moved beyond the era when government science programs defined the pace of progress. Research backed by governments and universities has played a vital role in moving the technology forward, but Andrew argues that competition, venture capital and milestone-based development have changed the industry's tempo. Crucially, the industry has not put all its eggs in one basket. Multiple companies are pursuing different technical paths, including both laser-based approaches and magnetic confinement systems, in a race to commerciality. Bob offers the clearest lay explanation of what fusion power means in practice. Commonwealth Fusion Systems uses a tokamak, which is essentially a magnetic bottle that holds a star inside it. Fusion creates heat, which can be used to run a steam turbine. Unlike wind and solar, fusion does not depend on weather or geography. Unlike fossil fuels, it does not rely on continual fuel deliveries.The episode also explores why fusion developers believe the technology could avoid some of the political and regulatory burdens that have constrained nuclear fission power. Because fusion reactions are hard to start and easy to stop, the risks are fundamentally different from those of a conventional fission reactor. Bob and Andrew argue that this changes everything from plant safety to siting to licensing, and could make fusion much faster to deploy if the technical hurdles are cleared.They also discuss what it will take to build an industry, not just a few prototypes. Amy pushes on fuel cycles, lithium, superconducting tape and supply-chain readiness. Bob argues that these challenges are real but manageable, and Andrew points to the growing ecosystem of manufacturers now positioning themselves for a future fusion market. The wider point is that fusion is increasingly starting to look like a manufacturing and industrial-policy story, not just a laboratory science story.That leads to the biggest question of all: if fusion works, how much could it matter? Bob sketches outcomes ranging from a valuable but still niche source of clean baseload power to a genuinely transformative technology. Andrew goes even further, arguing that fusion could decouple energy from geography and geopolitics in a way no fuel-based system ever has. If the industry's ambitions are realized, within the next ten years fusion could emerge as a commercial energy source with real consequences for grids, markets and global power. This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Lana Ferguson from the Dallas Morning News, who discusses the booming agrivoltaics industry in Texas.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Joey Fiore, CEO of PowerLabs. His company builds the Roav, a portable solar generator that unfolds into a tracking solar array that looks like a metal trailer you'd pull behind a car. It is cleaner, cheaper and easier to use than a standard diesel generator. Congratulations Joey!This Week in Cleantech — July 17, 2026 New York becomes first US state to impose data center moratorium — Data Center DynamicsThe American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry With It? — The New York TimesUS power companies scramble to secure equipment as surging data center demand strains supplies — ReutersGlobal Investment in Fusion Companies Surges 69% to $4.5 Billion — BloombergSolar sheep: Texas ranchers, farmers' new opportunity on solar sites – Dallas Morning NewsWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.comMore episodes of Factor This Policycast
Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, an event that poses formidable logistical challenges. To put it in terms that will be familiar to many Americans, it is the equivalent of seven Super Bowls happening every day, in one of the world's biggest urban economies. That means huge demands on the city's transport and energy systems. But it also creates a rare opportunity to use the games as a catalyst to accelerate investment that could leave the city cleaner, more resilient and better connected long after the closing ceremony.In this episode, host Ed Crooks talks to Matt Petersen, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, or LACI. Matt explains how LACI has been using the run-up to the Games as a convening point for public and private sector action. The focus has been on transportation electrification, clean energy deployment and building infrastructure that can help Los Angeles cope with an influx of visitors while improving the quality of life for residents in the long term.Transport is key. Los Angeles is sometimes described as the car capital of the world, and transport will be the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the Games. EV sales and charging infrastructure are growing fast. Even so, LACI's modelling suggests that Los Angeles still needs more people using buses and rail, as well as better first-mile and last-mile options, from e-bike share to EV car-share schemes, if it wants to hit its climate targets.The conversation also explores the less visible systems that support electrification and emissions reductions for transport. Matt points to the electrification of freight, the build-out of charging depots, battery-backed fast charging, and experiments with flexible grid connections that can bring new infrastructure online faster. Those developments are central to whether Los Angeles can make room for more EVs and rising power demand without waiting years for grid upgrades.Too often, host cities for the Olympics promise transformative benefits that never fully materialise. Matt's case is that Los Angeles has a better shot than most, partly because it is not building a wave of new permanent venues, and partly because the most important investments are in systems the city needs anyway: electric buses, cleaner freight, charging networks, transit improvements, shade for riders in extreme heat, and cleaner air in communities that have long borne the brunt of pollution.Can a deadline like LA 2028 accelerate progress on some of the hardest problems in urban decarbonization? For Matt, the real prize is not a few weeks of smooth operations during the Games, but a lasting legacy of economic opportunity and lower emissions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Wind remains fundamentally healthy: electricity demand is rising, decarbonised power is still needed, and both Europe and the US continue to pull new projects forward, albeit for different reasons. But the industry's center of gravity is shifting. The conversation is no longer just about building faster or installing more megawatts. As turbines get larger, OEM competition broadens, and project economics tighten, the consequences of failure are becoming much harder to ignore.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Alexis Grenon, CEO of Onyx Insight, and Olly Litterick of Tokio Marine GX to examine what that shift means in practice. Their core argument is that the wind sector is moving from a development-at-speed mindset toward operational efficiency, where every dollar of ROI matters and risk has to be quantified far more precisely. They unpack why insurers still struggle with newer turbine classes despite two decades of renewables underwriting: the machines are scaling faster than the loss history, the supply chain maturity is lagging to price them confidently, and in wind, bigger hardware often means not more failures, but far costlier ones when they do occur.A large part of the discussion focuses on blades, where exposure and difficult inspection regimes make early detection especially valuable. Grenon argues that the industry has relied too heavily on periodic inspection and not enough on continuous monitoring, contrasting the lack of standardised turbine monitoring with the smoke detector logic used elsewhere in insurance. The promise of better instrumentation, integrated SCADA and condition data, and physics-informed AI is not simply smarter dashboards. It is the ability to detect structural issues earlier, prevent minor damage from escalating into six-figure or seven-figure failures, and make better-informed decisions about maintenance, underwriting, and asset life.The episode also looks ahead to the next set of decisions facing wind owners: how to handle aging fleets, when to extend life versus repower, and how much independent real-time data can change the balance of power between owners, OEMs, and insurers. The takeaway is that better data and earlier visibility can help the industry move from reactive maintenance and blunt underwriting toward a more preventative, risk-based model, one that should improve insurability, reduce downtime, and make the next phase of wind deployment more durable.This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand -- a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies, twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition — from growth-stage startups to globally recognized industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising, and community engagement — they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course -- they speak your language on day one.If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them at twentytwoandbrand.com/woodmac.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
South and Southeast Asia face a different challenge to many developed economies. As the regions continue to grow, so too does demand for energy, transport and industry. The question is whether that growth can be powered by cleaner technologies from the start. In the second of our episodes recorded from Singapore, Michael meets Marie Cheong, founding partner at 100x100, a climate tech venture builder and VC for South and Southeast Asia. Previously, Marie co-founded WaveMaker Impact, where she helped launch climate startups addressing some of the region's biggest opportunities for decarbonisation. Marie explains why climate innovation in emerging South Asian markets requires a different approach. They discuss investing across the region, growing energy demand, using AI to decarbonise manufacturing, and why there are no "silver bullet" solutions to climate change. Marie also takes Michael to the People Bee Hoon noodle factory, which makes rice vermicelli noodles to see how Desmond Goh, the factory's director is using AI to improve his operations. Michael meets to Desmond and Muun AI founder Kathryn Knight about how better use of data can help cut emissions and waste. And at the end of the episode, a very special announcement… stay tuned. Topics Include Building climate startups across South and Southeast Asia Why climate investing needs more than "silver bullet" technologies The biggest opportunities for climate innovation in emerging Asian markets Solving regional pain points as the key to success Can Southeast Asia grow without burning more coal? Investing in emerging markets and navigating regional diversity How AI can help manufacturers cut emissions, costs and energy use The next generation of climate technology in Asia Leadership Circle Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, Ecopragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information about the Leadership Circle, visit cleaningup.live Links Marie Cheong's bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-cheong-06141b36/ Wavemaker Impact https://wavemakerpartners.com/ 100x100 https://www.100x100.com/ Muun AI https://muun-ai.com/ Watch our previous episode from Singapore, with Ravi Menon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvhd34i6YMk Harish Hande on Cleaning Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUxdaHFJI68 South Asia Includes: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan,and Sri Lanka. South East Asia Includes: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Acronyms FESIA - Future Energy Storage and System Integration Alliance ASEAN - Alliance for Southeast Asian Nations CPTPP - Comprehensive and Progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership MT - Megatonne SAF - Sustainable Aviation Fuel SME - Small/Medium-sized Enterprises
Whoever you ask, you are likely find broad agreement that the world needs more energy infrastructure. Whether you are worried about ensuring secure supplies, powering new data centres, or cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the answer is most often going to be investing in new assets: power plants, transmission lines, factories, pipelines, ports… the list goes on. But all too often, getting big projects built is painfully slow, expensive and unpredictable. It is particularly difficult in high-income countries, and perhaps in the US most of all.For this episode, host Ed Crooks and regular guest Dr. Melissa Lott are joined by Craig Albert, the President and COO of Bechtel, one of the world's biggest engineering and construction companies. Together, they discuss the critical problems that get in the way of infrastructure projects, and what businesses and governments can do to get past them.First off, Craig acknowledges that the problems in the system all reflect good intentions. Communities, safety, the environment and local impacts all deserve scrutiny. The problem, especially in the US, is that the process used to take all those factors into account when approving large projects is slow, fragmented and uncertain. The result is that it pushes up costs, delays revenue, creates financing risk, and ultimately slows progress towards energy security and a lower-carbon energy system.The conversation digs into the role of trust and certainty in decision-making. Once a project has been assessed and approved, how do you stop it from being endlessly revisited? Craig argues that some aspects of the US system create particular difficulties. Other developed countries have shown that infrastructure projects can be brought in on time and on budget. Craig cites the Western Sydney International Airport project, which moved from site selection to full construction approval in just two and a half years. In the US, he says, the same process could easily take eight to ten.The discussion then turns to nuclear power, and the lessons from the two new AP1000 reactors built at the Vogtle plant in Georgia. Craig calls Southern Company and Georgia Power “national heroes” for taking on the first greenfield US nuclear project in decades, but he is candid about what went wrong. His biggest takeaway is the importance of deeply integrated EPC: engineering, procurement and construction working as one system from the start. He also stresses the need for earlier investment in workforce training, stronger supply-chain visibility and better sequencing to reduce costly reworks.From there, Ed and Melissa widen the lens to look at other energy sectors. Craig explains why the US LNG industry offers a more hopeful model of projects delivered without huge cost overruns and multi-year delays. In that industry the construction companies are building repeated, standardised projects, with integrated delivery, and a relentless focus on finding and fixing bottlenecks. Bechtel has delivered dozens of LNG trains, he says, all on schedule and within budget, while still improving speed from one project to the next. Similar lessons apply in solar, where scale, automation and better execution are helping push installation rates sharply higher.But policy and project design are only part of the story. Craig argues that workforce is the other great constraint. If every new power plant, grid upgrade, semiconductor fab and airport ultimately depends on skilled craft labour, then the US has to start treating those jobs with the respect they deserve. Restoring the status of skilled trades is not just a cultural issue. It is essential to the country's ability to build, Craig says. The closing message is both practical and cautionary: if the US wants more energy security, more electricity for AI and data centres, and faster progress on decarbonisation, it has to get much better at building. That means fixing permitting, reducing project uncertainty, investing earlier in supply chains, and treating skilled labour as a strategic asset, rather than an afterthought.This episode of Energy Gang is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
As AI systems scale, the infrastructure challenge is no longer just about chips, models, and software performance. It is increasingly about the physical systems that allow computation to happen at all: power delivery, cooling, water access, and the speed at which new capacity can be brought online. Power conversion is becoming a much more important design question. As racks move from conventional power densities toward megawatt-scale configurations, every inefficiency in the electrical pathway becomes more consequential. For stakeholders across the energy sector, that makes AI infrastructure more than just a datacenter story. It is also a story about grid constraints, industrial load growth, thermal management, and how developers can design facilities that are efficient enough, flexible enough, and resilient enough to operate at the scale AI now demands.Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Nick Wright, Vertical Solutions Manager at Siemens. Their conversation explores why the growth of the AI factory is pushing operators to rethink traditional electrical architecture, especially the number of conversion steps required to move power from the grid to the chip. Nick explains why conventional AC-heavy setups are under pressure as compute loads become denser, more dynamic, and more power-intensive, and why more direct AC-to-DC pathways are drawing increased attention. The episode also examines what that shift means in practice: less energy lost in conversion, less excess heat to manage, different implications for cooling design, and a growing role for higher-voltage DC systems, digital twins, monitoring technologies, and new protection equipment. Along the way, the discussion widens beyond the building itself to consider how AI facilities may evolve into more grid-aware assets, capable of interacting more intelligently with the broader energy system rather than functioning simply as passive loads.For developers, IPPs, utilities, financiers, and infrastructure planners, the episode offers a clear signal that power architecture is becoming a strategic decision much earlier in the project lifecycle. One of the key takeaways is that this is not a simple story of DC replacing AC. The more relevant point is that as racks scale, reducing unnecessary conversion steps can improve efficiency and system performance in ways that matter economically at very large scale. But the conversation also makes clear that conversion efficiency is only one part of a much broader infrastructure equation. Access to reliable power, water availability, cooling strategy, workforce readiness, supply chain bottlenecks, equipment lead times, and safety considerations all shape whether a new AI facility can be delivered on time and scaled over the long term. The players most likely to succeed will be the ones that stop treating power as a late-stage procurement issue and instead plan holistically across energy, compute, operations, and grid interaction from the beginning.This episode is brought to you by twentytwo & brand -- a marketing and PR agency built specifically for energy leaders.Lots of agencies say they work with energy companies, twentytwo & brand was built for them. They've partnered with more than 120 companies driving the energy transition — from growth-stage startups to globally recognized industry leaders. Media relations, brand design, video, paid advertising, and community engagement — they cover it all under one roof. No onboarding lag, no industry crash course -- they speak your language on day one.If you're ready to sharpen your story and supercharge your marketing, find them at twentytwoandbrand.com/woodmac.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
US residential electricity prices have risen by more than 40 per cent since the start of 2021, which is much faster than general inflation. Utilities requested a total of $31 billion in increased rates last year, double the amount in 2024. And investor-owned utilities are planning to spend $1.4 trillion on capital projects over the next five years – enough on one calculation, to build almost 2,000 Hoover Dams at today's prices. So why are American electricity bills going up, and what can be done to provide some relief for hard-pressed consumers?In this episode, host Ed Crooks and regular contributor Dr Melissa Lott are joined by Charles Hua, founder and executive director of PowerLines, a nonprofit launched in 2024. Charles's focus is on US states' Public Utilities Commissions: the roughly 200 commissioners across the country who oversee around $200 billion in annual spending and ultimately determine what consumers pay. He calls them the “US Supreme Court justices of energy”.The discussion opens with questions of consumers' perceptions, and how they align with reality. The data show that in the past few years, electricity bills have been rising, on average, explaining why the issue has been rising up the political agenda.Recent Ipsos polling commissioned by PoweLines found that four in five Americans feel powerless about energy costs. The proportion who believe their state officials are serving their interests as consumers fell from 38 per cent to 29 per cent in a single year. Charles calls this "a new politics of electricity." It is a domain that until recently sat outside mainstream political attention, but now reaches governors' offices and the White House.Charles and Melissa then unpack what is actually driving the increases. Melissa walks through the top five cost drivers identified in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's analysis: fuel and wholesale supply, distribution costs, generation capex, transmission costs, and cost recovery from extreme weather events. Charles points beyond the line items to a fundamental issue: the traditional utility business model, which structurally rewards capital spending. The question about the impact of data centers is unavoidable. Charles breaks it down: until now, data centres have not been a meaningful driver of price increases across most of the country. But that does not mean they will not be in future. PJM's capacity auction, where prices have rocketed, is one early signal that the picture is starting to change.Charles offers three solutions. First, get more out of the existing grid, which is currently running at roughly 50 per cent utilisation, through technologies he describes as "ibuprofen for the grid." Second, modernise the utility business model, potentially drawing on the UK's totex approach, where utilities can earn a return on operational as well as capital spending. Third, improve grid planning, particularly how load is forecast and how integrated resource plans are built.Melissa zooms out to remind listeners what is actually at stake. Borrowing a line from Amory Lovins, she says: "I don't care about my electrons. I care about cold beer and hot showers." The question is not just about price, but about whether households can keep their homes safe and liveable year-round. You can learn more about PowerLines at PowerLines.org. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Methane is the second-most important greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide. It has accounted for roughly 30% of human-induced global warming since the 19th century. But it is also a valued commodity, used to heat homes and cook food, provide raw materials for industry and keep the lights on. Every molecule leaked is energy wasted and money lost. The IEA estimates that about 200 billion cubic meters per year could be saved for productive uses by reducing leakage and flaring in the oil and gas industry. That is roughly one fifth of US supply, over a third of the global LNG trade, and nearly twice the volume exported through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025. Half of all abatement opportunities have a positive or zero net cost. The technology to cut emissions by 75% exists today. So why are methane emissions from oil and gas still so large?Host Ed Crooks is joined by TJ Conway, Principal at RMI's Climate Intelligence Program, to explore what it will take to tackle the problem. TJ walks through RMI's approach: first, better understanding where emissions are and how large they are, including the role of super emitters, sources above 100 kilograms per hour that can account for half of total leakage, and then driving change through market mechanisms, corporate engagement, finance, and capacity building. He then talks about the key issue for future methane emissions reductions: the demand side. Creating a functioning market for differentiated, lower-emissions gas requires that buyers, including utilities, industrial companies and hyperscales using gas-powered data centres, can credibly account for those purchases in their emissions inventories. That architecture is still being built.Ed and TJ also dig into the EU Methane Emissions Regulation, now entering its implementation phase ahead of methane intensity thresholds taking effect by 2030. The technical challenges are considerable: tracing emissions from source to importer through complex supply chains like the US pipeline network, where a single LNG cargo may blend gas from low-intensity offshore fields and high-intensity Permian basin production. RMI has proposed a hybrid traceability approach to solve those challenges. The episode also covers methane abatement finance. Financial institutions with climate goals are now often relucatant to invest in oil and gas operations, even for emissions reduction. RMI's Methane Finance Working Group, launched at COP28 alongside the Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, has developed guidance for financing structures to overcome that obstacle. It aims to unlock financing to meet a need estimated at 100 to 200 billion dollars.TJ closes with an optimistic message: emissions remain stubbornly high, but the institutional infrastructure built over the past five years now provides the foundation for action. The goal remains a 75% reduction, and the tools exist to get there. Rocky Mountain Institute was founded during the energy crises of the 1970s, with a simple idea: better energy systems can deliver both economic and environmental benefits.Nearly 50 years later, that mission has never been more relevant. As businesses and governments navigate rising electricity demand, supply-chain uncertainty, and the push to decarbonize, RMI helps turn complex energy challenges into practical solutions.From grid modernization and industrial decarbonization to clean transportation and building efficiency, RMI works across sectors to accelerate the energy transition in ways that improve resilience, affordability, and energy security.Learn more at rmi.org.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
There are two great forces reshaping the world of energy today. The AI boom and the wave of investment in new data centres have sent power producers scrambling for generation capacity to meet soaring electricity demand. At the same time, the severe disruption to shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has put security of supply at the top of every importer's agenda. In this special episode, recorded at Wood Mackenzie's Gas, LNG and the Future of Energy Conference in London, host Ed Crooks speaks with three guests about what these twin pressures mean for gas. They discuss demand for gas for power, the sources of supply that could provide energy security in volatile times, and plans for tackling the increased greenhouse gas emissions that could result from increased consumption.First, Ed sits down with Neal Kalita, senior director of global energy management at NTT Global Data Centers, one of the world's largest data center developers. Neal explains why "speed to power" is a priority, and why gas plays such a key role in providing the reliable 24/7 firm capacity hyperscaler clients require.Relying on gas as a key component of the power generation mix means managing a complex set of issues around supply security, demand management and long-term investment. Neal explains how NTT thinks about commodity risk, the trade-offs involved in power supply agreements, and why on-site gas generation may be not just a bridge solution but long-term infrastructure for the electricity system. He highlights the key drivers that are changing the data centre industry, including rising GPU power density, AI-driven volatility in load, and climate-related grid reliability concerns. He also discusses NTT's participation in a demand response programme run by Voltus, which helped stabilise the grid when Winter Storm Fern hit Virginia in January.Next, Ed hears from Keith Shoemaker, Chief Commercial Officer at Coastal Bend, which is developing a new LNG liquefaction project at Corpus Christi, Texas. Coastal Bend is aiming to have the first project in the US to integrate carbon capture and sequestration into its design. Combined with the procurement of upstream gas with low methane leakage and flaring, that should make for the lowest carbon-intensity LNG in the world, Keith says. Crucially, the project can match competitor prices without charging a green premium. The US 45Q tax credit will cover the operational spending (Opex) for the transport and sequestration of the carbon, and costs will be kept down by using brownfield maritime infrastructure that is already in place. Regulation will still be essential in creating a market for lower-emissions LNG. Keith sets out an idea for making that work in the EU: linking the new Methane Emissions Regulation with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to create an "avoided carbon" currency that LNG importers could use to offset CBAM fees on other products such as cement, steel and fertiliser. That way, the methane regulation would change from a stick to a carrot for the LNG industry.Kristy Kramer, Head of LNG at Wood Mackenzie, closes the episode by assessing how the three trends of AI demand, energy security and decarbonisation fit together. She discusses the big question: has the conflict on the Middle East changed the world completely, forever. It may play out like the Covid pandemic. Huge changes were predicted, and although there were some permanent impacts, in other areas the world has gone back to the way it was before. Politics will change from week to week, or even from hour to hour, but geology and economics don't, and over time the fundamentals will reassert themselves. Kristy and Ed reflect on what that means for the future of energy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The conflict in the Middle East has created severe disruption to shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, taking roughly 20% of global supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the market. It has been a reminder that hundreds of millions of people rely on the international gas trade to heat our homes, fuel our industries and keep our lights on. And that trade is highly vulnerable to sudden shocks. In this special episode, recorded at Wood Mackenzie's Gas, LNG and the Future of Energy Conference in London, host Ed Crooks speaks with industry leaders and experts about the forces that are changing the gas business. Security of supply and affordability are now the top priorities for policymakers and business leaders around the world. But climate change has not gone away, and greenhouse gas emissions are going to be an increasingly significant issue in the future. Balancing those three imperatives is the trilemma that the energy industry has to solve.First, Ed talks to Anita Odedra, of the LNG platform MidOcean Energy, to discuss the critical role of geography. When energy supplies from the Middle East are disrupted, assets elsewhere in the world take on a greater importance. Joining Anita is Dr Valentina Kretzschmar, of Wood Mackenzie, who puts the shock from the Iran war into the context of a decelerating energy transition in the West. She walks through the EU Methane Emissions Regulation and why it is so hard to work out exactly how much escaped methane is associated with a cargo of imported LNG. And she talks about how the real threat to fossil fuels is cheap Chinese clean energy technology. Arturo Gallego, of Centrica Energy, is another industry leader who is attempting to balance consumers' immediate demands for reliable, affordable energy with long-term climate goals. He warns that if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, Europe will struggle to find the gas it needs next winter, and high prices may be necessary to destroy demand. He makes the case for LNG as a transition fuel and for tackling greenhouse gas emissions step by step.TJ Conway, of the think-tank RMI, closes on a practical note. His work has focused on the technical solutions that make the EU methane regulation workable. He argues that his proposed framework could allow the EU to continue importing US gas, while still sending a signal that methane performance matters.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.