Podcasts about scale microgrid solutions

In this episode, Duncan Campbell of Scale Microgrid Solutions makes the case that distributed energy resources (DERs) — solar panels, EVs, home batteries, etc. — are, thanks to rising electricity demand and constraints on grid expansion, poised for a tsunami of deployment. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe

Tune in to Matt DeCoursey's enlightening conversation with Tim Hade, Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer of Scale Microgrid Solutions, as they explore the dynamic world of clean energy innovation. Gain insights from Matt and Tim on the ever-evolving climate tech landscape, the indispensable role of public-private collaborations in the energy sector, and the obstacles confronting clean energy initiatives. Discover the promising advancements set to shape the future of clean energy.   Find Startup Hustle Everywhere: https://gigb.co/l/YEh5   This episode is sponsored by Full Scale: https://fullscale.io   Learn more about Scale Microgrid Solutions: https://www.scalemicrogrids.com  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Hade is the COO and Co-Founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions. He founded Scale Microgrid Solutions to build distributed energy systems for businesses and electric vehicle transit fleets throughout the country. Before joining the cleantech industry, Tim served on Active Duty as an officer in the United States Air Force. His time in the military taught him how to achieve an objective, but when he became a civilian he found it virtually impossible to get the government to do anything about climate change. Tim believes that the public sector is broken when it comes to climate change. He stresses we need to hold our leaders accountable for the dire future we are leaving to our children while also getting to work and taking matters into our own hands to create change.

Tim Hade is the COO and Co-Founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions, where he focuses on developing sustainable distributed generation technologies to serve mission-critical facilities. Tim brings his 12+ years of deep energy knowledge and experience to the clean energy projects being developed at Scale and can offer valuable insight into the operational requirements and challenges commonly encountered during the development of clean energy microgrid projects. Tim believes the greatest challenge humanity faces in the 21st century is the need to build a cleaner and more resilient energy system that is affordable and accessible for all, with unprecedented speed. He founded Scale Microgrid Solutions with the aim of achieving this end by building distributed energy systems for businesses and electric vehicle transit fleets throughout the country. More recently, Tim has been invaluable in helping close projects with a public transit fleet, indoor vertical farming facilities, a water utility, a school district, a food production facility and a leading university. https://www.scalemicrogrids.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Our grid is vulnerable to disruption and even failure. Wildfires, floods, and more frequent extreme weather events routinely highlight the imperative of adding distributed energy not just for resiliency, but to reach our climate goals.But incumbents, purposefully or not, are delaying the transition. And markets still don't fully value the qualities of distributed energy resources. Will we come to embrace DER's myriad benefits before it's too late?Episode 34 of the Factor This! podcast features Tim Hade, the co-founder and COO of Scale Microgrid Solutions.This wide-ranging conversation covered the role of distributed energy for the grid of the future, the perils of scaling a climate tech hardware company, and what's holding back the Inflation Reduction Act.Hade shared how his time in the military mobilized him to fight climate change, why he's so optimistic that DERs will one day breakthrough, and his five tips for anyone starting a clean energy company. Spoiler alert: get smart on tax equity. Or find someone who is.That's all next on Factor This!Factor This!  is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Today we're talking about two climate blind spots: methane and short-term warming. Most of us think of global warming as a long game. How do we reach net zero by 2050? And how should we curb carbon dioxide emissions to get there? But the warming happening now and in the next few years is just as important. Short-term warming exacerbates wildfires, hurricanes and other climate impacts now. And the short-term trajectory of warming can make things better or worse in the long run. At some point before we reach net zero emissions, it's increasingly likely that we will overshoot our 1.5 degree target. Hopefully we will come back down, but the more we overshoot, the worse the effects of climate change will be. Which is why we should bend the curve of that trajectory by tackling the causes of short-term warming. High up on that list is methane. It lives in the atmosphere for only 12 years, but in the 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere it causes about 84 times more warming than carbon dioxide. That means it's also a powerful solution. Methane in the atmosphere right now causes about 30% of global warming to date, but cutting emissions now would actually have a cooling effect. Why? Because, unlike carbon dioxide which lasts for several hundred years, methane breaks down relatively quickly.  So how do we tackle the methane problem? In this episode, Shayle talks to Erika Reinhardt, co-founder of Spark Climate Solutions, a non-profit focused on under-addressed climate solutions. Right now Spark is focusing on methane emissions from livestock, also known as enteric methane. Shayle and Erika cover topics like: Why we should consider different time-scale standards for measuring global warming impact, such as GWP100 and GWP20 How short-lived aerosols mask the full warming impact of greenhouse gasses Methane removal, including the process of oxidation and methane sinks Different sources of methane, such as wetlands, livestock and fossil fuel production Ready-to-deploy solutions to fossil fuel methane emissions, such as flaring, detection, capture and storage How flaring may be less effective than previously thought Solutions under development for livestock methane, such as manure management, biogas digesters and feed additives like seaweed-derived bromoform  Recommended Resources: Canary: Cutting methane emissions could make a big dent in climate change, major UN report says Bloomberg: As Gas Prices Soar, Nobody Knows How Much Methane Is Leaking Inside Climate News: Feeding Cows Seaweed Reduces Their Methane Emissions, but California Farms Are a Long Way From Scaling Up the Practice Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick, a trusted partner for navigating the complex and evolving financial, tax and regulatory landscape of the renewable sector. Visit cohnreznick.com to learn more.

A coalition of companies organized by the U.S. government is promising to purchase low-carbon versions of commodities from “hard to abate” heavy industries. This sort of policy is called an advanced market commitment, which the U.S. has used in the past to accelerate the development of new technologies. With guaranteed revenue from the government, manufacturers are able to take risks to create products that they might not have otherwise. In the leadup to COP26 last year, John Kerry, U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, announced the First Movers Coalition (FMC) in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. It now involves 65 companies—including Delta, Maersk, and Rio Tinto—that will buy or supply a percentage of low-carbon products by 2030. India, Norway and eight other countries have signed on, too. The coalition has also committed to purchase carbon removal, adding to the wave of similar pledges like the $1 billion Frontier Fund. So how will the FMC work? In this episode, Shayle talks to FMC's brainchild, Varun Sivaram. Varun is managing director and senior advisor for clean energy and innovation in Kerry's office. They cover topics like: Why advanced market commitments are not silver bullets The FMC's ability to make companies keep their commitments  How the FMC is developing standards for low-carbon products How much progress coalition members have made toward their targets  How the Inflation Reduction Act and the FMC support each other The FMC's ability to endure changes of administration When we can stop calling these sectors “hard to abate”  Recommended Resources: Bloomberg: Companies Commit to Buying Super-Green Cement in Corporate Climate Club Columbia University: To Bring Emissions-Slashing Technologies to Market, the United States Needs Targeted Demand-Pull Innovation Policies Harvard University: Using Advance Market Commitments for Public Purpose Technology Development Catalyst: Growing the carbon dioxide removal market Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick Capital, a trusted source for renewable energy investment banking servicing the US sustainability sector. Visit cohnreznickcapital.com to learn more.

To make products like cement, cereal and even baby food, you need heat—and lots of it. Industrial heat consumes about one-fifth of all energy used in 2018, according to the International Energy Agency.  Factories often burn coal or natural gas to generate consistent temperatures up to 2200 degrees Celsius. And most run nearly 24/7 to maintain profitability in competitive commodity markets.   Other sectors like power and ground transportation have clear pathways to decarbonization, relying mainly on electrification and cheap intermittent renewables. But these solutions don't deliver consistent temperatures and the 24/7 energy needed to make things like steel and petrochemicals. So industrial heat has been a far more stubborn problem to solve. But there's a crowded field of technologies lining up to try, including hydrogen, biogas, heat pumps, electric arc furnaces, and even heat batteries. In this episode, Shayle talks to John O'Donnell, co-founder and CEO of Rondo Energy, a thermal storage startup. Shayle's venture capital firm Energy Impact Partners has made investments in Rondo Energy. They break down the challenges of industrial heat and discuss the range of technologies that could help to generate it with low emissions. John and Shayle cover topics like: Which fuels do we currently rely on for specific industrial uses, and where could we use alternatives? How thermal batteries can help to solve the intermittency challenges of wind and solar Industrial grid defection, where large industrial facilities build behind-the-meter renewables to avoid the rising costs of delivered electricity The potential for industrial growth in places with access to cheap renewables, like the American midwest Recommended Resources: McKinsey: Net-zero heat: Long-duration energy storage to accelerate energy system decarbonization Canary: This startup's energy storage tech is ​‘essentially a giant toaster' Canary: This startup wants to use cheap surplus clean energy to make high-temperature industrial heat Catalyst: The many pathways to decarbonizing chemicals   Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick Capital, a trusted source for renewable energy investment banking servicing the US sustainability sector. Visit cohnreznickcapital.com to learn more.

Surging growth in distributed energy production, driven by innovations in solar and battery technologies,  is helping the energy sector to cope with climate change, said Tim Hade, COO and co-founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions.“We're getting to the point right now where distributed energy is starting to displace coal and gas - that's going to be sort of a choppy road over the next decade or two,” Hade said. “Our current energy infrastructure has way too many single points of failure. We need to figure out a way to make it more reliable and more resilient in the face of ever-changing climate catastrophes,” Hade said.“On-site solar generation and batteries can provide 80% of the facility's power need today. And then figuring out the other 20% is where we spend a lot of engineering R&D time, trying to figure out how to get a zero or low-carbon solution.”Learn more about:Innovations unleashing distributed energy productionChallenges of hydrogen distributionThe continuing surge in distributed energy production in the U.S.Fast-evolving battery technologies“When you look at the ramp rate when it comes to battery technology, we're accomplishing a lot of things in months that people thought would take decades,” Hade said.“We're experimenting with all sorts of cool technologies in that space, different battery chemistries, and longer-duration storage, as well as alternative sustainable fuels like green hydrogen, is an example."In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we talk with our guests about their vision of the new green economy.Advertisers in this episode:Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card. In a funny twist of fate, solar's success has made it old news. It's the fastest-growing source of electricity in the world and one of the cheapest. But it's far from the hot topic it was a decade ago when utility-scale photovoltaics were still an emerging technology. Now that it's a more mature tool in the climate fight, we take it for granted. And yet there's so much more we need to do. To reach net zero by 2050, we likely need to quadruple global solar capacity by 2030, according to projections by BloombergNEF (BNEF). But labor shortages, high material costs and interconnection bottlenecks stand in the way.  So how do we get there? In this episode Shayle talks to Jenny Chase, who managed BloombergNEF's solar insights team for 17 years before leaving the role this month. Every year she tweets a thread of 50 not-always-popular opinions on solar, covering the state of the industry and the challenges it needs to solve. For this episode, Shayle picked the opinions he found most interesting and unpacked them with Jenny.  They cover Jenny's opinions on: The biggest bottlenecks holding back solar deployment, like labor shortages, high polysilicon prices and grid interconnection backlogs Why we don't need new technology breakthroughs in solar  Perovskite and building-integrated photovoltaics   How residential solar and battery salespeople are making up their savings projections How the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act could spur an unsustainable boom in solar and hydrogen equipment manufacturing Why leading forecasts could be underestimating solar deployment Recommended Resources: Twitter: Jenny Chase's 2022 opinions-on-solar thread  Canary Media: What's behind solar's polysilicon shortage — and why it's not getting better anytime soon Canary Media: Perovskites can make solar panels more efficient than silicon alone Bloomberg: Solar Outshines Wind to Lead China's Clean-Energy Transition Bloomberg: Solar Growth Estimates for 2050 Are Aggressive, But Not Unrealistic Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick Capital, a trusted source for renewable energy investment banking servicing the US sustainability sector. Visit cohnreznickcapital.com to learn more.

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card. Join us on November 30 for a live, virtual episode of Climavores. Come ask a question about food, nutrition, and eating for the climate. Concrete is an incredible material. It's essentially pourable rock, and we use it in almost every part of the built world. We also consume more of it than any other man-made material in the world—about three tons per person annually. And the secret ingredient in all this concrete? Cement. Think of it as the glue that binds the crushed rocks in concrete together.  But here's the problem. Making cement emits lots of carbon. The cement industry alone produces 8% of global emissions.  Why? First, the process happens at 1500 degrees Celsius, a temperature so hot that companies often burn coal to reach it. Second, the chemical reaction involved in creating cement releases carbon dioxide.   So what are the solutions?  In this episode, Shayle talks to Leah Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Sublime Systems, a startup that has developed a novel way to produce cement at room temperature without releasing carbon dioxide. Shayle's venture capital firm Energy Impact Partners is an investor in Sublime. Shayle and Leah discuss: The important properties of cement and why we use so much of it The chemistry of cement and why it releases carbon dioxide Alternative chemistries to Portland cement, the most common and useful formulation Things you can add to the mix, called supplementary cementitious materials, to offset some of the Portland cement required (like fly ash from coal-fired power plants) Adopting performance-based standards that allow more flexibility in the materials used in cement Replacing coal with electrification and alternative fuels in cement kilns  Post-combustion carbon capture for cement kilns CarbonCure's technique for injecting carbon dioxide into concrete to increase strength and reduce the amount of cement required Sublime System's electrochemical technique for manufacturing cement without carbon emissions Recommended Resources: The New York Times: Making the Concrete and Steel We Need Doesn't Have to Bake the Planet Canary Media: Major construction firms team up to get the carbon out of concrete Bloomberg: Breakthroughs Are Helping Even Cement and Steel Go Electric E&E News: Congress wagered on ‘low-carbon' concrete. Will it pay off? Canary Media: Cement is terrible for the climate. California just passed a law to fix that Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick Capital, a trusted source for renewable energy investment banking servicing the US sustainability sector. Visit cohnreznickcapital.com to learn more.

What's not to love about heat pumps? Well… a few things, actually.  Don't take this the wrong way: Heat pumps are magic. They heat. They cool. They're way more efficient than gas boilers. Switching to one can save a household hundreds of dollars in energy bills and lots of carbon emissions. It's why governments are incentivizing and requiring them. But heat pump adoption has slowed nationally. It's even declined in colder regions. What‘s holding it back? In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane, managing director for research and innovation at Energy Impact Partners, a climatetech venture capital firm.  Andy and Shayle talk about the state of heat pump technology and what we need to fix to speed up adoption. They cover topics like: The relatively high upfront costs and messy customer journey to installation What mass adoption would do to peak demand on the grid in cold climates  How heat pumps dramatically ramp up electrical load in a typical home and on the grid Heat pumps powered by natural gas or hydrogen Plus, why Andy would be a great early adopter for any company that wants to pitch Shayle on solving these problems. Recommended Resources: US Department of Energy: Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge Canary Media: Heat pumps now required for new homes in Washington state Canary Media: One weird trick to make heat pumps boom Canary Media: Will tough standards for heat pump tax credits hurt adoption? Canary Media: Window heat pumps will help electrify New York City's apartments Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick, a trusted partner for navigating the complex and evolving financial, tax and regulatory landscape of the renewable sector. Visit cohnreznick.com to learn more.

Utilities in developing countries are juggling a complex set of problems: How to extend electricity to those who don't have it; how to deploy large-scale power generation to power economic growth; and how to pursue these goals while decarbonizing.  In this episode, guest host Lara Pierpoint talks to Kate Steel, CEO of Nithio, a finance company focused on off-grid clean energy in Africa. Kate and Lara discuss the options for separating economic growth from fossil fuels. And she argues that we have the technology to develop low-carbon electrified economies in developing economies; we just need to deploy it. Lara and Kate weigh in on:  The tension between expanding access to low-cost power and attracting investment in large-scale baseload generation Why off-grid solar is often more economically viable than diesel generators for rural electrification How canceled power purchase agreements have stymied the development of renewables and how to solve these financing challenges  “Reverse” tech transfer from developing countries to developed ones, such as hyper-efficient appliances  Options for off-grid power, such as lanterns, microgrids, microhydro, biogas and liquefied petroleum gas canisters. How transportation may leapfrog fossil fuels in developing countries with electric motorbikes, buses and cars Recommended Resources: Canary Media: COP26 players pledge funding to shut down coal plants Bloomberg: A New Era of Climate Disasters Revives Calls for Climate Reparations Canary Media: Expanding solar access in Africa through artificial intelligence Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy: Roadmap to Zero-Carbon Electrification of Africa Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick, a trusted partner for navigating the complex and evolving financial, tax and regulatory landscape of the renewable sector. Visit cohnreznick.com to learn more.

Europe's hydrogen economy is so close to becoming a reality. Billions in public and private dollars are lining up to invest in a wave of newly planned hydrogen facilities. EU policymakers are finalizing new regulations and subsidies. And the region's energy crisis–sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine–has accelerated the need for alternative energy sources like hydrogen. But an unexpected twist: The U.S. passed the Inflation Reduction Act, with subsidies for hydrogen production and far looser rules than those under consideration in Europe. Could Europe lose its hydrogen competitiveness? In this episode, Shayle talks to Gniewomir Flis, an independent hydrogen consultant. Previously he researched hydrogen at Agora Energiewende, a decarbonization think tank, and Energy Revolution Venture, a decarbonization venture capital firm. Gniewomir explains that some in Europe worry the U.S. might become a more attractive place to invest in hydrogen if the EU's rules are too strict. This concern throws more complexity into an already difficult policy-making process. It's causing EU policymakers to fight over proposed rules and investors to delay final decisions to greenlight European projects. Gniewomir and Shayle discuss questions like: What's the evidence for the concerns about Europe's competitiveness? What counts as renewable hydrogen in the proposed EU rules? They discuss the three key criteria that could be required for subsidies: additionality, temporal correlation and geographic correlation Which electrolyzer technology—proton exchange membrane (PEM), alkaline, or solid oxide—is best for which power generation technology, such as solar, gas, and wind? How will the proposed rules impact developing countries' plans to export hydrogen to Europe? How do we transport hydrogen? They discuss options, such as metal hydride, ammonia, methanol and liquid (also known as cryogenic) hydrogen. Will China ultimately take over electrolyzer manufacturing, like it did for solar photovoltaic manufacturing? Recommended Resources: Agora Energiewende: 12 Insights on Hydrogen Guidehouse: Facilitating hydrogen imports from non-EU countries Florence School of Regulation: Green hydrogen: how grey can it be? The New York Times: Can This Man Solve Europe's Energy Conundrum? Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick, a trusted partner for navigating the complex and evolving financial, tax and regulatory landscape of the renewable sector. Visit cohnreznick.com to learn more.

So you want to build an offshore wind farm. Are you prepared to manage the marine ecosystem impacts of construction? What about monitoring and protecting underwater electrical cables? Or maybe you want to decarbonize shipping. Do you know how to trace low-carbon fuel through ports or maintain storage tanks in marine environments? How about managing worker safety on the ocean? These are the kinds of questions that crop up at the intersection of climatetech and something called bluetech, the range of technologies that touch the oceans. And this marine-based expertise may prove invaluable to climate solutions.  In this episode, Shayle talks to Alissa Peterson, co-founder and chief executive officer of SeaAhead, an organization that supports and incubates bluetech companies. They survey a range of technologies, covering topics like: Alternative low-carbon fuels for shipping, such as ammonia, methanol and hydrogen Alternative proteins, fisheries and kelp Oceanic carbon removal, such as ocean alkalinity enhancement and sinking kelp to the bottom of the seabed  In the U.S., will big coastal infrastructure, like offshore wind, suffer the same fate as long-distance transmission lines, stalling in an overly strict regulatory environment? Recommended Resources: Canary Media: Zero-emissions cargo shipping catches on in cities and port communities Canary Media: Offshore wind installations surged threefold last year SeaAhead : Innovation in Offshore Wind Reverse Pitch MIT Technology Review: Companies hoping to grow carbon-sucking kelp may be rushing ahead of the science Catalyst is a production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick, a trusted partner for navigating the complex and evolving financial, tax and regulatory landscape of the renewable sector. Visit cohnreznick.com to learn more.

Don't miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate journalism.  There's a buzz right now about paying farmers to trap and store emissions. Soil is a carbon sink, and certain farming practices accelerate carbon capture while others hurt it.  Enter soil carbon credits to incentivize sequestration through methods like cover cropping, no-till farming and agroforestry. These are practices often included under the umbrella of regenerative agriculture. So what does science say about how well these methods actually lock away carbon? In this episode, Shayle talks to Eric Slessarev, staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he studies soil carbon.  Eric says there's a lot we don't know about how well these practices actually work. There are even more fundamental questions like how much carbon is in the soil. Turns out dirt is pretty complicated. They cover things like: How exactly carbon gets into the soil and why it sticks around. The challenges with measuring soil carbon. The difference between soil carbon and enhanced weathering. How microbes, minerals and the depth of root systems affect storage. Specific practices like no-till farming, agroforestry and cover cropping. Why our soil carbon models may need a big update. Resources: Canary Media: Carbon storage gets dirty: The movement to sequester CO2 in soils International Soil Carbon Network Seminar Series: Towards a Durable Understanding of Soil Carbon as a Tool for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. Catalyst is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more. Catalyst is supported by CohnReznick, your comprehensive source for navigating the complex and evolving financial, tax and regulatory landscape of the renewable sector. Visit cohnreznick.com to learn more.

Ryan Goodman is the Founder and CEO of Scale Microgrid Solutions a microgrid and investment platform that builds, owns, operates, maintains, and finances microgrids and other distributed energy assets to help drive the energy transition.

We are back with another episode of the DER Task Force podcast! This week, the crew sit down with the COO of Scale Microgrid Solutions and patron of the DER Task Force, the one and only Tim Hade. In this epic, 2+ hour episode episode, we talk about:(1:15) Opening quote, DERTF's #1 rule, Grandaddy Tim shares some love(4:32) Tim's DER-pilling and fave DER, some cute non-Scale hobbies, the value of compounding execution, HOTTEST energy take (21:05) Lessons from 6 years in the Air Force and getting into business with his childhood best friend, pioneering solar + battery + natural gas microgrids for resiliency, not sustainability or economics(39:15) How do we truly value resiliency? What happens when politicians run the grid? The delicate tightrope investor-owned utilities walk and asking for regulatory forgiveness, not permission(1:02:49) Project development is crazy, a playbook is emerging, sending nursing homes pizza boxes (1:18:00) Big talent joining energy tech, spaces for people to learn, Tim's the Energy Czar but gives his job away (1:23:30) Are DERs inevitable? Getting lost in the sauce, contradictions, the grouse makes it to Congress, serenity prayer(1:55:16) Dope or nope (plus a brief intermission to explore conspiracy theories) (2:14:22) Biiiig shouts to BoxPower, Jigar Shah, and the grandaddy of DERs himself - Tim Hade Friendly reminder that you can always find us on Spotify, iTunes, or your favorite podcast player. We hope you enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dertaskforcenews.substack.com/subscribe

Heat pumps are the hot new thing in climate tech right now. The fastest way we can slash emissions out of the economy is to electrify as much as possible. And the fastest way to electrify is to deploy heat pumps. If we want to decarbonize our homes quickly, we need to start replacing existing HVAC systems. A good place to start: installing heat pumps instead of conventional central air conditioners. Turns out, the cost of making a two-way heat pump instead of an air conditioning unit is only a few hundred dollars per unit. What if the government incentivized manufacturers to make the switch? Every minute, 12 central air conditioning units are installed or swapped out at homes across America. That's 18,000 per week. Turning those one-way AC units into two-way heat pumps could help electrify millions of homes every year. A new federal bill could be the answer.  Guests: Nate “the house whisperer” Adams, CEO of HVAC 2.0.  Alexander Gard-Murray, a Political Economist at Brown University's Climate Solutions Lab.  The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

A version of this episode originally ran on Catalyst w/ Shayle Kann. Stock markets are in decline. Inflation is on the rise. Interest rates are up. Private tech companies are laying off workers. Is this the long-awaited market correction that never quite materialized during the bull market of the last 13 years? And what does it mean for climate tech? In this episode, Shayle talks to Saloni Multani, a partner at Galvanize Climate Solutions and former chief financial officer for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. Shayle and Saloni place the current moment in historical context. They cover the recent wave of low-cost capital that poured into climate tech and the low interest rates that gave renewables an advantage over fossil-fuel investments.  The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

We're more than three months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine and you don't have to look far beyond your local gas station to see the global impact – the average price of a gallon of gasoline topped $5 this week.  The conflict has complicated the flow of energy at a time when supply chains were already jumbled up because of COVID. But it's not just oil. The war is leaving its mark on all kinds of commodities – including the global supplies of minerals and metals. Geopolitical shifts are causing high spikes in prices of lithium and nickel, two key components of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars. But this supply mess could actually be boosting a positive trend in the battery space: Battery recycling.  This week: Batteries are a pillar of the zero-carbon economy. But are they sustainable? And will technical advancements and geopolitical shifts alter the battery-based economy for the better? Guests:  Julian Spector is a Senior Reporter with Canary Media. Check out his latest report on battery recycling. And you can access all of Canary's recycling week coverage here.   The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

Five years ago, Puerto Rico's grid was decimated by Hurricane Maria. Out of the destruction, many hoped that Puerto Rico's new grid could be built around solar and batteries – replacing centralized gas, coal, and oil plants connected with remote transmission lines. That's not how the recovery played out. Today, Puerto Rico still relies heavily on centralized fossil fuels. And the island's utility is still facing long blackouts and accusations of mismanagement. But a bottom-up movement has emerged supporting tens of thousands of rooftop solar and battery installations. These systems are being installed with minimal support from the government.  Will this distributed energy help make Puerto Rico more resilient? Or will the island lock in more fossil fuels? We'll speak with Canary Media reporter Maria Gallucci, who just got back from a reporting trip there. Read her feature. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

In December 2021, Senator Joe Manchin appeared on Fox News to announce that he would not vote for Joe Biden's signature climate plan, Build Back Better. The reason he cited? A score given by the Congressional Budget Office. The Congressional Budget Office – or CBO for short – is the most important government agency you've never heard of. It acts as a budget referee, giving legislation a score on how it will impact the economy and the federal budget. Senator Chuck Grassley once called the CBO “God” on Capitol Hill. Its scores determine which legislation passes and which legislation dies.  But there's one big catch. The CBO is systematically leaving out the impacts of climate change and carbon pollution on the economy – and stacking the deck against climate legislation. Lawmakers have the power to change it. Will they? Guests:  Dr. Mark Paul is an assistant professor of economics and environmental studies at New College of Florida. You can read his article about the CBO in Noema.  The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

In early May, a leaked draft opinion showed that the Supreme Court could soon overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. So what does abortion access have to do with climate change? This week, we explore the link between heat, pollution, and reproductive justice. In recent years, a strong and growing body of research shows that exposure to pollution and extreme heat increases the risk of stillbirth and preterm birth, particularly among Black parents. And restricted abortion access in a post-Roe America could further increase health risks and potential for criminalization. We spoke to one of the pioneering researchers in this field to understand the link between exposure to heat and pollution and adverse birth outcomes – and what can be done to solve it.  Guests:  Alexandria Herr is a producer on our show. You can find her Atmos article on climate change and high risk pregnancy here. Eve Andrews is a staff writer at Grist. You can find her article with Naveena Sadasivam on pregnancy in pollution hot spots here. Dr. Rupa Basu is the chief of the air and climate epidemiology section at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

Across California, oil wells pepper residential neighborhoods – often directly next to homes, schools, and businesses.  These residential wells have been linked to a host of health problems, from asthma to cancer. And these problems disproportionately affect California's communities of color.  This week, producer Alexandria Herr goes on a crusade to prove that California is not the green state that everybody thinks it is.  We'll explore hidden oil wells, the history of redlining, and the oil boom during World War II, to understand why residential drilling in California looks the way it does today.  Guests: Dr. David Gonzalez is a President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley.  Dr. Sarah Elkind is the president of the American Society for Environmental History.  The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

In this episode, host Gil Jenkins speaks with Tim Hade, Co-Founder & COO of Scale Microgrid Solutions – a New Jersey-based company that designs, builds, finances, and operates distributed energy assets that are cheaper, cleaner, and more resilient. Tim talks about his journey since founding the company in 2015, how customer demand for resilient energy solutions is evolving, the intersection of EV fleets and microgrids, the merits of cogeneration technology, his perspective on energy security as a U.S. Air Force veteran, the prospects for federal climate legislation, and much more. Links:WebsiteTim Hade on LinkedInTim Hade on TwitterScale Microgrid Solutions on TwitterScale Microgrid Solutions on LinkedIn Episode recorded: April 8, 022 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.comor tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

A couple of weeks ago, Elon Musk offered around $44 billion to buy Twitter. A few days later, the CEO of the world's biggest electric car company became the owner of one of the world's biggest social media platforms.  When news of the deal hit, investors got a little spooked. The share price of Tesla dropped by nearly 20% over the following week. Many industry observers began to wonder whether this was going to pose a major problem for the company. Among them was climate reporter David Ferris. Although many may regard these dramatic moves as simply part of the cost of investing in Musk's company, David thinks this latest gambit unleashes a whole new set of financial, reputational and strategic risks. This week on The Carbon Copy: Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has alarmed investors and consumers. Will his new shiny toy distract from Tesla's mission-critical work? Guest: David Ferris is an energy and environment reporter at E&E News. You can read his recent reporting on Musk's purchase here. We want to hear from you! Take our quick survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. This will help us bring you more relevant content. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world — with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nex​track​er​.com/​s​u​s​t​a​i​n​a​b​ility to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scale​cap​i​tal​so​lu​tions​.com to learn more.

A couple weeks ago, Canary Media's Eric Wesoff found himself in the parking lot of a company called Auxin Solar.  Auxin is a small American solar panel maker based in California. It manufacturers 150 megawatts of solar panels a year – 100 times less than the biggest solar manufacturers. Despite its size, Auxin Solar just filed a petition with the U.S. government that could shake up the solar industry in a big way. Auxin claims China is dodging U.S. tariffs by funneling products through other Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. And it wants the government to step in. And the complaint is already derailing large-scale solar projects. This week: how a solar trade war spanning three presidents is causing problems for a domestic solar market that relies heavily on overseas panels.  Guest: Eric Wesoff is the editorial director for Canary Media. You can read his piece about Auxin Solar's petition here. We want to hear from you! Take our quick survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. This will help us bring you more relevant content. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

Bitcoin mining today uses a half percent of the world's electricity. Every year, as more shipping containers and warehouses full of high-powered computers are deployed to unlock more bitcoin, energy use grows by double digits. As bitcoin mining operations scramble to find new power sources, they're often turning to aging coal or fossil gas plants that offer cheap electricity. This week, we'll take you to Seneca Lake, upstate New York, where a group of unlikely activists is fighting back against a “zombie” power plant that is now fueling a Bitcoin mine.  What's happening in Seneca Lake is not a one-off story. Across the nation, the companies that own dying, dirty power plants see cryptocurrency as a chance to extend their lives. Bitcoin mining is locking in fossil fuels – so what can we do about it? Guests: Brian Kahn is the climate editor at Protocol. You can read his piece about the Greenidge power plant here. We want to hear from you! Take our quick survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. This will help us bring you more relevant content. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

In 1973, when Arab countries cut off petroleum exports to the US, the price of oil quadrupled. People couldn't get access to gasoline. The economy shrunk.  The Arab oil embargo was framed almost entirely as a supply problem. But a few years later, a 28-year-old physicist named Amory Lovins published an article in Foreign Affairs magazine that completely shifted how we framed the issue.  Nearly a half century later, we revisit Amory's writing in the face of another global energy security crisis. Fossil fuel prices have spiked to record highs as a result of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine. Countries are now racing to stop buying Russian oil & gas as quickly as possible. This week: Amory Lovins explains the profound changes taking place in the global energy system – and how Russia's war will accelerate them. Guests: Amory Lovins, co-founder and chairman emeritus at RMI. Read his latest piece on how Russia's war could accelerate the clean energy transition. We want to hear from you! Take our quick survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. This will help us bring you more relevant content. The Carbon Copy is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media. The Carbon Copy is supported by Nextracker. Nextracker's technology platform has delivered more than 50 gigawatts of zero-emission solar power plants across the globe. Nextracker is developing a data-driven framework to become the most sustainable solar tracker company in the world – with a focus on a truly transparent supply chain. Visit nextracker.com/sustainability to learn more. The Carbon Copy is supported by Scale Microgrid Solutions, your comprehensive source for all distributed energy financing. Distributed generation can be complex. Scale makes financing it easy. Visit scalecapitalsolutions.com to learn more.

Podcast: My Climate Journey (LS 45 · TOP 1% what is this?)Episode: Ep 103: Timothy Hade, Co-Founder & COO of Scale Microgrid SolutionsPub date: 2020-05-11In today's episode, we cover:Origins of Scale Microgrid Solutions (SMS)What's a “microgrid?”“Front of the meter” vs. “Behind the meter” microgridsThe way utilities are setup in the U.S.How Tim found his way into the energy sectorThe value proposition of the microgridHow the company's management software controls the grid componentsSMS' modular solutionSMS' Energy-as-a-Service modelThe motives for customer adoptionMicrogrid's role in contributing to a resilient energy infrastructureThe barriers inherent in the U.S. regulatory systemSimilarities and differences between COVID-19 and the climate crisisWhy one should join the climate fightLinks to topics discussed in this episode:Scale Microgrid Solutions: https://scalemicrogridsolutions.com/Microgrid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicrogridThe podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jason Jacobs, Cody Simms, Yin Lu, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Episode Six of the Green Insider Podcast is out and we were delighted to be joined by Sammy Reifer from Scale Microgrid Solutions. Reifer is the Director of Special Projects for Scale and handles everything from policy legislation initiatives to business development and is a one-woman wrecking crew when it … The post The Green Insider – Ep. 6 – Sammy Reifer from Scale Microgrid Solutions appeared first on eRENEWABLE.

Tim Hade is a co-founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions, a company focused on deploying microgrids for large customers using a unique business model. On this episode we talk about his unique background and how to navigate the energy industry with people who might not share your same values. We also talk about the business models and trends of microgrids. Find Scale Microgrid Solutions online: https://scalemicrogridsolutions.com/ Tim Hade is on twitter at @timothyhade The Pew research that I referenced in this episode can be found here: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/21/how-americans-see-climate-change-and-the-environment-in-7-charts/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/24/plurality-of-americans-support-current-level-of-defense-spending/