Interchange Recharged

Destruction. Dislocation. Collapse. A permanent reset. Read any news about oil markets, and these are the vivid descriptions you’ll encounter.We are now deep into an historic pause for oil demand across the globe -- shutting down oil fields, causing negative pricing, overwhelming our storage abilities, and forcing up to a million job losses this year."We are looking at a major demand destruction that we don't even know will come back," said Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden on a recent investor call.So if demand doesn’t come back, what happens? What are the direct consequences to the oil industry? And what are the opportunities for a “new energy order,” as the World Economic Forum is now calling it?This week, Stephen and Shayle talk with Ed Crooks, vice chair for the Americas at GTM’s parent company Wood Mackenzie. Ed is a former editor at the Financial Times. He’s one of the go-to people watching oil market dynamics and how they intersect with the clean energy transition.We had so many listeners write in during our live show about what’s unfolding in oil markets. So we’re going to try to tackle them.The Interchange is brought to you by Prisma Energy Solutions. Prisma Energy Solutions provides a unique financing model for battery energy storage systems that can help you reduce energy demand, participate in both energy and ancillary service markets, improve renewables integration, increase system reliability, and reduce your carbon footprint. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Famed software pioneer and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen is out with a new piece, called “It’s time to build,” that is making the rounds among the thinkfluencer crowd. It’s part call-to-arms and part flogging over America’s inability to build.“Every step of the way, to everyone around us, we should be asking the question, what are you building? What are you building directly, or helping other people to build, or teaching other people to build, or taking care of people who are building?” writes Andreessen.Andreesen is a partner at the VC firm Andreessen-Horowitz. He is considered one of the more important people in software. He co-founded Netscape and wrote a manifesto in 2011 called “Why software is eating the world” that has been a guiding light for many venture investors and people starting companies.Now he has a new focus on building physical things.His new article sparked a surprising number of counter-reactions in the press, from think tanks, and from YouTubers. And it got us thinking about how to apply the thesis to the low-carbon economy.Read Shayle Kann’s climate-focused response to Andreessen’s call to action, which forms the basis of our discussion.Want to join the conversation? Form your own list of climate-focused stuff we should be building, and tweet it at @InterchangeShow.The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we bring you a joint episode of The Interchange and The Energy Gang recorded in front of a live audience from our quarantine quarters around the country. When we started making our podcasts seven years ago, it was clear that the energy transition would be a difficult one. Both shows were designed as a forum to grapple with tough issues in an accessible, candid way. The clean energy industry has faced its share of crises over the years — but nothing quite like the current pandemic and economic freeze.Supply chains are in limbo, funding opportunities for startups have vanished, and once-growing companies are at a standstill. Meanwhile, political leaders are trying to get money to struggling people and businesses, setting the stage for trillions more dollars in spending on infrastructure. How will it all pan out? We’re trying to figure it out, just like you. In this episode, we take listener questions about how to use the current crisis as an opportunity. We use some thought exercises as a way to break up the gloom, and do a mental health check-in with each other. Listeners submitted over 120 questions. We’ll be considering them on future shows. If you have any other show topic ideas, tag The Energy Gang and The Interchange on Twitter. (And please give us a rating and review on Apple podcasts!)The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We have a live show coming up on Wednesday, April 22. It's free! Sign up here. And submit questions here. What will be the “new normal” in the energy economy when coronavirus starts to dissipate?The longer this goes on, the more dramatically it will alter how we make things, where we make them, what kind of companies grow or fail, and who suffers and who benefitsThis week, Shayle and Stephen speak with Amy Meyers Jaffe, a senior fellow and director of the energy and climate change program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Amy focuses on oil markets, geopolitics, and the emerging clean energy sectors.Amy recently penned a piece on whether we’re going to come out of this situation with a lasting impact on carbon emissions.We hopped on a call to discuss many of the themes she’s writing about, including behavioral changes, the stimulus, and the future of oil. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: coronavirus is rewriting the cleantech startup survival guide.The implosion for early-stage companies has been swift. According to a New York Times analysis, 6,000 people at 50 startups have lost their jobs since the middle of March. Once fast-growing companies are losing their revenue overnight, laying off or furloughing up to 50 percent of their staff.Companies in travel, consumer goods, or fintech are the hardest hit by the current economic freeze. The full impact on climatetech and cleantech companies is still unknown. That will depend on the sector they’re targeting, whether they’re generating revenue, and how long this crisis lasts.Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey talk with Dr. Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, and Emily Kirsch, founder and CEO of Powerhouse about how startups can make it through the current economic calamity.Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We were feeling a little stir crazy this week, so we hopped behind the microphone with Chris Nelder, host of The Energy Transition Show for some wonkery while in quarantine.In this episode we are exploring two simple questions: What was an unknown about the energy transition five years ago that we now know? And what is a question that has emerged in 2020 that is still unanswered?And as expected, those questions brought us to some complex answers.Thanks to Chris Nelder for a fun (socially distant) conversation.Want to connect with us while stuck at home? Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we're coming to you from our home isolation, partially frozen in time.We're wondering how long things will be this way. How we will work? How he will keep healthy? How we will run our companies? How will we move forward? It can feel like each day those answers are only further away. This week on The interchange, Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey get real on how the pandemic has changed their daily lives and their thinking about covering the energy disruption in the months ahead. Will the current economic disruption lead to permanent changes that lower carbon emissions? How does this economic disaster change the field for startups and large companies in clean energy?Mentioned on the show:Kate Lister: Workplace Analytics and Telecommuting Twitter: Infectious disease expert Laurie GarrettNYT: Climate Change Has Lessons for Fighting Coronavirus, Somini SenguptaIEA: Put clean energy at the heart of stimulus plans to counter the coronavirus crisisGuardian: Financial Crises are Filtering Mechanisms for StartupsWant to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: What does the load curve look like in a time of pandemic? We are in the middle of a sudden, jarring economic shift. Store fronts, arenas and office buildings are dark in many cities. Homes are becoming the center of our activity -- and for many of us, our work.That is causing sudden shifts in the way we consume energy. We’ve seen it play out in China, France and Italy.So what is happening to the daily shape of electricity load here in the U.S.? And what are the long-term consequences to power providers if this goes on for a long time?Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey talk with someone who knows how to read a load curve: Nick Chaset. Nick is Chief Executive Officer at East Bay Community Energy and on the board of the California Community Choice Association. He’s worked as Chief of Staff to the head of the California Public Utilities Commission and was special advisor to Governor Jerry Brown on distributed energy resources. Nick will share some data about his CCA’s changing load curve. Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: What can meal kits tell us about the energy intensity of the food system?When you get meal-kits delivered to your home -- are they a net benefit to the environment? Or are these time savers carbon-heavy?Since 2012, there’s been a surge in meal-kit delivery options. Online buying and delivery is now the norm. There’s a surge in interest in healthy eating. And we’re all insanely busy. And that’s making Meal-Kits like Home Chef, Blue Apron and HelloFresh a $5 billion business.But how guilty should you feel unboxing that pre-measured parsley, or berry sauce for that salmon? How does the carbon that got burned to make that packaging and drive that delivery van, compare to buying the ingredients yourself? Has anyone done the math? We found someone who can actually answer this question for us: Dr. Isabella Gee, an engineer at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas. She did her thesis on this exact question -- and she spends her time looking at the food system broadly. Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.The Interchange is sponsored  by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: what one entrepreneur's story tells us about the migration of talent from tech to climate.Jason Jacobs is the founder of My Climate Journey, a podcast, newsletter, and slack room that brings together a high-level group of people who are dedicating their careers to addressing climate change.Co-host Shayle Kann talks with Jason about his own journey -- and about what his story tells us about the shift underway in the world of tech. The Interchange is sponsored by Viking Cold Solutions, a leader in thermal storage for refrigerated warehouses, grocery store freezers, and restaurants around the globe. Find out how thermal storage can benefit your facility.We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The 100% renewable energy future doesn’t start with a country, state or region. It starts with a city. One power plant in a city, in fact. In Glendale, California.Glendale is a city of 200,000 people just north of Los Angeles. And in 2014, the was in a tricky spot. The city’s natural gas plant was old. The City Council faced a decision that would impact the city for decades to come: revamp the 252-megawatt gas plant, or find local alternatives?After modeling many different types of local resources, the city found the perfect mix: 75 megawatts of utility-scale storage; 15 megawatts of solar, efficiency and demand response; and 93 megawatts of Wärtsilä engines for backup reliability. It saved the city millions of dollars.“And it's just a huge win...and really, an important model for the future of energy,” says David Millar a resource planning consultant at Ascend Analytics, who helped model Glendale’s energy system. In this episode, produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä, we look at the hidden hero of the 100% renewable future: power systems modeling.This is the second in a three-part series produced in collaboration with Wärtsilä. You can listen to part one here.As cities, states and countries make tough choices about cleaning up their power systems, they need to rely on sophisticated models. We’ll look at the experience of Glendale. And then turn to Joe Ferrari, the general manager for utility market development at Wärtsilä North America. Joe is an expert on how utilities are planning for the 100% renewable energy future.“The technology is there. It's just understanding how to put all the pieces together,” explains Ferrari.Wärtsilä creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. They’re helping clients worldwide meet their clean energy goals in an efficient and cost-effective way. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we are talking about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and many ways they can decarbonize the economy.From optimizing buildings to modeling new industrial processes to better managing the grid, AI and machine learning are core to many technology strategies for addressing climate change.So how, exactly, will they be implemented? And what problems can they solve?With us is Priya Donti, a PHD student at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work is focused on machine learning, grid systems and climate change. She is also the co-chair of Climate Change AI, a group of academics and practitioners looking at machine learning as a decarbonization tool.Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: predictions for the future of home solar and batteries.Big rooftop solar installers are competing with the largest utility-scale plants in terms of yearly deployed capacity.Batteries are making their way onto more installations, opening up new advancements in software and power electronics.Tesla finally says it’s making progress on the solar roof.Meanwhile, extreme weather, wildfires and power shutoffs in California are providing a new entry point for consumers. What does it all amount to? In this episode, we have a conversation with Barry Cinnamon, the CEO of Cinnamon Solar.Barry has been installing solar for nearly 20 years. He knows the on-the-ground trends and where they fit into the broader market picture. He regularly writes about the industry on Greentech Media. Shayle Kann and Stephen Lacey sit down with Barry to talk battery applications, home control, EV charging, Tesla’s solar roof, and more.Read along with us:Greentech Media: 10 Rooftop Solar and Storage Predictions for the Next DecadeGreentech Media: 10 Mistakes I’ve Made Selling and Installing Battery Storage SystemMercury News: Why Every House in California Will Have Solar PowerListen to Barry’s podcast: The Energy ShowWant to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A lot of companies and governments are committing to 100% renewable energy. But a target of that scope without considering time of use isn’t technically or economically optimal.So how do we get 24/7 renewables for offices, data centers, municipal buildings, cities, and eventually countries?Calculating renewables consumption on an annual basis isn’t sufficient. If we really want to make them an effective decarbonization tool, we need to match them to real-time demand. And there are a lot of ways to do it. In the last few months, we’ve seen examples of large corporations taking the challenge head on. We’ve also seen the negative consequences for a city when it failed to account for time of use.Dr. Melissa Lott, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, joins co-host Shayle Kann for a deep dive into 24/7 renewables.Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“Climatetech” is suddenly the hot new thing in venture capital. For years now, venture investors have stayed away from the cleantech category, a hangover from the Solyndra days that we have thoroughly documented on The Interchange.But we appear to be in a new phase of interest. Prominent investors are publicly declaring their push into the space. Influential voices in tech are calling on more investors to do the same -- including Kara Swisher, who wrote a persuasive piece in The New York Times last week. And now startups of all kinds are getting a second look. So. What’s going on? And have investors internalized the lessons from the previous investment wave?With us to weigh in on those questions is returning guest Abe Yokell. Abe is a managing partner at Congruent Ventures. Co-host Shayle Kann, a managing director at Energy Impact Partners, sets up the trend. Then Shayle and Abe dissect lessons from cleantech venture capital 1.0.The basis of this conversation came from Shayle’s tweet. Read the responses and add your thoughts.Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage or looking for backup power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Less than one percent of all hydrogen produced today comes from renewables. Is that about to change?The vice president of Siemens Middle East just called green hydrogen the “new oil” in the coming decades. A lot of big industrial companies and oil majors are taking another serious look at hydrogen. Why?In an era of extremely cheap renewables that are increasingly being curtailed, hydrogen production could finally be an attractive use. There are emerging regulatory pressures on existing hydrogen production.This week, we talk with Ben Gallagher, an expert on emerging tech at Wood Mackenzie. He’s the author of a new piece of research on the market. Ben will help us understand what’s different about today’s hydrogen hype. Want to share your opinion about the topic? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage, or looking for back-up power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re undergoing some great changes here on The Interchange! We’re bringing on a new producer and we’re going to be featuring new voices that will help us tackle the energy transition in new and compelling ways. So while we reorient ourselves, we are bringing you an episode from 2018 called “8 bets about the future.” We debated and bet on a bunch of different scenarios for the coming decades.This is one of our favorite shows. It’s a good one to bring up from the archives as we prepare ourselves for the decade ahead.The bets we discuss:Bet #1: Bug will control machines with her voice more than with her keyboard.Bet #2: Bug will never personally drive a car.Bet #3: By the time Bug buys her first home, especially if she’s in an urban environment, her surroundings will transformed. Bet #4: By the time Bug shops for her own groceries, >20% of her produce will be grown indoorsBet #5: In Bug’s first home of her own, more than half of her electricity load will dynamically respond to grid or price signalsBet #6: By the time Bug reaches 30 (in the year 2050), electricity’s market share of final energy consumption will more than double.Bet #7: More than 50% of Bug’s electricity, as represented by the national breakdown, will come from renewables by the time she’s a sophomore in high school.Bet #8 : Bug will live over 200 years, and for most of her life, electricity will be her only food.Want to share your opinion about these predictions? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage, or looking for back-up power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re now in the 2020s. Many of the tropes about this era from films and literature may not have come true, but there’s a lot happening around us that does feel futuristic.And this week, we are offering up proof that we are living in the energy future — right now. Shayle and Stephen are each going to pick a use of technology that once seemed futuristic, but is now a reality.We’re also going to choose a technology that we thought would arrive but now, but is still seemingly off into the future.What’s your pick? Let us know on Twitter. Follow @InterchangeShow, @shaylekann & @stphn_lacey and send comments about the show.This podcast is brought to you by Fronius. Now, Fronius gives you more control over your solar energy than ever before with its versatile hybrid inverter, the Primo GEN24 PLUS. Whether you’re storing solar power, integrating energy storage, or looking for back-up power, the Primo GEN24 PLUS has you covered. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This show has a very simple mission: break down the complexity of the global energy transition in a clear way.Whether that’s digging through reports, concepts, acronyms, business deals, or trends, we are constantly trying to make these topics accessible, yet wonky. Some of our most popular episodes of 2019 featured guests who were particularly good at delivering on that mission. So we’re going to serve up some snippets of those conversations.In this episode, we'll hear from:Dr. Leah Stokes from our July episode on the politics of the Green New Deal.Futurist Ramez Naam on the exponential trends disrupting energy.Analyst Adam James on the promise of aggregated distributed energy resources.Happy new year! Please rate and review us as a gesture of support to close out the year. It’s very helpful for other people who are just finding the show.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Countries, states, cities, utilities and corporations are all setting increasingly ambitious targets for clean energy. There are lots of variations on the theme: 100% renewable energy, 100% clean energy, 100% carbon-free energy. They all require ambition -- and lots of planning.In this episode, the first in a three-part series from Wartsila, we are exploring the causes and consequences of this 100% trend. How did we get to this point where utilities and states are all committing to 100% zero-carbon or 100% renewable energy goals? What are the limitations? What is the potential? And what’s the pathway to achieving them?Producer Lisa Barfai speaks with Emma Foehringer Merchant, a staff writer at Greentech Media, who describes the origin of the trend.Then we’ll talk with Jussi Heikkinen, director of growth and development for the Americas at Wartsila, who outlines the practical consequences for the electricity system.Wartsila creates smart, flexible power technologies to enable a cleaner grid and put the world on a path to 100% renewable energy. They’re helping clients worldwide meet their clean energy goals in an efficient and cost-effective way. Find out more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s our last episode of the decade! We’re looking back over the last 10 years and making our choices for:The most important statisticThe most impactful piece of researchThe top buzz phraseThe most unexpected twistThe most pivotal dealAnd the dark horse trend of the 2020sThanks to everyone who’s been listening to this show since 2014. We appreciate your feedback and support. Please continue to suggest topics via Twitter so that we can evolve over the next decade.Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

America’s physical infrastructure is in the dumps. The American Society of Civil Engineers regularly gives the country’s infrastructure a near-failing grade.We need to rebuild a lot of stuff. Hardening our roads, grids, buildings, transit systems has a climate context to it: we need to do it better and we need to do it cleaner.This week, we are exploring the cleantech opportunities in physical infrastructure. What are the most compelling trends shaping the way we optimize our electrical equipment, pipelines, streets, homes and buildings? This conversation is based on Shayle Kann’s piece, titled “The World Around Us.”We’re breaking the conversation into four parts:The geospatial revolution: how the combination of new sources of geospatial data (satellites, drones, sensors), combined with the data revolution, will allow us to gain a real-time operational picture of our infrastructure and ultimately optimize it.The culture of resilience: how increasing natural disasters will start to make investing in resilience (via anything from batteries to building retrofits) mainstream.The re-platforming of our streets: how the arrival of new modes of transport (autonomous, micromobility, package delivery) will force us to rethink the orientation of our streets, which are currently designed for a single master – the passenger vehicle.The impacts of 100% clean: how all the commitments to 100% will force us to confront the biggest challenge we’ll face in electricity for the next few decades: how to unlock grid flexibility, particularly behind the meter. Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we have a special addendum to our deep decarbonization draft. We’re talking with Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, the vice president of communication and engagement at Project Drawdown.Katharine is one of the minds behind the Project Drawdown solutions list that we used as the basis for our draft. We chose the list because it spans so many different areas of the global economy.Katharine is a renowned expert and self-proclaimed “climate solutionary.” She has a very popular TED Talk on gender equality and climate change, and she speaks regularly to the press about climate issues.She was the lead author on the Project Drawdown book, which goes deep on the top 100 decarbonization solutions.If you haven’t listened to our draft, go back and check it out. This conversation will make a lot more sense.We talk with Katharine about the biggest wins for decarbonization, the most surprising opportunities, and how do they break down along the lines of high-tech and low-tech. We’ll also get her opinion on who won the Deep Decarbonization Draft — Stephen or Shayle?Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we offer our second installment of the Deep Decarbonization Draft — our fantasy sports event for energy and climate nerds. Last year’s draft inspired similar versions at conferences and in the classroom. We’re bringing the game back by popular demand. The premise is simple: Shayle and Stephen choose their teams of decarbonization technologies and methods, and then pit them against each other to determine who’s best at saving the planet.This year’s list climate solutions comes from Project Drawdown. You can find their list and scores here. Producer Daniel Woldorff has anonymized the list. We need to choose seven draft picks from the 80+ solutions across seven sectors. After all the picks, one steal is allowed. Once the scores are locked in, we’ll tally up the total CO2 reductions and the total savings and determine a winner. Bonus points for the person who made the highest-scoring pick.Listen to last year’s decarbonization draft. Thanks to Matt Farley for the theme song. Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present the final episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. We’re going deep on the housing market. Our guest co-authored an important study quantifying extreme weather risk in the U.S. housing market — and identifying how banks are shifting that risk to us, the taxpayers.Shayle Kann talks with Amine Ouazad, a professor of applied economics at the graduate business school HEC Montreal. He recently co-authored a study called Mortgage Financing in the Face of Rising Climate Risk.The New York Times summarized the research, asking we're facing problems similar to the previous housing crisis.Topics covered on this episode:The role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the mortgage market: what happens when mortgage loans get securitized to them?Why does the decline in poor FEMA mapping and flood insurance create additional risk for lenders?How are risky mortgage loans in vulnerable areas getting sold to Fannie and Freddie — putting taxpayers on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in risk?What happens after a large disaster in terms of new loans? What is the significance?What might this mean for the health of the housing market as natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and magnitude? Will there be a cascading effect?What parallels can we draw from the 2008 financial crisis that resulted from the housing market collapse?Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present the second episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. As the latest wildfires in California finally get under control, residents and public officials are in a state of panic. The scope and frequency of these disasters is expanding quickly. And it’s not solved by sprinkling more wind and solar on the grid — it’s a planning issue of the highest magnitude. Our guest is someone who is thinking through the complexities of dealing with the growing impact of climate change on the geography, economy and the infrastructure of the world’s fifth-biggest economy.In part 2 of our climate risk series, Shayle Kann talks with Kate Gordon, director of the office of planning and research for California. She is also senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom on climate. It sounds like a dry job title. But it is an incredibly complicated role.Topics covered in this episode:What are the risks the state of California faces due to climate change, today and in the future? How are the expanding?How should we think about housing policy and urban planning in light of wildfire risk? Should we be rebuilding homes that were burned down? How do we deal with rising insurance premiums?How might climate change contribute to water scarcity in the state, and what can be done today to mitigate that risk?What other climate risks should be at the forefront of Californians' minds — flooding, temperature, rise, impact on agriculture, etc?Are events like wildfires and power shutoffs galvanizing the public into taking action around climate resilience? If so, in what form?Does California look to any other countries as exemplary in building climate resilience? Who is doing it right?Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present the first episode in our 3-part interview series on climate risk. How do we measure and quantify both the physical and economic risk of a warming planet?This question has very real consequences for the way companies are run, the way cities are planned, and the way markets are valued.In this episode, Shayle Kann speaks with Trevor Houser, a partner with Rhodium Group. Rhodium Group and Blackrock recently wrote a report on the underpriced risks of climate change throughout the economy.Topics covered in this episode:What counts as "climate risk,” and how is it distinguished from all the risks we face independent of climate change?The state of climate risk reporting: How has our ability to measure climate risk improved? How much certainty can we provide today? What gaps remain?Examples of climate risk in municipal bonds, commercial real estate, and energy & utilities.How big a challenge is it to get different players (investors, insurers, corporations, etc) to account for climate risk? How should they be thinking about it?Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present a special episode in collaboration with Centrica Business Solutions and GTM Creative Strategies.For the last decade and a half, we’ve been hearing about how the internet-of-things would completely reshape how our buildings operate -- and how people operate within them.But while the layer of digital tech in buildings is advancing all the time, the IOT revolution is taking longer to play out than some expected.“In short, a lot of the promise has not been fulfilled,” says Paul Kuehn, a senior sales director for distributed energy at Centrica Business Solutions.“I don't think it's necessarily a measure of the technology at this point. We've gotten past the hype of having the devices. It's the use of the devices and the competency of the operators to be able to figure out how to solve problems with those devices,” explains Kuehn.By next year, there will be 10 billion IOT devices connected to the cloud globally. In another three years, the number will more than double to 22 billion.Billions of those devices -- sensors, intelligent lighting and HVAC systems, control systems -- are being deployed in commercial buildings and industrial facilities. They’re making buildings smarter. But are they making the people who run buildings any smarter?We brought Paul Kuehn together with Darren Cooper, the president of Renteknik Group, to answer that question and discuss the state of play for IOT in C&I buildings.This podcast was produced on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions. Centrica is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed technologies to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: three barometers of the energy transition. There are a lot of numbers flying at us every day — and it is our job to figure what they indicate about change. In this episode, we’ll choose three different numbers from the transportation, heating and electricity sectors, and explain what they mean.At the end, we’ll choose which stat is most important.Follow along with us:Stat 1: 200 millionStat 2: 22 percentStat 3: 50 percentCould you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Could you do us a favor? Take our listener survey so we can give you more relevant content: bit.ly/gtmpodcastVenture capital is an effective source of money for scaling companies quickly. But what if your company needs 15 years to prove itself?That’s the time horizon for many “tough tech” companies in energy that are developing new semiconductors, industrial processes, chemical production methods, and long-duration storage systems.The first cleantech bubble showed the limits of VC in backing tough, capital-intensive tech. So we are asking: can venture capital ever step up to the big industrial-scale challenges of our day?Our guest, Katie Rae, believes it can. Katie is the CEO and managing partner at The Engine, a venture firm based in Cambridge, Mass that invests in a wide-ranging sector she calls tough tech.Katie joins us to explain why she’s hopeful that startups doing difficult things are finding more opportunities to connect with investors.You can also learn more about The Engine’s upcoming Tough Tech summit next week.Support for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The market for home batteries is picking up.Residential storage capacity installations outpaced utility-scale installations in the second quarter of this year. There were more residential batteries installed in Q2 than in all of 2017.So what’s driving the mini-boom?Residential storage doesn’t mirror other technologies like solar. It’s more of an emotional sell — and there are a lot different value propositions that contribute to battery sales. In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with GTM Staff Writer Julian Spector about the latest trends in residential storage.Read GTM's recent coverage of the battery market:Coverage of record quarter for residential batteriesOn California’s new battery rebate for wildfire zonesGenerac’s strategy for entering the storage marketSonnen’s groundbreaking home battery development with utility contractSupport for the Interchange comes from Schneider Electric, the leader of the digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric is pioneering solutions like microgrids, for everything from community resiliency to higher adoption of electric vehicles. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There are $70 billion worth of natural gas-fired power plants planned in the U.S. through the mid 2020s. But a combination of wind, solar, batteries and demand-side management could threaten 90 percent of those investments.New modeling from the Rocky Mountain Institute shows that more than 60 gigawatts of new gas plants are already economically challenged. And by the mid 2030s, existing gas plants will be under threat.How severe is the threat? Could we eventually see tens of gigawatts of stranded gas plants?RMI set out to answer that question in two reports on the economics of gas generation and gas pipelines. The tipping point is now.Our guest, Mark Dyson, is a principal at RMI and one of the co-authors of the analysis. He joins us to talk about the modeling, the threat, and the consequences to power providers and investors.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy. The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We are now in a new age for clean energy: the age of 100%.Every week, we get some new declaration from a corporation, a city, a state or a utility that they are going 100%.But not all targets are created equal. 100% what? 100% clean? 100% renewable? 100% carbon free? Net zero emissions?To someone who doesn’t follow energy closely, they may all seem like the same thing. But these targets often vary wildly in terms of timing, ambition, and complexity.So this week: we are surveying the range of targets: which ones matter, what do they add up to, and have they changed what’s possible?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New York State offered Tesla $750 million to turn Buffalo into a solar manufacturing hub — why hasn’t Tesla delivered on the vision it promised?It’s been five years since SolarCity first declared plans to become a solar manufacturer, and nearly three years since Musk unveiled the solar roof. Tesla had plans to pump out thousands of solar roofs per week by now. But the company has quietly struggled to build out any meaningful production in its Buffalo location.Customers are angry. Buffalo locals and New York politicians feel burned. And employees are jaded. What do we make of the Gigafactory 2 debacle? We’re joined by Austin Carr, a reporter at Bloomberg, who’s been covering the Tesla solar story better than anyone else. We’ll look at the history of SolarCity/Tesla’s manufacturing plans, the derailed plans for the solar roof, and how current manufacturing activity compares with Tesla’s promises to New York.Read Austin’s reporting on Tesla’s solar business:Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Tesla’s Acquisition of SolarCitySupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.The Interchange is brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: how much methane are U.S. oil & natural gas drillers emitting? The data is accumulating — and it’s not looking good. A recent Wall Street Journal analysis found yearly methane emissions were equivalent to 69 million cars on the road. Some estimates are higher. The United Nations says yearly methane leaks may amount to adding nearly 100 million cars. As activist investors put more pressure on oil & gas drillers to deal with methane leaks, producers are now admitting there’s a problem. Meanwhile, they’re also touting “sustainably fracked” gas that comes from sources with fewer methane emissions.But what will happen to industry efforts to clean up methane leaks now that the Trump Administration is rolling back regulations?We are talking with Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Elliott, who’s been covering this leakage issue very closely. She’ll detail investor pressure, the impact of regulations, and why so many big drillers support slashing methane.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.The Interchange is brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.You can listen to Uplight’s five-part podcast series, called Illuminators, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or anywhere else you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we have an interview with Christopher Leonard, author of a new book, “Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America.”Earlier this month, David Koch passed away. And it suddenly got everyone talking about the Koch Brothers again. It got us thinking about them too — not just their role in politics, but about the company they built. Koch Industries is one of the most influential energy and industrial firms in the world. And the way the Kochs have run their company tells us a lot about their approach to conservative politics. With David and Charles Koch back in the public spotlight, we’re talking with Christopher about their business practices, libertarian philosophies, and influence on politics.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: to offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.You can listen to Uplight’s five-part podcast series, called Illuminators, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or anywhere else you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we explore a possible financial time bomb for renewable energy: merchant risk.Since the dawn of grid-connected wind and solar, long-term power purchase agreements were the financial glue that held projects together. Developers could rely on relatively simple multi-decade contracts, thanks in large part to policy that encouraged or mandated utilities to enter those agreements.Today, things are a lot more complicated. It’s much harder to secure a long-term PPA, so more wind and solar projects are getting exposed to the risks of the market. Contract terms are being cut down to 10 years or less. And that means a vast majority of the electricity produced by those wind and solar projects must get sold on the competitive market.Wind and solar face “covariance risk” — a negative relationship between electricity output and price. These resources must sell their electricity during the time of day when lots of other solar and wind farms are also generating, thus depressing wholesale prices.In a not-so-distant future with high amounts of renewable energy, will developers be able to make money from their projects on the open market?In this episode, we explore the risks of merchant wind and solar. We’ll talk about why contract terms are changing, what kind of hedging strategies have emerged, and why this trend matters.Our guest is Christine Brozynski, a senior associate at the global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. She’s represented lenders, sponsors and risk managers on gigawatts of wind, solar and gas deals worth billions of dollars. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: To offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.You can listen to Uplight’s 5-part podcast series, called ILLUMINATORS, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we’re talking about a trend that’s picking up in electricity markets: aggregation of distributed resources.Utilities have been remotely switching off air conditioners to manage demand for a long time. But a range of emerging resources — solar paired with batteries, smart thermostats, intelligent water heaters, electric car chargers — are creating new kinds of virtual power plants.People have been talking about the virtual power plant concept for years. And it’s finally happening in a meaningful way — although rolling out very differently in regional markets around the U.S.In this episode, Shayle Kann talks with Adam James about the nuances to DER aggregation. They’ll highlight specific projects around the country and talk about how the business models work.Shayle is our co-host and managing director at Energy Impact Partners. Adam is the chief of staff at Energy Impact Partners.Adam previously worked at SolarCity/Tesla. He’s also a former analyst at GTM Research.Stephen Lacey will be back from paternity leave next week. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: To offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.You can listen to Uplight’s 5-part podcast series, called ILLUMINATORS, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Note: after this episode, we will be on hiatus for a few weeks while Stephen Lacey goes on paternity leave.This week, a conversation about what the Green New Deal reveals about public opinion on climate change.Why are national climate politics frozen? The conventional understanding is that Americans are deeply divided on the issue along party lines.Until recently, Democrats have been scared of talking too often about climate in national campaigns because they think the electorate is split; and the Republican Party has been outright hostile to climate policy, believing that’s what the majority of conservative voters think.And then, in steps the Green New Deal. It’s revealing something extraordinary. According to a Yale survey, 81 percent of registered voters say they would support the Green New Deal. And 64 percent of Republicans say they would support it. Other polls have shown similar levels of support.So what does this reveal about how climate plays among the electorate? And is there a disconnect between what people want and what policymakers think they want? We’re joined by Dr. Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is an expert on political behavior — which includes public opinion, voting behavior, and how policy is influenced. Leah describes why the Green New Deal plays well with voters. She also talks about how climate is shaping the presidential campaign, why Trump is now talking about the environment, and describes the role of fossil fuel incumbents in shaping public opinion. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.The Interchange is also brought to you by Uplight, the company you once knew as Tendril and Simple Energy.The goal is still the same: To offer utility leaders a suite of engagement solutions that deliver customer experiences like Amazon and Netflix. Learn more about how Uplight is building an end-to-end product for utility customer engagement.You can listen to Uplight’s 5-part podcast series, called ILLUMINATORS, about what utilities can learn from case studies of business disruption. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present a special episode on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions.The Green New Deal is now a driving force in climate politics. But up until now, it’s been mostly theoretical.And then, in April, Mayor Bill De Blasio declared that New York City is creating its own version of the Green New Deal. As part of the law, large commercial buildings will need to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050 — or face steep fines. After so much theorizing about the Green New Deal, we can finally see what happens when a resolution meets reality. And the impact is not what you might think. Many building upgrades in the city are now stalling because of uncertainty around the law.“No matter who I’ve spoken to, nobody’s disagreeing with the goals. It’s the application of how we benchmark. There are clearly buildings that can become vastly more efficient. But this legislation doesn’t prize density, it doesn’t prize efficiency, for some of our most modern buildings,” explains Paul Kuehn, sales director for distributed energy at Centrica Business Solutions.In this episode, we dive into New York’s new building emissions mandate. We’ll explore the short-term unintended consequences and the positive long-term impacts for clean energy. What can other cities — and eventually the entire country — learn from its complexities?We’ll have a conversation with Paul Kuehn of Centrica Business Solutions and Aaron Miller, a partner at Gotham 360, about how the details may play out. This podcast was produced on behalf of Centrica Business Solutions. Centrica is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed technologies to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every year, we see a wide range of models for the future global energy system.The scenarios come from a wide array of organizations: International Energy Agency and the Energy Information Administration; oil companies like BP, Shell and Equinor; and research outfits like Wood Mackenzie and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.And the conclusions are all over the map. So a group of experts at Resources for the Future put them all together and created their own model — a way to compare the scenarios in a meaningful way and get a more accurate picture of how the future may play out. In this podcast, we’ll dig through the report. Can clean energy start to replace fossil fuels, or will it simply compliment them?You can read the Resources for the Future report (PDF) here.Looking for another podcast this summer? Listen to ILLUMINATORS, a 5-part series about the history of business disruption from Tendril. What can energy companies learn from radical change in other industries? Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the docket this week: curtailment of renewable energy.Historically, we’ve thought about curtailment as a waste of valuable clean electricity — a financial penalty for renewable generators who need to monetize every last electron.It’s already an issue today. California has so much solar power, in certain months it is dialing back tens of thousands of megawatt-hours of PV generation. It’s happening in other states, to a lesser degree. And it’s so many people are focused on storage.But our perception of curtailment is changing. New modeling suggests that overbuilding wind and solar is actually the most economic solution for achieving high levels of renewables — not necessarily relying on storage.So, how should we think about curtailment? As a liability for generators and grid operators, or a tool for cleaning up the grid?Recommended reading:LA Times: California Has Too Much Solar Power. That Might Be Good for RatepayersGreenBiz: A Radical Idea to Get a High-Renewable Electric GridClean Power Research: Curtailment of Low-Cost Renewables a Cost-Effective Alternative to Seasonal StorageSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we’re challenging our long-held beliefs about whether individual actions matter. Even if we drastically altered our lifestyles, would it do anything to address climate change?We all want to believe that our individual life choices will have a meaningful impact on carbon emissions. But a focus on solar panels, LEDs and vegetarianism may just be a distraction.This week, Stephen is going to take the position that individual actions are inconsequential. Shayle will argue the other side.This is the second installment that addresses this theme. Last episode, we asked: do people care about energy? Listen here. Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Over the next two weeks, we are challenging our long-held assumptions about energy.We’re going to take the opposite stance of an argument that we agree with. Can we change our minds?In part 1, we’re revisiting the assumption that most people do not care about energy. Most people care about convenience, lifestyle and price. But do they care enough about their energy use to make a change for environmental reasons without external pressure? Shayle is going to take the opposite stance of what he believes — he’s going to argue that consumers do care. Stephen will respond by arguing that people don’t care.For your reading pleasure, here’s the article Shayle references on “flight shame” in Sweden.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We present a special episode produced in collaboration with Centrica Business Solutions.In 2006, Kate Sherwood left her job in strategy consulting to work in solar. “I realized what I had been doing wasn't getting me out of bed anymore,” says Sherwood. “So, I took a very big pay cut to move into carrying a bag, into being a salesman.”Selling solar to corporate customers at that time wasn’t easy. But C&I solar blossomed as the technology got cheaper, financing got better, and companies got more comfortable.Today, Kate is the vice president and head of sales at Centrica Business Solutions. There, she runs a team that packages all kinds of energy tech for commercial and industrial customers — solar, batteries, combined heat and power, demand response.So much as changed since 2006. There’s a new company committing to 100% renewables every week; tech firms and industrial giants are looking to procure gigawatts of wind and solar for their operations; and extreme weather is forcing a lot of companies with critical infrastructure to build on-site generation with a green twist.In this podcast episode, produced in partnership with Centrica Business Solutions, we’ll speak to Kate Sherwood about the biggest shifts in commercial energy since she first found her calling in the space."I think corporate energy buyers have gotten more sophisticated. Hats off to the commodity suppliers and even the brokers and aggregators out there who have helped educate large customers on that their energy load, their spend is not just a liability, but also an asset that they can deploy. I think customers today are more sophisticated on average," says Sherwood.Centrica Business Solutions is using analytics, market know-how, and distributed energy tech to help C&I customers take control of their energy use and improve their environmental performance. Learn more here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What would a truly bold presidential plan to decarbonize the economy look like?Democratic candidates are offering up their visions.Elizabeth Warren is focusing on banning fossil fuel extraction on public lands and using the military to counter climate threats; Beto O’Rourke is looking to executive action; Joe Biden is teasing a “middle ground” plan.Then there’s Washington State Governor Jay Inslee. He just released his second climate plan — it’s more of a manifesto — called the The Evergreen Economy. It’s a culmination of a decade and a half of his thinking, writing and policymaking on climate.The document was so good, we decided to devote a whole episode to talking about it. You can read it here. And check out Dave Roberts’ supplemental analysis here.Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Uber and Lyft are now public — and now under more investor pressure to expand quickly. What does that mean for energy use and carbon emissions as more cars hit the roads?Multiple new studies show that these transportation networking companies are causing more traffic and pulling people away from public transit. Meanwhile, cities and states are trying to clean up those fleets by promoting electrification.Will we be able to clean up ride-hailing fleets fast enough?This week, in honor of the Uber and Lyft IPOs, we are looking at the negative and positive consequences of ride hailing.Recommended reading:GTM: Electric Ridesharing Benefits the Grid, and EVgo Has the Data to Prove ItPBS: Why is Your Uber or Lyft Stuck in Traffic? Most lLikely bBecause of Uber and LyftSchaller Consulting: Lyft, Uber and the Future of American CitiStreets Blog: Uber and Lyft Caused U.S. Transit DeclineSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Big energy giants around the world are investing heavily in renewables and cleantech. But there’s a whole class of companies making moves in the sector behind the scenes.In this episode, we’re looking at the unsung corporate heroes of the clean energy transition.Shayle and Stephen share their picks for companies that are making surprising moves into renewable energy, electrification and clean materials. What does it tell us about how deeply clean energy is embedded in the corporate world?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s taken decades for renewables to compete with fossil fuels. But we’re now entering the third phase of the clean energy transition, when new renewables are beating existing coal and gas plants on price alone. "We’re on the verge of a new, radically different point in history,” argues futurist and technologist Ramez Naam.This phase of the energy transition will bring change that is faster and more disruptive than at any point in history.But will it happen fast enough? This week, we’ll ask Ramez to outline the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for our energy future. We’ll look at how the energy transition may unfold, and what we can learn from other tech sectors.In the second half of the show, we’ll talk about long-duration storage, the system-wide benefits of cheap batteries, the future of small-modular nuclear, and artificial superintelligence.Ramez is chair of energy & environmental systems at Singularity University. He is a computer scientist who worked at Microsoft developing products like Outlook and Internet Explorer. And he’s also the author of the award-winning science fiction series, “Nexus.”Recommended reading from Ramez:The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be the Most Disruptive YetClean Technology is Disrupting Fossil Fuels Faster Than EverSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week: we dig into the causes of PG&E’s latest bankruptcy: wildfires.PG&E’s restructuring is one of the biggest in U.S. history — and it could be considered the first climate bankruptcy. The utility faces tens of billions of dollars in liabilities after investigators pinned over a dozen wildfires on PG&E equipment. What does it tell us about the health of utility infrastructure and corporate preparedness for climate risk?The future structure of PG&E is still uncertain as it moves through bankruptcy proceedings. And California lawmakers are struggling with how to both protect and penalize utilities for wildfire damages.We are going to explain what wildfires mean for PG&E and other California utilities. We’ll speak with Katherine Blunt of the Wall Street Journal about what her reporting has uncovered.Our current Interchange sponsor is PG&E. Please note: our sponsors have no influence on our editorial content in our podcasts. Read some of Katherine Blunt’s reporting:California Governor Proposes Fixes to State’s Wildfire CrisisPG&E Delayed Safety Work on Power Line That Is Prime Suspect in California WildfireJudge Moves to Curtail PG&E’s Dividends Until it Reduces Wildfire RisksSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.