Factor This This Week in Cleantech (11/07/2025) - What does a pragmatic 'climate reset' look like?
Nov 7, 2025
David Roberts, host of the Volts podcast and a leading climate commentator, joins to explore Michael Liebreich's proposal for a pragmatic 'climate reset.' They discuss how economics and technology can reshape the future of clean energy, emphasizing the importance of demonstrable solutions over costly, unproven technologies. Roberts contrasts the need to convince pragmatic elites with the challenges posed by more radical opposition. The conversation also touches on how innovative approaches like virtual power plants can meet energy demands effectively.
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Distributed Virtual Power Potential
- Virtual power plants (VPPs) can aggregate distributed assets like solar, batteries, and smart thermostats to meet significant peak demand.
- Rocky Mountain Institute estimates VPPs could exceed 20% of US peak demand by 2030, shifting capacity to households and businesses.
Data Centers Should Fund VPPs
- Data center operators should invest in VPPs so households and small businesses do not shoulder the cost.
- Use aggregated distributed resources to avoid expensive infrastructure and reduce deployment risk.
Market Forces Favor Renewables
- Despite political pushback, global investment in renewables surged to record levels in 2025.
- Clean energy remains fastest to market and often cheaper to deploy than large centralized plants.