Energy Gang

Wood Mackenzie

Episodes

Mentioned books

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Oct 31, 2016 • 58min

Making Stuff Is Hard

Dreaming, designing, building and deploying new kinds of hardware is tough in any business. But in the energy business, where change comes particularly slow, developing new tech is an especially hellacious undertaking. All of our segments tie into this theme. We’ll start off by talking with Emily Reichert, the CEO of Greentown Labs, a hardware-specific cleantech incubator. We’ll talk about where entrepreneurs tackling this space are finding the financial and human capital to get them to scale. Then we’ll turn to the ongoing saga of SolarCity. The company made a big bet on solar manufacturing last year – and new developments suggest that the decision to make its own solar panels was the wrong one. Finally, the solar industry in general is undergoing a lot of turmoil – particularly in manufacturing. We’ll broaden the discussion to talk about why solar producers are struggling, and why the solar industry may be facing a bloodbath in 2017. Thanks to our sponsor, Mission Solar Energy. Find out more about Mission's American-made solar cells and modules: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Oct 20, 2016 • 53min

A Civil War Over Carbon Taxes

In November, Washington State voters have the chance to pass the most ambitious carbon tax ever proposed in the U.S. But there’s one problem: Virtually every major green group in the state is against it, or afraid to support it. What is going on? We'll talk with David Roberts, a writer with Vox, about the strange battle within the environmental left over carbon pricing. Then, we'll turn to the hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign. They also show a tense relationship between left-leaning environmentalists and centrists like Clinton. And finally, we’ll discuss a landmark global treaty to slash HFCs. It’s another win for global diplomacy and the Obama Administration. But will a Republican Senate ratify it? Read David Roberts' piece on the carbon tax fight: http://www.vox.com/2016/10/18/13012394/i-732-carbon-tax-washington This podcast is sponsored by Mission Solar Energy, a producer of American-made solar cells and modules. Find out more at: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Oct 19, 2016 • 43min

How Should We Pay for the Grid?

We are at the beginning of one of the greatest economic and consumer behavior experiments ever seen in the energy sector. How do we refine pricing in order to rapidly transition our aging, centralized grid to a clean, decentralized one? And can we do it so that we limit the economic losers, pay for the fixed costs of operating the grid, and make everyone whole? It’s a complicated question. The range of actual rate design options – decoupling, minimum bills, demand charges, fixed charges, and time-of-use – offer so many varying benefits and drawbacks. Everyone agrees that we’re moving to a distributed grid. But there’s a lot of disagreement on how to pay for it. That is what we’re tackling in the show this week. We’re joined by Lisa Wood, the executive director of the Edison Institute for Electric Innovation, and Ralph Cavanagh, a senior attorney with the National Resources Defense Council. Their perspectives on rate design are featured in a new report from the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, called "Recovery of Utility Fixed Costs: Utility, Consumer, Environmental and Economist Perspectives." This podcast is sponsored by Mission Solar Energy, an American solar cell and module manufacturer: http://www.missionsolar.com/ This is a complimentary episode of our premium podcast, The Interchange. Find out more about GTM Squared: http://www.greentechmedia.com/squared See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Oct 14, 2016 • 1h 4min

Live From SXSW Eco

This week, we present our live conversation from SXSW Eco. We're really sorry for the audio quality. There were some technical difficulties, and we did our best to clean up what we had. We'll be back with a normal show next week. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Oct 7, 2016 • 54min

Inside the Minds of Solar Consumers

With over 1 million residential solar systems in the U.S., photovoltaics are entering mainstream. But how do installers sell the next 10 million systems while giving consumers a good experience? This week, we're talking about what consumers are looking for when solar shopping. We'll talk with Vikram Aggarwal, the CEO of EnergySage, about the company's latest Solar Market Intel report that tracks buying habits and sales tactics. We'll explore the trends covered in the report. Then, we discuss South Australia’s state-wide blackout. Was wind power to blame? And finally, New York City’s solar market is taking off. Now it wants to do the same for storage. How did the city turn its solar market around so quickly? This podcast is sponsored by Mission Solar Energy, a producer of American-made solar cells and modules: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sep 27, 2016 • 52min

Donald Trump’s Energy Delusion

Last night, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton squared off on the presidential debate stage -- coming face-to-face for the first time in the campaign. Almost immediately, the candidates debated over energy and climate change. Clinton started the debate with a direct swing at Trump’s climate denial and dismissive comments on renewables. “Some country is going to be the clean-energy superpower of the 21st century. Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. I think it's real,” said Clinton. Trump swung back with an an awkward attempt to conjure up Solyndra, the government-backed solar company that went bust in 2011. “She talks about solar panels. We invested in a solar company, our country. That was a disaster. They lost plenty of money on that one,” said Trump. In the days leading up to the debate, more details emerged on Trump’s energy transition team. And during the debate, voters got a few additional hints at his worldview. This week, we’re going to square Trump’s stances on energy with, well, reality. Then, we’ll have an update on Obama’s signature climate rule that is now stuck in court. Finally, GM is getting ready to roll out its 2017 all-electric car, the Bolt. Is this the affordable EV we’ve all been waiting for? Links: Our sponsor, Mission Solar Energy: http://www.missionsolar.com/ Solar Market Insight conference: http://www.greentechmedia.com/events/live/us-solar-market-insight-2016 (Use the code ENERGYGANG for a 15% discount.) Bill Holmberg obituary: http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2016/09/08/bioenergy-legend-bill-holmberg-dies-at-88/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sep 23, 2016 • 54min

Breaking Diesel Dependence on Small Island Nations

Renewables like wind and solar are largely not linked to oil prices. But there are markets where the success of renewables is more closely tied to oil: islands. Or, more specifically, small island developing states, which make up 20 percent of UN member countries. These small island states are dangerously dependent on diesel -- causing energy prices to fluctuate wildly and forcing many people into fuel poverty. That makes them perfect candidates for renewables. In this week's show, we talk to Leslie Labruto, director of the islands energy program at the Clinton Climate Initiative, about why opportunities in island markets are expanding, even in the face of low oil prices. Then, a pivotal moment for nuclear. After much scrutiny, the UK government approved the 3.2-gigawatt Hinkley Point C nuclear expansion. We'll discuss this historic test case for the competitiveness of nuclear. Finally, a pivotal moment for America’s solar industry. We’ll dig into a debate about where the country’s biggest solar lobbying group needs to turn its attention. Thanks to Mission Solar for sponsoring the show. Check out Mission's American-made solar panels: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sep 13, 2016 • 36min

America's Local Solar Politics

This week, we hop around to a few U.S. states where there’s been a lot of action: Nevada, California and Florida. Julia Pyper, GTM’s senior reporter, joins us for the discussion. In Nevada, we’ll look at the continued fallout after the decision to end net metering last December. In California, we’ll discuss the unprecedented amount of activity on climate and energy at the end of the legislative session. And in Florida, we’ll talk about the ballot initiative battle that has pitted the state’s utilities against a broad coalition of solar supporters. This week's show is sponsored by Mission Solar Energy. Find out more about Mission's solar cells and modules, made in the USA: http://www.missionsolar.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Sep 1, 2016 • 49min

Are We Making Global Energy Poverty Worse?

Big development banks are pouring billions in energy projects in developing countries. Between 2000 and 2014, the World Bank Group alone invested $63.5 billion in electricity access. But we still have more than 1.5 billion people without access to energy services. What is the disconnect? This week, we'll talk about one of the biggest institutional barriers to energy access –- why multilateral development banks are not set up to solve energy poverty quickly. We'll talk to Aaron Leopold, the deputy director for global advocacy at the Power for All campaign, about how to speed up energy access by changing the way we think about traditional investment. Then, are prominent business journalists willfully ignoring the growth in U.S. clean energy jobs? Finally, America is now dealing with its first set of climate refugees in Alaska and Louisiana. A sign of things to come? This week's podcast is brought to you by SolarEdge and Mission Solar Energy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Aug 26, 2016 • 48min

Is an Offshore Wind Boom Coming for America?

America’s first offshore wind project, the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island, is almost complete. The developer, Deepwater Wind, is already eyeing much bigger projects off the Atlantic coast. Meanwhile, following the federal government’s attempts to make offshore leasing easier, a number of East Coast states are adopting policies to encourage new projects. These developments have onlookers excited about the prospects for offshore wind in the U.S. Is America set to follow Europe, which has built many thousands of megawatts of projects? We'll discuss all the latest developments for offshore wind in the country. Later in the show, we'll discuss Bill McKibben’s latest piece on WWIII mobilization for cleantech. Finally, we’ll look back on the last ten years for the Northeastern regional carbon trading market, called RGGI. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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