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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Amanda Chu from the Financial Times, who wrote about how Albemarle, the largest lithium producer in the world, said it is not economically viable to build a lithium supply chain in North America or Europe. 

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun. Mary just was named to the 2024 TIME100 Climate List of Most Influential Leaders In Climate. TIME recognized Mary for her climate leadership, advancing residential clean energy adoption to strengthen the nation’s energy grid. Congratulations, Mary!

This Week in Cleantech — November 22, 2024

1. The hidden emissions impact of grid congestion is bigger than you think — Latitude Media
2. Trump picks fracking CEO Chris Wright to be energy secretary — The Washington Post
3. This seaside town will power thousands of homes with waves — The Washington Post
4. A Court Just Broke America’s Most Divisive Environmental Law. Here’s What Happens Next. — Heatmap News
5. Lithium producer says west cannot end reliance on China in critical minerals — The Financial Times

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Katie Brigham from Heatmap, who wrote about how climate tech companies are uncertain, but hopeful, of their future under a Trump presidency.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Sara Samanieg, Latin America’s first recycling influencer. She has taught people how to sort recyclables and brought attention to Bogotá’s often-overlooked community of recyclers. Congratulations, Sara!

This Week in Cleantech — November 15, 2024 

1. What Trump means for Tesla — Fast Company
2. Exxon’s chief has a warning for Republicans — POLITICO
3. US Unveils Plan to Triple Nuclear Power by 2050 as Demand Soars — Bloomberg
4. COP29 host Azerbaijan hits out at West in defense of oil and gas — Reuters
5. Climate Tech Companies Plan For Survival Under Trump – Heatmap

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Tim McDonnell from Semafor, who wrote about how many in cleantech believe the clean energy transition will happen regardless of who is in the White House, since the growth of U.S. clean energy industries is driven by fundamental economics.


This Week in Cleantech — November 8, 2024

1. Utility regulators take millions from industries they oversee. What could go wrong? — Floodlight News
2. Oil giant BP is killing 18 hydrogen projects, chilling the nascent industry — TechCrunch
3. World’s largest transformer maker warns of supply crunch — The Financial Times
4. US Regulator Rejects Amazon-Talen Nuclear Power Agreement — Bloomberg
5. Donald Trump will test how fragile the energy transition really is — Semafor

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Shannon Osaka from The Washington Post, who wrote about how districts that favored Trump in 2020 received three times as much Inflation Reduction Act investment as those who favored Biden.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Colin Hughes from Rebel, who just shared his bikeshare experience in Rotterdam, Netherlands with BAQME’s e-assist cargo bikes. He shared that the company had at least one bike within a 5-minute walk, and that the cost was usually under $5 per trip around the city. Thank you for sharing your bikeshare experience, Colin!

This Week in Cleantech — November 1, 2024 

1. U.S. approves massive lithium mine in Nevada, overriding protests — The Washington Post
2. Cheap Solar Panels Are Changing the World — The Atlantic
3. A new solar-storage project is powering Amazon data centers. It took 7 years to get online — Latitude Media
4. Green jet fuel producers are crossing a daunting climate tech barrier — Semafor
5. See how the Inflation Reduction Act is affecting your community  — The Washington Post

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Washington Post reporter Evan Halper, who covered how a coal power plant's life was extended when Meta and Google data centers came to town.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Michael Graham of the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities & Communities Coalition. Michael leads the EMPOWER project, which helps workplaces install EV chargers at their offices for free, and is a Workplace EV Charging Coach. Congratulations, Michael!

This Week in Cleantech — October 18, 2024

1. Google Backs New Nuclear Plants to Power AI — The Wall Street Journal
2. Is LNG worse for the climate than coal? — The Financial Times
3. IEA report signals "age of electricity" — Axios
4. Watch this robot expertly take apart electronics so they can be used again — Fast Company
5. A utility promised to stop burning coal. Then Google and Meta came to town. — The Washington Post

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Maddie Stone from Grist, who wrote about how Hurricane Helene caused the temporary closure of Spruce Pine, NC's two main quartz mines, which has disrupted the solar supply chain. 

This week we have multiple "Cleantechers of the Week.” The industry has truly come together to support those impacted by Hurricane Helene:

• Maggie Sasser from Pine Gate Renewables has organized efforts to help rebuild.
• Nico Johnson from Suncast Media and Tom Weirich from EDP Renewables have raised awareness and shared ways to support affected communities.
• Jason Grumet and the American Clean Power Association co-hosted a Hurricane Helene Relief Fund Reception. 
• Also thanks to all the other cleantechers this week who donated and helped John Engel bring gas cans, water, food and blankets to those in Asheville, NC. 

This Week in Cleantech — October 11, 2024

1. Cost of Producing Green Hydrogen Makes It Prohibitive, Says Study - Wall Street Journal
2. Form Energy raises $405mn to develop rust-powered batteries - Financial Times
3. U.S. Ramps Up Hunt for Uranium to End Reliance on Russia - New York Times
4. This country ditched coal. Here’s what the world can learn from it - Washington Post
5. The solar supply chain runs through this flooded North Carolina town - Grist 

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Hello, Factor This! listeners. This is John Engel, editor-in-chief of Renewable Energy World and POWERGRID International. As many of you know, I live in Asheville, which was devastated from Tropical Storm Helene. 

This conversation between myself and Renewable Energy World content director Paul Gerke was hastily recorded on Wednesday, Oct. 2, so please excuse the production quality. Some of the conditions discussed in this podcast have changed since recording-- gas is now readily available in Asheville and Duke Energy has restored power to at least 90% of the Carolinas. 

I love Asheville. To see many of its best elements destroyed is beyond tragic. 10 days after the storm, most of the city remains without water. Remote mountain regions are impassable. People are still missing. We need your help. 

Please consider supporting these organizations: 

• North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund 
• Beloved Asheville
• Samaritan's Purse
• Footprint Project

Thank you to all of you who continued to support Asheville's recovery. It means the world to me. 

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Catherine Boudrea, a Business Insider reporter who wrote about Constellation Energy's plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Robin Swanhuyser, the Executive Director of Twende Solar. Twende Solar empowers under-resourced communities with renewable energy systems. Their vision is to have renewable energy be the solution for eliminating poverty, strengthening economies, protecting ecosystems, and achieving a more equitable society. Congratulations, Robin!

This Week in Cleantech — September 30, 2024 

1. Under a Texas sun, agrivoltaics offer farmers a new way to make money — The Washington Post
2. America's Oil Country Increasingly Runs on Renewables — The New York Times
3. What The Fed’s Interest Rate Cut Means For Climate Change — HuffPost
4. From Norway to New York, electric ferries are taking over the globe — NY Post
5. Tech bros and bankers rally around nuclear power to fuel AI's rapid rise — The Business Insider

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week's episode features Ivan Penn from the New York Times, who wrote about how one of the country's largest coal plants, located in Minnesota, is being replaced by solar and storage. It will be the largest solar farm in the Upper Midwest when completed, but some residents are worried about the change.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is President of rPlus Energies. Luigi recently called on his LinkedIn following to form a solar industry equivalent rallying cry of the “Got Milk?” campaign. He mentions that other industries have found a way to emotionally engage people, but the solar industry is lagging behind. Congratulations, Luigi!

This Week in Cleantech — September 20, 2024

1. Trump vows to pull back climate law’s unspent dollars — POLITICO
2. America’s New Climate Delusion — The Atlantic 
3. Natural Gas Is Critical To Achieving Global Climate Goals. Here’s Why — Forbes
4. What If We Get Fusion — But Don’t Need It? — Heatmap 
5. Coal Power Defined This Minnesota Town. Can Solar Win It Over? — New York Times

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week's episode features Tim De Chant from TechCrunch, who wrote about a possible path to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from the airline and shipping industries: a startup working to develop "green" methanol, which is made without fossil fuels.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Nora Zacharski, Press Secretary at Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Nora recently graduated with her Master’s in Political Communications, and shared her Capstone project online, which analyzed Facebook messaging by opponents of land-based and offshore wind energy. Congratulations, Nora!

This Week in Cleantech — September 6, 2024

1. What Will We Do With Our Free Power? — New York Times
2. How much more water and power does AI computing demand? Tech firms don't want you to know — LA Times
3. Local opposition is now a ‘leading cause’ of canceled clean energy projects —  Latitude Media
4. More cleantech companies fail as fundraising challenges emerge — Financial Times
5. Oxylus Energy strikes 'beautiful balance' to make e-fuels for aviation and shipping — TechCrunch

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