Factor This

Tell us what you think of the show!

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

This week’s episode features Aaron Clark from Bloomberg, who wrote about efforts to reduce "forever chemicals" in semiconductor production. 

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Gregor Hintler. He shared that we should not be fooled by the negative rhetoric about renewables from the current administration, since clean energy is growing exponential in the US, and globally. Gregor shared some images of solar growth in certain regions. Congratulations, Gregor!

This Week in Cleantech — March 21, 2025 

1. BYD charging breakthrough is another sign of China's EV lead over Tesla — Axios
2. Big gas turbine manufacturers aren’t ready to bet on the AI boom — Semafor
3. The Republicans Pushing Trump to Save Biden’s Clean Energy Tax Credits — The New York Times
4. Solar Generation Surge Sends European Power Prices Below Zero — Bloomberg
5. As Chips Race Spews ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Startups Emerge to Destroy Them — Bloomberg

Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  [email protected]

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Elliot Coad, founder of 30x30 United Kingdom and Ecologi, who shared research that stated the world is losing 4-14% of its staple crops due to microplastics, since they are hindering plant photosynthesis. Researchers say this problem could increase the number of people at risk of starvation by 400M in the next two decades. Thanks to Elliot Coad for sharing this new information, and kudos to Damian Carrington at The Guardian for reporting on the research. 

This Week in Cleantech — March 14, 2025 

1. The Biggest US Banks Have All Backed Out of a Commitment to Reach Net Zero — WIRED
2. This Startup Has A Way To Make Cheap, Clean Hydrogen–Without Federal Subsidies — Forbes
3. Solar Energy, Criticized by Trump, Claims Big U.S. Gain in 2024 — The New York Times
4. Khosla Backs Startup Aiming to Pull Carbon From Air in New Mexico — Bloomberg
5. US Considers Emergency Powers to Restart Closed Coal Plants, Doug Burgum Says — Bloomberg

Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  [email protected]

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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

This week’s episode features Lisa Martine Jenkins from Latitude Media, who wrote about how Trump's tariffs will complicate the U.S. energy supply chain.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Dhruv Patel, COO of Renewable Energy at McCarthy. He celebrated National Energy Efficiency Day with his team at McCarthy on Wednesday and shared his experience on LinkedIn with the quote, “But what really sticks with me isn’t just the megawatts we build—it’s the impact we leave behind.”

This Week in Cleantech — March 7, 2025 

1. Justin Peterson, The D.C. Power Broker Embroiled in a Global Hacking Scandal — The Wall Street Journal
2. Tumbling Tesla Shares Leave Investors Bracing for More Losses — Bloomberg
3. Column: Time for California to get serious about cheaper, cleaner energy — LA Times
4. Zero: Why (Almost) Everyone Hates ESG Right Now — Bloomberg
5. Tariff havoc begins, complicating energy supply chains — Latitude Media

Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  [email protected]

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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

This week’s episode features Kate Yoder from Grist, who wrote about how the solar industry is rebranding itself as a symbol of American "energy dominance" to survive a second Trump term.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is  Daniela V. Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Ocean Alliance. Daniela shared a Consumer Reports study on LinkedIn about the chemicals and microplastics found in our food, and how it is impacting our health. She shares a petition for a strong global plastics treaty. Congratulations, Daniela!

This Week in Cleantech — February 28, 2025 

1. Trump Administration Moves to Fast-Track Hundreds of Fossil Fuel Projects — The New York Times
2. Trump Paralyzes the U.S. Wind Power Industry — The Wall Street Journal
3. AI giants learn to share Trump’s zeal for fossil fuels — The Washington Post
4. How Tariffs Could Shock America’s Power System — The Wall Street Journal
5. Can solar power avoid Trump’s culture wars? — Grist

Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  [email protected]

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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

This week’s episode features Jennifer McDermott from the Associated Press, who wrote about how enhanced geothermal company Eavor is starting up their first commercial power plant in Germany using techniques from the oil and gas industry to drill deep and extract heat from hot rock. 

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Johanna Anderson, who shared her experience as one of the Federal employees terminated last Friday. Despite this setback, she remains deeply committed to climate action and making a difference. Her resilience is a testament to the passion and perseverance driving the clean energy transition forward. Congratulations, Johanna!

This Week in Cleantech — February 21, 2025

1. You already know Elon Musk. You need to know Harold Hamm. — HEATED
2. White House Starts Unwinding Environmental Permitting Rules — Bloomberg Law
3. California’s Push for Electric Trucks Sputters Under Trump — The New York Times
4. The False AI Energy Crisis — The Atlantic
5. Major test case for new geothermal technology launches in small German town — AP News

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

Sponsored by OATI

The energy industry loves a shiny new object.

Distributed energy resource management systems, or DERMS, land squarely in that bucket. The software’s ability to autonomously control and communicate with millions of potential devices, while facilitating power market participation, could be the Swiss Army Knife the energy transition so desperately needs. It's also a key enabler of virtual power plants, which have received a fair amount of hype on their own. 

But this rapidly growing market has created an environment of ambiguity. Even the acronym, DERMS, doesn’t have a clear industry definition, creating an opportunity for half-baked solutions to cash in on the optimism. So what's real?

In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Linda Stevens, the chief strategy officer for smart grids and smart cities at OATI, joins me to demystify DERMS. 

That's all next on Factor This. 

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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

This week’s episode features Tim McDonnell from Semmafor, who wrote about how Trump's return could freeze clean energy investments by rejecting or clawing back DOE’s $400B Loan Programs Office (LPO) funding.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Peter Roy, International Consultant for Soluz Honduras. Peter recently took a trip to Honduras to witness the company’s operations in Yoro, where solar energy was brought to a remote, off-grid community that used to rely on wood sap for light. 

This Week in Cleantech — February 14, 2025

1. Record-breaking growth in renewable energy in US threatened by Trump — The Guardian
2. How China Became The World's New Nuclear Energy Superstar — HuffPost
3. Trump Sets 25% Steel, Aluminum Tariffs, Widening Trade War — Bloomberg
4. Green Energy Ambitions of European Companies Take a Beating — The New York Times
5. Trump’s unpredictability scares energy investors, Biden’s green banker says — Semafor

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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 Matthew Zeitlin from Heatmap News, who wrote about how how huge load growth in Georgia, partially from its green manufacturing boom, is keeping coal plants open.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic Network. Liz was open about the tough road ahead for offshore wind, but reminds us that despite the obstacles, we must stay united and keep fighting for our future as a community. Congratulations, Liz!

This Week in Cleantech — February 7, 2025 

1. Trump Has Paralyzed Renewables Permitting, Leaked Memo Reveals — Heatmap News
2. Boiling Point: Farewell to Ivanpah, the world's ugliest solar plant — LA Times
3. $100 Billion Stargate AI Venture Touted by Trump to Depend Partly on Solar Power — Bloomberg
4. Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it's not fair — AP News
5. Georgia’s Green Manufacturing Boom Is Keeping Coal Plants Open — Heatmap News

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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 Alexander Kaufmann from HuffPost, who wrote about President Trump declaring an “energy emergency” in his inaugural speech to boost oil drilling, weaken environmental protections, and cut gasoline and electricity prices in half.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Adrien Lelièvre, CEO of Pi POP, a French company that has designed the first e-bike that uses supercapacitors instead of heavy lithium-ion batteries. It works by storing energy while braking or coasting downhill and releases it for acceleration or climbing. Congratulations Adrien!


This Week in Cleantech — January 24, 2025 

1. Trump temporarily halts leasing and permitting for wind energy projects — AP News
2. Trump plots a return to fossil fuel expansionism — Semafor
3. Trump Orders Agencies to Halt Spending From Biden’s Climate Law — Bloomberg
4. Smoke from fire at California lithium battery plant raises concerns about air quality — AP News
5. Energy Production Is At A Record, But Trump Declares An Emergency — HuffPost

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

Tell us what you think of the show!

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 Brendan Koerner from WIRED Magazine, who wrote about the lives of young men recruited by door-to-door solar sales companies.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Will Heegaard, CEO of Footprint Power. Footprint Power’s South California team are bringing mobile solar power and other renewable energy resources to base camps and distribution sites, and supporting 92,000 displaced people due to the LA wildfires.

This Week in Cleantech — January 17, 2025 

1. The Insurance Crisis That Will Follow the California Fires — The New Yorker
2. Los Angeles Utilities’ Decisions to Keep Power On Are Scrutinized – The New York Times
3. This group says natural gas bans hurt minorities. It has gas industry ties. — The Washington Post
4.  REC Silicon pulls the plug on polysilicon production at Moses Lake plant — Renewable Energy World
5. The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman — WIRED Magazine

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast