Factor This

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 Rachel Frazin from The Hill, who wrote about how the Biden administration finalized fairly strict climate rules for the nascent hydrogen energy industry, that determine which facilities can qualify for hydrogen tax credits.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Aaron Nichols from Exact Solar, who reminds us that solar in the U.S. continued to expand during Trump’s first term. Shout out to Aaron for bolstering our determination as we face this unprecedented time. Congratulations Aaron!

This Week in Cleantech — January 10, 2025

1. EVs, Nuclear and Forever Chemicals: Climate Predictions for 2025 — Bloomberg 
2. Banks Celebrate the New Year by Quitting Their Climate Pledges — The New Republic
3. Trump Says He Wants No Wind Farms Built During Presidency — Bloomberg
4. Climate-friendly electricity sees big battery projects soar again for 2024 — AP News
5. Biden administration adds exemptions into new climate rules for hydrogen energy — The Hill

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 new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Dana Clare Redden, from our “Cleantecher of the Year” committee, who has picked our Cleantecher of the Year!


This Week in Cleantech — December 20, 2024 

1. Trump’s Energy Pick, Chris Wright, Argues Fossil Fuels Are Virtuous — The New York Times
2. Cipher analysis: Emerging clean technologies see sharp drop in investments this year — Cipher News
3. The Age of Electrons Has Arrived, but Maybe Not for the Right Reasons — Heatmap News
4. PG&E Secures $15 Billion Loan From U.S. Energy Department — The New York Times

Watch the full episode on YouTube


Cleantechers of the Year

Most Impactful - Bill Weihl - Climatevoice

Bill Weihl, transitioned from ClimateVoice’s Co-Executive Director to the role of Founder & Chief Strategic Advisor. ClimateVoice leverages corporate influence from climate-positive companies to win policy battles.

Most Entrepreneurial - Emilie Oxel O'Leary - Green Clean Wind LLC

Emilie is actively urging her LinkedIn followers to reach out for their solar recycling needs, highlighting the growing concern over solar components ending up in landfills. She’s asking for every steel pile, aluminum racking component, nut, and bolt, so she can help clean up your site. 

Most Disruptive - Michael Tekabe/Hayat Bedene - Kübik

Michael Tekabe, Chief Operating Officer, and Hayat Bedane, Engineering Lead at Kubik, an Africa-based startup, make building materials out of recycled plastic for affordable, sustainable, and easy-to-deploy homes, clinics, and warehouses. Their construction materials reduce 5x less carbon pollution than traditional materials.

Most Innovative - Gregg Patterson- Origami Solar

Gregg is leading the effort to reframe the global solar industry with recycled steel, replacing aluminum solar module frames. This entire effort is designed to lower the carbon pollution footprint of the global solar industry. 

Cleantecher of the Year - Jonathan Foley - Drawdown

Jonathan Foley, climatologist and Project Drawdown Executive Director, wrote a piece that shares the impact of agricultural pollution, and how we need to prioritize sustainable agricultural practices. Jonathan shared that total carbon pollution from the food system, including food waste, transport, packaging and refrigeration sits at 34%, making food the single largest polluting economic sector — more than power generation or industry, which both sit at roughly 23%. 

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 Camila Domonoske from NPR, who wrote about how under a second Trump administration, an "all-of-the-above" energy policy is likely to return, meaning support for oil, gas, and renewable energy sources together.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Kevin Minton, Vice President of Spruce Power, who represented the company on a mission to a small village in Kenya. Over the course of three days, they installed two solar arrays, inverters, and batteries to power facilities, including a schoolhouse, a dispensary, and a small hospital room. These systems also supported laptops for children to learn and televisions for instructional videos. Congratulations, Kevin!

This Week in Cleantech — December 13, 2024 

1. The Israeli Investigator Who Delivered Dirt on Exxon’s Enemies — The Wall Street Journal
2. Does talking about climate ‘tipping points’ inspire action — or defeat? — Grist
3. What 4 Years of Delay Means to an Offshore Wind Project — Heatmap News
4. Chinese Carmakers Are Taking Mexico by Storm While Eyeing U.S. — The New York Times
5. Under Trump, an 'all of the above' energy policy is poised for a comeback — NPR

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 new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Izzy Ross from Grist, who wrote about how Michigan's fast-tracking of renewable energy projects under a new law, Public Act 233, is facing legal pushback from about 80 townships and counties.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Robert Wilson and Louisa Ziane, Co-Founders of Toast Brewing, which brews beer with the surplus of fresh bread from bakeries, reducing agricultural demand for barley and food waste. Every second loaf of bread is wasted in the UK, but since 2016, Toast Brewing has saved enough bread to stack more than four times the height of Mount Everest. Congratulations Robert and Louisa!

This Week in Cleantech — December 6, 2024 

1. Utilities build flow batteries big enough to oust coal, gas power plants — The Washington Post
2. Northvolt, Europe’s Hope for a Battery Champion, Files for Bankruptcy — The New York Times
3. US Solar Installs Facing Flat Growth — and That’s Before Trump — Bloomberg
4. A strange new climate era is beginning to take hold — The Washington Post
5. Michigan wants to fast-track renewable development. Local townships are suing — Grist

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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

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 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 

Watch the full episode on YouTube

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