Eight Minute Climate Fix | Clean Energy & Climate Policy Insights

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content The amount of renewable generation that is forecasted to come online over the next few years is staggering. But renewable assets face risks - risks associated with the changing climate in the first place. As weather patterns change, affecting cloud cover, snow melt, or wind speed - renewable assets are especially vul...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content There are over 20 Green Banks spread across the US, designed to deploy clean energy technologies and ensure equitable access to the clean energy economy. These quasi-public institutions play an important role in bridging a risk gap between what is "theoretically financeable" and what is "actually finan...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content If there is a gold standard for setting corporate climate goals, it's a science based target. These commitments are a rigorous, methodical approach toward ensuring that we stay below the 2 degree warming threshold. In today's episode, Paul explains the methodology used to determine science based targets and...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Philanthropic giving to climate related causes is woefully small. But charitable dollars have a really important role to play because of their flexibility and different motivations. They can catalyze investment in areas where private or governmental dollars can not. In this episode, Paul sits with Randall Kempner, Se...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Paul sits with Mike Roeth of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) to discuss the current state of trucking and how that industry is decarbonizing. Although trucks only account for 5-10% of the vehicles on the road, they contribute up to a quarter of the transportation sector's greenhouse gas...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content 2024 marks the first compliance period for the groundbreaking building performance standard in New York City known as Local Law 97. The law requires large buildings to go beyond simply reporting emissions and to begin to enact decarbonization standards. Or face fines. Paul sits with Luke Surowiec of ICF and who is th...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content It's been about 6 and a half years since Hurricane Maria laid waste to Puerto Rico's power grid. As the island continues its recovery, it is pioneering a more distributed, renewable and resilient power infrastructure that the rest of us can learn from. In this episode, Paul sits down with Javier Rua of the...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content On March 6th, the Securities and Exchange Commission released their long awaited rules on climate disclosure. The final product attempts to standardize how companies report on the risks that they face from worsening climate events, while providing a way to indicate the strategies and steps being taken to reduce the i...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Thermal Energy Networks are matriced assemblies of pipes and heat pumps where buildings can not only utilize the heat from the ground beneath us, but repurpose heat from the buildings around us to make certain we're not wasting anything. And, because of that, these systems may be a super efficient and cost effec...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content In this episode, Paul unpacks how 24/7 hourly matching is becoming something of a new standard for corporate renewable energy procurement. This temporal strategy is having an impact on not just how large companies are buying power, but also for federal organizations, hydrogen developers, and, frankly, just about anyo...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content When Walmart launched their Project Gigaton program in 2017, the idea that the retailer could get their suppliers to cumulatively reduce 1 BILLION tons for carbon emissions by 2030 was hailed as incredibly ambitious. Last week, the company reported in their fourth quarter earnings call that they had not only surpasse...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content While EV global sales continue to surge, the uptick in the US lags significantly behind that of our European counterparts. And while obstacles such as a lack of charging infrastructure, high up-front costs, and battery range are affecting market share - those same issues are also at play in Europe. So what are they d...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Getting discouraged by all of the negativity in climate news recently? In this week's episode, Paul takes a different tack - focusing on the good news that came out of 2023 and all of the positive results that we've *already* achieved in climate action. Take a bit of hope from this episode as to the traject...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content In this episode, Paul is joined by DR Richardson and Jan Keleher of Elephant Energy to discuss the challenges of the residential heat pump market. With an array of federal, state and local incentives, a myriad of technology options, sizing requirements, electrical upgrade decisions and other factors that play into in...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content The intensity and impact of wildfires has dramatically increased over the past few decades due to climate change. And as those acres burn, those fires are releasing trapped carbon back into the atmosphere and only exasperating global warming. Utilities have been at the center of the controversy around wildfires - tak...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Is renewable natural gas the silver bullet for a greener future or a complex puzzle yet to be solved? While many industrial and natural gas companies have looked to RNG as a potential solution to decarbonize their operations, the fuel source is not without some issues. Paul examines how RNG is made, used and contribu...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content CO2 may be the main culprit of climate warming activities - but there are other greenhouse gases out there even more potent. Twenty thousand times more potent, in fact. And controlling these gases is just as important to meeting our climate ambitions as reducing carbon emissions is. Paul unpacks the Kyoto protocol an...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Just before Christmas, the US Treasury and IRS issued rules on how certain tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act should be considered. These 45V tax credits are critical to the growth and evolution of the hydrogen industry, but not everyone agrees on how these credits should be managed. Should they prioritize gr...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Back in October, California passed a remarkable law called Senate Bill 253, The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act. Usually shortened to just SB 253, the new law is the first to require large companies to publicly report on their greenhouse gas emissions. Paul sits down with one of the key architects of the le...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content COP28, the world's largest climate event, wrapped in Dubai last week. On the one hand, the COP is an event for politicians and dignitaries as they wrestle with the language around how forcefully the world will commit to the climate transition. But, the COP has another side to it as well, a public side where corp...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Industrial and manufacturing processes require intense heat - something that has been relatively difficult to achieve with electricity. But converting those processes away from fossil fuel sources and to renewable energy is critical if we're going to decarbonize this sector. But a host of emerging technologies a...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Artificial Intelligence is having a moment. And while there are legitimate concerns as to how AI can influence our society and culture, this emerging technology is also having a profound impact on the pace and scale of the energy transition. In this episode, Paul dissects what AI can, and can not do, and illustrates...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content The utility business model is a bit unusual, given that power companies own a natural monopoly in the areas in which they operate. But just as the energy transition has upended a bunch of other industry models, it's doing something similar in the staid power industry.  Paul digs into the existing Cost of Service...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content The Inflation Reduction Act unlocked $379 billion toward cleaner and more renewable climate technologies. But it also funnels nearly $50B toward State and Local governments to help them develop and implement their own climate resiliency plans. In this episode, Paul discusses the federal funding sources as well as the...

Let us know how we're doing - text us feedback or thoughts on episode content Season 2 of Eight Minutes kicks off with an overview of the current state of the Corporate PPA market. Lots of tailwinds for the growth of new renewables projects - but also quite a few challenges that are keeping the industry back from reaching its full scale. Paul digs into these issues with a fly-over on how the c...