Last week, a mix of regulars and new faces converged for the 5th Quarterly Cleantech Podcasters Roundtable, perhaps the best we’ve had so far:
- Nico Johnson – SunCast
- Emily Chasan – The Energy Gang
- Gil Jenkins – Climate Positive Podcast
- Tim Montague – Clean Power Hour
- Bill Nussey – Freeing Energy Podcast
- Josh Porter – Solar Coaster Podcast
This episode was co-produced by Tigercomm and SunCast Media — forming SunCast’s 499th episode! You can stream the Roundtable on on iTunes or any other streaming service where podcasts are found.
Thank you to our audience for a solid participation rate. I’ve included their questions with time stamps below.
- 24:04 - Jake Susman of Ambient Fuels: When it comes to net-zero goals, is it better to use the stick of shaming on greenwashing sustainability goals or to focus on praising the ones who are doing it right to encourage more action?
- 30:38 – Electrada: What are the biggest obstacles to vehicle electrification facing fleet operators?
- 34:27 – Kevin O’Rourke of ACORE: What’s the bigger barrier to the clean energy transition: transmission or storage?
- 44:37 – Atlas Renewable Energy: How can supply chains be strengthened to ease supply demand imbalances and provide a cost-effective alternative to components that utilize forced labor?
- 52:20 – Tom Weirich of EDP Renewables: What is the risk that clean economy needs to take more of?
Honorable mentions of transmission expert Rob Gramlich and Breeze board member Mike Orshan.
As always, we’ve outlined what we see as the key takeaway, this quarter’s crystal ball question: “What industry trend are you noticing that’s not getting a lot of attention, but could turn out to be very consequential for the clean economy?”
- Load control as method of upgrading and repurposing old panels.
- Developments in smart home technology.
- New concentrated solar power technologies that will enable new heat technologies.
- Recent positive developments in energy storage, and alternative energy storage beyond batteries — hydrogen and hydro, for example.
- Seeing more cleantech companies founded and directed by communicators.
- More movement in local energy and a transformation in the energy sector via transactive energy.
- Scaling fuel cell technology for commercial aviation — and using this development to capture the American imagination of what the clean energy transition can look like.