Research Space / Climate Change

Metaphor for Risk. That’s how Titanic’s hit icebergs.

Self-Awareness in Writing. I often have to put down my mouse.

Positive Progress. I&#8217;m feeling like things are on a <em>good</em> track.

Cautionary Approach. I don&#8217;t want to gallop ahead of myself and realise a few kilometres down this road that we&#8217;ve veered three degrees off our true north.

Job Growth in Clean Energy. Jobs in clean energy are outpacing job growth in the economy overall, indicating a significant shift in employment trends.

Community-Centric Policy. Investments are intentionally directed toward low and moderate-income communities, providing a larger return on investment for economic growth.

Bipartisan Collaboration. Biden's commitment to bipartisan efforts is a crucial part of his strategy, aiming to garner support across party lines for the investment agenda.

Historical Investment Trends. The Biden administration has seen six historic quarters of investment in private manufacturing facilities, with some being the largest since the 1950s.

Biden's New Strategy. The Biden administration's approach represents a break from previous Democratic policies by emphasizing investment in key industries rather than just free trade.

Significant Investments. So far, $910 billion in announced investments across the US in sectors like semiconductors, clean energy, and manufacturing have been reported.

Environmental Justice Focus. The investment strategy also seeks to revitalize economically distressed communities, with a goal to create opportunities that benefit all Americans.

Public-Private Synergy. The strategy is defined as 'government enabled and private sector led,' emphasizing the role of the private sector in driving clean energy implementations.

Supply Chain Resilience Needs. The Biden administration aims to ensure supply chain resilience amidst the dominance of China by fostering a diverse array of suppliers.

Legislative Support. For any progress to occur in the next fifteen years, full commitment is required from the UK government.

Gigafactory Needs. It's estimated that by 2040, the UK will require 200GWh of factory capacity.

Critical Mineral Demand. The raw statistics for critical mineral demand highlights the magnitude of operations required for battery production.

Supply Chain Resilience. Efficient recycling of materials, less reliance on international trade, and elimination of questionable sources leads to a much more robust supply chain, powering this vision.

Charging Infrastructure. Gone are the days of gas stations, replaced by all-electric forecourts.

Electric Vehicle Revolution. In my vision of the future, the scene is reversed, with the petrol car looking like the dinosaur in a sea of spaceships.

Battery Technology Shift. Increases in solar panels and wind turbines requires an increased amount of grid level storage, opening the way for large stationary storage sites.

Agricultural Land Use. Agricultural land accounts for 70% of UK landmass, so it seems only natural for some of this to be designated to renewable energy sources.

Future Vision. The battery industry&#8217;s journey will also begin here, in London.

Youth Global Concern. A study published in The Lancet in 2021 found that 70 percent of 16- to 25-year-olds in ten countries said they were 'extremely worried' or 'very worried' about climate change.

Personal Climate Action. Ayana offers a worksheet to help individuals determine how they are best suited to help solve the climate crisis using her Climate Action Venn Diagram.

Action Steps. If you live in the United States, the most important thing we can do in the next two months is vote for candidates who get it on climate and volunteer with organizations.

Need for Climate Voters. Climate voters are needed all over the planet, as the science is clear: climate is changing, humans are responsible, the risks are serious and we must act now.

Voter Turnout Issue. Over 8 million environmental voters sat out the 2020 election in the United States, highlighting that the environmental movement has a turnout problem.

Election as Climate Election. Up and down the ballot, from president to city council, this U.S. election is a climate election and a real inflection point.

Young Voter Engagement. Some 40 percent of young U.S. voters across political affiliations say they will only support a candidate who prioritizes climate action, according to new polling data.

Pivotal Book Release. Ayana's important new book, 'What If We Get it Right? Visions of Climate Futures', is being released and contains insightful conversations about potential climate futures.

Ayana's Background. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist who founded the Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank envisioning the future of coastal cities in a warming world.

PFAS Deregulation Proposal. In the Heritage Foundation's 900-page blueprint for Donald Trump's second term, there's a brief proposal to potentially deregulate a class of toxic chemicals called PFAS, linked to high rates of cancer among firefighters nationwide.

Cancer Connection to PFAS. PFOA, one of the most notoriously widely used PFAS chemicals, is a known carcinogen and does cause cancer in humans.

Activism Impact. Deregulating PFAS could put many Americans at risk, particularly those on military bases, postponing the cleanup of highly contaminated sites.

Economic Motivation to Deregulate. The document proposes to 'revise groundwater cleanup regulations and policies to reflect the challenges of omnipresent contaminants like PFAS,' which would save 'billions in economic costs.'

Long-term Effects of PFAS. If adopted, the Project 2025 approach will result in large numbers of Americans getting cancer and other devastating illnesses.

Widespread Contamination. The problem of PFAS pollution may be even more widespread than previously reported, impacting 200 million Americans in all 50 states.

Dangers of Turnout Gear. Diane Cotter links her husband Paul’s prostate cancer to PFOA—one of the most common types of PFAS chemicals and a known carcinogen—because of its ubiquitous presence in protective 'turnout' gear.

Health Risks of PFAS. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have linked PFAS and other chemical exposure to increased cancer risk among firefighters.

Environmental Concerns. The right is for non-consumptive use, meaning the company has to re-inject the same volume of water—minus the lithium—back into the same subterranean formation from which it came.

Wolf Capture Incident. Colorado wildlife officials last week announced they had captured the entire Copper Creek family of wolves in the Middle Park area.

Historic Findings. A University of Utah paper published this summer explores the genetics of various populations of the Four Corners potato.

Tribal Land Leasing. States are profiting off of land that should by all rights belong to the tribes, by leasing it out to grazers, miners, loggers, and oil and gas drillers.

Questioning Viability. Carbon capture may have a place, especially on cement factories or steel mills, which are hard to decarbonize in other ways. But aging coal plants? Nope.

Carbon Capture Feasibility. The U.S. Energy Department has awarded the Navajo Transitional Energy Company $6.5 million to study the feasibility of installing carbon capture equipment on the Four Corners coal power plant.

Expansion Plans. Anson's not just going after lithium. In August, they filed a notice of intent to do exploratory drilling at their Yellow Cat uranium and vanadium project north of Arches National Park in Utah.

Regulatory Approval. Utah regulators are clearing the way for Anson Resources' Green River direct lithium extraction project.

Challenge Ahead. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency this November, she will enter the Oval Office with an unprecedented challenge: the task of forging an American response to the climate crisis.

Listen for More. In this podcast I discuss why that’s so needed, what it might look like, why needed actions will divide the nation on a number of conflicts — and must happen anyway.

Preserving Democracy. Preserving this democracy will require leadership for a lurching transformation like none we’ve seen before.

Rebuilding Economies. President Harris's central task will be different, though, and more difficult: readying this nation for worsening climate discontinuities by rebuilding our economy and communities on a scale that’s still hard for many to grasp.

Need for National Plan. Now, we need a national plan to ruggedize in the face of what’s coming.

Necessity for Speed. Now we need to drive down the costs of clean energy, build up the grid, improve energy efficiency and storage, and electrify everything. This can be done, but speed is everything.

Legislation Accomplished. President Biden delivered on the most ambitious climate legislation in history when he pushed through the IRA.

Crisis Acknowledgment. We’re no longer capable of preventing a massive planetary crisis — we’re in one.

EV Charging Concerns. Both Dave and Tiya assert that this is 'no cost' for anyone but the EV owners, but these chargers will come at a daily, ongoing cost to sidewalk users.

Community Guidelines. To keep organized, please only 'REPLY' directly under one of Sam's headline comments.

EV-Charger Tension. I want fewer cars, fewer parking spaces. This is a real tension in the EV-charger conversation.

Electric Excavator. Behold, the 778 ton PC8000-11 surface mining excavator made by Komatsu!

Health Update. I am, as you read this, lying in a hospital room in Hamburg, Germany, with one less appendix.

Event in San Francisco. I'm joining Canary Media in San Francisco on Nov. 13 for a night full of climate/election conversations with a star-studded assortment of panelists from government, journalism, and advocacy.

Energy-Transition Metals Demand. Annual demand for energy-transition metals will grow fivefold by mid-century from 2023 levels under more aggressive action.

Growth without Support. All this is happening without any help from governments, and except for South Africa without financing from banks.

Electric Vehicles Impact. The IEA said this week that oil demand around the world is softening because of 'surging' sales of electric vehicles.

Africa's Solar Expansion. He reports something similar happening in country after country—Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, on and on.

Distributed Solar Capacity. By the end of the year, Pakistan's distributed solar system could be nearing half the capacity of its entire grid.

Pakistan's Solar Boom. Pakistan has become the third-largest importer of Chinese solar modules, acquiring a staggering 13GW in the first half of this year alone.

Solar Panel Revolution. Solar panels have, over the last months, suddenly gotten so cheap that they’re now appearing in massive numbers across much of the developing world.

Legal Pressure on Oil Companies. The number of lawsuits being filed against oil companies has tripled in recent years.

Coal Phase-out in the UK. Britain will close its last coal-fired power plant at the end of this month.

Understanding AI Desires. The conclusion that AI would not have 'a desire to dominate' brings up questions about anthropomorphizing complex algorithms.

AI's Social Impact. It seems wildly naive to assume that a tool unleashed in a profit-driven economic system would somehow only work for the benefit of society as a whole.

Technological Dependency. The problem with the exponentially accelerating development of technology is that many have no choice but to opt-in to maintain lives in the minority world.

Concerns About AI Governance. The post raises concerns about whether Silicon Valley is engineering governance AI that could replace democracy.

LeCunn's Counterargument. Yann LeCunn detailed at length why this theory was nonsense, citing studies in evolutionary psychology and political ideology.

Musk's Controversial Tweet. Elon Musk tweeted a screenshot of a 2021 political theory posted by an anonymous user on 4Chan, proposing that only a Republic ruled by 'aneurotypical' and high testosterone males would be a true democracy.

Gender and AI Leadership. If Yann's argument is that a superhuman AI would be better than a human at governance because of its lack of testosterone, we could instead consider allowing women to make decisions.

Testosterone and Aggression. A 2019 meta study found that the causal effects of testosterone on human aggression are weak, with no impact on aggression levels in women.

Free Market Paradigm. Draghi is a flag-bearer for the school of free market economic thought that drove Europe’s embrace of liberalised energy trading arrangements.

Political Centrism. The political centrism he embodies might have fallen out of favour with the rise of far-right populism in mainstream discourse.

Efficiencies of Liberalisation. There is a healthy debate to be had about which regulations stand the best chance of achieving that without unleashing unintended consequences.

Liberalisation Savings. As I reported in 2022, liberalisation of gas trade saved the EU €70 billion in the decade prior to 2021.

Political Expediency. This omission can only be ascribed to political expediency, i.e. Draghi not wanting to embarrass his paymasters at the Commission.

Report Critique. The section that discusses 'The EU's dependency on gas imports and exposure to spot markets' concludes without any concrete proposals.

Market Manipulation Concerns. Draghi also worried about market manipulation and called for a 'sector inquiry' in electricity and gas markets 'to deter anti-competitive behaviours and tacit collusion among companies'.

Storage Coordination. Draghi called for Member States to 'coordinate the strategic filling of natural gas storage for upcoming winters to avoid EU operators competing among each other'.

Speculative Capital Impact. These limits allow speculative capital to hold more than 30,000 TWh of gas futures, which is more than six times the annual consumption of the entire region of Europe.

Position Limits Proposal. Draghi called for the EU to use its powers to impose 'stricter position limits', and to 'envisage different limits depending on the type of traders'.

Market Volatility. A good number of column inches spent expanding on the need 'to reduce volatility in EU gas markets by limiting the possibility of speculative behaviour'.

Draghi's Report. Many of you will have seen the landmark EU report on the Future of European Competitiveness, authored by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.

Quarterly Events. What sets E-FWD apart are the quarterly in-person themed events, where members get together to debate some of the stickiest challenges facing the industry.

E-FWD Participation. E-FWD publishes original analysis and thought leadership on all the big UK energy transition topics.

Podcast Interview. I had a blast talking natural gas and LNG with the good folks at Modo Energy.

Outdoor Education Impact. Outdoor programs like this are so important for helping kids to fall in love with nature, and care about climate change.

Infrastructure Spending. In the U.S., nearly a billion dollars of the bipartisan infrastructure law is being used to help strengthen roads, bridges, and transportation networks.

Bridges Aging Faster. In particular, climate stress is making bridges age faster.

Climate-Affected Infrastructure. The problem we have is this: we've been planning for our future based on the past. We continue to design and build our cities and our infrastructure based on the assumption of a stable climate, but that assumption no longer holds.

Pollinator Habitats. Well-designed and managed solar farms can create habitats for honeybees, bumblebees, and other pollinators.

Solar Farms & Biodiversity. When solar farms are carefully planned and seeded with native plants that pollinators love, they can help tackle the biodiversity crisis at the same time as the climate crisis.

Kids Learning Nature. Kids spend their days in the woods, learning about nature - catching frogs, climbing trees, whittling wood, and learning about edible plants.

Long-term Energy Planning. The intent of Balto Energy's tool is to allow homeowners to make the best decisions for future energy needs, not just immediate ones.

Agile Electrification Project. The Agile Electrification project aims to unite contractors and stakeholders to collaboratively navigate the challenges posed by the NEM 3.0 decision.

Vision for Electrification. Balto's position is that solar and storage should lead always, building 20 or 25-year products for the future energy consumption.

Customer-Focused Tool. Balto Energy's tool is aimed at empowering contractors to provide homeowners with a range of clean energy solutions tailored to their needs.

Home Energy Modeling. To accurately model a home's energy use and consumption profiles, a physics-based model of the building and calibration with actual data is essential.

Future of Solar. In the past, simple solar paybacks were in the five to seven years range; now, a different set of products and services is needed to achieve similar outcomes.

Importance of Consumption. The more a California homeowner stores and consumes their own cheap rooftop solar power, the more value they get out of that solar and the lower their total bills.

Economical Strategy. The most economical strategy for most homeowners is likely to be some mix of electrification, batteries, and rooftop solar.

NEM 3.0 Impact. California's recent NEM 3.0 decision on rooftop solar compensation means utilities pay much less for exported rooftop solar power than they used to.

Balto Energy's Tool. Balto Energy, a startup founded by James Quazi, uses AI to analyze utility bills and recommend the most cost-effective clean energy strategy.

Homeowner Conundrum. California homeowners face a complex puzzle in decarbonizing their homes: electrification without rooftop solar could increase bills due to expensive electricity.

Systematic Change. Electrifying appliances and adding rooftop solar is seen as complementary actions that can yield economic benefits for homeowners.

Confronting Math Realities. Apparently those folks would rather we journalists ignore these numbers and fuzzy-up the math.

Reservoir Concerns. Drawing down the reservoirs until there’s no savings account left could lead to chaos in the region.

Farm Alliance Criticism. The Family Farm Alliance is demonizing me for supposedly demonizing alfalfa.

Alfalfa Irrigation Effect. If all irrigation of alfalfa and hay was stopped, it would put more than 6 million acre-feet of water back into the Colorado River system.

Irrigation Impact. About 6.3 million acre-feet of Colorado River water is consumed to irrigate alfalfa and other hay crops.

Water Use Analysis. The biggest user, irrigated agriculture, is going to have to make the biggest cuts.

Fairy Tales vs. Hero's Journey. Fairy tales teach us to cooperate, be kind, innovate, listen, trust, and to rewrite the story in tough times.

Writing Process. When I write a book, I have to move things around a lot, laying printed pages on the floor and cutting bits and moving the chunk to a different chapter.

Publication Strategy. I've decided to get around this limitation by posting the popped out bits as they occur to me and assuming permission from all of you to move them around later.

Evolution of Tales. It's telling that the original versions of most fairy tales featured incredibly gruesome endings that, over the years, were replaced with oddly sanitised, Disney-fied versions.

Intense Curiosity in Children. When kids are in the middle of a tale, in the suspenseful bit, they're busting to know the end.

Crisis Origins of Fairy Tales. I also want to point out here that fairy tales were created during crises - global pandemics, famines and displacement.

Water Management Conflict. Some ditches are being piped or lined with concrete, because it would dry out the wetlands and ecosystems that had come to rely on the leaky laterals and ditches.

Critique of Alfalfa. It accused me - via a piece I wrote for High Country News - of 'demonizing' alfalfa.

Downstream Water Flow. The point, as she understood it, was to save water only to send it downstream to California.

Climate Impact of Candidates. Harris's victory over Trump would still prevent the release of 4 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by 2030 compared—an amount equating to $900 billion in climate damages avoided.

Trump's Silence. Donald Trump said absolutely nothing about climate change during his minute-long response.

Harris Acknowledgment. Kamala Harris, to her credit, acknowledged the seriousness of the climate crisis and touted the Biden Administration's myriad actions to spur clean energy development.

Candidate Responses. Neither candidate talked about what they would do, nor did they speak accurately about what must be done.

Debate Climate Focus. Moderators saved climate change for the last possible moment of the 90-minute event, and asked only what the candidates would do to tackle it.

Climate Ignored. The reason climate change is not a driving force in this election is because powerful people and institutions consistently refuse to talk about the problem with accuracy and appropriate urgency.

Debate Climate Moments. Despite only one climate question, related topics came up throughout the evening.

Communication Failures. Failures of our most powerful political communicators were put squarely on display during the debate.

Performance-Based Regulation. Performance-based regulation could better align utilities' incentives, but it requires careful implementation.

Public Engagement Importance. Public engagement gives regulators the authority to act more effectively in the public interest.

Consumer Protection Policies. Looking at the shut-off policies of utilities and when a customer can be shut off is a vital area for improvement.

Intervener Compensation. Intervener compensation can provide funding for public interest groups to participate in PUC proceedings.

Public Participation Models. FERC's Office of Public Participation serves as a good model for engaging the public in utility regulation.

Three P's Framework. The three P's of utility regulation are people, policy, and process.

Need for Engagement. We need to pay more attention to these opportunities to appoint and elect commissioners that are really committed to advancing the public interest.

Coalition Focus. PowerLines aims to modernize the utility regulatory system to accelerate affordable, reliable, and clean energy for American consumers.

Public Awareness. Raising awareness of the importance of PUCs is actually a key solution.

Rising Electricity Rates. Electricity rates are skyrocketing; they've grown 20% since the start of 2022.

PUC Staffing Issues. PUCs are understaffed, under-resourced, and underappreciated, leading to high turnover among commissioners.

Engagement Needed. Neither the public nor most clean energy advocates pay much attention to who is appointed or elected to PUCs.

Regulatory Authority. PUCs have direct regulatory authority over the entities at the heart of the US electricity system.

PUCs Obscurity. Most of their work goes on in obscurity, with only utility lawyers and lobbyists paying attention.

Hua's Initiative. Energy analyst Charles Hua is launching PowerLines, a nonprofit that aims to pull PUCs into the spotlight.

PUCs' Importance. Public utility commissions (PUCs) wield enormous influence in the US energy transition.

Range Anxiety Reduction. With EV ranges increasing all the time, range anxiety is becoming less of a concern for buyers, as the average American only drove 30.1 miles a day in 2022.

Driving Behavior Impact. To maximize our Miles/kWh we can choose an EV with a high Miles/kWh value and drive efficiently by utilizing techniques like regenerative braking and avoiding harsh acceleration.

Optimal EV Efficiency. Batteries usually have an RTE value, or round trip efficiency, typically &gt;90%, which affects the miles/kWh value and indicates that charging is not 100% efficient.

EPA Testing Methodology. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an official methodology for calculating the range of EVs, with manufacturers testing pre-production prototypes and reporting results to the EPA.

Efficiency Metrics. Miles/kWh gives us a good idea of how efficiently the car is designed and how well it utilizes the energy in the battery.

Lucid Air Efficiency. Lucid Motors recently claimed that the 2025 Lucid Air Pure would be the world's most efficient EV, achieving a record 5 miles/kWh with a 420 mile range from an 84kWh battery.

Efficiency and Cost. Focusing on efficiency will make EVs cheaper to operate, which is key to encouraging positive change in the market.

Recap for Non-Watchers. Arielle and I will send out a climate-focused re-cap and analysis for you as quickly as we can.

Paid Subscriber Chats. Also, chats are only available to paid subscribers.

Join Live Discussion. We’ve done similar threads during previous debates and they’ve been pretty well-attended.

Climate Impact. Their choice will help determine whether 4 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions get released into the atmosphere over the next six years—an amount equating to $900 billion in global climate damages.

Voter Influence. A whopping 30 percent of Americans say tonight's televised showdown will help them determine who to vote for in November.

Debate's Ecological Stakes. Tonight's debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has massive ecological and existential stakes.

Technology's Dual Nature. He explains the negative impacts of technology not just on society but on the industry itself which is racing to keep up with its own developments.

Xyonix Co-Founder. As a cofounder of Xyonix, Deep engages in discussions about technology's role in society.

Podcast Mention. Deep Dhillon is host of the podcast, Your A.I. Injection.

Collective Responsibility. This is a wide-ranging conversation about systems, tech, the economy and collective responsibility for engineering a better future for us all.

Vision for the Future. He explains his vision for a brighter future facilitated by technology, but equally explains the negative impacts of technology not just on society but on the industry itself.

Impact of A.I.. Deep has decades of experience working on A.I. models in the Valley.

Conversation on Technology. A.I. technologist Deep Dhillon and I had a heated exchange about technology after meeting by chance in Granada after a flamenco performance.

Historical Impact. Banning fracking would have been one of the most harmful policies in US history. It would have destroyed 60% of our oil production and 75% of our natural gas production.

Question for Politicians. Whenever you hear a politician claim to be a friend of oil and gas, fracking, or any other aspect of fossil fuels, ask one simple question: Do you renounce the 'net zero' agenda?

Public Perception. The only way Kamala Harris can validly convince the public that she’s not an energy threat is to renounce not only her support of a fracking ban but of the 'net zero' agenda.

Grid Reliability Threat. Consider: America desperately needs more reliable power plants given huge demand from AI and (Biden-mandated) EVs. But the Biden-Harris EPA has tried to shut down all coal—1/6 of reliable capacity!

Rising Energy Prices. Americans have already paid a high price for the Biden-Harris administration's net-zero agenda—high energy bills, power shortages, and inflation.

Biden-Harris Administration. The Biden-Harris administration has already shown us that they will try to do everything they can to ban fossil fuels in pursuit of net-zero.

Absurd Fracking Discussion. Given that 'net zero by 2050' requires banning virtually all fossil fuel activity, the whole conversation about whether Kamala Harris wants to ban fracking is absurd.

Biden/Harris Agenda. The guiding energy goal of Biden/Harris is 'net zero by 2050'—rapidly banning activities that add CO2 to the atmosphere.

Commitment to Net-Zero. Harris has not apologized whatsoever for her support of a murderous fracking ban, and far from questioning the anti-fossil-fuel, 'net zero' agenda, she has remained 100% committed to it.

Understanding Fracking. Someone who comes to understand why it’s wrong to ban fracking—because the benefits you would destroy are far greater than the harms you would avoid—should also understand that the same problem exists with the broader anti-fossil-fuel, 'net zero' agenda.

Apology Needed. Harris and others who have advocated banning fracking should apologize.

Food Security. Thanks to fracking, the world is far better fed than it would otherwise be.

Technological Development. Fracking is very likely the single most beneficial technological development of the last 25 years.

Fracking Ban Commitment. Kamala Harris is still for banning fracking—because she is still for the net-zero agenda that requires banning fracking along with all other fossil fuel activities.

Polycrisis Discussion. The views presented on surviving the polycrisis ranged from green growth to post-growth.

Stay Tuned. Expect an update before the end of this year regarding the new direction of Planet: Critical.

Project 2025 Update. An update to Planet: Critical, called Project 2025, will involve less talking and more listening.

Local Context Matters. Contextualization is critical, as locality must be considered in finding solutions.

Participatory Democracy Course. A £7000 eco grant could be better spent on a council-wide course in participatory democracy.

Scale Out, Not Up. I dream of a world of networks of support and scaling out rather than scaling up.

Listening Is Key. The only thing you can do is keep listening to the accumulated knowledge about the polycrisis.

No Silver Bullet. The polycrisis cannot be fixed with a silver bullet or one solution which can be scaled up.

Crisis of Responsibility. One climate activist framed the polycrisis as a crisis of responsibility.

Market Speculation. After the speculative buying frenzy of the last seven months, a reconciliation with flaccid fundamentals was overdue.

Article Specifications. Article stats: 2,000 words, 9-min reading time, 12 charts and graphs.

Winter Futures Predictions. The post concludes by describing how the unwinding of bullish positions could play out in TTF futures this winter.

Subscriber Analysis. This week’s subscriber-only EU LNG Chart Deck provides a forensic analysis of TTF fund movements and macro view of the wider gas/LNG panorama.

Traders Positioning. Traders are positioning accordingly on Europe’s benchmark gas trading hub, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF).

Bearish Market Outlook. The European gas market appears to be teetering towards a new bearish chapter.

Planetary Crisis Reality. The planetary crisis is here, now, and much fiercer than we hoped.

Discounts Available. We’ve created a special code for an additional $50 off. Think of it as a sliding scale: if you need it, by all means use it.

Basics Class Announcement. Ruggedize Your Life: the Basics walks you through the top-level concerns and strategies for choosing a solid place to build a new life, ready for hard futures.

Crash Course Offered. The Crash Course delivers a set of comprehensive classes, includes readings and discussion sessions, and aims to give participants a strong foundation for making smart choices in discontinuous times.

Introduction to Ruggedization. My approach to building a personal climate strategy centers on what I call personal ruggedization.

Climate Strategy Necessity. The crisis is here, our society is still almost completely unready, and no one else will protect your future for you.

Personal Responsibility. None of us can depend on others coming to our rescue, and that each of us has to develop our own strategy for living through the coming decades of planetary crisis.

Need for Adaptation. We need to take bold measures to ready our communities, infrastructure and economy for those ecological disasters worsening around us.

Climate Strategy Importance. If you don’t have a strategy for managing the impacts climate chaos and discontinuity in your own life, you probably haven’t really got a plan for the future.

Mitra Chem's CEO Background. CEO Vivas Kumar spent a few years as the manager of Tesla's battery supply chain before launching Mitra Chem in 2021.

Material Scalability Concerns. The real innovation for Mitra Chem includes bringing a supply chain solution for LMFP to the market.

LFP Supply Chain Risks. The fragility of supply chains became evident during the COVID pandemic.

Future of LFP Chemistry. There is a case to be made that new iron-rich cathodes could eliminate the performance differential with NMC.

Industry Learning from China. There’s much the West can learn from observing Chinese battery supply chain players' ambition in scaling up technology very quickly.

Inflation Reduction Act Details. The $7,500 tax credit for purchasing consumer vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act is tied to domestic battery cell manufacturing.

Geopolitical Drivers for LFP. The continuous increase in tension between China and the United States has led to a significant reawakening of the United States' approach to industrial policy.

LFP's Safety and Cost Benefits. LFP is a safe chemistry with supply chains that scale.

Manganese Role in LMFP. LMFP stands for lithium, manganese, iron phosphate, which could improve energy density compared to LFP.

Shift in EV Market. The shift from premium vehicles being the segments that electrified most quickly in the United States influenced the return of LFP.

China's Supply Chain Control. The production of LFP cells is almost entirely dominated by China.

Battery Chemistry Battle. There has been an epic battle over the past 20 years between two types of lithium-ion batteries: nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP).

NMC vs LFP Performance. LFP still can’t match NMC’s energy density.

US LFP Production Need. America needs better, home-grown LFP batteries.

LFP Growth Drivers. Analysts project enormous growth in the LFP market in coming years.

LFP Market Share. In the last five years, LFP has roared back and captured almost half the market.

Grid Reliability Issues. Across America, the power grid is in decline due to policies that reward unreliable electricity, prematurely shut down coal plants, criminalize nuclear, and force EV use.

Impact of Media. By blaming small numbers of climate deaths on the fossil fuels that have made the number of climate deaths small in the first place, the anti-fossil-fuel media justify a catastrophist agenda.

Texas Policies Threat. The real danger facing Texas is anti-fossil-fuel policies—which threaten to neuter their climate mastery capabilities.

Danger from Policies. Anti-fossil-fuel policies increase climate danger by making it expensive or illegal for us to run the fossil-fueled climate mastery machines that keep us safe from climate.

Long-term Trends. Despite a growing population, we see little change in US heat deaths long-term.

Honesty in Heat Deaths. Obsessing about 200 additional heat deaths in Texas is dishonest given that cold kills far more than heat and fossil fuels have made us safer from both.

Misleading Data Usage. The WSJ cherry picks one data point to falsely portray fossil fuels as increasing climate danger: an increase of 200 in heat-related deaths since 2021.

Climate Death Statistics. The global rate of climate-related disaster deaths has fallen 98% over the last century because of cost-effective energy from fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels' Impact. Fossil fuels have made Texas far safer than ever from climate, both from heat and the (far more dangerous) cold—but anti-fossil-fuel policies are stalling that progress.

Management Document Released. The Bureau of Land Management released the final environmental impact statement and management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Historical Heat Records. Phoenix is now on the 107th consecutive day on which maximum temperatures reached 100°F or higher; the previous record was 76 days in a row back in 1993.

Methane Emissions. The agency estimates the cattle will emit a total of 4,584 metric tons of methane annually under the preferred plan.

OHV Use Restrictions. Currently about 1,500 acres of the monument are completely closed to OHV travel, and OHV use is limited to designated routes on 1.86 million acres.

Cool Energy News. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe's farm in southwestern Colorado has finished integrating a hydropower system into its irrigation network.

Wilderness Characteristics. The monument includes 559,600 acres of lands with wilderness characteristics but that aren’t designated wilderness areas.

Livestock Grazing Evidence. The plan's light-handed approach to livestock grazing provides yet more evidence that national monument designations pose virtually no threat to ranching.

Tribal Stewardship. The preferred alternative would: 'Establish a management approach in collaboration with Tribal Nations that ensures continued Tribal Nation stewardship of GSENM resources.'

Hopi Tribe Solar Project. The U.S. EPA awarded the Hopi Tribe in Arizona $20 million to bring solar power to about 900 off-grid homes.

Condor Shooting Incident. Someone shot a critically endangered California condor this spring near McPhee Reservoir in southwestern Colorado.

Compromise Alternative. As is almost always the case with these sorts of things, the preferred alternative is a compromise, offering a lower level of protection than the more purely preservation-oriented alternative.

Monument Size. Crafting a management plan for a 1.8-million-acre landscape that includes deserts, canyons, forests, riparian areas, and much more is a monumental undertaking.

Rapid Energy Transition. We are on the cusp of a true explosion that could change the world. We are starting to put out the fires that humans have always relied on, and replace them with the power of the sun.

Paper Decarbonization Analysis. Focusing on just net-zero target setting incentivizes so-called 'paper decarbonization' which may not necessarily contribute to greening the economy.

Green Party Strategies. The national US Green Party is a failure because of its rigid and narrow electoral approach.

Risk of Domestic Violence. New UN research indicates that domestic violence could triple in sub-Saharan Africa in the coming decades because of rising temperatures.

California Emissions Reporting. California's legislature refused Gov Newsom's request to delay implementation of a new law requiring businesses to report their Scope 3 emissions.

Impact of Elections on Climate. This election is about—will Big Oil get the obstacle it desperately desires, or will change continue to play out—hopefully with a big boost from the climate movement for even faster progress.

Economic Impact of Fossil Fuels. If it keeps happening at this pace, it will quickly start reducing demand for their products—they have vast reserves of natural gas in the Permian Basin that will stay there forever simply because there’s no market.

Decline in Fossil Gas. For the (almost) 6-month period from March 7 to September 4, fossil gas use on the grid was 29% lower in 2024 than in 2023.

Solar Capacity Growth. In 2014, solar power utility-scale solar provided a mere 9.25 GW (0.75%) of total installed US generating capacity. By the middle of 2024, installed solar capacity had risen to 8.99% of total utility-scale capacity.

Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Last year the tech billionaire investor and co-founder of Netscape Marc Andreessen released a lengthy 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' that set out this accelerationist, anthropocentric, more-more-more vision in point form.

P(doom) Metric. There’s even a trend doing the rounds at Silicon Valley dinner parties where tech types talk their 'p(doom) figure.'

Writer's Commitment. I made a commitment to post this Part 2 to the Moloch chapter this week and so I’m doing something I would not normally do.

Civilization Collapse. We have had to wade our way through a cerebral understanding of systems collapse theory.

Health and Readiness. Military leaders understand that health and readiness go hand-in-hand, and our local communities deserve the same foresight.

Climate-as-the-ultimate Threat. This reinforces the idea of climate change as the ultimate threat multiplier, 'amplifying existing vulnerabilities, enhancing regional instability, and generally fostering conditions conducive to conflict.'

Growing Climate Disasters. In 2023, the U.S. experienced 28 climate disasters resulting in nearly $100 billion in immediate damages.

Military Emissions Strategy. Advances in aircraft design and in ground vehicles are also improving military capability while reducing emissions.

Innovative Milestones. At Fort Liberty in North Carolina, the Army has installed a floating solar array on Big Muddy Lake capable of withstanding a Category 5 hurricane.

Military Climate Action. The military is climate-proofing many of its bases, investing in energy resilience and efficiency, and developing and pioneering new technology.

Threat Multiplier Concept. Sherri coined one of my favourite phrases on climate change risks, 'threat multiplier' in the 2007 report 'National Security and the Threat of Climate Change'.

Sherri Goodman's Impact. Sherri has been changing the minds of military leaders on climate and environmental issues from the inside.

Framing Climate Change. Framing climate change through values like faith or national security can significantly shift opinions.

Transitioning to Cleaner Energy. Finally, we must accelerate the transition to cleaner and more resilient energy resources and untether ourselves from fossil fuels.

Fund Closure. We have successfully closed our second fund at MCJ, bringing in $80.6M in total capital commitments.

Assets Under Management. This is a huge milestone for us, pushing our total assets under management to over $115M.

Investment Focus. This capital is dedicated to backing startups driving the transition of energy and industry and solving the inevitable impacts of climate change.

Future Inspiration. As we enter the next chapter, we remain inspired by extraordinary founders rewriting industries for the future - to be cleaner, more profitable and more resilient.

Team Expansion. With the closing of Fund II, we have continued to invest in and refine our reach as an investment team.

Podcast Reach. The My Climate Journey podcast continues to be a leading platform for discussing the inevitable impacts of climate change and the extraordinary leaders working to solve them, reaching more than 35K subscribers.

Brand Identity Change. Our firm is now simply 'MCJ.'

Support from MCJ. Including MCJ in our cap table was an obvious choice. The support and expertise from the MCJ partners have been invaluable to building our team.

LP Diversity. Our LP base is uniquely MCJ, with a wide range of backgrounds represented including successful founders, partners from major venture funds, and leaders of industry and large tech companies.

Network Strength. Our network is a key differentiator and a critical part of our success.

Investment Sectors. We've backed startups in residential battery storage and power management, power supply planning, limestone-based carbon removal, fleet-scale nuclear development, water-risk forecasting, and software for green infrastructure developers.

Climate Resilience. The need for greater climate resilience drives us to seek solutions that make our infrastructure stronger and our world safer.

Rights of Nature. Nations across the globe are trialing 'rights of nature' laws and 'legal personhood' for various ecosystems.

Podcast Information. Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts.

Positive Legal Interpretation. As lawyers and judges become more familiar with the concept, they’re better able to argue the side of nature.

Ecuador's Example. Kahui sees promising applications of such laws in Ecuador, where courts have examined nature in the context of established constitutional law.

Anthropocentric Legal Viewpoint. The legal frameworks impose an anthropocentric (and primarily Western) legal viewpoint upon something as complex as nature.

Biodiversity Protection. Despite some flaws, Kahui thinks these laws are worth considering and iterating upon to combat environmental degradation.

Gaps in Understanding. Our failure to truly grasp that has left large gaps in our thinking about the future.

Transition Challenges. An orderly transition is no longer possible.

Knowledge Expansion. Despite rapidly expanding knowledge of the forces shaping the planetary future, these gaps persist.

Future Considerations. How might we upgrade our ideas a…

Controlled Experiments. Randomized control trials are used to compare turnout rates between contacted individuals and a control group.

Voter Registration Dynamics. The Environmental Voter Project believes in building demand for climate action to influence policymakers.

Outcome Measurement. EVP measures its success by tracking the number of individuals who become consistent voters after interactions.

Behavioral Strategies. Strategies include making commitments, using loss aversion, and creating a sense of progress to motivate voting.

Social Norms. EVP's messaging leverages social norms, making individuals want to be seen as good voters.

Message Neutrality. During outreach, EVP messages do not focus on climate change but rather on the importance of voting itself.

Habit Formation. Once people start voting, it becomes easier to keep them voting, as they are then recognized as voters by the broader political landscape.

Data Utilization. The process works by building predictive models on voter files, similar to techniques used in presidential campaigns.

Long-term Goals. EVP's long-term goal is to build a national bloc of climate voters that any candidate for any office must acknowledge and cater to.

Empirical Testing. EVP has run randomized control trials to test its own efficacy.

Behavior Change Approach. EVP tries to change behavior rather than minds, which is much easier.

Targeting Voters. The Environmental Voter Project identifies people who already care about climate but don't consistently vote and works to get them to the polls.

Voter Disengagement. Low-propensity voters are more likely to prioritize climate change than high-propensity voters.

Voter Segmentation. EVP identifies distinct segments of non-voting environmentalists to tailor their outreach effectively.

Long-term Electorate Change. EVP focuses on a long-term demand-side approach to change the electorate rather than win individual elections.

Impact of Social Media. Staying glued to social media when we really do know it's feeding a chaos-making beast is also moloch at play.

Doom-Dog Turn. Soon, though, I experienced a doom-dog turn, and, for the first time on this journey, felt a desperate helplessness.

Stop Competing. If all the parents agreed to just stop and perhaps put their time and care into making the local public school great, then everyone would win.

Educational Sacrifice. Another example of moloch is the way parents sacrifice the wellbeing of the family unit to work ridiculously long hours in jobs (perhaps second and third jobs) they hate so that they can send their kids to the fancy private school.

Nuclear Arms Race. By 1985 the US and the USSR had produced 63,000 weapons - enough to flatten every major city on Earth and plunge the rest of us into a nuclear winter.

Moloch Explained. Moloch explains why and how we just can’t stop doing insane, zero-sum, self-destructive things that wind us all up in a horrible race to the bottom.

Understanding the Crisis. I think it’s important that we get some kind of material or theoretical understanding of what the hell is going on around us so that we can then start to imagine, embody and roll-model a 'new normal'.

BLM Solar Plan. Last week the Bureau of Land Management released the final environmental review of its Western Solar Plan, which guides utility-scale solar development on public lands.

Public Input Opportunity. There’s still time to alter the plan; the BLM's protest period is open until Sept. 29.

Planning Recommendations. The BLM would have been wiser to go with its Alternative 5, limiting development to previously disturbed areas within 10 miles of existing transmission lines.

Solar Development Estimates. Under the BLM's reasonable foreseeable development scenario, about 700,000 of those acres would actually see solar panels before 2045.

Comparison of Land Use. About 80 million acres of federal land are available for oil and gas development, of which 23 million acres are currently under active lease.

Misconception Clarification. The current proposal is not opening up an additional 31 million acres to development; it simply extends the plan to more states and tweaks the focus for existing states.

Political Backlash. U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis came out with a scathing statement criticizing the Biden-Harris administration, claiming it is 'destroying the western way of life.'

Caution from Activists. The Center for Biological Diversity was decidedly less enthused, stating: 'We don’t need to destroy tens of millions of acres of wildlife habitat to achieve our clean energy goals.'

Environmental Concerns. The Wilderness Society liked the plan, saying it focuses 'solar projects toward lands near transmission with fewer resource conflicts and away from protected landscapes.'

Industry Response. The Solar Energy Industries Association tentatively celebrated the proposal, writing: 'We’re pleased to see that BLM listened to much of the solar industry’s feedback and added 11 million acres to its original proposal.'

Land Allocation. The proposed roadmap puts millions of acres off-limits to any future solar development while making 31 million acres available for potential development.

Risk to Homes. Within the next three decades, one in seven homes could be at major risk.

Pollution Rates. Multiple scientific studies have shown that logging pollutes more than wildfires.

Cost of Logging. In New Mexico, logging one acre of national forest is 12 times more expensive than burning it.

Old Forest Management Practices. Project 2025 acknowledges directly that its vision for the future looks exactly like the past, ignoring decades of science and knowledge about climate change and prescribed burns.

Ineffective Logging Focus. None of the ecologists that HEATED spoke with for this article thought that cutting down trees alone could solve the wildfire crisis fueled by climate change.

Rejecting Controlled Burns. The management strategy Bakst focuses on instead is increasing timber sales, which he writes could play an important role in changing wildfire behavior because there would be less biomass.

Focus on Logging. Project 2025’s wildfire prevention strategies would be heavily stripped down, primarily focused on making it easier for companies to cut down trees and sell them.

Forest Service Strategy. The Forest Service is implementing a 10-year strategy to reduce wildfire risk, including science-backed methods like prescribed burns, tree thinning, and pruning.

Project 2025 Overview. MAGA Republicans have put together a plan that they say will help ease the wildfire crisis, laid out in Project 2025.

Deadly Wildfires. Last year, the deadliest wildfire in over a century killed 102 people in Maui.

Wildfire Risk Increase. This year’s wildfire activity is nearly 3,000 percent higher in California than last year.

Monthly Reports. Previous monthly reports can be found here.

Lithium Price Trends. But raw lithium prices still down again.

Battery Price Increase. Battery prices up by $1/kWh this month!

Transparency in Industry. We hope this can be a valuable resource to promote transparency in the battery industry.

Report Access. Get the latest August report by subscribing now.

Global Currency Ripple Effects. The effects of dethroning the Dollar would ripple across the world, and could see a knock-on devaluation of currencies whose central bank reserves are mostly made up of the Dollar.

Political Alliances Shifts. Nations like Iran would be open to trade with the world, undoubtedly impacting alliances in a Middle East that is threatening to boil over into multiple wars.

Market Volatility Expectations. Market volatility could also see dramatic gains and losses in vital assets like pensions, more likely losses than gains for investments made through the existing, Western financial infrastructure.

New Geopolitical Power. New national nondollar payment infrastructure could be built into an alternative to the SWIFT banking system.

Local Currency Adoption. Bypassing the existing financial institutions by opening local currencies up to the world threatens Western hegemony.

NDB Credit Rating. The NDB has secured a clean credit rating which has buffeted both the Chinese and Russian economies.

Implementation of NDB. The BRICS group has created the National Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) to challenge the World Bank and the IMF.

Potential US Dollar Impact. If the members agree to launch BRICS-pay, the effect would be a drop in the value of the US Dollar, US Treasury bonds, and US trade.

De-dollarization Strategy. The political group is seeking to reduce their dependence on the US Dollar by creating a blockchain-based payment system.

BRICS Coalition Growth. The BRICS coalition now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Iran.

Event Promotion. It's probably going to sell out again.

DERVOS Definition. DERVOS (a spin on 'Davos') is a one-day conference, in Brooklyn on Oct. 25.

Conference Attendance. In October, I'll be attending and participating in DERVOS 2024.

Volunteer Group. The task force is a scrappy group of volunteers who are 'DER-pilled,' i.e., deeply into DERs for various professional and personal reasons.

Extra Day in Brooklyn. I'll also be in Brooklyn for an extra day on either side of the conference.

Free Tickets Offering. DERVOS organizers were kind enough to offer Volts three passes to the conference, as a treat for three lucky subscribers!

DER Meaning. 'DER,' for those of you lucky enough to have a life, stands for 'distributed energy resources' — all the small stuff out on the edge of the grid, the solar panels, batteries, EVs, smart appliances, and so forth.

Investment Influence. Depending on your perspective, the positioning of investment funds is now either the single biggest factor influencing European natural gas prices, or the best available indicator of where prices are heading.

Hedge Fund Activity. The latest data from the European Securities and Markets Authority suggests that these bullish hedge funds are (at the very least) pausing for breath by reducing their net length in TTF futures.

Increased Capital. Open interest is now 18 times greater than underlying supply of gas in the Dutch market, a feat attributable in large part to the influx of speculative capital over the last 18 months.

Open Interest. Total open interest on TTF breached 3,000 TWh for the first time in late August, which is a mind-boggling amount of gas: equivalent to 307 billion cubic metres, which is more than the entire annual gas demand of the EU in 2023.

Article Stats. Article stats: 1,600 words, 8-min reading time, 11 original charts and graphs.

Market Phase Exploration. This week's EU LNG Chart Deck explores these developments to try to understand whether this is a temporary blip or the start of a new market phase.

Market Cycle Indicators. Simultaneously, the physical players — gas suppliers and producers — reduced their net short position, which tends to indicate the current cycle could be at or near its peak.

Speculative Frenzy. A speculative frenzy fuelled a 75% rally in TTF prices since February, and funds keep piling in.

Market for Heat Pumps. Heat pumps are next in line for this market revolution.

Carbon Emissions from Boilers. In Europe, a staggering 12% of carbon emissions stem from boilers used in more than 100 million homes.

Need for Policy Changes. A cocktail of policies is likely to be needed to tip the scales: removal of subsidies towards fossil fuels, carbon pricing, reduction of levies and taxes on electricity, and to get an immediate and permanent boost, a ban on new boiler installations.

Heat Pump Efficiency. Their efficiency is almost magical: for every unit of energy they consume, they give 3-4 times as much back in heat.

EU Policy Goals. The European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) that passed in December is setting a goal that by 2040, fossil fuels should have no place in heating our buildings.

Training Opportunities. There are examples of startups like Forge, La Solive or Smalt who are playing important roles in scaling these initiatives.

Political Drive for Change. It will be mostly up to voters and politicians to get the final wave rolling.

Installer Efficiency. It is difficult to make heat pump installers more efficient than they currently are.

Need for Unified Platforms. Tradespeople don't need a dozen more apps on their phone; they need one single app - a heat pump installation command center that handles everything from lead generation to monitoring and servicing.

Importance of Software. Software will transform heat pump installation from a logistical nightmare into a more appealing job than refurbishing kitchens and bathrooms or god forbid, installing yet another boiler.

Local Stakeholder Coordination. Setting up and scaling a nature-based (NbS) carbon project, e.g. reforestation or mangrove restoration, is hard, time consuming and involves coordinating many different parties.

Digital Tool Development. We also need to build more digital tools for project developers.

Standards Modernization. We should be helping the Standards, most of which are non-profit entities, to modernise and digitise their process, enabling more oversight with shorter wait times.

Need for Innovation. It’s clear we need to find ways to accelerate the growth of high-quality projects and minimise their time to market without sacrificing oversight.

Validation Delays. While previously, this approval process only took a few months, waiting times have ballooned to around 1.5 years.

PDD Complexity. PDDs can be over 200 pages long and are typically written in coordination with the aforementioned consultants, forcing developers to deal with long wait times.

Methodology Importance. Most carbon experts will tell you that the setup phase of a project is the most important determinant of a project’s quality.

Expertise Pool. The pool of potential partners with the right combination of geographic and activity expertise is, to say the least, shallow.

Carbon Market Growth. To meet scientific consensus, carbon markets must expand to over 10 GT annually by 2050, a 40x increase, accounting for about 20% of global emissions.

BVCM Strategies. To offset hard-to-abate and unavoidable emissions, these companies must also invest in beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM) strategies, which include carbon projects.

Net Zero Commitment. Almost half of Forbes 2000 companies, a figure that has more than doubled in the last three years, have pledged to achieve Net Zero emissions.

Understanding Impact. We see a clear connection between company satisfaction and impact – social impact and environmental priorities must be seen as complementary.

Benchmarking Impact. Our Energy Benchmarks serve as a resource to guide thinking for performance targets and improved organisational efficiency for off-grid energy organisations.

Connecting Markets. Viewing this sector through both a decarbonisation and social impact lens will give companies the tools to ensure their clean energy products can reach the right markets.

Top Impact Awards. We recently celebrated the energy organisations who ranked top for impact – determined through results from the experiences of the 79,000+ customers we listened to.

Need for Capital Investment. Both women-led and locally-owned companies are woefully underrepresented in the flows of capital being invested in the off-grid energy sector.

Locally-Owned Impact. Locally-owned organisations have a higher social impact, female reach, poverty reach, ease of use and satisfaction rates than their peers.

First-Time Customer Support. First-time customers are more likely to face challenges, emphasising the need for targeted support during initial product usage.

Customer Challenges. A substantial third of customers experienced some sort of challenge using their energy product or service, on average.

Financing Challenges. Five percent of those surveyed found payments for their energy device to be a significant financial burden.

Rural Customer Impact. Over half of the 79,000+ customers surveyed live in rural areas, where they reported both higher impact and satisfaction than the sector average.

Solar Lantern Benefits. Some 64% of customers told us a simple solar lantern brought a significant change to their wellbeing.

Quality of Life Improvement. For more than half of all customers, the quality of their and their families' lives improved significantly as a result of their new-found energy access.

Impact of Off-Grid Energy. The off-grid energy sector is making a material difference for hundreds of millions around the globe.

Energy Access Stats. Nearly 10% of the globe's 8 billion people still lack reliable access to energy.

Small-Scale Testing Need. The current consensus is that small-scale testing to answer these questions is the most pressing part of the sinking conundrum.

Future Market Alignment. If you zoom out, the CDR market and the future of the planet are so closely aligned, that it is difficult to imagine the market failing to manifest in the next decade.

CDR Market Uncertainty. Uncertainty in the CDR market itself poses the biggest barrier to seaweed (and all other) forms of CDR.

Biodiversity Benefits. There's evidence to suggest that seaweed cultivation can increase biodiversity and create positive feedback loops when done correctly.

Monitoring Existing Issues. At SeaGen, our starting point is existing problematic seaweed (Sargassum) in the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, working hand in hand with impacted nations.

Ecosystem Monitoring Importance. At the very least, the impacts on the surface ocean ecology need to be deeply understood.

Automation and AI Impact. Coupled with technological developments using automation and AI, it is not difficult to imagine that the costs of cultivation will dramatically reduce in the near term.

Early Stage Cultivation. Seaweed cultivation is still at a very early stage. It has only existed on a commercial scale since the 1950's.

Seaweed CDR Potential. Antoine de Ramon N'Yert and his team at the University of the South Pacific estimated that 9% of the world's ocean dedicated to seaweed cultivation could draw down 53 billion tonnes of CO2 a year.

Community Support. The climate tech community is rich with experience and support.

Regulatory Engagement. Without sufficient engagement with regulators at federal, state, and local levels, startups may miss out on having a seat at the table or might be taken by surprise.

Competitive Dynamics. Startups can sometimes underestimate the power of entrenched competitors.

Cost to Serve Challenges. The lesson is to maintain an updated, realistic view of how cost to serve will look as you scale.

Focus Areas for Impact. By addressing these eight areas, climate tech startups can achieve outsized impact and returns.

Product Development Timing. Sometimes products take longer to develop than the path to revenue can support.

Overestimation of Market. Startups sometimes overestimate Total Addressable Market (TAM).

Market Demand Challenges. Many startups in our analysis faced a common challenge of insufficient demand compared to initial projections, or the go-to-market strategy didn’t fully address potential challenges such as distribution.

Culture Importance. Without proactively nurturing culture, the founding team's values that initially drove success can become diluted.

Common Startup Pitfalls. We identified eight common pitfalls to avoid, as well as examples of startups that successfully navigated these challenges.

Unit Economics Focus. Investors are keenly interested in startups’ path to profitability and scalable unit economics.

Entrepreneurial Challenges. Navigating that journey is challenging, and may become more so in a tighter financing market.

Scaling Climate Tech. We need climate tech startups and the entrepreneurs who build them to solve the climate crisis.

External Challenges. Even the most prepared startups face headwinds outside their control.

California's Role. California's policies often serve as blueprints that are replicated across the nation and globe, a phenomenon exemplified by the Low Carbon Fuel Standard's proliferation.

Unified Coalitions. Shashank's solution? Unified coalitions, despite competition.

Startup Influence. Senator Wiener noted the stark resource disparities startups face when vying for influence against deep-pocketed corporations and formidable trade associations.

Credibility Importance. Shashank noted how net zero commitments, government procurement and industries grappling with compliance mean nothing without market credibility.

Pivotal Market Drivers. Shashank highlighted three distinct market drivers propelling demand: companies with aggressive net-zero commitments, government procurement, and industries grappling with compliance markets.

Scope 3 Contention. Contention around the bill mostly centered on the inclusion of Scope 3 emissions, which often represent up to 90% of a corporation's carbon footprint.

Coalition Support. Senator Wiener explains, 'We had a whole coalition of corporations including Google, Microsoft, Apple, an amalgamated bank, IKEA and Patagonia ... and so on and so forth that were already doing it.'

Lobbying Opposition. Senator Wiener noted the intense lobbying from heavyweight groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Petroleum Institute, who argued the bill's compliance would be burdensome and costly.

SB 253 Requirements. SB 253 requires both public and private US businesses with revenues greater than $1B doing business in California to report their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, beginning in 2026.

Final Thoughts. Together, they outlined an exciting roadmap aimed at catalyzing tangible and lasting impact within the carbon removal space.

Rapid Battery Growth. Recently, it has been reported that battery storage constitutes nearly 60% of projects in the state seeking connection to the grid.

Critical Energy Transition. As America’s economy becomes ever more dependent on a 24/7 electricity grid, solutions like Base Power will become critical to ensuring the energy transition is smooth and seamless.

Decentralized Storage Solution. Base Power's decentralized strategy takes advantage of existing grid interconnections at homes and businesses, solving challenges associated with grid-scale storage.

Energy Cost Strategy. Base Power provides energy backup when needed and electricity when it’s most affordable by purchasing renewable energy from the wholesale market.

Investment Trends. According to PitchBook, venture capital firms invested $4.9 billion in rechargeable battery companies in 2021, up from $1.6 billion in 2020.

Scaling Expectations. Texas had approximately 4,000 megawatts of batteries in the summer of 2023, which is expected to grow each of the next two summers to reach 12,000 to 14,000 megawatts.

Cost Barrier Reduction. Base Power offers homeowners a large battery for free with a $2,000 installation fee, removing the cost barrier of $10,000 to $15,000 for energy storage.

Base Power's Innovation. Base Power is solving the problem of providing consumers with reliable and affordable energy by building the largest distributed battery storage network.

Need for Storage. The confluence of greater solar and wind energy and electrification of homes and buildings highlights the need for more battery storage to make the energy grid more resilient.

Power Outage Scale. More than 4.5 million homes, approximately a quarter of all residences, were without power for several days.

Winter Storm Impact. In February of 2021, severe winter storms swept across Texas putting it in a deep freeze and resulting in one of the worst energy infrastructure crises in the Lone Star State's history.

Quality Demand Growth. Carbon credit buyers are now proving they will pay for quality offsets, which may allow project developers to overcome strong disincentives.

High-Integrity Methodology. The Gold Standard Metered and Measured Energy for Cooking Devices methodology demands that clean cooking project developers demonstrate their impact by tracking fuel usage.

Verification Tools. New technology and techniques, such as stove-use-monitoring sensors, can allow accurate proof-of-use for clean cooking projects even in remote settings.

Offset Prices Collapse. The criticism over offset quality has caused prices from clean cooking projects to collapse from an average of ~$12 to less than $4.

Impact from Carbon Revenue. In Africa, carbon revenue plays a vital role in helping families live cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous lives by subsidizing sustainably produced and lower-carbon replacement fuels.

Over-Crediting Risks. UC Berkeley's analysis found significant risk of over-crediting in carbon offset projects, estimating methodological errors could lead projects to be over-credited by as much as 10X.

Carbon Credits Surge. Clean cooking became one of the fastest-growing segments of the voluntary carbon market, up more than 3X in less than a year.

Investment Pitfalls. Recent scandals have thrown the brakes on getting climate investments where they can have the most impact, leaving billions to suffer in smoke.

Need for Clean Solutions. Solving the problem of household air pollution is critical for people and our planet, with a clear solution to a pressing need.

Cooking Emissions. Emissions from cooking emit more CO2 than the global aviation industry.

Major Emission Source. The leading source of climate emissions per household in the developing world is making dinner, causing more death and disease from household air pollution than tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS combined.

MCJ Podcast Insights. In the latest MCJ Podcast, we cover the history of INL, its key priorities, current projects under development, and Dr. Wagner's vision for our nuclear future.

Climate Advisory Guidebook. President Biden's Climate Advisory team released a guidebook to help companies and investors navigate various federal financing programs.

Technological Relevance. "You can develop all the technologies in the world... but if nobody ever actually uses them, then in my opinion, they're irrelevant." - Dr. John Wagner

Comprehensive Value Chain. By focusing on the entire nuclear value chain—from fuel creation and reactor operation to waste management and cybersecurity—INL is shaping the future of energy.

Collaboration Focus. INL actively collaborates with private companies and regulatory bodies to bring innovative nuclear technologies to market.

Nuclear Leadership Goal. These initiatives aim to reestablish the U.S. as a leader in nuclear reactor development, ensuring safety, efficiency, and commercial viability.

Pioneering Projects. Under the leadership of Dr. John Wagner, INL is pioneering new projects like the Advanced Test Reactor, MARVEL, and PELE.

INL's Innovation Legacy. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), with its rich legacy of innovation, has been a pivotal player in the nuclear energy landscape.

High Energy Density. Its high energy density and low carbon emissions make it a key component of future energy solutions.

Crucial Energy Role. Nuclear energy plays a crucial role in our global pursuit of clean, reliable, and abundant power.

Philanthropic Giving to Climate. Only 2% of philanthropic giving goes to tackling climate change.

Philanthropy's Role. Ignoring any trillion-dollar market in our efforts to solve the climate crisis would be a missed opportunity.

US Giving Percentages. In the US, this number increases slightly to 3%, compared to 5% for arts, culture, and humanities; 10% for health; 13% for education; and 27% for religion.

Declining Environmental Donations. Giving to 'environmental and animal organizations' decreased 1.6 percent between 2021 and 2022.

Call for Collaboration. Let’s work together to bring them to life and unlock far more than 2% of that trillion-dollar market.

Urgent Action Required. Carbon removed today is worth significantly more than carbon removed in five or ten years.

Need for Innovation. We need powerful, innovative solutions to be created in ways that can have catalytic, outsize impact.

Carbon Removal Support. The global carbon removal market is still smaller than the market for nail clippers, and it needs more buyers to scale effectively.

Ford F-Series Dominance. The best-selling vehicle in the U.S. in 2023, and for the past 42 years, has been the Ford F-Series, which includes the F-150 and its larger counterparts.

Pickup Truck Size Increase. The U.S. pickup truck market has indeed shifted toward larger vehicles, a trend driven by EPA regulations implemented since 2010 that linked fuel efficiency to vehicle weight.

TELO Trucks Investment. We are thrilled to announce MCJ's investment in TELO's Seed round, led by Neo, with additional investment from Spero Ventures and multiple prominent angel investors in the space.

Founder Expertise. The founding TELO team combines an extensive history in automotive safety, autonomous vehicles, battery design, EV engineering and industrial design.

Agile Manufacturing Strategy. TELO’s approach of using off-the-shelf parts, domestic contract manufacturing, and virtual validation enhances the company’s ability to scale quickly.

Innovative Safety Technologies. TELO prioritizes the safety of its vehicles for both occupants and vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

TELO's Urban Mobility Focus. TELO Trucks is poised to redefine the future of urban mobility with its groundbreaking electric pickups.

TELO Truck Design. The TELO Truck combines the compact size of a two-door MINI Cooper with the utility of a Toyota Tacoma.

Increase in EV Registrations. The International Energy Agency's Global EV Outlook reported a 40% increase in new EV registrations in 2023, totaling 1.4 million vehicles.

Market Gap for Smaller EVs. This situation creates a significant market gap for smaller, electric trucks that can easily navigate tight spaces while offering the utility and performance expected from a pickup.

Optimize Compute Timing. Data center operators also need to combine tools with other strategies, such as optimizing the timing of compute load for AI model training.

Collaboration Necessity. With the right collaboration (between utilities, regulators, data center companies, and community stakeholders), incentives, and tools, we can expand powerful new technologies without undermining critical climate ambitions.

Big Tech's Leadership. To their credit, Big Tech has pioneered the concept of voluntary corporate renewable energy purchases, with tremendous follow-on benefits in terms of policy advances and action by other corporate energy users.

Utilities and Innovation. Utilities also need to be creative and work with private-sector companies on innovative tariff structures that incentivize load flexibility.

High Standards for Data Centers. Cloud customers – and ideally regulators – need to hold data center companies to high standards, including next-generation clean energy goals.

Concerns from Singapore. Singapore halted all new data center construction between 2019 and 2022 because of concerns that their high electricity demand would strain the grid and negatively impact the city-state’s sustainability goals.

AI's Electricity Demand. A May 2024 study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) found that AI could drive data centers to consume nearly 10% of the U.S.’ total electricity generation by 2030, up from 2% in 2020.

The Nuclear Company. The Nuclear Company aims to restore America's leadership in nuclear power by building fleets of nuclear power plants on time and on budget.

Bi-Partisan Support. There has been growing support from both Democrats and Republicans for deploying more nuclear energy.

Nuclear Revival Potential. With the increasing demand for clean energy and the success of nuclear energy development abroad, there is potential for the U.S. to reclaim its former leadership in the sector.

Energy Demand Surge. Energy demand is on the rise, driven by growing EVs, heat pumps, and other electrical devices and assets being plugged into the grid.

U.S. Nuclear Output. The U.S. remains the largest generator of nuclear energy, representing 30% of the world’s output.

Nuclear Workforce Decline. The resulting decades-long decline of nuclear power in the U.S. has led to a decay of the industry’s workforce, which has undergone a loss of vital professions such as skilled welders, pipefitters, and electricians.

Environmental Regulation Changes. The June Supreme Court decision overruling the Chevron doctrine increases the scrutiny that the Biden Administration's environmental regulations may face.

Impact of 2024 Elections. A Trump presidency is likely going to shift the balance in favor of fossil fuel giants.

Trump's Climate Position. Former President Trump has positioned himself firmly against President Biden's climate policies, pledging to 'rescind every one of Joe Biden's industry-killing, job-killing, pro-China and anti-American electricity regulations.'

Advocacy Importance. Advocate for protecting the IRA by lobbying elected officials for continued federal and state support.

Current Climate Risk. The climate tech sector faces a critical juncture as the presidential election approaches.

Policy Extending Costs. Extending those tax credits would cost about $4.6 trillion over the next ten years according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Tax Debate Outlook. Regardless of who wins in November, a major tax debate will ensue in DC next year, and IRA incentives will be a big focus.

Tax Incentives Durability. Many in the energy sector believe the IRA will remain mostly intact because history shows tax incentives are rarely revoked.

Election Climate Mobilization. The clean energy and climate movement seems less mobilized around this election cycle than it was in 2020.

Remote Skills Assessment. PowerTechs offers a skills assessment technology that identifies existing transferable skills, allowing workers to transition from other industries into clean energy roles.

President's Support. By harnessing the potential of nuclear energy through a dedicated and skilled workforce, nations can secure a stable, prosperous, and safe future.

Operational Excellence Importance. A skilled nuclear workforce is essential for the reliable and safe operation of nuclear facilities.

Vogtle Plant Jobs. A case study of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Georgia highlights that during its construction phase, the project created over 9,000 jobs.

High Salaries. The average salary for a nuclear engineer in the United States is approximately $125,000 per year, significantly higher than the national average wage.

Economic Impact of Nuclear. Developing a strong nuclear workforce leads to a plethora of job opportunities ranging from engineering and scientific research to maintenance and security roles.

Job Openings. During this time, there will be millions of new job openings in the US, including nearly 500,000 in the nuclear industry.

Workforce Challenges. The shortage of skilled workers is already a bottleneck for clean and nuclear infrastructure deployment, and this problem is expected to worsen around the crisis period of 2030-2035.

Nuclear Energy Reliability. As one of the cleanest and safest energy sources available today, nuclear energy is poised to play a critical role in securing our energy future.

Electricity Demand Surge. By 2030, global electricity demand is projected to increase by over 60%, according to the International Energy Agency.

Energy Independence. A country with a strong nuclear energy sector reduces its reliance on foreign energy sources, enhancing its energy independence.

Economic Multiplier Effect. Investments in nuclear energy projects generate significant economic activity, leading to increased tax revenues for state governments.

Rice Methane Emissions. Flooding a rice field creates conditions for bacteria that ferment soil organic matter anaerobically, producing methane as a byproduct.

Advances in Methodology. Recent advances in dMRV technology are improving the standards for rice methane methodologies, enhancing transparency and trust.

Improving Carbon Credit Quality. To ensure viability as carbon credit options, rice methane projects must improve in quality and transparency.

Carbon Credits for Farmers. Rice methane projects offer potential for reducing emissions permanently and could provide carbon credit finance to farmers who most need it.

New Agricultural Techniques. Contrary to typical thinking, novel agricultural techniques don’t affect crop yield while reducing methane emissions and water usage.

Methane Reduction Practices. Alternative practices like Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) can reduce methane emissions by over 40% and allow farmers to farm with 30% less water.

Climate-Induced Droughts. In India, climate-induced droughts have left farmers with very little water, driving many to extreme ends, including suicide.

Rice's Global Impact. Rice feeds 3.5 billion people daily and has a carbon footprint the size of the aviation industry, accounting for approximately 1.5% of global emissions.

Leakage Challenge. Experts estimate that globally, up to 34% of water is lost during distribution due to leaks.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Water contributes up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

California's Achievement. California supplied 100% of its energy demand with renewable energy for 30 days in a 38-day stretch.

Water Usage Forecast. Select renewable energy sources are actually some of the biggest water users out there.

Innovative Solutions. Companies like Infinite Cooling are pioneering opportunities to reduce water usage in energy production by capturing water in cooling towers that would otherwise be lost.

Fossil Fuel Dependency. In 2023, about 60% of the electricity generation in the US relied on fossil fuels.

Desalination Energy Use. Desalination consumes a colossal amount of energy to generate drinking water from ocean water.

Freshwater Withdrawal. In 2021 alone, the global energy system withdrew 370 billion cubic metres (bcm) of freshwater: roughly 10% of total global freshwater withdrawals.

Resource Nexus. Energy and water form a fundamental nexus in our modern world.

Balancing Act. The impact of climate change on the delicate balance between energy and water remains uncertain.

Public-Private Partnership. The National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) has secured over $100 million since 2019 for the development of energy-efficient desalination technologies.

Energy from Leakage Solution. ASTERRA has saved over 1,000,000 MWH of energy through its leak detection technology.

Paces' Automated Solution. Paces is building an automated workflow solution for green project developers that utilizes AI to help users make better and more well-informed decisions.

Founder Credentials. James McWalter, CEO of Paces, brings over 15 years of tech industry experience, including stints at AI startups and enterprise SaaS sales.

Paces' Integrated Solution. Paces addresses the gaps in current practices by offering an integrated, purpose-built solution to manage the development phase of green projects.

Legacy Solution Inefficiencies. Development phase processes for green projects currently involve various poorly coordinated parties and rely predominantly on spreadsheets and notebooks, lacking historical data.

AI Impact on Data Centers. Gartner forecasts 25.3% growth in data center systems, largely due to AI services and GPU-based specialized services for AI workloads.

Global Investment Projection. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that global energy investment is set to exceed USD 3 trillion for the first time in 2024, with USD 2 trillion going to clean energy technologies and infrastructure.

Market Scope. Green development in the US is a $10B total addressable market in soft costs - consulting, permitting and various software solutions.

Paces Funding. We are thrilled to announce our participation in Paces' successful $11 million Series A funding round.

Historical Data Issues. Critical data including spatial, zoning, permitting, interconnection, and environmental metrics has been historically elusive and manually handled.

Infrastructure Needs. A fully electrified economy requires trillions of dollars worth of energy infrastructure to be built quickly and efficiently.

Major Project Blockers. 80% of renewable energy projects stall or fail before construction even begins due to poor due diligence, slow transmission construction, high interconnection costs, and long wait times.

Carbon-Free Goal. These projects in the pipeline provide enough power to achieve 80% carbon-free electricity in the US by 2030.

Future Use Cases. Paces is building a compounding moat with the largest repository of current as well as historical data on zoning and permitting regulations, allowing for expansion into more use cases over time.

Proposed Projects Volume. The US has myriad clean energy projects planned, with over 2,000 gigawatts of proposed wind, solar, and battery projects proposed.

New Investments. In June 2024 alone, companies announced more than $700 million in new investment for clean energy projects in six U.S. states, plus over 1,300 new jobs.

Importance of Implementation. Solving policy bottlenecks largely comes down to better implementation of existing policies.

Broader Investment Needs. States already struggle to keep up with policy victories like the IRA, let alone the threefold increase in energy transition investment needed to achieve Paris Agreement goals.

Learning from Others. Maryland stakeholders utilized best practices from around the country, helping them build from a strong foundation and avoid reinventing the wheel.

Misaligned Processes. The current regulatory process generally reflects dysfunction, producing outcomes that do not necessarily promote the intended policy objectives.

Design Thinking Success. Maryland recently laid groundwork for its energy storage goal in only three months using design thinking to transform the traditional process.

Policy Design Tools. Investors should prioritize the adoption of tools to speed the policy design and implementation process, making it more transparent and efficient.

Implementation Bottlenecks. State-level roadblocks routinely hamper deployment of investments targeting the electric sector, particularly through expanded use of renewables and energy storage.

Capital Flow. Bloomberg NEF reported global record highs in clean energy investment, with a 15% increase in the Americas last year relative to 2022.

Investment Gaps. Closing investment gaps will be crucial for climate-focused companies, investors, and philanthropists, especially if Washington does an about-face on climate in January.

Central Banks' Role. Central banks can incentivize financial vehicles that specifically build projects that reduce emissions and harden supply chains.

Default Rate Advantage. According to this report from LSEG, the default rate in green bonds has been 'significantly below the average default rate of the broader market.'

Investor Confidence. If we see demand for publicly traded green bonds shrink, we would similarly expect to see a dampening effect on the entire capital stack.

Growth of Green Bonds. The use of use-of-proceeds green bonds that disclose how each dollar in the bond was allocated has been growing significantly, with over $4 trillion of green bonds having been issued in the last 5 years.

Climate Impact Visibility. Investors have the power to accelerate the transition by embracing the green bond market.

SLB Effectiveness. Most SLBs only start counting emissions reductions in the final 1-2 years of the bond and the price of failure is relatively minor.

Advantage over Loans. The bond structure has proven to be a cheaper source of capital than bank loans in these times of high interest rates.

Green Bonds Defined. Green bonds are securitized debt instruments issued by governments and corporations with a specific mandate to invest only in green projects.

Importance of Public Markets. For the amount of capital and investors that we need to hit our climate goals, we need a very active public market ready to acquire that debt or equity at the end.

Investment Requirement. According to the IEA, the world needs to be investing $4 trillion per year in clean energy by 2030 to be on track for a new zero-energy system by 2050.

Podcast Support. We are very grateful for your continued support.

Gratitude Expressed. David expresses gratitude for listeners’ continued support.

Question from Trader Tony. Trader Tony asks about the climate policy prospects under a potential Harris administration compared to Biden and Trump.

Mailbag Episode. This is your Volts podcast for Friday, August 30, 2024. Our special monthly mailbag episode for paid subscribers.

Support Acknowledgment. Your support makes this podcast possible, allows David to do this work every week.

Harris Administration Outlook. Do you think that the prospect of a Harris administration is more or less promising for climate than a Biden administration?

Presidential Changes. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy added about 5,000 acres to the main monument, while removing the two caves, 'which no longer contain features of archaeological value.'

Podcast Episode Insight. I had the pleasure of joining Chris on the podcast to talk about Utah's public land grab attempt.

Podcast Recommendation. If you love the desert, especially the Mojave, and you like good writing, you gotta subscribe to Chris Clarke’s Letters From the Desert e-newsletter.

Short-term Rentals Issue. This is problematic because Montana, like much of the West, is experiencing a housing affordability crisis exacerbated by housing being taken out of the long-term rental market.

Housing Crisis Ad. Democrat Monica Tranel is challenging MAGA-Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who has been buying up properties in Montana and turning them into short-term rentals amid a housing affordability crisis.

Community Development. Old-guard Utahns have a sort of obsession with roads and will spend considerable taxpayer dollars to keep a dead-end cow-path open to motorized travel.

Road Proliferation. In the decades following the Dobbins-Marshall survey, roads proliferated across the landscape, especially during the Cold War uranium boom spanning from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Roadless Area Discovery. One of the largest roadless areas they found was a nine-million-acre swath in southeastern Utah straddling the Colorado River.

Historical Map Search. Back in the 1930s, Althea Dobbins and Robert Marshall sat down and pored over maps of the United States in search not of roads, but of the absence thereof.

Labor Day Reflection. In honor of Labor Day weekend, the dispatch is intentionally kept light and non-laborious.

Questions for Corey. If you have a question for Corey regarding fertility collapse, overpopulation etc, add to the comments.

Podcast Interview. I try to do as I'm asked. I'll be interviewing him next week.

Coincidental Connections. Coincidences happen all the time; life is a whole bunch of extraordinary, magnificent coincides strung together.

Upcoming AMA. You can ask me your burning question here and I'll try to cover it off.

Documenting Embarrassments. Sadly, my second turn on the catwalk (the bit with the toilet paper) is not documented.

Modeling Memories. In First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, I write about the supremely suburban and cringey story of how I became a model in the late '80s after being invited to compete in a shopping mall beauty pageant.

Looping Stories. I've previously shared funny, looping stories of ridiculousness where a phenomenon from one of my books has resurfaced in my real life.

London Meetup. I'm coming to London (to meet a former Australian Prime Minster and to speak at this conference) and would love to squeeze in a meet-up if there is enough interest.

Thoughts on Life. The E.M. Forster opening line in Howard's End, 'Only Connect', just keeps on coming to my mind and reminding me how to live a life.

Meeting in Paris. Last night I met with subscriber Dr Chloe J Hill who was visiting Paris from Amsterdam, via Texas.

Energy Transition Barriers. Efforts to build out renewable energy systems face significant hurdles, including infrastructure challenges and public understanding of new technologies.

Significant Climate Tipping Points. The NASA study finds that we could push past the 2 degree Celsius mark sometime between 2041 and 2044, which could trigger critical climate changes.

Climate Education. The climate movement should spend less time worrying about oil energy disinformation and more time explaining to people what heat pumps are.

Wasteful Carbon Schemes. $30 billion of public money has been wasted on carbon capture and fossil hydrogen projects that not only fail to deliver results but also delay the necessary transition to renewable energy by propping up the fossil fuel industry.

Lesson from the West. The clean energy transition remains the most important planetary challenge and presents the greatest economic opportunity.

Emerging Legal Standards. The South Korean high court ruled that the government needed to sharpen its plans for carbon reductions, as the absence of legally binding targets violated the constitutional rights of future generations.

Investment in Renewables. With the massive growth in renewable energy now firmly underway, there likely won't be the appetite among financiers for new oil fields by 2029.

Climate Implications. This will be one of the first large oilfields that humans decide to leave in the ground because of climate concerns.

Labour's Energy Shift. Ed Milliband announced that the government would not back the companies that want to develop two huge new North Sea oilfields.

Global Polling Impact. This has already been a year of democracy around the globe with half the world's people going to the polls, and the results have so far been not as bad as they might have been.

Porsche Battery Repurposing. Porsche has repurposed batteries from its sports car Taycan vehicle line into a second-life 10 MWh BESS project to power its factory in Leipzig, Germany.

Potassium-Ion Development. Anhui Guoxin New Materials Co., Ltd has announced a commercially available potassium-ion battery designed for e-bikes.

Tesla's Milestone. Tesla's official milestone for cells launching with dry electrodes in 4680 cells was achieved last month.

Moxion Power Furloughs. Bay-Area based Moxion Power suddenly furloughed 400+ of its remaining staff and has declared bankruptcy after raising $110m in 2022.

Battery Investment Decline. Rystad Energy has announced that global battery investments have dipped for the first time since 2020, largely due to a downturn in infrastructure spending in China.

Environmental Concerns. Critics fear that Serbia will be an example of a 'sacrifice zone' where environmental degradation is accepted to fuel the electrification of wealthier nations.

Serbian Lithium Tensions. A controversial lithium project in Serbia, which could meet up to 90% of the EU's lithium demand, is facing significant national criticism.

Deep Sea Findings. Deep sea mining nodules have been found to produce oxygen, challenging the previous assumption that this largely came from plankton.

Challenges in Lithium Battery. The move reflects both the formidable challenges of making lithium metal batteries and financial pressures on Northvolt.

Battery R&D Relocation. Northvolt has publicized a decision to move its next-generation lithium-metal battery R&D development to the R&C campus in Västernäs, Sweden.

Building Resilience. Steffi discusses how to build psychological resilience.

Neoliberal Impact. Dysfunction of our neoliberal economic system permeates our experience of being in the world, questioning whether health is an attainable goal in a sick society.

Systemic Transformation. Steffi suggests the mental health crisis is yet another opportunity to radically transform our systems to promote a health that includes people and planet.

Mental Health Stigma. The psychology profession stigmatises mental health by failing to grasp that poor mental health can be a rational reaction to a broken world.

Climate Grief Awareness. Steffi Bednarek is a climate psychotherapist working both with clients on their anxiety and depression related to climate grief.

Impact of Plastic Bag Bans. Plastic bag bans in several U.S. cities have reduced the number of single-use plastic bags used each year by around 6 billion.

Voices for Change. Reaching out to local representatives and asking them what they can do to get rid of plastic can be a powerful action toward a plastic-free future.

Global Plastics Treaty. Global initiatives like the Global Plastics Treaty are needed to end plastic pollution, with negotiators meeting in South Korea to finalize the treaty.

Plastic Recycling Challenge. Around the world, less than 10% of plastic is actually recycled, leading to the conclusion that the best thing we can do is not use it in the first place.

Public Support for Green Energy. 72 percent of people worldwide want to see a 'quick transition' to sources of green energy.

Fossil Fuel Disinformation. Fossil fuel companies are also continuing to push out toxic mis- and disinformation to slow the green energy transition.

Global Emissions. Shipping is currently responsible for 3 percent of global emissions annually and this number could easily triple by 2050 if nothing is done to curb emissions.

Yara Birkeland Impact. The world’s first electric self-propelled container ship, the Yara Birkeland, made her maiden voyage back in 2021 and reduces emissions by some 1,000 tons of CO2 by replacing around 40,000 trips by diesel-powered trucks each year.

Electric Cargo Ships. COSCO Shipping has launched a 10,000-ton, fully electric cargo ship called the Green Water 01, powered by a 50 MWh battery, which can even be expanded to 80 MWh if needed.

Green Schoolyards Benefits. A new study shows that green spaces on school campuses are good for kids, the planet, and the bottom line. For every dollar invested in creating a green schoolyard in Denver, the study found, schools reaped a $3 return.

Potential Central Bank Actions. Central banks could incentivize financial vehicles that specifically build projects that reduce emissions and harden supply chains.

Climate and Economy Link. Be ready to start hearing the link between climate-driven shortages of key staples and inflation (aka 'ClimateFlation') a lot more in stock market commentary.

Unique Financial Upsides. Green bonds not only match the yields of traditional bonds but also present unique financial upsides.

Impact of Green Bonds. In 2023, the globe issued about $500 billion of green bonds, which is still short of where we need to be for our energy transition goals.

Decline of SLBs. Fortunately, the use of SLBs has been declining while use-of-proceeds green bonds that disclose how each dollar in the bond was actually allocated has been growing significantly.

Green Bond Definition. Green bonds are securitized debt instruments issued by governments and corporations with a specific mandate to invest only in green projects like renewable energy.

Green Bonds Appeal. From a returns perspective, green bonds are a strong alternative to traditional bonds.

Importance of Public Markets. For the amount of capital and investors that we need to meet our climate goals, we need a very active public market ready to acquire that debt or equity at the end.

Annual Investment Requirement. According to the IEA, the world needs to be investing $4 trillion per year in clean energy by 2030 to be on track for a new zero-energy system by 2050.

Curbside Charging Demand. We're excited to put curbside charger infrastructure wherever there's a building and a curb.

Looking Ahead. We're looking at deploying chargers in cities like Boston, Alameda, Los Angeles, and others.

Quick Installation Timeline. The installation of the charger takes about two days.

Urban EV Functions. We want to have more multimodal transportation and more public transportation, but we still do need vehicles and we want to make those electric.

Utility Disconnection. We don't have to contact utilities or get them involved in any way.

Urban Charging Collaboration. We are working with Uber to identify curbside charging opportunities in neighborhoods where their rideshare drivers park at night.

Revenue Sharing Model. We rev share with the buildings.

Modular Design Benefits. We designed this to be modular, like a Lego. If someone runs into it, destroys it, we don't have to roll out a truck; we just pop it off, and we pop the new one on.

Charging Residing with Buildings. Cars powered by buildings; we put our small charger on the curb and instead of going 7ft down into the street and making that inner utility connection, we just power it from the spare capacity in the building that's right next to it.

Design Matters. Design matters. And people don't understand how much design matters until it's absent.

Growing Urban Demand. Worries about charging are one of the key things holding back faster EV adoption, especially among urban populations.

Itselectric's Innovation. Itselectric has developed curbside level-2 chargers that connect to building electric panels, making installation quick and efficient.

Urban Charging Barriers. Access to charging is a barrier to EV adoption for folks without a driveway or a garage.

Systems Management. We used to live in a more attuned and manageable dynamic with [systems]; many Indigenous cultures still do.

Past Resilience. The argument that past complex societies simply rebuilt or recovered after a collapse is also a great one to cover off.

Interconnected Crises. The individual crises (and their level of severity) are not the issue, per se; it’s the way they feed into, and accelerate, each other unpredictably.

Complexity of Crises. Yes, humanity has faced many of the crises we now face, and others besides. However! We’ve not faced so many all at once.

Metacrisis Context. The historian Niall Ferguson has scoffed that the metacrisis is 'just history happening.'

Landslide Tragedy. Intense rainfall triggered a landslide/debris flow in Ketchikan, killing one person, injuring three more, and destroying homes and infrastructure.

Extreme Weather Patterns. As the planet warms, we can expect weather to get wackier and more extreme.

Record Flooding Events. Mill Creek, which is normally a clear, gurgling brook, turned into a raging, chocolate-milk-colored, debris-tossing monster, peaking out at 6,810 cubic feet per second.

Monsoon Damage. For the third time this summer, the monsoon mobbed Moab as a series of thunderstorms pounded the area and triggered flash flooding in and around the town.

Pollution Protests. It helped give rise to a regional environmental movement, made up of elected officials, concerned residents, and advocates, which protested the pollution.

Environmental Movement Origins. The facility, along with the smog its pollutants gave way to, became a smoke-spewing symbol of energy colonialism, landscape-scale industrialization, and humans' ability to spoil the environment.

Energy Consumption Growth. Marketing caused the average American's electricity consumption to grow four-fold between 1946 and 1968.

Ending Coal Dependency. The real action happened in September 2022, when the last of the plant's four units burned through the final ton of coal and the turbine quick turning for good.

Plant Demolition. After five decades of spewing sulfur dioxide, ash, mercury, arsenic, carbon dioxide, and other pollutants into the northwestern New Mexico air, the four stacks of the San Juan Generating Station were brought down in spectacular fashion this past weekend.

Ecological Stakes. The hope is that this series will help shine a light on the dire ecological stakes of the 2024 election.

Republican Climate Agenda. Republicans have a massive and well-developed agenda for global heating, and it boils down to three words: 'Let it rip.'

Project 2025 Overview. The Republican climate agenda is summarized in Project 2025, a 900-page policy plan developed for Donald Trump by the Heritage Foundation.

Trump's Climate Actions. Project 2025 aligns squarely with Trump's own actions and pledges.

Underrated Policies. Arielle started to read through the massive document and found a number of weird climate policies that we don’t think have gotten the attention they deserve.

Upcoming Series. HEATED will be publishing a multi-part series on some of the overlooked climate plans of Project 2025, starting next week.

Climate Media Coverage. Climate media has been doing a really great job covering Project 2025.

Role of Uncertainty. In these uncertain times, it is uncertainty that will see us through.

Link for More. Read more about this perspective on uncertainty and crisis.

Embodied Politics. It seems, almost, that rupture is born in the body, that an embodied politics is how we find our way home to one another.

Power of Simplicity. It's astonishing how something so simple can be so miraculous.

Moments of Resistance. These are the necessary crisis points between two futures from which new possibilities spring.

Cultural Connection. There is a certainty to the joy this man is bringing us all as he sings, but only because we have the cultural knowledge with which to share in it.

Essentials of Life. We know what is important: Love, food, shelter, sex, art, music, laughter, play, words, jokes, creation.

Electricity Rate Increase. Electricity rates have risen 47% faster than the CPI the last 12 months, and nearly 24% overall since the Biden-Harris administration began.

Government Schemes. High electricity bills are the result of government-dictated schemes—such as the recent IRA—to build massive, wasteful, unreliable solar and wind infrastructure.

Hidden Costs. As bad as higher electricity prices seem, they are actually far worse, since we are also paying huge IRA subsidies through taxes and inflation that don’t appear on our utility bills.

Cost of Reliability. Because solar and wind can go near zero at any given time, they don’t replace reliable power plants—they add to the cost of reliable power plants.

Solution to Bills. The solution to high electricity bills is to end all preferences for unreliable electricity.

Unnecessary Struggle. As Americans struggle with rising summer electricity bills, it’s important to know that this struggle was 100% unnecessary and 100% preventable.

Wildfire Risk. A new report from CoreLogic finds 2.6 million homes in the West are in wildfire danger zones, including 1.26 million in California and more than 321,000 in Colorado.

Funding Issue. Utah's so-called leaders haven’t noticed that East Coasters are coming to Utah in droves, to visit or to live, and are stocking up the state’s coffers in the process.

Nostalgia Strategy. The ad is overflowing with misinformation, but it tugs at the heartstrings and evokes that faux nostalgia.

Public Lands Overreach. The state justifies the action by saying, 'Federal overreach prevents Utah from actively managing public lands, impacting recreation, local economies, and resource development.'

Constitutional Question. Utah says it launched the legal action to 'answer the constitutional question of whether or not the Federal Government can retain unappropriated lands in a state indefinitely.'

Utah's Lawsuit. Utah filed a lawsuit looking to seize control of some 18.5 million acres of federal land in the state.

Rushed Presidential Campaign. A rushed presidential campaign, though, is not the time to start this conversation.

Unprepared for Crisis. We're unprepared as a nation to even admit the existence of this crisis.

Preventing Political Delay. The biggest political necessity in climate action today is preventing the forces of predatory delay from rolling back our recent gains.

Building Boom Agenda. The Dems have set up a mandate to 'build, build, build.'

Biden's Climate Wins. In the last three years Democrats have delivered a ton of climate action, far more than many observers believed possible.

Climate Action Silence. Since Joe Biden stepped aside, politicians have gone nearly silent on climate.

Support Democratic Victory. Do everything you can, anyway, to see to it that Democrats win.

Worsening Planetary Crisis. We are now certain to see a worsening planetary crisis for the rest of our lives.

Crises of Bullshit. This is our mission - to be as truthful as possible. It’s a pathway not only for dealing with bullshit and bullshitters, but for navigating the increasing complexity of the crises that engulf us.

Desperate Defense. And so, at junctures like this in history, they can but doggedly and dangerously defend their precarious perch on the pedestal with ludicrous and cringy unreasonableness.

Emotional Maturity Issues. White, colonialist patriarchy is being fundamentally threatened and those who’ve benefited from the old regime don’t want the change.

Tactical Awareness. Once the tactic of bullshitting is understood for what it is, it can be exposed quietly via the brilliance and desirability of radical truthfulness.

Complexity of Bullshit. It’s impossible to argue with a bullshitter. It’s like seeking genuine empathy from a narcissist.

Truthiness Concept. Comedian Stephen Colbert coined the term 'truthiness' a while back, which touches on a similar phenomenon.

Bullshit vs. Lying. Frankfurt argues that while bullshit can occasionally be true, it muddies the information ecology so much that it undermines truth itself.

Societal Impact of Bullshit. Being able to spot bullshit, call it out and navigate it is crucial in most settings today, particularly in the context of collapse awareness.

Politician's Tactics. I’ve been following Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s malicious and truth-flagrant outbursts about Palestinian refugees.

Rising Bullshit. Bullshitty slipperiness seems to be on the up and up.

Soil Carbon Sink. Soil is an enormous carbon sink. It’s estimated it contains three times as much carbon as the atmosphere—and we could increase that.

Wood Vaulting Method. One way is through underground wood vaulting: burying waste wood or other plant material in the ground, which prevents them from decaying and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, potentially for thousands of years.

Fungal Carbon Storage. In Australia, a company called Loam Bio is testing using fungus in the soil to take up carbon.

Pathogen Proliferation. Common food-borne pathogens including Staphylococci, Norovirus, E. coli, and Salmonella thrive in warmer and more humid conditions.

Global Emissions Impact. The IPCC estimates that by the middle of the century, soil-based carbon sequestration could take up from 2 and 5 gigatons of carbon yearly—that’s about 5 to 15 percent of our current global emissions—at a relatively low cost.

Food Contamination Risks. Every year, 600 million people get sick and nearly half a million die from eating contaminated food, the World Health Organization estimates.

Economic Loss from Waste. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that two-thirds of cardboard and paper that isn’t recycled every year represents a $4 billion economic loss in the U.S. alone.

Collective Recycling Action. Imagine the impact if we all banded together. Schools, businesses, restaurants, and other local organizations use huge amounts of paper, boxes, and aluminum cans daily.

Encouraging Local Recycling. Ask your local organizations if they recycle cans and fiber; and if not, why not?

Circular Economy Importance. Currently, only 7.2% of used materials are cycled back into our economies after use, which has a significant burden on the environment.

Plastic Recycling Rates. Only 9 percent of plastic actually gets recycled.

Perverse Incentives. The emergency policy intervention is flattening seasonal price spreads and creating perverse incentives for storage system operators.

Gas Storage Achievement. The European Union has once again achieved its gas restocking target early.

Storage Capacity Reached. EU underground gas storage facilities reached 90% full this week, more than two months ahead of the 1 November deadline.

Impact of REPowerEU. The 90% refilling target is a central part of the REPowerEU plan introduced following the energy shock of 2022.

Market Stability. The high level of gas storage in Europe means that markets are increasingly stable, prices are back around pre-war levels.

Inflation of Prices. New research suggests that the flagship mechanism of REPowerEU is in fact contributing to inflation of wholesale EU gas prices.

Further Reading. This deep dive offers a critical examination, with reference to new statistical analysis of refilling and pricing data.

Unintended Consequences. Could it be that the REPowerEU plan is producing unintended consequences now that market conditions are more benign?

Policy Recommendations. Proponents claim that an alternative policy of centralized management would be more cost-effective and less conducive to speculative manipulation of European gas markets.

Rejecting Certainties. This is about moving the frontiers of certainty, rejecting things that we think to be certain in order to challenge, experiment, and joyously resist violent norms.

Building a New World. This is about how we build a new world—and remember what truly is certain: love, shelter, community, joy.

Discussion Link. For more insights, listen to the discussion on certainty, doubt and reimagining the world.

Collective Will. Changing the world from the ground up takes time, it takes bravery, it takes collective will to go against.

End of Capitalism. It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.

Crisis Conceptualization. Natasha walks us through how we currently conceptualise crisis and certainty.

Power and Change. Only power changes fast, but we can live in a world where people—not power—make changes.

Certainties and Meaning. We can become more aware of how certainties arise from collective meaning making.

Human Factors. Metacrisis thinking acknowledges that in addition to there being a stack of crises all happening at once, there's also the overlaying crisis of our inability to fathom said polycrisis.

Metacrisis Concept. This chapter explains the metacrisis (or polycrisis) school of thought, which in turn tries to explain what the hell is going on.

Complexity and Mess. Our intuitive, visceral drive to create and to expand our understanding of existence has seen our civilisation make more and more complex messes.

Permacrisis Definition. The Collins Dictionary's word of the year for 2022 was 'permacrisis', which describes a simultaneous series of dramatic and unprecedented world events.

Polycrisis Emergence. A few months later The Financial Times declared 'polycrisis' their word of the year just as The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report warned we were toppling into one.

Definition of Polycrisis. The WEF report defined polycrisis as: 'A cluster of related global risks with compounding effects, such as the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part.'

Self-Referential Problem. We’re in it. And our in-it-ness is adding to the problem.

Underlying Mindset. There's also an underlying crisis, which is loosely the original, collective mindset that allowed the whole clusterfuck to come about.

Crisis of Understanding. This in turn creates the crisis of our not being able to discuss it sanely. Nor to have a chance in hell of resolving them.

Long-term Climate Goals. The successful implementation of CLCPA would set an example to the world by showing that a globally important economy could thrive while addressing the climate crisis and moving away from fossil fuels.

New Research on Offshore Wind. The Bridgetown Initiative proposes a new global financial architecture to make a lot more money available and to create financial guarantors for larger private sector funding.

Extreme Heat Records. An additional 130 monthly national temperature records have also been broken, along with tens of thousands of local highs registered at monitoring stations from the Arctic to the South Pacific.

Polluter Pay Efforts. The effort to pass the Polluter Pay superfund bills includes some pretty powerful billboards showing up in California, New York, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

Climate Backsliding Concerns. The closer we move to actual implementation of the big climate promises that politicians made during the Greta years, the more of this kind of backsliding we’re going to see.

Hochul's Climate Leadership. Hochul shows no sign of that kind of confidence. NYRenews, the group that has helped push much of the New York legislation, released a report showing that under Hochul's leadership, the state’s four key implementation agencies are sitting on their hands.

New York's Renewable Potential. New York could and should be a renewable powerhouse. The DOE estimates it could power 11 million homes, which is four million more homes than New York contains.

Need for Climate Pressure. We had no primary to press her on it. I don’t like long campaigns any more than anyone else, but in our system they are the only place activists can actually make a forceful case.

Harris Campaign Success. Harris and Walz have run a sparkling campaign so far, and this week’s convention in Chicago is a reminder that Democrats look and sound like America at its best.

Union Environment. Unionization is not strong in Georgia, and it's something that the workforce isn't currently focused on.

QCells Employment Figures. QCells employing 2000 people in Dalton, drastically exceeding all the promises that they made to the local economic development team.

Wage Increases Due to QCells. With the influx of QCells, the carpet factories had to start pushing up their wages to keep pace.

Battery Production Growth. There are competitive forces involved, and a huge ramp-up in battery production is occurring.

Voting Awareness. If you want to keep this, vote for us.

Factory Expansion. Across the park, there was a huge construction site that turned into a full operating new factory next door to the old factory.

Georgia's Clean Energy Jobs. Georgia is clearly one of the biggest winners in terms of clean energy factories created, with 32,000 jobs counted by Climate Power.

IRA's Importance. The IRA is a crucial factor that's leading to significant investment in clean energy manufacturing.

Community Engagement. Julian Spector has been traveling to these red districts to find out how the local communities feel about the new manufacturing jobs.

Biden's Manufacturing Impact. Through the passage of IRA and CHIPS, the Biden administration has invested billions of dollars and created more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in purple and red districts that have been hard-hit by globalization and disinvestment.

Investment Distribution. Some 75 percent of that investment has gone to Republican Congressional districts.

Manufacturing Investment Value. Since IRA and CHIPS were passed, there has been some $382 billion worth of new investment in manufacturing in the US.

Clean Energy Manufacturing Surge. The broader macro phenomenon is just that we're actually starting to manufacture clean energy in the United States in an appreciable way since the passage of the IRA.

Production Goals. If you achieved 3%, 4%, 5% of the global supply of any one of these things, it would be a massive accomplishment.

QCells Job Creation. QCells originally said, 'Hey, we promised to invest $130 million and hire 525 people in our first five years,' but they actually checked off those boxes in three months.

Graphite's Importance. Graphite is the largest critical mineral component in a battery, and those trying to make the greenest batteries will be focusing on their graphite suppliers as the key place to cut the cell CO2 footprint.

Electrification Benefits. With 91.5% of new cars sold in Norway being electric, the noise was considerably quieter, showcasing the multiple benefits of electrification.

Norwegian Work Culture. The Norwegian work culture revolves around an earlier work day than the UK, starting about 8am rather than 9, due to both the short days in winter and prioritising workers with young children.

Synthetic vs Natural. Generally, the production of natural graphite is a lot less carbon intensive than synthetic graphite, which matters a lot for companies trying to minimise the carbon impact of their cells.

Sustainability Initiatives. Vianode’s breakthrough solution enables synthetic anode graphite offering including a 90% reduction in CO2 footprint on traditional synthetic graphite.

Graphite Production Goals. The first full scale plant is currently being built at Herøya Industrial Park, which will produce up to 2000 tonnes of graphite a year once operational, and there are plans for a larger plant in North America, to produce 60,000 tonnes per year.

Vianode Internship. Issy spent 3 months working at Vianode, a synthetic graphite manufacturer in Kristiansand, Norway, where she learned about sustainable battery materials manufacturing.

Career Development Opportunity. If you’re at the early stages of your career and have the chance to do an internship somewhere and try it out, it’s a fantastic chance to figure out what you value in a workplace.

Learning from Others. Maryland stakeholders wanted a self-sustaining energy storage market by 2033, allowing for the evaluation of policy mechanisms aligned with that goal.

Need for Investment in Processes. Investing in new approaches to policy design and implementation is crucial for the future of climate tech companies and the planet.

Challenged Policy Design. The regulatory process is fundamentally broken, limiting the effectiveness of clean energy policy advancements.

Accelerated Project Approach. Initiatives should be treated as projects answering a set of design questions, rather than zero-sum battles of competing interests.

Design Thinking Benefits. Maryland's rapid groundwork for its energy storage goal utilized design thinking to accelerate the process.

Failures in Recommendations. In Illinois, a working group’s report to the commission contained zero actionable recommendations for clean energy legislation.

Bottlenecks in NJ. New Jersey's energy storage target faced a stalled implementation process that has taken six years and counting.

Roadblocks in Deployment. State-level roadblocks routinely hamper deployment of clean energy solutions, particularly through public utilities commissions.

Policy Implementation Issues. It’s the implementation process that’s broken, not the lack of new policies needed for energy sector transformation.

Clean Energy Investment. Bloomberg NEF reported global record highs and a 15% increase in clean energy investment in the Americas relative to 2022.

Investment Gaps. Closing investment gaps in the energy transition will be crucial for climate-focused companies, investors, and philanthropists.

Reading Trends. Apparently reading light fiction or so-called beach reads is popular this time of year.

Critique on Oppenheimer. They should have made Oh Pure and Radiant Heart into a movie rather than that bloated Oppenheimer thing.

Author Recommendation. I love anything by Lydia Millet, especially her novels, which are wonderfully zany and perceptive.

New Book Release. Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell's Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River just came out.

Upcoming Release. Water Bodies: Love Letters to the Most Abundant Substance on Earth is coming out this October from Torrey House Press.

Recommended Poetry. I’d highly recommend Simon Ortiz's Woven Stone, a comprehensive collection of his work.

Cold vs Heat Deaths. Far more human beings die of cold than of heat.

Heat Death Statistics. Study after study has found that deaths from cold outnumber deaths from heat by 5-15 times.

Slow Warming Acknowledgment. Earth is warming slowly—especially in warm places.

Impact of CO2. The warming impact of CO2 diminishes ('logarithmically') as it increases in concentration.

Temperature Protection. The key to being protected from dangerous temperatures is to master them by producing different forms of temperature protection, such as insulated buildings, heating, and air-conditioning.

Fossil Fuels Importance. Fossil fuels are the only source of low-cost, reliable energy that for the foreseeable future can provide energy to billions.

Energy Affordability. The key to safety is to have energy be as affordable and plentiful as possible so as many as possible can afford heating and air conditioning.

Humane Emission Reduction. Reducing CO2 emissions in a humane and practical way means focusing on liberating alternatives—especially the most potent, nuclear.

Reporting Bias. That virtually no reporting acknowledges this shows that much 'reporting' is propaganda.

Discussion Challenges. Neither camp is open to discussion.

Media Influence. The media lubricated his ascension, validating his niche until it became talking points, and then a movement.

Political Polarisation. Polarisation is a word we hear a lot these days in an increasingly divided world, normally attributed to the machinations of the right wing as they seek to stir up hatred and mistrust throughout society.

Heart of Conflict Resolution. The first piece of humanity with which we make it through is not the tongue, but the ear; there is no way through if we don’t listen.

Overcoming Barriers. For there is no way through a wall; either we all scramble over the top, or work together, brick by brick, to bring it down.

Manipulation of Anxieties. Political entrepreneurs are master manipulators of these anxieties, creating demons out of marginalised groups.

Resource Scarcity Warning. We have seen what happens in other countries when the broad middle falls behind: societies begin to fracture and collapse.

Engaging Dialogue. Without understanding the real concerns of those we disagree with, we too easily fall into hatred and disgust.

Global Solutions. There is a way through globally: forsake the pageantry of international conferences to produce binding international legislations and treaties which promote resource-pooling, global regulation and fair trade.

Expanding Media Offerings. Volts is expanding its media offerings in line with the latest trends and customer demands.

Monthly Mailbag. Anyone can ask a question but mailbags are a paid-sub-only perk.

Climate Collaboration. Share your climate-related work, ask for help, or find collaborators.

Engage with Community. People really connected with the passive house episode.

Passive House Success. In our almost-passive-house, I can walk around in bare feet in the winter.

Kamala Harris Agreement. Kamala Harris agrees with the idea of solving the housing crisis through more dense housing.

Housing Solutions. The solution to the housing crisis is to build more dense housing everywhere.

Climate Events. Share climate-related events and meetups.

Villain Narrative. Today, the fossil fuel industry and its allies paint climate activists as villains for demanding a 'rapid' transition away from fossil fuels.

Misleading Promises. After publicly promising to reduce emissions, Exxon, BP, and Shell stated 'never mind.'

Lobbying and Spending. Following the Paris Agreement to limit global warming, the five largest oil companies spent $200 million a year on lobbying and campaign donations to block climate action.

Historical Denial. As early as 1959, oil companies were aware of climate change and contributed to anthropogenic climate change.

Climate Change Emissions. Currently, fossil fuels are responsible for 75 percent of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

Fossil Fuels Harm. The toxic air and water pollution that comes from drilling, mining, transporting, burning, and refining coal, oil, and gas are fueling rises in death and sickness across the world.

Fossil Fuels Employment. Globally, the fossil fuel industry employs nearly 32 million people.

Industry Accountability. As long as industries are willing to be held accountable for those effects, and work in good faith to address them, I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s fair to call them &#8220;evil.&#8221;

Musk on Oil Industry. I don&#8217;t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry, Elon Musk said while speaking about climate change.

Carbon-Free Goals. These projects in the pipeline provide enough power to achieve 80% carbon-free electricity in the US by 2030.

Success Rates. Paces is building an automated workflow solution for green project developers that utilizes AI to help users make better and more well-informed decisions.

Integrated Solutions. Paces offers an integrated, purpose-built solution to manage the development phase of green projects.

Founder Expertise. James McWalter brings over 15 years of tech industry experience and is the CEO of Paces.

Data Center Growth. The global data center market stood at $229.23 billion in 2023 and is projected to expand to $256.05 billion in 2024.

Massive Investment Forecast. Global energy investment is set to exceed USD 3 trillion for the first time in 2024, with USD 2 trillion going to clean energy technologies and infrastructure.

Market Opportunity. Green development in the US is a $10B total addressable market in soft costs - consulting, permitting and various software solutions.

Need for Efficiency. Inefficiencies and a lack of transparency in site origination and due diligence processes need to be addressed to fully realize this potential.

Investment in Infrastructure. A fully electrified economy requires trillions of dollars worth of energy infrastructure to be built quickly and efficiently.

Project Blockers. Poor due diligence, slow transmission construction, high interconnection costs, and long wait times are major blockers.

Clean Energy Potential. The US has myriad clean energy projects planned, with over 2,000 gigawatts of proposed wind, solar, and battery projects proposed.

Climate Change Impacts. The most recent update on the AMOC's weakening suggests it will break in 2057.

Capitalism and Life Choices. Preparing for a future world offers me lessons about how to live better in this one.

Fossil Fuel Usage. Electricity comprises only 20% of fossil fuel use.

Traditional Publishing Issues. Booktopia has gone bust, entering into voluntary administration, and has taken all my books and $$$ with them.

Feedback Value. The feedback I get from you in the comments truly has made the writing and research process so much easier and more joyous to navigate.

Subscriber Growth. 3,000 more subscribers have hopped on board, various newspaper editors are following the journey and bits are being quoted in climate activist newsletters.

Global Fertility Trends. Even the Nordic countries, with their long-established welfare states, child-care guarantees, and policies of extended parental leave, are experiencing sharp fertility declines.

Fertility Crisis in UK. In the UK, experts are now warning: The falling birthrate threatens a disaster so costly no politician dares think about it.

Human Need for Meaning. This suggests the existence of another, under-discussed reason people aren’t having kids – one that has little to do with policy and everything to do with a deep but unquantifiable human need.

Sperm Count and Microplastics. Another study concretising the point further: 'At the beginning, I doubted whether microplastics could penetrate the reproductive system.'

Birthday Travel Plans. I&#8217;ll be spending a few days in Hamburg, Germany, and then together we&#8217;ll spend a few days in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Seeking Recommendations. I’d love to hear your recommendations for urbanism-related sights in Copenhagen and activities for fun in either city.

Reduced Pod Production. The pace of pod production (PPP) will be somewhat lower than usual in September.

Water Pipeline Politics. Cities rise up in places of limited water, growing as if there were no limits, importing water, power, and other resources from far away.

CAP Water Use. The Central Arizona Project is the state’s largest single electricity user, with annual power bills totaling $60 million to $80 million.

Biden's Energy Policy. Frisch's claims about Biden hampering domestic energy production ignore the fact that U.S. oil production is at an all-time high under Biden.

Adam Frisch's Positions. Adam Frisch is considered a pragmatist with progressive stances on abortion, social issues, and labor, but he skews more right on immigration.

Cox's Voting Shift. Governor Spencer Cox changed his mind and is now voting for Trump, claiming it was due to a failed assassination attempt against the former president.

Phil Lyman Controversy. Phil Lyman is running for governor as a write-in candidate, potentially taking votes away from Gov. Spencer Cox and giving the Democratic challenger, Brian King, a chance to win.

Utah GOP Dynamics. Schisms are opening within Utah's Republican Party that could loosen their hold on power, especially in the gubernatorial race.

Water Diversion. The San Juan-Chama Project diverts about 90,000 acre-feet of water annually from three tributaries of the San Juan River.

Environmental Protections. Environmental protections will ultimately benefit the landscape and the livelihoods and communities that rely upon it.

Public Lands Rule. Frisch mischaracterizes the new public lands rule, claiming it abandons the multiple-use mandate and may turn Colorado's Western Slope into 'de facto wilderness areas.'

Further Reading. For more details, refer to the EU LNG Chart Deck.

Correlation Confirmed. The data confirms an ongoing correlation between speculative capital movements and price action on TTF, shedding new light on the contracts being traded on the forward curve.

Gas Flow Status. But they are only fears, and gas flows through Ukraine continue uninterrupted (at the time of writing).

Bullish Bets Increase. Last week saw another significant increase in bullish bets being taken by speculative traders on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) — Europe’s benchmark natural gas trading hub.

Price Momentum. Speculative capital keeps pouring into long positions in European gas futures, accelerating bullish price momentum predicated on fears of possible disruption to (what little remains of) Russian gas transits into the EU via Ukraine.

Hedge Fund Activity. Hedge funds seem to be hell-bent on leveraging geopolitical events to pump European natural gas prices higher.

Tech's Impact. Tech gets in the way of beautiful life interactions such as shared looks, jokes, and stories.

Podcast Recommendation. Listen to the conversation with Kris De Decker to understand the relationship between tech, finance, and sustainability.

Climate Decisions. There is a zealous and unfounded faith in tech that is crippling our climate decisions.

Low Tech Lifestyle. A low tech lifestyle is liberating and has benefits that are being reaped by individuals who embrace it.

Diminishing Possibilities. The myriad possibilities that evolve from interactions in the world are diminishing with every tech substitution for interaction.

Encouraging Student Action. Encourage students to raise the issue of climate change in school and write letters to the school board about the need to act.

Climate Action Plans Needed. The majority of school districts still lack a climate action plan despite the many ways schools can cut their carbon footprint and save money.

Public School Climate Footprint. Public schools operate nearly half a million buses and serve some 7 billion meals to students each year in the US.

Removal of Climate References. Florida's Governor DeSantis signed a bill that removes most mentions of climate change from state law and reaches out to textbook companies to remove references to climate change.

Climate Denial in Education. In Florida, the state Department of Education has approved using climate denial videos from PragerU in the state’s public schools.

Impact of Heatwaves on Schools. Many schools don't have air conditioning, and are closing when classrooms become too hot to safely educate students there.

Mandatory Climate Education. The time is now to include climate education as a key climate risk mitigation strategy and to make climate education a mandatory part of the national curriculum.

Climate Engineering Module. In Indiana, teachers and scientists created the Climate Engineering Teaching Module to help students develop and apply their critical thinking and problem-solving skills to climate.

Creative Climate Solutions. Kids are taking charge and coming up with creative new climate solutions.

California Offshore Wind Goals. California's goal is to achieve five gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.

Floating Offshore Wind Development. The global pipeline of floating offshore wind development is greater than 100 gigawatts, indicating a shift towards this technology.

Potential Job Creation. Studies predict that offshore wind could create thousands of family wage jobs in California.

Long-term California Vision. California has set ambitious long-term goals of 25 gigawatts by 2045, emphasizing a sustainable energy future.

Domestic Supply Chain. California aims to build a domestic supply chain to support the offshore wind industry.

Federal Grant Importance. The federal grant for the Port of Humboldt is a significant step for planning offshore wind terminal construction.

Port Development Funding. California's Port of Humboldt received a $427 million federal grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for offshore wind terminal construction.

Investment in Transmission. The CAISO has approved $4.6 billion in offshore wind-related transmission upgrades for California.

Infrastructure Challenges. To meet the 2030 goal, various difficult pieces including grid infrastructure and floating-wind technology need to fall into place.

Comprehensive Planning. The plan adopted in July 2024 is probably the most comprehensive floating offshore wind plan in the world.

Technological Advances. Floating offshore wind technology allows access to offshore wind resources in deeper waters, which fixed-bottom technology cannot reach.

Noise Considerations. Operational noise from floating offshore wind is expected to be less concerning than fixed bottom technologies.

Environmental Reviews. Each offshore wind project will undergo a NEPA evaluation to assess potential environmental impacts.

Successful International Examples. Successful offshore wind development in Europe serves as a model for California's new offshore wind industry.

Temperature Influence. Calendar aging can be worse in the discharged state and is influenced by temperature, with higher temperatures generally leading to increased aging.

Calendar Life Importance. Calendar life is an important mode of degradation that is time-dependent rather than energy throughput dependent.

Current EV Use. The average household vehicle is driven for ~60 minutes per day and charged overnight.

Battery Lifespan. We want our batteries to last 10 years which translates to a battery life of 10 years before replacement is needed.

Cycle Life Benchmark. A decent cycle life >1000 cycles with a 300-mile range at the beginning of life translates to >250,000 miles before end of life.

Calendar Life Testing. The United States Advanced Battery Consortium Open Circuit Voltage – Reference Performance Test (OCV-RPT) protocol is used to measure calendar aging.

Battery Metrics. The most reported battery metrics are capacity (Ah), energy density (Wh/kg), power density (W/kg), and cycle life.

Next Generation Challenges. For next generation LIBs with silicon anodes, calendar lives have yet to breach the 2-year mark, despite improvements in cycle life.

Silicon Anodes Limitations. Calendar life is distinctly worse for silicon anodes compared to graphite due to their inherently more reactive surface.

Accelerated Testing Need. There is a need for dedicated research and development of accelerated calendar aging protocols for next generation battery systems.

Desalination's Energy Cost. Desalination consumes a colossal amount of energy to generate drinking water from ocean water, making broad adoption prohibitive due to cost.

Creative Energy Solutions. Companies are getting creative to harness the power of hydropower in the face of droughts through low-cost turbines designed for water delivery systems.

The Need for Balance. The clean energy transition hinges on responsible water usage, with climate change impacting this delicate balance.

NAWI's Role in Desalination. The National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) has secured over $100 million since 2019 from the US Department of Energy to develop cost-effective, energy-efficient, and low-emission desalination technologies.

Leakage Losses. Experts estimate that globally, up to 34% of water is lost during distribution due to leaks, which steals both water and energy.

Water's Energy Consumption. Water consumes energy at a staggering rate, contributing up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

California's Renewable Milestone. California supplied 100% of its energy demand with renewable energy for 30 days in a 38-day stretch during March and April of this year.

Water Footprint Reduction. Companies like Infinite Cooling are pioneering opportunities to reduce water usage in energy production by capturing water in cooling towers that would otherwise be lost to cooling tower plumes.

US Electricity Sources. In 2023, about 60% of the electricity generation in the US relied on water-intensive fossil fuels.

Energy's Water Demand. In 2021 alone, the global energy system withdrew 370 billion cubic metres (bcm) of freshwater: roughly 10% of total global freshwater withdrawals.

Energy Water Nexus. Energy and water form a fundamental nexus in our modern world, connected to economic development, food production, and environmental sustainability.

Live Fully Now. The best ever life hack going around is to get the memo now and not wait for the emergency or death knell that prods us into an awakening and reckoning.

Facing Death. When we truly contemplate the end or disappearance of a thing, we must also contemplate the worth of the thing itself.

Kafka's Lament. Franz Kafka wished for the end of the world so that he could live fully without scruples or fear or restraint.

Urgency to Live. Seneca wrote: 'Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day.'

Memento Mori. The practice of memento mori (remembering your death) 'premeditates adversity'.

Die Well. Our civilisation's biggest challenge is to die well, which entails facing the truth, horror, and unfathomability of death and of something ending.

Regrets of the Dying. Palliative care nurses tell us the top regrets of the dying are all to do with having received this crucial memo too late, denying them a life lived no holds barred.

Embrace Nature and Love. Death screams yes! It urges us to join nature. To join love! For this is all there is.

Previous Chapter. You can catch up here.

Secret to Living. You can read more.

Death as Affirmation. Death is our friend precisely because it brings us into absolute and passionate presence with all that is here, that is natural, that is love.

Musk's Moderate Views. Musk stated that he doesn’t think we should vilify the oil and gas industry.

Basic Geometry Ignorance. This is an almost stunningly ignorant claim, as sea level rise makes land masses smaller.

Oceanfront Property Claim. Trump falsely said that sea level rise would bring 'more oceanfront property' to the country.

Trump's False Claim. Donald Trump falsely said that sea levels would only rise 'one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.'

Actual Sea Level Rise. In reality, sea levels are currently rising at more than a one-eighth of an inch every year.

Electricity Shortages. In recent summers it's become commonplace for Americans to experience electricity shortages, with calls to use less electricity and the frequent threat of brownouts or blackouts.

New Regulations Impact. The Biden-Harris EPA's recent power plant rules will not only shut down vital coal power plants more quickly, they will also prevent new natural gas plants from replacing them.

Increasing Power Demand. They’re doing this while demand for power is increasing from data centers and EVs.

EPA's War on Coal. The Biden-Harris EPA has been at war with reliable power plants, above all the coal plants that our grid depends on for 1/6th of its reliable power.

Renewable Energy Failures. Since at any given time solar and wind can go near zero, using them to replace reliable power doesn't work. E.g., during February 2021's winter storm, TX solar and wind were totally out to lunch.

Root Cause. The real cause of reliable problems is the obvious: government-dictated 'green energy' policies that punish reliable fossil fuels and nuclear, while privileging unreliable solar and wind.

Reliability Blame. Anti-fossil-fuel politicians will blame our grid's reliability problems on 'climate change,' which is supposedly making it too hot for a grid to operate.

Grid Decline. America's grid is in decline and about to get far worse due to policies that reward unreliable electricity, prematurely shut down coal plants, criminalize nuclear, and force electric vehicle use.

Addressing Heat Resilience. Addressing heat resilience is crucial because it's not just the heat but the opportunity to mitigate it that varies by community.

Urban Heat Effect. The more trees and green spaces an area has, the cooler the neighborhood, while more concrete increases heat levels.

Impact of Inequality. The heat can be especially hard on the less affluent, with 46% of those who died from heat in Phoenix lacking housing.

Power Outages Due to Wildfires. Approximately 28,000 households and businesses were left without power in northern California and Nevada due to wildfire damages.

Hottest Month Recorded. Death Valley National Park experienced the hottest month in history in July, with an average daily temperature of 108.5°F.

Unprecedented Heat Days. Death Valley’s average maximum temperature in July was 121.9°F, exceeding 125°F on nine days.

Rising Overnight Temperatures. The average overnight low temperature in Death Valley this July was 95.2°F, which is four degrees above normal.

Recent Wildfire Statistics. So far this year, 5.2 million acres have burned in large wildfires, compared to 2.7 million acres in the entire previous season.

Heat-Related Fatalities. There were 66 confirmed heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, Arizona, as of August 3.

Funding Links Revealed. Trump's biggest funder after Musk may be Harold Hamm, who has been working hard to raise money from the energy sector.

CO2 Levels Concern. Musk believes the accumulation of carbon dioxide will only become a problem at 1,000 parts per million.

Musk's Energy Views. Musk stated that he doesn't think we should vilify the oil and gas industry and believes the economy depends on it.

Trump's Sea Level Comment. Trump's statement that rising sea levels would create 'more oceanfront property' is offensive and factually wrong.

Carelessness Displayed. The conversation started 40 minutes late because Musk essentially broke the $50 billion toy he brought.

Musk Trump Interview. Elon Musk had Trump over to his Space for a conversation intended to help 'open-minded, independent voters' catch a vibe.

Climate Scientist Consensus. There is not a serious climate scientist on planet earth who has ever contemplated a thousand parts per million with anything less than panic and horror.

Public Petition for Justice. Public Citizen has launched a petition to investigate the fossil fuel industry for knowingly driving climate disasters.

Breakthrough in Solar Power. Oxford University has developed an ultra-thin material for solar cells that is almost 150 times thinner than current silicon wafers.

Climate Urgency Misunderstood. Musk's statements imply that we have endless time to deal with the climate crisis if 1,000 parts per million is the danger level.

Free Summit Tickets. I have 4 free summit tickets to give to the Volts family!

Focus on Climate Action. There will be lots of interesting conversations, keynotes and breakout sessions focusing on 'accelerating climate action in mountain, resort, and rural communities.'

Live Podcast Event. I&#8217;m recording a live podcast at MT2030&#8217;s annual Climate Solutions Summit in Jackson, Wyoming on Oct 15-16.

Gas Price Surge. At the same time, the front month contract on the European gas benchmark climbed to its highest price so far this year - far outstripping movements on other major hubs and indexes.

Potential Price Correction. This week's EU LNG Chart Deck explores how hedge funds are positioning in response to geopolitical events - priming European wholesale gas prices for what could be a spectacular autumn correction.

Speculative Betting. The bull run is a speculative bet on supply-side disruptions that are by no means guaranteed to happen.

Hedge Fund Positioning. In the week ending 2 August 2024, hedge funds amassed their largest net long position in Dutch TTF futures since Russia's full invasion of Ukraine.

Regulatory Recommendations. If the utilities aren't prepared to provide this information on a sort of open, non-discriminatory basis, then they shouldn't be eligible to receive any money.

Data Inaccessibility Issue. Most utilities treat it as simply something for determining bills.

Demand Response Barriers. The result is a patchwork that makes growing a demand-response or other distributed-energy business unnecessarily difficult.

Customer Data Control. At Mission:data, our view is that that's really the customer's data. It belongs to them.

Smart Meter Coverage. Around 80 percent of ratepayers have a smart meter.

Call to Action. If you see there may be areas where, you know, local listeners want to be active, they want to reach out to us.

Future of Smart Metering. The new smart meters version 2.0 has Wi-Fi on board, allowing potential for higher participation rates.

Poor Compliance Rates. The actual compliance percentage for the Green Button standard is probably not as high as you might think.

Data Standardization Necessity. If you're going to be a third party and you're going to develop a business model around that, that's going to span utility territories, you need the information to be in some sort of standard format.

Historical Smart Meter Issues. There have been a lot of disappointments with smart meters and how they've been used, no question about it.

Gas Gouging Policies.

Harris and Net Zero.

Biden's Fossil Fuel Agenda.

Biden's Awareness.

Gas Prices and Policies.

Goal of Net Zero.

Gas Prices and Net Zero.

Biden's Admission.

Keystone XL Pipeline.

Mergers and Prices.

Alaska's Oil Restrictions.

Royalty Rate Increase.

Federal Leasing Moratorium.

Climate Disclosure Rules.

ESG Impact.

Government Approach.

Environmental Conditions. It’s hot out there, folks. And pretty darned dry. Which is why wildfires are erupting everywhere right now and the air is filled with smoke.

Cultural Mapping. Miera y Pacheco’s map, meanwhile, accurately shows the stream meeting up with the Colorado in Glen Canyon.

Settlement Suitability. This sort of assessment of a site’s suitability for a settlement is common in Escalante’s journals.

Current Routes. So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that current day routes more or less follow Escalante’s and Dominguez’s path.

Indigenous Knowledge. It seems that part of the reason Miera's maps somewhat accurately depict areas the party never journeyed to is because they spoke with the Indigenous people who intimately knew the country.

Explorers' Route. In July of 1776, Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante... ended up going up what is now Colorado's Western Slope and through the heart of Ute territory.

Uranium Reopening. IsoEnergy says it has successfully reopened the main portal of its Tony M uranium mine, located near Ticaboo, Utah.

Bipartisan Clean Energy Reform. As governor, Walz signed bipartisan legislation to reform Minnesota’s permitting process for clean energy projects.

Trump Campaign Tactics. The Trump campaign is trying to swiftboat Tim Walz, as noted by Josh Marshall.

Minnesota's Climate Legislation. Walz won a narrow legislative majority in the 2022 election and quickly pushed through a law that requires the state’s utilities to get 100 percent of their electricity from clean sources by 2040.

Chubb LNG Insurance Withdrawal. Chubb pulled out of the Rio Grande LNG terminal, marking a setback for the not-yet-built project that would harm the coastal landscape of the Rio Grande Valley.

Battery Tech Innovation. Some of that takes the form of wild and cool new approaches, such as converting a disused copper mine into a gravity battery in Finland.

Chinese Diesel Consumption. China's millions of diesel engines consume just under 4% of the world’s oil, accounting for a bit more than 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Future of Cooperation. Walz offers an escape from some of the cynicism and crude divisiveness that Trump embodied, promoting cooperation which is essential for addressing joint tasks we face.

Reagan's Individualism. Reagan sanctified a kind of hyper-individualism, ending the cooperative spirit that produced Social Security and civil rights laws.

Climate Crisis Neighborliness. If we are going to both prevent the worst of the climate crisis, and cope with that which we can no longer prevent, then the most important thing we can do in this country is restore as much a sense of neighborliness as possible.

Aggressive Fossil Fuel Phase-Out. As governor of Minnesota, he helped pass one of the most aggressive fossil fuel phase-out laws in the country.

Community Support for Flanagan. Indigenous leaders express a cautious hope that Flanagan could understand and protect their environmental concerns.

Protests and Police Violence. Walz supported a police force that engaged in violent tactics against peaceful protesters during the Line 3 protests.

Complexity of Relationships. Peltier argued that Walz is getting credit for the work done by Indigenous women representatives and senators while using these relationships for his political career.

Challenges in Governance. Senogles pointed out that simply being Indigenous doesn't mean Flanagan is politically aligned with all water protectors.

Environmental Protection Expectations. Indigenous leaders hope that Flanagan will prioritize stricter water and land protection policies.

Historic Governance Potential. If Flanagan becomes governor, she would be the first Indigenous woman governor in the country, potentially prioritizing Indigenous issues.

Community Support and Betrayal. The Native community showed up with votes in the thousands, but once they were elected, they turned around and approved the permits for Pipeline 3.

Opposition to Line 3. During his campaign, Tim Walz called Line 3 'a non-starter' due to its proposed route through protected lands.

Pipeline Impact. The $2.6 billion Line 3 pipeline, which officially went online in 2021, nearly doubles the volume of carbon-intensive tar sands crude oil.

Broken Promises. He went back on a very important promise to Minnesotans and allowed poison to flow through our lands and precious waterways.

Indigenous Water Protectors' Concerns. Indigenous water protectors in Minnesota view Walz's approval of a tar sands pipeline through their treaty-protected lands as a betrayal.

Walz's Climate Advocacy. Tim Walz, the vice presidential pick of Kamala Harris, is 'one of the nation's most forceful climate advocates.'

Literary Works. He's the author of 'We Will Tell Our Own Story' and 'These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters To My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home'.

Bayo Akomolafe's Role. Bayo Akomolafe is a philosopher writer, activist, professor of psychology and executive director of the emergence network.

Emerging Reality. This is a conversation about carnival and bodies, on de-territorialising our senses, on emerging with reality, on relating, and on coming home.

Innovation in Cracks. He describes cracks as innovation; the pragmatic of the useless; the minor gestures which disrupt; and edge as a place of power.

Crisis of Mastery. Bayo talks about the crisis of mastery that we face today: white modernity and the edge of the moral field into which we must dance and play and revolt.

Invitation to Explore. He has a way of speaking that invites both the past and the future to pick up the spirit of the present and remind it not to be weighed down by all that it thinks it is.

Drought Impact on Farmers. Climate-induced droughts have left farmers with very little water to work with, driving many to extreme ends, including suicide.

Rice's Carbon Footprint. Rice has a carbon footprint the size of the aviation industry, accounting for approximately 1.5% of global emissions.

Methane Production in Rice Farming. Flooding a rice field stops atmospheric oxygen from reaching soil, creating the ideal conditions for bacteria that ferment soil organic matter anaerobically, producing methane as a byproduct.

Future of Rice Methane Projects. Rice methane projects are expected to become trusted favorites of carbon credit buyers, providing high-integrity and high-impact sources of portfolio diversification.

Advances in Carbon Credit Methodologies. Recent advances in dMRV technology and carbon credit methodologies are improving the standards for rice methane methodologies.

Quality of Rice Methane Credits. Rice methane credits in other countries were discovered to be of questionable integrity due to accounting loopholes and additionality concerns.

Economic Benefits of Carbon Credits. Mitti Labs believes that the 'problem' of rice methane emissions was just an opportunity in disguise: a way to upgrade rice farming to help farmers reduce emissions and earn additional income from carbon credits.

Innovative Farming Practices. Alternative practices such as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and Direct-Seeding Rice (DSR) can reduce methane emissions by over 40% and water use by 30%.

Legislative Strategy. Instead of one omnibus bill, these changes were in, I think, six or seven different bills, allowing overlapping coalitions.

Strategic Growth. Being climate smart and forward-looking is part of Colorado's competitive advantage, attracting companies with aggressive climate goals.

Transition Challenges. Colorado faces the problem of trying to decarbonize while having a large and powerful fossil fuel industry.

Bipartisan Politics. Some housing measures in Colorado have attracted bipartisan votes to get them done.

Geothermal Initiatives. Colorado has created an expedited regulatory framework around deep well geothermal and carbon sequestration to facilitate development.

Climate Accountability. Colorado is not quite on track to hit the 2025 goal but aims to be at 95% of the goal for 2030 with additional land use and transit measures.

Renewable Energy Funding. The oil and gas agreement in Colorado will help fund carbon mitigation, particularly for transit, by potentially generating over $200 million a year.

Land Use Bills. The most recent win was a package of land-use bills that passed a few months ago, which require municipalities to upzone around transit corridors.

E-Bike Success. Around 10,000 people got e-bikes through the state's $12 million program, primarily targeted at low-income Coloradans.

Democratic Achievements. Over the past five years, Colorado's Democratic trifecta has produced a cascade of legislation on climate, energy, housing, and land use.

Engagement Objective. This competition aims to engage thinkers and communicators in envisioning the future of the battery industry.

Deadline for Submissions. Deadline 5th September 2024!

Essay Competition Announcement. We are thrilled to announce an essay competition with the upcoming Faraday Institution Conference this September.

Balanced View on Fossil Fuels. We must think about fossil fuels in a balanced way.

Energy Freedom Benefits. With energy freedom, we’ll get better at mastering climate danger, natural or manmade.

Freedom and Climate Action. If we protect all energy freedom everything will get better, including climate mastery, and we'll innovate alternatives faster.

Masterable Warming Impacts. The UN IPCC is a catastrophizing organization—but even it projects masterable warming impacts.

Economic Resilience. GDP-adjusted climate-related damages are flat despite many incentives for them to go up.

Cooling Benefits. While we're taught to fear heat-related death, cold-related death is a far bigger problem.

Manageable Warming. Climate has warmed about 1° C, a mild and manageable amount, over the last 170 years.

Drought Impact Reduction. The drought death rate is 99% less than it was 100 years ago.

Decline in Climate Deaths. The climate death rate is 98% less than it was 100 years ago.

Reduced Climate Risks. Fossil fueled climate mastery has easily overwhelmed any climate challenges so far.

Climate Mastery. Fossil fuels' biggest climate positive is the ability to master climate danger.

Fossil Fuels Climate Positives. The climate positives of fossil fuels far outweigh the climate negatives.

Energy Needs for Survival. Only by using fossil fuels can 8 billion people have the energy they need to survive and flourish.

Extinction Threat. Collapse seriously threatens our species’ extinction.

Guilt and Grief. When I first began to really feel into the shock, guilt and grief of this momentous truth.

Collective Confrontation. Collapse - and being forced to confront death like this - plants us at our collective naked lunch, in a frozen moment together.

Human Endeavour. Humanity has always been a wholly bigger and nobler project than my individual life and I derive comfort and meaning from its omnipotence.

Carrying Capacity. Again, one billion people is the figure around which humanity can exist within the earth's carrying capacity once again.

Predicted Decline. The scientist who led the research explained that because most demographers look ahead only to 2100, there is no consensus on exactly how quickly populations will fall after that.

Population Peak. A number of respected global institutes, including the United Nations, released reports that show global population will peak between nine and 10 million aching messy humans by 2080.

Moral Injury. Deep within us is a custodian instinct, I believe.

Mortality Awareness. To be human is to be the only species aware of its own mortality.

Cultural Shift. Our secular, individualist culture has replaced these rituals and wisdoms with an obsession with youth and a bunch of thoroughly avoidant longevity protocols.

Global Community's Responsibility. This is a matter of life and death; it is a plea to the global community for help.

Need for Urgent Action. Developed countries do not treat the climate challenges facing developing countries with the urgency and importance they deserve.

Economic Impact of Climate Change. The island is expected to lose 24.5 percent of its GDP by 2050 and 49.1 percent by 2100, according to the country's National Adaptation Plan.

Climate Change Threat. The future of Saint Lucia is highly threatened by climate change—and the country can't do much about it on its own.

Increased Interest in Saint Lucia. Alfred's win and her country's celebration has more people searching Saint Lucia than ever before, according to Google Trends.

Julien Alfred's Victory. Julien Alfred of Team Saint Lucia celebrates winning gold during the Women's 100 meter final.

Historic England Update. Historic England just announced they will now be encouraging local councils to allow heat pumps, solar panels and insulation for Europe's oldest housing stock.

Sharing Climate Solutions. When we share individual climate solutions with our friends and family, they can become contagious and magnify our impact many times over.

Summer Recipe Opportunity. Now that it's summer, there are so many options at the local farmers market for fresh veggies and fruit.

Plant-Based Eating. Eating more plants and cutting food waste are two big steps most people can take to cut their personal and household emissions.

Water Shortage Impact. Severe drought puts not only animals but also people, livelihoods, and the local economy at risk.

Sicilian Drought. The island of Sicily is currently in the throes of its worst drought in 30 years.

Tourist Deaths. Extreme heat has killed at least six tourists in Greece.

Mediterranean Warming Effects. The Mediterranean basin has already experienced 1.5° C of warming, and as the world warms it is increasingly beset by droughts, heatwaves, wildfires, and more.

Bacterial Potentials. These discoveries highlight the incredible potential of nature to solve so many of the problems we've created - and how much we have yet to learn!

Photosynthesis Efficiency. These microbes are 'hyper-efficient at consuming CO2 through photosynthesis,' said Braden Tierney.

Cyanobacteria Discovery. In the Mediterranean Sea, scientists have discovered a type of cyanobacteria that consumes carbon dioxide 'astonishingly quickly.'

Carbon Emission Impact. It's estimated these buildings make up about 5 percent of the UK's carbon emissions - so this is a big deal.

Superfund Site Established. A Superfund site — the Bonita Peak Mining District — was established, and as much as $160 million has been spent responding to the initial disaster and on Superfund-related activities in the years since.

Future Water Supplies Concerns. The increase in Lake Powell's levels may not be enough to quell concerns about future water supplies, even with the ferry operational again.

Megadrought Reality. The Southwest continues to experience a megadrought, now going on its 25th year, which is the most severe dry spell of the last 1,200 years, according to new UCLA research.

Lake Powell Levels. Lake Powell water levels peaked at about 41% of capacity in early July, highlighting the ongoing challenges with the Southwest megadrought.

EPA's Slow Progress. The EPA appears to be on its typical 20-year plus timeframe for completing work at this Superfund site, according to Peter Butler, former chair of the Citizens Advisory Group.

Complicated Cleanup. The environmental legacy of mining in the Upper Animas watershed is complicated, with miles of drifts and shafts in addition to natural fractures and faults that blur hydrological understanding.

Biden Administration Reforms. The Biden administration issued a report last summer calling for major reforms to the 1872 General Mining Law, proposing increased protections on mining claims and a reclamation fee.

Policy Inaction. No meaningful federal policy regarding abandoned mines has been passed by Congress or implemented by the White House.

Gold King Mine Spill. The Gold King Mine spill released some 3 million gallons of TANG-hued, acidic, metal-tainted water into a tributary of the Animas River, turning the waterways various shades of yellow and orange for a good 100 miles downstream.

Military Escalation Impact. European natural gas prices leapt to 2024 highs last week, as the US and Israel laid bare their appetite for military escalation against Iran and its proxies.

Supply Shock vs Demand. But as this week’s EU LNG Chart Deck explains, temporary supply shocks are not the same as structural changes to underlying demand.

Gas Price Uncertainty. European gas futures fell more than 4% as febrile markets opened on Monday. Is the bullish thesis for gas prices finally unravelling?

Market Selloff Trigger. While US warships were amassing in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman, the bottom fell out of the Japanese stock market — triggering a deep selloff in US and European equities and cryptocurrencies.

EU Gas Futures Rally. European gas futures on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility duly rallied to prices not seen since December.

Market Reaction. Natural gas traders saw right through it, and pressed the only button that seems to matter when two de-facto nuclear powers square off: buy.

De-escalation vs Reality. The White House described the deployment of more US Navy aircraft carriers to the region as 'de-escalatory', in what must be a candidate for the 2024 Double Speak award.

Bronze Age Technology. A new paper from Stanford's Mark Jacobson finds that firebricks could be the key to cutting industrial emissions.

Utility Monopoly Issues. The century-old system of regulated, for-profit monopolies controlling U.S. electricity distribution is broken and should be reasserted for public control over distribution.

Circular Economy Advancements. Even as battery demand surges, efficiency, innovation, and circularity will drive peak demand for mined minerals within a decade and may avoid mineral extraction altogether by 2050.

Climate Change Acceleration. The urgency and precision of the prediction that the Atlantic currents may collapse by mid-century urge immediate action and comprehensive climate strategies to mitigate the impending crisis.

Humidity and Health. Rising humidity affects human health not only directly but also indirectly through the work that people's lives depend on.

Street Vendors Affected. In Delhi, a survey of street vendors found that 80% had fewer customers during heatwaves, and most of these workers could not take breaks during heatwaves.

Wet Bulb Temperature Warning. The strong El Niño suggests a 2024 tropical land mean maximum wet bulb temperature of 26.2 C (79.2 F) and a 68% chance of breaking existing records.

Rainfall Records. Hurricane Florence in September 2018 was the second-biggest rainfall in American history; it dropped the equivalent of all the water in Chesapeake Bay on the Carolinas.

Hurricane Debby Impact. Debby is likely to cause damage in excess of $10 billion, making this Category 1 hurricane more like a Category 3 or 4 storm in its impacts.

Apocalypse Plans. Everyone at the dinner had an exit plan for navigating inevitable collapse.

Europe's Impending Collapse. Fittingly, it is Europe who will likely crumble first due to depleted soils and long-destroyed natural resources.

Link to Full Content.

Future Resilience. Here's to deep soil and strong roots that can withstand the vines that seek to choke the hands we hold.

Cultural Knowledge Valuation. There is rich cultural knowledge still strong in the island nations, far from Western homes.

Resource Depletion Warning. Most European institutions now desperately lack the language even to remember how to live well on the land that is now heating up faster than every other continent.

Cultural Collapse Perspective. The end of the hegemonic system for Western cultures feels like the end of the world, whereas for others it has been an ongoing reality for generations.

Apocalypse Plan Actions. We all need an apocalypse plan that looks like ensuring the safety of marginalized communities and making amends with the Earth.

Contemporary Apocalypse. Our apocalypse is the inevitable result of the mechanics of violence that have ravaged the world for centuries.

Media's Role in Violence. The violent, far-right, fascist riots across the U.K. this weekend are the material eruptions of a furious fire stoked by media pundits for many years.

Energy is Essential. Cost-effective and scalable energy is essential for humans to flourish on Earth.

Global Energy Starvation. 3 billion people use less electricity than an American refrigerator.

Global Energy Needs. The massive need for energy can only be satisfied if massive fossil fuel use continues and expands.

Energy Affordability. 25 million American households say they've gone without food or medicine to pay for energy.

Poverty Reduction. Thanks to cost-effective energy (mostly fossil fuel), extreme poverty has plummeted to <10% from 42% in 1980.

Nuclear Potential. Producing as much nuclear energy as fossil fuel by 2050 would require adding four 1GW nuclear plants every day.

Solar and Wind Limitations. Solar/wind only provide <5% of world energy—and only electricity, which is 1/5 of energy.

Energy Gap. For most energy needs, solar/wind either can't do what fossil fuels can or are far more expensive.

Innovative Advantages. Fossil fuels' success comes from a combination of natural attributes and generations of innovation.

China's Coal Investments. China, which uses mostly coal to produce “green” technology, has 300+ coal plants in the pipeline.

Political Challenges. Fossil fuels are growing in spite of 100+ years of competition and 20+ years of political hostility.

Fossil Fuel Dominance. Fossil fuels provide 80%+ of the world’s energy and are growing fast.

Energy Requirement. Only by using fossil fuels can 8 billion people have the energy they need to survive and flourish.

Transparency Promotion. We hope this can be a valuable resource to promote transparency in the battery industry.

Report Preview. Preview for July 2024 Battery Component Prices.

Price Reductions. Double-digit price reductions across key battery components such as raw lithium and electrolytes.

Subscription Access. Get exclusive access now!

Fast Charger Demand. Revel has begun building a network of urban fast chargers in NYC, and along the way, it has done a good deal of thinking about where to locate them.

Shift to Rideshare. Revel shifted from mopeds to cars, developing a rideshare network in which all drivers drive EVs and all the EVs charge at Revel facilities.

Urban Charging Issue. Revel found a classic chicken-and-egg problem: no one would make the substantial upfront investments to build urban fast chargers without sufficient demand.

Revel's Dual Strategy. Revel has come up with a distinctive answer: build the chargers and demand for the chargers at the same time.

EV Scalability Challenges. The logistics of installing high-capacity charging infrastructure in urban areas, like New York City, are complex and take significant time.

Tesla's Market Influence. Revel has hired several ex-Tesla employees following Tesla's downsizing of its charging team, improving its own site development processes.

Independent Contractor Model. Revel switched to an independent contractor model for drivers after recognizing it was more favorable for recruitment.

Environmental Justice. Way over half of Revel's sites are in areas defined by the government as Environmental Justice communities.

Focus on Demand Response. Revel is implementing demand response strategies to manage load, reacting to grid signals to benefit both the grid and their operations.

Charging Site Expansion. Revel is building a 60-stall site in Maspeth, Queens, which is set to have 400 kW charging and is expected to open in a year.

Profitability Without Rideshare. From a charging perspective, we don't need our rideshare company to be profitable.

Power Management Importance. Managing power is crucial as more EVs are added to the grid to prevent overwhelming it.

Growth in Urban Areas. Revel is moving quickly in terms of fast charging development in urban centers.

Scaling Infrastructure. Revel's plans on the infrastructure side of the business don't rely on their rideshare expansion.

Rapid EV Growth. Since the Taxi Limousine Commission opened 12,000 new licenses for EVs, Revel saw a tenfold increase in the use of their fast chargers overnight.

Ceased Development Proposal. The Florida company's proposal to build a 480-foot-tall telecommunications tower on Utah state land within Bears Ears National Monument's boundaries was withdrawn.

Freedom Cities Initiative. Agenda 47 - the Trump campaign's platform - promises to develop 10 'Freedom Cities' on 'empty' public lands in the Western United States if he is elected president.

Pushback Against Agenda. Trump's Agenda 47 is a bit shorter and less detailed than the 900-page Project 2025, which maybe makes it slightly more palatable to certain voters, but is equally nuts and just as scary.

Environmental Concerns. Trump plans to eviscerate environmental, health, safety, and worker protections in the name of 'energy dominance' and corporate profit.

Controversial Terminology. Referring to the Western U.S. as the 'frontier' was racist and ignorant in the 19th century.

Tribal Sovereignty Test. The trucks managed to get off tribal land before the police could catch them, but the next shipments are likely to be stopped, marking a test case for tribal sovereignty.

Uranium Mining Resurgence. Whether the U.S. uranium mining industry is experiencing a full-on renaissance or is merely having zombie-dream twitches isn't yet clear.

Mining Regulation Changes. The BLM is actually raising mining claim maintenance fees from $165 to $200 per claim.

Noise About New Projects. Energy Fuels is also looking to develop the Roca Honda Project on Forest Service land near Mt. Taylor in New Mexico.

Legislative Impact. The Energy Permitting Reform Act would codify mining companies' ability to stake mining claims on public lands to use as waste dumps and for other ancillary purposes.

Olympics Future Recommendation. If we want the summer Olympics to continue to exist and be safe for athletes, we need to rapidly reduce emissions from these sectors.

Clear Communication Needed. Communicators have to also be clear about why climate change is happening, so it’s equally clear what must be done.

Emission Contribution. Approximately 75 percent of current anthropogenic CO2 emissions come from fossil fuels, and anywhere from 13 to 20 percent come from agriculture, forestry and land use (AFOLU), according to the IPCC.

Recent Analysis Findings. The heat wave that's plagued France and other Mediterranean countries this July would have been anywhere from 4.5°F (2.5°C) to 5.9°F (3.3°C) cooler in a pre-climate-changed world.

Heat Increase Attribution. Fossil fuels, deforestation, and animal agriculture made outdoor temperatures at Tuesday's Olympics about 5.2°F degrees hotter than they would have normally been.

Gas Demand Reduction. Europe's great gas power slump has wiped out the equivalent of the combined annual primary gas demand of Denmark, Ireland, Norway and Portugal since 2017.

Natural Gas Production Low. Continental Europe produced less electricity from natural gas over the first seven months of this year than at any time since 2005.

Electricity Transition Speed. Europe's electricity system is transitioning at breakneck speed.

Gas Generation Context. This post dives into the latest data from ENTSO-E to define the contours of the gas generation slump and the factors driving it.

LNG Pivot Potential. This implies Europe could over time pivot away from not only Russian imports, but also LNG — which is more expensive, volatile, and carbon-intensive than pipeline gas.

Market Volatility Issues. Rising intra-day volatility, negative pricing, infrastructure bottlenecks, soaring balancing costs and incoherent policy responses are all straining pan-European market integration.

Corporate Crisis Drivers. We also discuss the drivers of this corporate crisis, including the story of separation.

Driving Shareholder Value. Doing so within the existing framework of driving shareholder value is so complicated that many are claiming it can't be done.

New Corporate Values. The corporate world needs new values, values that inspire different motivations for existing.

Trust and Morality. Nate works at the intersection of values and technology, working on redesigning corporate values by focusing on building trust and morality within organisations.

Cruel Irony #5. We can talk coherently and rationally about our anxiety, even joke about it, yet we freak out on a regular basis.

Podcast Mention. This week’s Wild podcast is with the wonderful Meg Wheatley.

English Translation. The book continues to be translated and published around the world.

Cruel Irony #8. We're always thinking about everyone (and everything), but we're so damn selfish.

Cruel Irony #7. We look strong and controlling. But we actually need others' help more than most.

Cruel Irony #6. We seem doggedly set in our ways, but we have no idea what we want.

Cruel Irony #4. We may come across as extroverted, but we have social anxiety.

Cruel Irony #3. We cope with strangers better than our own mates when we're anxious.

Cruel Irony #2. We need easy-going people, but they can be our undoing.

Cruel Irony #1. The anxious tend to seek solitude, yet we simultaneously crave connection.

Book Impact. The book changed me. In the writing of it, and then in the conversations it started out in the world, I healed big time.

Future of Solar. Perovskites are the most exciting new technology in solar that we've ever seen.

First Commercial Product. For us, we expect the first product to be somewhere above 25% efficiency.

Material Cost Benefits. Perovskites actually use 100x less materials than silicon.

Market Leader Moves. The biggest US solar company, First Solar, bought a perovskite startup last year.

Tandem Cell Efficiency. Perovskites can also be stacked atop silicon in 'tandem' cells, which promise to substantially increase efficiency for fairly cheap.

Performance Advantages. Perovskite semiconductors can be designed to capture parts of the spectrum of sunlight that silicon doesn’t absorb, more efficiently than silicon.

Commercialization Hopes. Several hype cycles in, however, there are still no perovskite products on the market.

Perovskite Potential. For years, perovskite solar cells have been the Next Big Thing in solar.

Market Competitive Edge. With our latest series A... we have private investors really jumping into this, looking at our data.

Stability Improvements. Perovskite's stability has improved dramatically in the last five years.

Timelines for Production. Production at scale, I think three to five years is a safe timeline.

Nuclear as Key Energy Source. Nuclear energy stands out as a key player—not just for its capacity to generate massive amounts of clean energy, but also for its unparalleled reliability and safety.

TerraPower Job Creation. The TerraPower nuclear project in Kemmerer, Wyoming, is projected to create approximately 2,000 construction jobs and 250 permanent positions once the plant is operational.

Community Economic Impact. Communities near nuclear facilities benefit from the increased demand for goods and services, fostering growth in other sectors such as retail, hospitality, and real estate.

High Salary Range. The average salary for a nuclear engineer in the United States is approximately $125,000 per year, significantly higher than the national average wage.

Economic Growth Potential. A robust nuclear workforce not only promises economic growth and stability but also enhances national security and operational safety.

Job Openings Forecast. During this time, there will be millions of new job openings in the US, including nearly 500,000 in the nuclear industry.

Workforce Shortages. The shortage of skilled workers is already a bottleneck for clean and nuclear infrastructure deployment, and this problem is expected to worsen, particularly around the crisis period of 2030-2035.

Projected Electricity Demand. By 2030, global electricity demand is projected to increase by over 60%, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Path Forward. Investing in the development and maintenance of a skilled nuclear workforce emerges as a strategic priority for securing a stable, prosperous, and safe future.

Innovation in Workforce Assessment. PowerTechs offers a skills assessment technology that identifies existing transferable skills, allowing workers to transition from other industries into clean energy roles.

Preventing Accidents. The vigilance and expertise of a plant's workforce helped identify and address a significant corrosion issue at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in 2003 before it could lead to a major accident.

Operational Excellence. A skilled nuclear workforce is essential for the reliable and safe operation of nuclear facilities.

Nuclear Workforce Skills. A well-trained workforce ensures that a country can safely and securely manage its nuclear arsenal, contributing to global non-proliferation efforts.

Energy Independence. A country with a strong nuclear energy sector reduces its reliance on foreign energy sources, enhancing its energy independence.

Youth Vote Potential. Young voters are energized and ready to organize for a candidate who differentiates from unpopular Biden policies, creating a potential for significant political mobilization.

2020 Platform Contrast. Harris's campaign has stated she would not ban fracking, contrasting her 2020 pledge as part of a $10 trillion climate plan.

Activists Demand Policy Clarity. The youth-led Sunrise Movement explicitly called on Harris to release a policy platform that promotes a strong vision for a sustainable future.

Environmental Justice Groups' Hesitation. Some environmental justice groups have not endorsed Harris, highlighting concerns over her lack of a concrete climate platform.

Concerns on Climate Policy. It's unclear how exactly Harris would be different from Biden regarding climate policy, as her campaign has not yet released an official climate policy platform.

Big Green Groups' Support. Harris has already received endorsements from the so-called 'Big Green' groups, but these were expected due to their loyalty to Democratic Party politicians.

Harris Endorsement. A coalition of lefty green groups planning to formally endorse Kamala Harris for president marks a significant shift in support.

Green Sports 1.0 Achievements. The sports world has done a great job at what I refer to as Green Sports 1.0—the greening of sports venues through energy efficient lighting, on-site solar, LEED certified stadiums/arenas, and more.

Follow EcoAthletes. Follow an EcoAthletes Champion on social media, share and like their climate-themed posts.

Grassroots Climate Plans. Write or call your favorite team — pro or college — and ask them if they have a climate action plan.

Roundtable Challenge. Start a conversation about climate change with fellow sports fans, even if it is uncomfortable to get these conversations going.

FIFA's Contradiction. FIFA touts the on-site greening of its crown jewel events, while also announcing a $100 million annual partnership for the 2026 Men’s and 2027 Women’s World Cups with Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state oil giant.

Greenwashing Issue. The scaling up of Green Sports 2.0 sadly but predictably faces significant headwinds in the form of blatant greenwashing that is often funded by the fossil fuel industry.

Call for Climate Action. To tackle these barriers and empower the Muhammad Alis and Megan Rapinoes of climate change, in 2020 I launched EcoAthletes.

Green Sports 2.0 Barriers. Unfortunately, the sports world has been much slower to advance to Green Sports 2.0.

Influence of Athletes. Athletes are among the most influential humans on the planet.

Olympics Climate Concerns. People are becoming more and more worried about the impacts of extreme heat on athletes and fans at the summer games, as well as the fact that climate change is rapidly rendering many winter Olympic venues untenable.

Conservation Proposal. Western Colorado's Mesa and Montrose Counties propose a 30,000-acre national conservation area for the Lower Dolores River corridor as an alternative to the proposed 400,000-acre national monument.

Debate Framing. And, just as predictably, it's being falsely framed as a fight pitting locals vs. outsiders.

Need for Current Help. Yet the Lower Dolores River needs help now.

Economic Misrepresentation. But this is misleading, because the uranium mining industry remains virtually dead, so the economic impact is zero to negligible.

Support for National Monuments. Tellingly, the survey also found that 72% of respondents support existing national monument designations 'such as Browns Canyon, Chimney Rock, and Colorado National Monument.'

Dam Effects on Environment. Rather it was like putting the river's manic-depressive flows on lithium.

Impact of McPhee Dam. No matter how one feels about dams, you have to admit it had some benefits.

Mischaracterization of Locals. More often than not, these land protection fights are framed as well-heeled elitist outsiders and Washington D.C. bureaucrats imposing their values on and wrecking the livelihoods of rural, salt-of-the-earth local ranchers and miners.

Long-standing Controversy. It’s the latest volley in a half-century-long battle over the fate of the beleaguered river.

Early Writing. It was hardly profound, had neither meter nor rhyme, and was only about five lines long.

Childhood Poetry. One of the first “literary” things I ever wrote was a poem that began, “The Bears Ears, have you ever seen them?”

Inspired Location. I wrote it in one fell swoop while sitting by the side of the road to Hovenweep National Monument.

Publication Cadence. Publication cadence will be slightly reduced/erratic during the school holidays.

Feedback Invitation. Paid subscribers are welcomed to provide suggestions and feedback to make the coverage more relevant and valuable.

Upcoming Topics. Upcoming topics include EU gas-fired power deep-dive, Asian & EU LNG infrastructure buildout rates, autumn arbitrage and LNG netbacks, and a review of US LNG flows in context of 2024 geopolitical volatility.

Editorial Focus. The newsletter analyses natural gas & LNG markets through the lens of Europe’s net zero journey.

Subscriber Milestone. Energy Flux surpassed the 5,000 subscribers milestone.

Graduation Accomplishments. The first company to ‘graduate’ from Prosemino was Oort Energy, which was started in Prosemino’s infancy from a small corner of UCL lab space.

Venture Builder Focus. Prosemino claims to be the ‘only electrochemistry focused lab venture builder in the world’, which we have not been able to disprove.

Venture Failure Rate. Even then, 10% of startups fail within the first year.

Startup Support Model. Prosemino provides TLC to their companies: commercial support including finance, legal, talent, etc., all of which would be time-consuming to find and expensive for a startup.

Importance of Geography. London is a ‘natural place’ for the company to be based, due to the history of the company being started at UCL, the city’s high concentration of universities, companies, and investment capital.

Deep Tech Expertise. Their specialty is the very narrow crossover of company building and electrochemistry and materials synthesis.

Fundraising Stage. Companies ‘graduate’ by raising their seed round.

Electrochemical Focus. Prosemino particularly focuses on electrochemical solutions to net zero problems, covering batteries, fuel cells, electrochemical hydrogen and interesting things like carbon capture and storage.

Lab Space Importance. However, for startups that involve deep electrochemical tech, they’re normally in need of lab space and would need to hire a lab and buy equipment in order to make any headway.

Successful Collaboration. Prosemino helped negotiate an agreement between 24M and Jerry, which jumpstarted the early days of Redoxion.

Harris vs. Biden. Vice President Harris is likely to be better than Biden concerning state policy on animal rights.

Surprising Outcome. Things aren't always what they seem; Trump's position on farm subsidies may be more important than any other policy in protecting animals.

Backlash Effect. Lukewarm support from leaders like Harris may reduce the public’s appetite for change compared to strong opposition like Trump.

Contrasting Dietary Choices. Harris has visited vegan restaurants and stated that she’s vegan before 6 pm, contrasting with Trump's meat-loving image.

Cultural Change Power. Perhaps the most important power of the President is the power of the bully pulpit.

Veto Frequency. Franklin D. Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills while Joe Biden has vetoed only 12.

Impact of Elections. National elections have much smaller impacts than most people think.

Presidential Power. The President has the power to veto legislation, which plays a role in shaping important legislation such as the Farm Bill.

Regulatory Impact. The primary direct impact of the President on animal protection is via enforcement and regulation of federal laws.

Candidates on Animal Rights. A deeper look at Trump and Harris leads to a surprising conclusion: the two candidates are closer, on animal rights issues, than you might think.

Future Advantage. Trump has a potential advantage over Biden and Harris concerning farm subsidies, as his supporters have proposed an end to many of them.

Subsidies Impact. One of the reasons factory farmers produce so many animals is that the government pays them for doing so.

Farm Bill Costs. The Farm Bill is estimated to cost $662 billion over the next 5 years.

President's Role. There are a few areas where the President plays an important role in animal protection.

Read More. Read more about the episode.

Foundational Texts. I answer subscriber questions about foundational texts for understanding the contemporary world.

Active Transcript. An active transcript is also available.

Transcript Links. PDF transcript is available.

Popular Writing. I address my most popular writing over the years.

Musk/Trump Connection. I discuss the weird Musk/Trump dance.

Political Scene. I weigh in on the current US political scene.

Oil Export Growth. America in a decade has gone from not exporting oil and gas to becoming the world&#8217;s biggest producer.

Petrostate Argument. 'Petrostate' should define not just Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, but also countries whose economies are far more diversified but where petroleum interests play a huge role in government.

Climate Change Denial. Studies suggest, for example, that 25% of US Congress seats are held by climate deniers.

Opposition from Greens. The big green groups have come out strongly against it.

Climate Policy Goals. The goal of climate policy is to prevent the planet from overheating.

Sellout to Industry. Martin Heinrichs is selling out the planet to help his state.

Environmental Impact. If enacted, the LNG portion of the Manchin bill would 'lock in new greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 165 coal-fired power plants or more.'

Manchin's Proposal. Joe Manchin has taken more money from the fossil fuel industry than anyone else in DC.

Hidden Agendas. The moral of the story is: Big Oil is sneaky, and they will use moments when attention is diverted to advance their agenda.

Solar Balconies Boom. Germans have installed 500,000 'solar balconies' across the country.

Trump's Energy Policy. The oil executives are banking on promises from the former president and his allies for an energy agenda that is more stridently pro-fossil fuel.

Fremont's Legacy. John Charles Fremont was a renowned American explorer, politician, and radical abolitionist, but he was also involved in the Sacramento River Massacre, murdering hundreds of Indigenous Wintu people.

False Heroism. Fremont's writings helped fuel the notion of Manifest Destiny and the accompanying violence against Indigenous peoples, underscoring that he was no hero despite some interesting observations.

Historical Context. Fremont’s journey and records provide valuable insights into how landscapes have radically changed or remained the same since the 1840s.

California's Beauty. Fremont noted the beauty of California, describing his surroundings as 'one continued enjoyment' with green pastures and wildlife during his travels.

Biodiversity Diminished. The description of the Tulare Lake shows the profound changes to California's ecology, as irrigation and diversions have dried up the lake which only revives in exceptionally rainy years.

Indigenous Trade. Fremont recorded Indigenous people trading otter skins, fish, and acorn bread, reflecting a complex ecosystem of trade and interaction before widespread colonization.

Desert Transformation. Fremont found unexpected ecological diversity in the desert, survival amid sterility characterized by flowering shrubs and beautiful plants, defying his initial impressions of 'nada'.

Las Vegas Encounter. Fremont camped at what’s now Las Vegas, describing a beautifully watered basin but on his journey, indicating that the area was once fertile before urban transformation.

Social Connections. Sarah Wilson meets many people by engaging in discussions at local boulangeries, often about politics.

AllTrails Usage. Wilson employs the AllTrails app to discover hiking routes around Paris, enhancing her outdoor experiences.

Parisian Delights. Wilson recommends specific eateries like 'Chez Georges' and 'Billili' that reflect Paris's vibrant culture.

Community of Artists. A community of Australian female artists in Paris often gathers to share their creative stories.

Cultural Values. Sarah appreciates France's pro-intellectual culture and emphasis on discussion over materialism.

Nature Escapes. Wilson enjoys running in the forests surrounding Paris, such as those at Fontainebleau and Versailles.

Philosophical Dinner Dates. Wilson has dinner dates discussing weekly writings with A.C. Grayling, a noted philosopher.

Cycling Infrastructure. One third of Paris roads have been converted to bike and pedestrian lanes, reducing pollution by 40%.

Weekend Culture. There is a cultural norm in France against working on weekends, with a focus on rest and leisure.

Secondhand Market Growth. The secondhand shopping scene is significant in Paris, with a strong presence of by-the-kilo shops and subsidies for repair services.

Local Shopping Habits. In Paris, people shop at local markets and then top up their supplies due to small kitchens in apartments.

Cultural Embrace. People in Paris are curious and often look others in the eye rather than objectifying them.

Life in Paris. Sarah Wilson believes Paris is a city for older women, stating, 'You don't become invisible at 50 here.'

Climate Policy Vulnerability. The climate tech sector faces a critical juncture as the presidential election approaches and cannot take Biden/Harris climate policies for granted, as a Trump presidency is likely going to shift the balance in favor of fossil fuel giants.

Preserving Climate Incentives. We must take action now to engage with policymakers as the potential election impacts on climate change are significant, especially due to the risks of repealing elements of historic climate policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Election Impact on Climate. The clean energy and climate movement seems less mobilized around this election cycle than it was in 2020, prompting us to investigate what’s at stake.

Potential Tax Increases. Extending those tax credits would cost about $4.6 trillion over the next ten years according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Tax Credit Durability. Many in the energy sector believe the IRA will remain mostly intact because history shows tax incentives are rarely revoked.

Call to Action. You should engage now to protect the climate policies that are benefitting your technology.

Advocacy for IRA. Advocate for protecting the IRA by lobbying elected officials for continued federal and state support.

Industry Concerns. The climate industry will need to take action before the election to preserve its future.

Coalition Participation. Join a coalition like Clean Energy for America, an organization that amplifies the voice of the clean energy workforce in advocating for policies and leaders to advance just, equitable, and rapid decarbonization.

Trump's Climate Agenda. Former President Trump has positioned himself firmly against President Biden's climate policies, pledging as early as September 2023 to 'rescind every one of Joe Biden’s industry-killing, job-killing, pro-China and anti-American electricity regulations.'

Potential Legislative Changes. A Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act to repeal the IRA, with each Republican voting for repeal despite the potential for economic harm to their district.

Judicial Challenges. The June Supreme Court decision overruling the Chevron doctrine increases the scrutiny that the Biden Administration's environmental regulations may face.

Environmental Impact. According to a 2023 study, oil produced by a common recycling method called pyrolysis actually pollutes more than the fossil fuel industry’s usual polluting occupation—crude oil drilling.

Advanced Recycling Market. The global market for advanced recycling is projected to exceed $9 billion by 2031.

Greenwashing Tactics. Ultimately, this kind of messaging is meant to distract us from the best available solution: producing less plastic.

Advanced Recycling Claims. These 'advanced recycling' ads are not trying to sell products. They're trying to sell consumers a utopian idea: that plastic consumption can continue as is, without irreparably damaging public health and the planet.

Ineffectiveness of Recycling. Despite years of effort and billions of dollars of investment, few advanced recycling plants are up and running.

Advertising Spending. So far, America’s Plastic Makers has spent nearly $30 million since 2023 to place ads touting 'advanced recycling' and other sustainability measures.

Chemical Recycling Output. In fact, the main product that chemical recycling produces isn’t plastic—it’s oil and chemicals.

Historical Inefficiency. As early as 1973, an industry consultant wrote that 'separation of plastics from [municipal solid waste] is neither technically nor economically feasible at the present time, and probably will not be in the future.'

Rising Disaster Costs. Over the last decade, the average cost of weather-related disasters and catastrophic losses each year has risen to the equivalent 5-6% of annual GDP growth.

Carbon Sequestration. Metalplant is also aiming to sequester carbon on its farms through 'enhanced rock weathering,' which involves spreading rock dust on the soil on its farms.

Innovative Mining Method. A start-up in Albania called Metalplant is trying out a new kind of mining: 'phytomining,' that consists of growing and harvesting nickel-accumulating flowers.

Tool Library Impact. The Tool Library in Buffalo, NY saved its members some $730,000 last year by providing access to tools.

Political Efficacy. Americans who hear others talk about global warming at least once a month have higher levels of perceived collective political efficacy than those who hear others talk about global warming less often – 54% versus 39%.

Nickel Demand Forecast. Demand for nickel, an essential metal in manufacturing EV batteries, is forecast to double by 2040.

Carbon Emission Loss. For each kilogram of nickel mined, it’s estimated between 7 to 10 kg of carbon stock is lost from forests.

Take Action Locally. The next time you're in the throes of a home improvement project, don't dash out to a big box store to buy another tool; instead, consider renting or borrowing equipment from a local tool library.

Forest Source Critique. The wood pellet industry sources almost 90% of its feedstock from the main stems of trees rather than waste products.

Shift Towards Transparency. The wood pellet industry faces increasing scrutiny, as legislative measures seek to assess its lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and impact on communities.

Community Economic Impact. One North Carolina community saw its poverty rate increase since the opening of a wood pellet facility, contradicting promises of economic development.

False Choices. Using wood as fuel increases emissions and sacrifices community well-being, suggesting a false dilemma between coal and wood pellets.

European Policy Impacts. The recent decision by the Netherlands to end all biomass subsidies may have significant implications for the wood pellet industry in the US.

Regulatory Weakness. Despite numerous violations, only about a third of wood pellet facilities in the US are in compliance with air pollution limits.

Investment in Fossil Fuels. Every dollar spent on burning biomass could be allocated to truly emission-free sources that tackle climate change.

Environmental Justice Issues. Communities near wood pellet facilities suffer from harmful levels of air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

Emissions Increase. Burning biomass for power emits about 20% more carbon than coal, making it three times more emission-intensive than natural gas per kilowatt of electricity.

Carbon Neutral Claims. The wood pellet industry is politically designated as having emissions of zero and receives financial support.

Major Export Destination. 72% of US wood pellets are exported to the UK, amounting to seven and a half million metric tons.

Wood Pellet Industry Growth. Wood pellet production in the US has grown 500% in the past decade in response to European policies.

Renewable Energy Source. Over half of what counts as renewable energy in the European Union is bioenergy, i.e., wood pellets burned for heat or electricity.

Connection through Darkness. Wrestling with the darkness has left me more committed to this path than I could ever have imagined.

Personal Transformation. These strange times that we can’t quite believe are here also demanded that I step into my biggest, most alive self.

Existential Question. I ask it because I think it lays out the sturdiest of foundations from which a good life can be designed.

Life Design Inquiry. Can I ask you here, what is left for you, when everything else is hypothetically stripped away?

Nature and Humanity. My answer gets more beautiful by the hour: nature, humanity, and my wildly alive love of it all.

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Workforce Loss. The decline of nuclear power in the U.S. has led to a decay of the industry’s workforce, which has undergone a loss of vital professions such as skilled welders, pipefitters, and electricians.

Nuclear Decline. The U.S. and other Western countries largely stopped building new nuclear reactors in the 1980s.

Nuclear Comeback Potential. The U.S. faces an industry that has atrophied, but with the increasing demand for clean energy and the success of nuclear energy development abroad, there is potential for the U.S. to reclaim its former leadership in the sector.

Reactors Agnostic. The Nuclear Company is philosophically agnostic to any specific type of reactor and is open to working with any technology that is safe, economical, and regulatory-approved.

Bipartisan Support. There has been growing support from both Democrats and Republicans for deploying more nuclear energy.

Cost-Containment Approach. The Nuclear Company adopts a comprehensive oversight strategy, managing the entire process from start to finish to focus on the 88% of costs associated with infrastructure and operations that exist outside of the reactor and steam system.

Nuclear Company Vision. The Nuclear Company aims to restore America's leadership in nuclear power by building fleets of nuclear power plants on time and on budget.

Opportunity for Growth. The opportunity for growth and expansion of American nuclear production is as vast as it is necessary.

Energy Demand Surge. In 2023, U.S. energy demand rose 4.7% alone and consumption is expected to increase exponentially over the coming decades.

Nuclear Construction Costs. The cost of constructing nuclear power plants has increased by about 33% while the cost of new solar generation has fallen 90%.

Green New Deal Support. Harris said she’d get rid of the filibuster to pass a Green New Deal.

Investigative Initiatives. Harris's office opened one of the first official law enforcement investigations into Exxon’s efforts to downplay the climate danger of their products.

Prosecutorial History. Harris made a habit of suing fossil fuel companies while serving as California Attorney General, amassing $50 million in settlements.

Climate Crisis Outlook. Some climate activists are hopeful that Vice President Harris might be willing to go further than President Joe Biden on tackling the climate crisis.

Big Oil Challenge. Harris's willingness to directly challenge Big Oil in 2016 set her apart from many mainstream Democrats at the time.

Legal Action Outcome. The arguments in Harris’s lawsuit ultimately helped environmental groups convince a federal judge to pause all new Pacific offshore fracking.

Harris's Lawsuit. Kamala Harris sued the Obama administration in December 2016, seeking a halt to new offshore fracking permits.

Fracking Controversy. President Barack Obama’s administration had just finalized plans to allow oil companies to resume offshore hydraulic fracturing and acidizing in the Santa Barbara Channel.

Overall Climate Engagement. While Harris has shown a willingness to target oil companies over climate denial and delay, time has passed since her initial campaign.

Future Climate Commitment. During the 2019 presidential campaign, Harris stated she would appoint cabinet members based on their commitment to tackling climate change.

Volkswagen Settlement. Kamala Harris secured an $86 million settlement from Volkswagen for rigging its vehicles with emissions-cheating software.

Climate Catastrophe Urgency. The climate catastrophe is now playing out in real time.

Carbon Sink Decline. A new study shows 'a large decline in the land carbon sink in 2023.'

Feedback Loop Risk. The authors suggest that increased temperatures and dryness are weakening carbon sinks, leading to increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

Need for Action. If very high warming rates continue in the next decade, it calls for urgent action to enhance carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero.

Climate Events Complexity. The earth's climate system is now enduring a series of body blows, making it increasingly hard to calculate how they all add up.

Importance of Elections. What happens in November will be our highest-leverage chance remaining to affect how high the temperature of our planet rises.

Harris's Commitment. Kamala Harris has a climate plan that sets out a bold target to exceed the Paris Agreement climate goals and achieve a clean economy by 2045.

Need for Climate Accountability. The task remains the same: we need to cut our carbon emissions as much as possible, as soon as possible.

MAGA and Climate Denial. MAGA owns the Republican party, and they believe that physics is fake.

Public Policy Recommendations. The report describes a menu of public policy options for managing the declines in US oil and gas production.

Tough Stance on Big Oil. Kamala Harris is seen as a 'tougher oil industry opponent than Joe Biden.'

Environmental Justice Focus. Harris created an environmental justice unit to address environmental crimes affecting San Francisco's poorest residents.

Societal Transformation. Imagine if we could provide housing, education and decarbonised energy to societies dependent on fossil fuels in order to free up people's time and labour and facilitate their rewilding of natural spaces.

Link to Article. For further reading on the topic of petro-privatisation, visit the following link.

Ownership Perspective. Nothing truly belongs to us—we belong to the world.

Impact of Renewables. Reports are coming in all over the world of forests being cut to make way for solar or wind energy.

Lower Returns Benefit. Figuring out financial infrastructure that have lower returns is actually incredibly beneficial in the long-run because it means the overall rate of petro-privatisation will be smaller.

Petro-Privatization Costs. The cost is evident and degrowth scholars have been warning for years now that it is impossible to dematerialise our economies.

Energy Transition Myth. Currently, we are experiencing an energy addition, not an energy transition, as fossil fuel consumption increases globally every year despite renewables being the cheapest form of energy available.

Fossil Fuel Profit. The most profitable company in the world is Saudi Aramco, which earned $120.608B in the 12 months leading up to May 2024.

Fertilizer Dependency. Many 'experts' ignore that much of the world would starve without fertilizer from natural gas.

Balanced View. We must think about fossil fuels in a balanced way.

Decrease in Climate Deaths. The climate death rate has decreased by 98% over the last century as fossil fuel use has risen.

Climate Safety. Sadly most 'experts' ignore fossil fuels' climate positives, including climate mastery.

Importance of Balance. To decide what to do about fossil fuels we must be balanced, looking at both negatives and positives.

Agricultural Machines. Many 'experts' ignore that much of the world would starve without oil-powered agricultural machines.

Negatives Ignored. Most 'experts' look at the negatives of fossil fuels but ignore huge positives.

Energy Sound Bites. The goal of Energy Sound Bites is to distill key facts and insights about energy, environmental, and climate issues into a form—100 characters or less—that's short enough to remember and repeat whenever you need them.

Energy Talking Points. Energy Talking Points by Alex Epstein is my free Substack newsletter designed to give as many people as possible access to concise, powerful, well-referenced talking points on the latest energy, environmental, and climate issues.

Next Discussion Topic. Only by using fossil fuels can 8 billion people have the energy they need to survive and flourish.

IPCC Reports. The IPCC's 1000+ page climate reports ignore all the ways fossil fuels increase climate safety.

Balancing Act. If we carefully weigh fossil fuels' positives and negatives, it becomes clear we need more of them.

Geographical Mapping. This dashboard not only maps the geographical locations of production facilities but also highlights the key stakeholders driving these technological advancements.

Production Site Monitoring. You can use the Data Library which catalogs information on hundreds of manufacturing plants to monitor individual production sites.

Company Profiles. You have the option to explore company profiles for related manufacturers to gain deeper insights like business segmentation and organizational structures.

Contact the Creator. If you’re interested in chatting with Jerry, reach out!

New Energy Terminal. We came across this tool New Energy Terminal a few weeks ago and we thought it’d be a useful resource for many of our readers.

Analytical Focus. Nicolina Nanni, Chief of Staff, Liminal, will discuss data and analytics in battery manufacturing.

Event Details. Online event, Tuesday 23rd April 2024, 5pm UK (BST) / 9am PST / 12pm EST.

Registration Link. Sign up here.

Featured Speaker. Featuring Eric Rountree, CEO, EC Power, focusing on battery fast charging.

Evolving Start-Ups. Companies Redwood Materials, Li-Cycle and Ascend Elements are tackling the challenges of closing raw material loops by recycling batteries, showcasing clear trends from their early business development processes.

Recycling Opportunities. Recycling makes local and ecologically more sustainable battery raw material supply chains possible, while also drastically reducing costs and supply risks.

IRA Subsidies. Electric vehicles which contain a certain amount of raw material sourced from or produced by the US or free-trade partner countries are eligible for subsidies under the IRA, with over $70 billion allocated.

Battery Value Chains. North America has been gaining enormous momentum building its own battery value chains due to major investment and subsidy programs as part of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Production Potential. Once operational, the three recycling sites could supply battery materials for around one million electric vehicles per year, matching the number sold in 2022 in the US.

Government Support. All three companies have received major governmental support to expand their recycling capacities rapidly, including significant loans announced by the US Department of Energy.

Isothermal Microcalorimetry. Battery researchers are adopting isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC), an established technique for measuring heat production or consumption in biologic, pharmaceutical, and chemistry testing.

CED Business Insights. They aim to be the ‘android’ of the charging world and be company agnostic.

Decarbonisation Challenges. We are not going to decarbonise the value chains by keeping them global - this will require some deglobalisation which will be tricky.

Global EV Transition. India’s regions have used an aggregated demand system (essentially bulk ordering together) in order to secure a better price for their eBus fleet.

Public Mobility Insights. Marit keen to retain these incentives to maintain the EV status over ICE but also design policies that make sure that citizens would still choose to walk and cycle over driving.

Oslo's EV Strategy. Transport accounts for half of emissions in Oslo with almost 40% of all cars in Oslo being electric.

Waste from Conferences. These kind of conferences create an outrageous amount of waste - it’s a real shame there weren’t washable mugs and plates.

EU Subsidy Calls. There were multiple calls on the EU and Norway to match these stimuli, with possible protective measures to get the industry going in Europe.

Manufacturing Location Shift. Birger Steen spoke very candidly about how the IRA meant that they needed to deprioritise their original location of choice in Norway and move their main operations to Georgia, US.

IRA Impact on EU. One really key theme from this conference was the threat that the IRA poses to Europe if the EU does not respond with a similar policy.

April Report Release. April's update on our battery industry cell and component pricing reports are for our subscribing supporters.

Previous Reports. Previous monthly reports can be found here:

Price Monitoring. If you we&#8217;re staring at battery and lithium prices, you would not have noticed the time pass by.

Transparency Initiative. We hope this can be a valuable resource to promote transparency in the battery industry.

Disbanding of Supercharger Team. The entire Supercharger team led by Rebecca Tinucci has been disbanded, a controversial move given its previous success and strategic importance to Tesla’s charging network infrastructure.

Luca de Meo's Recommendations. Luca de Meo published a letter to Europe summarizing that 'China rules, the US stimulates and the EU regulates' with recommendations to future-proof the car industry.

Statevolt's Ambitious Plan. Statevolt has announced a plan to produce solid-state batteries in the UAE from 2026, which is extremely ambitious given the history of battery factories.

Canoo Acquires Arrival. Canoo has acquired a lot of Arrival's manufacturing stock at an 80% discount, which demonstrates the value of being 'the last man standing.'

Executive Departures. The wave of firings at Tesla includes two senior execs: Drew Baglino, Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering, and Rohan Patel, Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development.

CATL's TENER Battery. CATL unveiled a 'five-year zero degradation' stationary storage battery with 6 MWh total capacity, causing waves in the industry.

Tesla Workforce Cuts. Tesla announced this month it was laying off more than 10% of its global workforce, impacting around 14,000(!) employees globally.

Sustainable Nickel Pricing. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is launching a green nickel price, part of a wider move by the London Metal Exchange to reward cleaner metal suppliers.

Battery Patent Licensing. LG plans to start a 'battery patents licensing' agenda that will allow previous infringers to legally utilize LG's patented technologies under new licensing agreements.

LGES Patent Action. In an unprecedented move to protect its tech, LGES is coming out swinging against the hundreds of patent infringers in the industry, planning to issue warning notices and potentially pursue legal action.

Recycling Service Model. Redwood, Li-Cycle, and Ascend Elements offer suppliers and customers a full service for processing old, discarded batteries - from advice on transportation to mechanical shredding and the supply of new, sustainable materials for battery production.

Political Support Required. Guaranteeing capacity utilization is currently a major challenge, which may be resolved in the future with greater political interest in domestic and sustainable supply chains.

Expansion Risks. Due to a lack of recyclable materials, Redwood's initial plans to produce cathode material precursor from spent batteries had to be bridged by purchasing mined lithium.

Rising Competition. Recycling start-ups also see great business opportunities in Europe and a market that is worth entering, but they face rising competition.

Li-Cycle's Model. Li-Cycle has opted for a so-called spoke-and-stroke model, where decentralized spokes are set up at locations in North America where the density of battery and EV production and customers is high.

Partnership Importance. Close and long-term partnerships with suppliers and customers are essential for successful recycling business models and ensuring capacity utilization of large plants.

Integrated Production. Redwood Materials and Ascend Elements see promising business opportunities in the integration of the next step in the loop, the production of cathode and anode materials and precursors of these materials.

Layoff Impact. Over the last 12 months, there’s been a handful of bankruptcies and layoffs, unfortunately.

Climate Technologies Role. Russell Heller is seeking a role in scaling climate technologies.

Seeking Battery Roles. Gustavo Silva is looking for cell engineering roles after working in product development for the past 3 years.

Hiring Battery Modellers. Oorja is looking to hire problem solvers who are adept at battery modelling and using physics based ML techniques.

Ather Energy Jobs. Ather Energy is one of the biggest manufacturers of smart connected EV two-wheelers in India.

Applications Engineer Wanted. I'm a Senior Applications Engineer looking for a US-based Applications Engineer for BESS.

Lifecycle Assessment Openings. Looking for Lifecycle Assessment practitioners, particularly with Battery industry expertise.

Technical Project Manager. Echion Technologies is looking for a Technical Project Manager.

Product Manager Role. Volytica is seeking a Product Manager for battery monitoring solution.

Hiring Senior Scientist. LeydenJar is progressing towards commercialization of 100% silicon anodes with ultra-high energy density.

Part 1 Available. There were a lot of replies so we may do this in multiple parts and post periodically.

Open Call for Jobs. We’re putting together a little open call, whether you’re a job seeker interested in putting your details down, or you’re hiring for a new position in your team, we’re hoping to connect the dots.

Educational Tool. This tool is designed to be educational about the production process and also for researchers to ‘test’ their own materials at a cell level.

Free Resource. A neat piece of free Excel modeling. It does what it says on the tin and we think you could use it in conjunction with some more complicated things to get the bigger picture.

Complementary Tools. CAMS is more focused on cell level, whereas the BatPac focuses on pack level specifically for EVs.

Graphical Analysis. The inbuilt graphs are a nice touch too, allowing quick visual analysis and allowing you to input the materials you wish to compare.

Modeling Capabilities. The CAMS can model four different cell designs: cylindrical, pouch, prismatic (wound) and prismatic (Z-stacked) with five different cell chemistries of Li-ion, Na-ion, Li-sulfur, all solid state and hybrid solid state.

CAMS Overview. The Cell Analysis and Modelling System (CAMS) uses 40 widely used electrode materials and over 200 commercial cells to allow users to compare the results from their modeled cells to industry standards.

Visit Illumion. If you want to find out more about their benchtop charge photometer, visit www.illumion.io.

Operational Insight. Charge photometry represents the next frontier in material characterisation.

Increased Activity Variation. When increased to 2C, Particle B displays a lag in delithiation at the beginning of charge, indicating that the faster charging rate has induced an increase in electrochemical activity variation.

Characterising Electrode Performance. Monitoring such heterogeneity across the electrode is challenging because it requires single particle resolution over a population of particles.

Observation Capability. It was possible to observe not only the real-time formation of cracks across the active particles at higher charging rates up to 30C, but also the development of Li-ion gradients within the particles, that ultimately led to the degradation observed.

Evaluating Degradation. Cycling batteries at a faster rate can lead to accelerated degradation, so with the increasing demand for more rapidly charging batteries there is a pressing need to understand the causes of degradation under such conditions.

Real-Time Monitoring. Charge photometry captures both the state-of-charge and morphology of individual active particles within an electrode on the millisecond scale, enabling rapid dynamic processes to be visualised in real time.

Introducing Charge Photometry. Charge photometry is a novel optical microscopy-based technique that addresses these two challenges.

Dynamic Processes Challenge. Even traditional optical microscopes are not really set up for truly dynamic image capture and analysis of rapid processes.

Importance of Microscopy. Microscopy is an essential component in the arsenal of the battery material researcher looking to understand the behaviour of next generation battery materials.

Next Article Preview. Stay tuned for part 2 of this energy storage series where we'll be exploring augmentation, standards and regulations.

Grid Stability Needs. Batteries can respond extremely quickly to provide or absorb power from the grid to stabilize frequency and voltage.

Tesla's Profit Margin. In Q3 of 2023, Tesla's energy storage business achieved a profit margin of 24%, surpassing that of EVs for the first time.

Largest Solar + Storage Project. The largest US Solar + Storage project is now online in California's mojave desert, with 1.9 million solar modules and 3.287GWh of capacity.

Energy Storage at Solar Farms. 94% of this [battery power capacity] is co-located with solar farms.

Battery Capacity Online. As of February 2024 in the US, 9GW of battery power capacity was already online, and the US pipeline currently includes >49GW of planned storage power capacity.

Lithium-ion Dominance. LFP is the dominant chemistry for energy storage, thanks to its high cycle life and thermal stability.

Energy Storage System Sizing. Energy storage projects are usually defined by the capacity and power of the system, such as a 500MWh/250MW project which can be described as a '2 hour system'.

Battery Component Pricing. As the weather is warming up in the northern hemisphere towards the end of the month, so does some key components for lithium-ion batteries.

Resource for Transparency. We hope this can be a valuable resource to promote transparency in the battery industry.

Previous Reports Available. Previous monthly reports can be found here: April 2024, March 2024, February 2024 (FREE) and August 2023 - Jan 2023.

Subscription Access. Get the latest May report by subscribing now.

May BCPR Article Link. Read more about the May BCPR: Signs of life?

EV Market Challenges. Halle Cheeseman highlights the challenges faced by the US and European OEMs in her LinkedIn post about the BYD seagull, stating, "the West are in trouble."

Rheo-Impedance Spectroscopy. The Discovery Hybrid Rheometer Rheo-Impedance Spectroscopy accessory achieves unmatched data quality in both dielectric impedance and rheology measurements.

Sustainable Battery Concerns. Environmental protests against the Tesla plant highlighted significant concerns regarding the deforestation necessary for the factory's growth and water supply issues.

Lithium Metal Validation. Northvolt's Cuberg has released a report of third-party validation of the world's first lithium-metal battery module, targeted at electric aviation.

Australia's Battery Strategy. Australia's national battery strategy focuses on energy storage systems for renewable energy, upgrading raw minerals into processed battery components, enhancing battery safety, and producing batteries for transport manufacturing.

Battery Recycling Funding. Battery recycling firm Cylib raised €55m in a Series A round.

Bankruptcy Reports. Liquid metal battery developer Ambri filed for bankruptcy and FreeWire is closing its HQ in June, laying off virtually all its staff.

Stationary Storage Growth. Less than 7 years since the first 'big' battery storage was installed, global stationary storage capacity is about to overtake global capacity of pumped hydro.

Tariff Increase. The Biden administration has significantly hiked tariffs on selected Chinese imports, including the tariff on EV duties jumping to 102.5% from 27.5%.

Projected Price Increase. This report by Energy Storage News estimated that the price of standalone storage will increase by 11-16%.

Investment in Domestic Capacity. In the one year after the IRA was announced, 14 new US gigafactories were announced, increasing US gigafactory capacity in the pipeline out to 2030 from 706GWh in July 2022 to 1.2TWh in July 2023.

Self-sufficient Supply Chain. The move to increase tariffs could work with the measures already enacted in the inflation reduction act to boost US domestic battery production and reduce reliance on China.

Impact on Prices. Lithium ion batteries accounted for $13.2B of imports into the US from China in 2023.

Battery Production. China also produced more batteries than the rest of the world combined in 2022.

Material Processing Dominance. In 2022 China refined 95% of the world’s Manganese, 70% of Cobalt and Graphite, 66% of Lithium and 60% of Nickel.

Raw Materials Control. China mines more than two thirds of the world’s graphite, extracts 60% of the rare earths, owns almost half the world’s cobalt mines and controls a quarter of the lithium.

China's Battery Market Dominance. There’s no hiding from the fact that China is dominant over almost every aspect of the global battery market.

Chinese EV Imports. The biggest tariff hike is for Chinese EVs, but seeing as the US hardly imports any Chinese EVs (just 1700 in Q1 2024), let’s focus on the battery stuff.

Tariff Effect Timing. The tariffs don’t all come into effect at the same time, done to give more time to industries where it will take longer to source US-made products due to the lack of existing factories/facilities.

Strategic Industries Affected. The tariffs affect several strategic industries to varying degrees.

Tariff Increase Details. Earlier in May, the Biden Administration increased tariffs on $18B of imports from China in a move the administration claims to protect American workers and businesses from ‘unfair trade practices’.