The IPCC says that we likely need to capture hundreds of gigatons of CO2 if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So what are we going to do with all that carbon?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at Carbon Direct. Julio says we will store the vast majority of that CO2. But the markets for using CO2 in things like concrete, fizzy water, and chemicals will play an important role in developing the carbon management economy. Shayle and Julio cover topics like:

• The roughly 50 carbon capture facilities operating today and how much carbon they capture
• Why we should recycle carbon at all when we could just store it 
• Current uses for CO2, like fizzy water, enhanced oil recovery, and concrete
• Emerging chemical uses, like jet fuel, ethanol, urea, and methanol
• Substituting glass and metal with products that use recycled carbon, like polycarbonate and carbon fiber
• The “over the horizon” stuff, like making space elevators from graphene
• Solving the challenge of local opposition to carbon infrastructure
• Who will pay the green premium for products made with recycled carbon

Recommended Resources:

Center on Global Energy Policy: Opportunities and Limits of CO2 Recycling in a Circular Carbon Economy: Techno-economics, Critical Infrastructure Needs, and Policy Priorities

Canary Media: US Steel plant in Indiana to host a $150M carbon capture experiment

NBC: Biden admin seeks to jumpstart carbon recycling with $100 million in grants

Are growing concerns over AI’s power demand justified? Join us for our upcoming Transition-AI event featuring three experts with a range of views on how to address the energy needs of hyperscale computing, driven by artificial intelligence. Don’t miss this live, virtual event on May 8.

Catalyst is supported by Origami Solar. Join Latitude Media’s Stephen Lacey and Origami’s CEO Gregg Patterson for a live Frontier Forum on May 30th at 1 pm Eastern to discuss Origami’s new research on how recycled steel can help reinvigorate the U.S. solar industry. Register for free on Latitude’s events page.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are essential ingredients in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and many electronics. As with most critical minerals, China controls the vast majority of the REE supply chain. And so when it banned the export of REE processing technology last December, it raised concerns about supply.

So what will it take to secure the supply of REEs? 

In this episode, Shayle talks to Ahmad Ghahreman, CEO and cofounder of Cyclic Materials, a rare earth elements recycling company. (Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle is a partner, invests in Cyclic.) They cover topics like:

• The five high-value REEs used in the permanent magnets inside EVs, wind turbines, and other electronics
• The many steps in the supply chain, from extraction to end-of-life
• Building magnets without REEs
• Increasing production outside of China
• The role of recycling
• Why Ahmad is optimistic about developing a supply chain in North America

Recommended Resources:

MIT Technology Review: The race to produce rare earth elements

IEEE Spectrum: Who Will Free EV Motors from the Rare Earth Monopoly?

Are growing concerns over AI’s power demand justified? Join us for our upcoming Transition-AI event featuring three experts with a range of views on how to address the energy needs of hyperscale computing, driven by artificial intelligence. Don’t miss this live, virtual event on May 8.

A little-known U.S. law called the Jones Act shapes climate tech in weird ways — like hindering offshore wind deployment and pushing up energy prices.

The law, part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires all cargo shipped between U.S. ports to be carried by ships that meet strict standards. Those ships must be built in American shipyards, owned by an American company, registered in the U.S., and crewed by a majority American crew. As a result, building cargo ships in the U.S., and operating them between U.S. ports, is way more expensive than building and operating ships in other countries — and relatively few U.S. ships get built.

So what are the impacts on climate tech?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Colin Grabow, research fellow at the Cato Institute's Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. They cover topics like:

• How the Jones Act increases the money and time required to deploy offshore wind turbines
• Why it costs less to ship U.S. oil and gas abroad than to domestic markets
• How it pushes domestic shipping to rely on trucks and trains instead of ships
• The history of the act and potential ways it could change

Recommended Resources:

• WIRED: The US Has Big Plans for Wind Energy—but an Obscure 1920s Law Is Getting in the Way
• Cato Institute: Jones Act Leaves New England Vulnerable to Wintertime Calamity
• Cato Institute: Environmental Costs of the Jones Act

Are growing concerns over AI’s power demand justified? Join us for our upcoming Transition-AI event featuring three experts with a range of views on how to address the energy needs of hyperscale computing, driven by artificial intelligence. Don’t miss this live, virtual event on May 8.

This week we’re bringing you a deep dive into battery supply chains — the season premier of The Big Switch, a show that Latitude Media makes in partnership with Columbia University’s SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy.

Across this five-episode documentary series, hosted by the acclaimed energy scholar Dr. Melissa Lott, we examine every step of the sprawling global supply chains behind lithium-ion batteries.

In this first episode, we break apart one of the battery cells that was in the original Tesla Roadster. Then we explore how critical minerals, like copper, lithium, and nickel, are becoming a major force in global geopolitics, especially involving China, which dominates battery supply chains.

The supply chain behind all those batteries could be worth nearly half a trillion dollars by 2030. Whoever controls that supply chain has enormous power — figuratively and literally. 

In this episode, we explore the stakes of the battery-based transition and ask whether critical minerals will look anything like oil.

To listen to the full five-part series, including episodes on mining, manufacturing and more, subscribe to The Big Switch on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The lithium-ion battery business is taking off, and the battery recycling business is close behind. Financiers are pouring over a billion dollars into recycling companies like Redwood Materials, Ascend Elements, and Li-Cycle. But success depends on a steady supply of used batteries, and with batteries lasting longer than expected — and the battery market still in its infancy — there just aren’t enough dying batteries to go around. 

As a result, a significant portion of recyclers’ feedstock is coming from manufacturer scrap, i.e. the waste that companies like SK On and Panasonic don’t turn into cells at the factory. But these battery makers are incentivized to minimize waste, which raises big questions about whether recyclers will be able to get enough used batteries to sustainably feed their operations.

So which technologies and business models will succeed in this chapter of the battery industry?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Dan Steingart, chair of the earth and environmental engineering department at Columbia University. (Steingart’s lab gets funding from battery manufacturer Northvolt.) Shayle and Dan cover topics like:

• The steps in nickel-manganese-cobalt battery recycling and what Dan calls “zombie lithium”
• The differences between pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy
• Dan’s bet on solvent extraction as an under-appreciated technology
• Redwood Materials’ focus on winning the feedstock battle
• Ascend Elements’ hydro-to-cathode technology
• Li-Cycle’s focus on making inputs for cathode manufacturers
• How these recyclers want to compete downstream by producing cathode precursor and cathode material 
• Why Dan is surprisingly bearish on direct recycling for lithium-iron-phosphate

Recommended Resources:

Nature Sustainability: Examining different recycling processes for lithium-ion batteries

Latitude Media: What’s so hard about building a circular battery economy?

Are growing concerns over AI’s power demand justified? Join us for our upcoming Transition-AI event featuring three experts with a range of views on how to address the energy needs of hyperscale computing, driven by artificial intelligence. Don’t miss this live, virtual event on May 8.

The electricity gauntlet we covered last year has been having a moment in the national spotlight, with coverage of rising load growth in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. 

On one side of the gauntlet, demand for electricity is rising, driven by new loads like EVs, data centers, and electrification. On the other side, electricity supply is slow to grow, bogged down by years-long interconnection queues, the immense challenges of building transmission, and other bottlenecks. And utilities are stuck in the middle, struggling to deliver enough power to meet that rising demand.

These challenges have been brewing for years, but the AI race is supercharging demand as big tech companies seek out power for their growing data center fleet. 

So what does all this mean for emissions and prices? And what tools do we have to make it through this electricity gauntlet?

In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane, partner and head of research at Energy Impact Partners. Shayle and Andy cover topics like:

• Why utilities are building new natural gas plants and keeping coal plants open to meet load growth
• How technologies like nuclear, grid-enhancing technologies, geothermal, and multi-day storage could meet load growth with fewer emissions
• What utilities can do to prepare new gas plants for carbon-capture and storage
• What the gauntlet might do to electricity prices and which customers might be willing to pay higher premiums (data centers, cough cough)
• Whether the hype around rising power demand is overblown
• Plus, what medieval Swedish spearmen have to do with electricity 

Recommended Resources:

Andy Lubershane: The electricity gauntlet

S&P Global: NERC raises North American power system reliability flags as demand could outstrip supply

Catalyst is supported by Antenna Group. For 25 years, Antenna has partnered with leading clean-economy innovators to build their brands and accelerate business growth. If you’re a startup, investor, enterprise or innovation ecosystem that’s creating positive change, Antenna is ready to power your impact. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Catalyst is brought to you by Atmos Financial. Atmos is revolutionizing finance by leveraging your deposits to exclusively fund decarbonization solutions, like solar and electrification. Join in under 2 minutes at joinatmos.com/catalyst.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved new rules this month on what information companies must disclose about their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, but notably dropped more stringent requirements that the commission initially proposed. 

Despite being halted by lawsuits, the rules are a significant win for climate transparency. But they’re not as strong as existing climate disclosure regulations in California and the European Union, where many multinational corporations do business anyway.

So how big of a deal are the new SEC rules?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Mallory Thomas, risk advisory partner at consulting and accounting firm Baker Tilly US. The two talk about the details of the new rules and cover topics like:

• The rules’ requirements for disclosing greenhouse gasses and climate risks
• How the rules compare to European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and California’s twin climate disclosure laws
• Which companies are required to comply and under what conditions
• How standardized reporting may help with comparability across companies 

Recommended resources:

Baker Tilly: SEC announces final rules for climate-related disclosures

Deloitte: A landmark ruling for ESG disclosure requirements

Reuters: US climate rule will boost sustainable accounting industry

Catalyst is supported by Antenna Group. For 25 years, Antenna has partnered with leading clean-economy innovators to build their brands and accelerate business growth. If you’re a startup, investor, enterprise or innovation ecosystem that’s creating positive change, Antenna is ready to power your impact. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Catalyst is brought to you by Atmos Financial. Atmos is revolutionizing finance by leveraging your deposits to exclusively fund decarbonization solutions, like solar and electrification. Join in under 2 minutes at joinatmos.com/catalyst.

Two major indicators of climate tech stocks – the S&P Clean Energy Index and the MAC Global Solar Index – are significantly trailing the overall market. They’ve been declining for months, down from their mid-pandemic highs when they performed far better than the rest of the economy.

So what happened to climate tech investments in the public markets? And what do these investments tell us about the coming year for climate tech?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Shanu Mathew, portfolio manager and research analyst at Lazard. They cover topics like:

• The macroeconomic factors behind this underperforming sector, like higher interest rates, election uncertainty, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• Trends in specific industries, like EVs, solar, and lithium
• Investors moving funds into (and paying more for) climate tech stocks with consistently higher performance 
• Analysts’ expectations for climate tech stocks in the the near- and long-term

Recommended Resources:

Shanu Mathew: Cleantech FY23 Recap And FY24 Outlook

Catalyst: How has US industrial policy impacted climatetech investment?

Catalyst is supported by Antenna Group. For 25 years, Antenna has partnered with leading clean-economy innovators to build their brands and accelerate business growth. If you’re a startup, investor, enterprise or innovation ecosystem that’s creating positive change, Antenna is ready to power your impact. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Catalyst is brought to you by Atmos Financial. Atmos is revolutionizing finance by leveraging your deposits to exclusively fund decarbonization solutions, like solar and electrification. Join in under 2 minutes at joinatmos.com/catalyst.

The first wave of digital grid infrastructure in the U.S. didn’t quite deliver on its promises. More than 100 million smart meters have rolled out across the country, buoyed initially by billions in federal funding. But instead of using them for exciting things like time-of-use pricing and automated demand response, utilities used them for more mundane things like automated billing, according to a whitepaper from Guidehouse. 

Could the new wave of AI-based grid tech be different?

In this episode, Shayle talks to David Groarke, managing director at the energy consultancy Indigo Advisory Group, who co-authored a forthcoming Latitude Intelligence report on utilities and AI.

David says that AI is showing promise so far. Unlike the first wave of hardware-focused advanced-metering infrastructure, AI leans heavily on relatively cheap software and data. He also says that AI’s capabilities are advancing quickly (“doing pressups” as the Irish say) by improving algorithms, handling more tasks, and improving efficiency. 

David and Shayle cover use-cases and other topics like:

• Wildfire management, using data from cameras, lidar, and satellites
• Customer propensity modeling, including detecting EVs to aid with infrastructure planning
• Automated and personalized communication with customers
• Predictive maintenance of substations and other grid infrastructure, using data from, for example, computer vision to detect corrosion and reduce downtime
• Optimizing transmission capacity by moving from static ratings of transmission lines to real-time ratings
• Whether incumbents or startups are leading the development of these AI-based solutions
• David’s take on whether AI’s impact on utilities will be revolutionary or incremental

Recommended Resources:

Latitude: Welcome to the smart meter’s second act

Latitude: AI is simplifying complex decisions for utilities

Latitude: Seven ways utilities are exploring AI for the grid

Latitude: Could AI-fueled weather forecasts boost renewable energy production?

Catalyst is supported by Antenna Group. For 25 years, Antenna has partnered with leading clean-economy innovators to build their brands and accelerate business growth. If you’re a startup, investor, enterprise or innovation ecosystem that’s creating positive change, Antenna is ready to power your impact. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Catalyst is brought to you by Atmos Financial. Atmos is revolutionizing finance by leveraging your deposits to exclusively fund decarbonization solutions, like residential solar and electrification. FDIC-insured with market-leading savings rates, cash-back checking, and zero fees. Get an account in minutes at joinatmos.com.

The carbon removal market could reach $400 billion to $1.6 trillion by 2050, according to McKinsey. But it’s got a long way to go. Right now the market is wild, unexplored territory filled with unproven technologies, murky cost curves, and a motley mix of price points and standards. The hope is that one day it becomes a standardized commodity market of high-quality, durable removals.

But for now, brave buyers have to wade into the wilds and see what works. So what does that look like – and what have they learned so far?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Stacy Kauk, head of sustainability at Shopify, which paid $55 million for 85,000 tons of removal in 2023. Kauk says that very few of those credits have been delivered yet, but the company, along with a few other early entrants like Stripe, H&M, and Microsoft, are investing in a varied field of technologies to develop the market.

Stacy thinks of Shopify’s approach like a venture capitalist’s portfolio, with some companies succeeding and others failing. Stacy and Shayle walk through the practical realities of building that portfolio, covering topics like:

• Using forward purchases, flexible contracts, and Shopify’s internal credit standards
• The challenges that slow down ambitious startups, like permitting delays and the complicated work of measuring, reporting, and verifying credits
• Which technologies are hot and which are not, ranging from biomass burial and wastewater treatment to enhanced weathering and ocean alkalinity enhancement
• Comparing the lower energy requirements of enhancing natural systems with the potentially clearer cost curves of engineered systems
• Building a diverse portfolio across technologies and maturities
• What determines the prices Shopify pays for different credits

Recommended Resources:

Bloomberg: Stripe, Alphabet and Others to Spend Nearly $1 Billion on Carbon Removal

Carbon Dioxide Removal Primer

Latitude: Fixing the messy voluntary carbon markets

Catalyst is supported by Antenna Group. For 25 years, Antenna has partnered with leading clean-economy innovators to build their brands and accelerate business growth. If you’re a startup, investor, enterprise or innovation ecosystem that’s creating positive change, Antenna is ready to power your impact. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Catalyst is brought to you by Atmos Financial. Atmos is revolutionizing finance by leveraging your deposits to exclusively fund decarbonization solutions, like solar and electrification. Join in under 2 minutes at joinatmos.com/catalyst.

The list of things that depend on transformers is long: new housing, EV chargers, renewable projects, and more. That’s why skyrocketing lead times and prices for grid equipment that raises or lowers voltage is a real problem.

The wait for a new transformer has jumped to over two years, according to WoodMackenzie. Back in 2020 it took just a few months, according to Tim Mills, CEO at transformer manufacturer ERMCO. WoodMackenzie found that prices, meanwhile, have risen over 60% since 2020. 

So what’s causing the shortage?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Tim about how rising demand for transformers has pushed manufacturers to capacity – and why it’s been so hard for manufacturers to expand that capacity.

They also cover topics like:

• The state of the shortage, including prices, lead times and types of transformers that are in especially short supply.
• The major drivers of demand growth, including renewables, storms, federal investment, and EV chargers.
• How the housing boom and bust of the 2000s left transformer manufacturers wary of bubbles in demand.
• Why the tight labor market makes it hard to expand manufacturing capacity.
• How new rules proposed by the Department of Energy are throwing uncertainty into what type of equipment manufacturers should invest in.

Recommended resources:

• WoodMackenzie: Supply shortages and an inflexible market give rise to high power transformer lead times
• T&D World: No Easy Answers: Transformer Supply Crisis Deepens

Catalyst is supported by Antenna Group. For 25 years, Antenna has partnered with leading clean-economy innovators to build their brands and accelerate business growth. If you’re a startup, investor, enterprise or innovation ecosystem that’s creating positive change, Antenna is ready to power your impact. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Catalyst is brought to you by Atmos Financial. Atmos is revolutionizing finance by leveraging your deposits to exclusively fund decarbonization solutions, like residential solar and electrification. FDIC-insured with market-leading savings rates, cash-back checking, and zero fees. Get an account in minutes at joinatmos.com.