Less than 1% of clean energy investments goes to developing countries. Guarantees and partnerships could increase this. The global energy transition effort is all about ‘the new’. New technology, new financing models, new ways of looking at energy systems. The need for ‘the new’ is greatest in developing countries. For many of them, the challenge isn’t just transitioning to clean energy, it’s providing energy access in the first place. By 2030, we could see nearly a billion people left without access to energy, never mind clean energy. So how can we get the investment flowing to ..read more

How can we reimagine Scope 3 in order to make faster progress? The intention of the original framing of Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions reporting was to support business understanding of their broader impact on the climate, so they would take responsibility for transformation to net zero and the impact of the complete value chain. Scope 3 emissions reporting in particular has become more of a focus of progressive companies that have developed robust plans for - and taken meaningful steps to address - scope 1 and 2 emissions. As they dig into scope 3, they are often overwhelmed by the account ..read more

The Environmental Defense Fund wants changes made to the way the industry analyses hydrogen emissions data. A recent study from the Environmental Defense Fund asserts the energy industry is miscalculating the true impacts of deploying hydrogen. Hydrogen systems, with new analysis, could prove to be better – or worse – than the fossil fuels they intend to replace. “Clean, green” hydrogen deployment can be considerably better or worse for the climate based on factors typically overlooked in standard assessments. That’s the finding of a new study from the EDF. The climate benefits of hydrogen var ..read more

Over 50 million homes in the US use propane. Within a few years, anywhere from 100-300 million gallons of renewable propane are expected to be available for homes and the transport industry. By 2050, renewable propane could meet half the world’s demand for non-chemical propane.  So, the demand is there, but are the means of production? Where is the feedstock coming from and how scalable are production methods? To answer this, David Banmiller is joined by Mike Stivala, President and CEO of Suburban Propane Partners, a nationwide distributor of propane and renewable propane.   The ..read more

The Department of Energy’s ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy) is an agency tasked with the research and development of advanced energy technologies. Since 2009, they’ve provided nearly US$4 billion in funding for more than 1500 potentially transformative energy technology projects.  One particular area of focus for them at the moment is advanced nuclear. There’s a lot of potential for nuclear to deliver reliable power to millions of American homes, but projects are still finding costs prohibitive. Could advancements in technology be the thing to change this? Jenifer Shafe ..read more

Demand for heating at industrial sites around the world is rising. How can demand be met sustainably? Think of energy storage, and what do you think of? Probably lithium and nickel. But what about salt, and bricks? One of the big challenges for the energy transition is storage. It’s a particular problem for industrial-scale buildings and areas that need a lot of energy. Currently about half the energy demand is heat, and electric batteries are (most of the time) the ones providing it. Where you need heat, you need a big battery. Or do you? On the Interchange: Recharged, David Banmiller explore ..read more

5x growth in five years: Convergent energy is overseeing $1 billion worth of energy storage development. Managing intermittent energy supply is a crucial part of the energy transition. When the wind doesn’t blow, or the sun doesn’t shine, we need a backup. Across two days of the Solar & Energy Storage summit, industry leaders and analysts explored the newest technology providing that service.  Peter Cavan is Senior Vice President of Market Development at Convergent. They finance and manage all aspects of on-site renewable energy development and operations to significantly and sustaina ..read more

The 2024 Solar and Energy Storage Summit has wrapped. What are the key takeaways? In the past three years there’s been a lot of advancement in solar deployment. We’ve seen technology develop and policy support increase. The key talking points have changed similarly in the last three years of the event, but a common thread has been consistent: the importance of supportive government policy.  David is joined by Vanessa Witte, Senior Research Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, and Kelly Sarber, CEO of Strategic Management Group to recap the summit and explore the impact of the most important climate ..read more

Insight and analysis from the second day of the Solar & Energy Storage Summit 2024. Day 2 of the 2024 Solar and Energy Storage Summit and the conversation was still in full swing. David Banmiller was there once again to capture all the debate and discussion on the future of the solar energy sector.  Electrification is at the heart of the energy transition. There’s been a sharp rise in grid connection capabilities in the last couple of years, and it’s causing a headache for the industry. Permitting queues are long, and connection charges are high. What needs to change to ease these?&nb ..read more

Insight and analysis from Day 1 of the Solar & Energy Storage Summit 2024 The 2024 Solar and Energy Storage Summit from Wood Mackenzie kicked off in San Francisco this week. David Banmiller was there to capture all the debate and discussion on the future of the solar energy sector. If you couldn’t be there in person, we’ve got you covered. David is joined by a roster of expert analysts and industry leaders to explore the key topics. It’s a packed show, with conversation around the technology, policy and financing of the solar industry.  There’s over a terawatt of solar, and gigawatts ..read more