Dozens of companies across solar, batteries and biofuels have imploded over the years. But it's hard to match the spectacular implosion of Better Place five years ago. Better Place rose to fame in 2007, pulling in nearly $1 billion of venture capital by promising to put millions of cheap electric cars and battery switching stations on roads aro ...…

Like fantasy sports? Listen to our deep decarbonization draft. The Energy Gang is break this week for the July 4 holiday. We'll be back next week. In the meantime, we're offering up a re-run from The Interchange. In this episode, Shayle and Stephen choose their rosters of nine technologies to decarbonize the global economy. The goal: find the b ...…

A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Science gives us a clearer picture of the climate impact of natural gas. According to researchers, methane leakage across oil and gas operations in the U.S. are 60 percent higher than government estimates. Put another way: the methane leakage from oil and gas has the same warming effect over a 20-year ti ...…

Leila Madrone was constantly looking for creative ways to use robots. In the mid 2000's, she co-founded a music group called Ensemble Robot, which featured robots that played music. "I had this great passion to use robotics to have meaning in the world," said Madrone. Later, Madrone worked for NASA's intelligent robotics group. Then she caught ...…

Elon Musk announced Monday that Tesla is laying off 9 percent of salaried employees at the company. This is not the first round of sweeping layoffs at Tesla — the most recent came after the SolarCity acquisition. But this appears to be the biggest so far. We'll discuss Elon's new quest for profitability. Then, we'll cover the never-ending saga ...…

What’s the optimal way to spend money raised by a carbon tax? How should climate play in Florida’s big toss-up Congressional race? What’s the best energy platform for gubernatorial candidates? This week: your questions answered. We got a bunch of queries from listeners about politics — so that’s the direction we’re headed. We'll discuss what th ...…

There’s a new phrase bouncing around energy circles: Electrify Everything. This week, we talk to Nate Adams, a home performance expert whose personal mission is to rip gas meters out of homes and move us closer toward full electrification. As he’s learned from experience, it’s not easy. The electrification of homes may be getting easier in Cali ...…

Billy Parish dropped out of college to pursue a career in climate activism. Today, he's the CEO of America's biggest rooftop solar loan company, Mosaic. In this edition of Watt It Takes, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch interviews Parish about his transition from activist to executive. They'll talk about the many iterations of Mosaic, difficulties i ...…

We all fall victim to myths. But when they're deeply tied to our belief systems, they can be nearly impossible to break. On this week's show, we're busting some of the most common myths in clean energy: No, storage doesn't necessarily increase emissions. It depends on how it's used. No, solar isn't just for rich Democrats. In California, Republ ...…

This podcast episode sponsored by West Monroe Partners, and brought to you by creative strategies. How do we think about change in the electric utility industry caused by distributed resources? Is it like telecom? Internet-based retail? Sam Uyeno, senior manager in West Monroe Partners’ energy and utilities practice, says that it may be more li ...…

Are we entering a new era of grid planning? In recent years, we've assumed that sweeping reforms are the best way to get distributed energy built. But in pockets of the country, a more localized approach to deploying these assets is taking hold – and it could be the sign of a much bigger shift to come. On this week's Energy Gang, we'll look at ...…

SunPower couldn’t convince the Trump Administration to abandon tariffs on imported solar panels. So now it plans to buy one of the companies pushing tariffs in the first place. Yesterday, SunPower unveiled plans to acquire SolarWorld’s U.S. operations. Two months ago, CEO Tom Werner said SunPower was going to divest from America. But now he’s b ...…

Statoil is the largest operator of oil and gas rigs around the world. Consequently, the company's biggest low-carbon investments are offshore: floating wind farms and distributed carbon capture and storage. This week, we're talking to Stephen Bull, the VP in charge of Statoil's low-carbon business, about where he sees the most potential. We'll ...…

After a multi-year decline, global carbon emissions are on the upswing. The International Energy Agency now says that emissions grew in 2017 -- caused by an increase oil, natural gas and coal demand. Nearly three-quarters of new energy demand across the globe was served by fossil fuels. At the same time, America saw another yearly drop in carbo ...…

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for two of Silicon Valley’s top car companies. After a pedestrian was killed by one of Uber’s autonomous cars in Arizona, the company’s AV operations were suspended. Other driverless car companies are now weighing the consequences to the technology, and regulators are asking if we need to slow down real-world tes ...…

In the early 2000s, investors weren't very interested in SunEdison's business plan to finance solar with power purchase agreements. "No one wanted to hear about physical infrastructure," said Jigar Shah, who drafted the business plan and co-founded the company. It took until 2006 to raise venture capital. But soon after, PPA customers started r ...…

There are three forces coming together in the transportation sector: vehicle autonomy, vehicle sharing, and vehicle electrification. On their own, app-based sharing and electric vehicles are powerful agents of change. Together with automation, "they're revolutionary," argues Dr. Dan Sperling, author of a new book on the subject. "It will change ...…

Amazon's analytical approach to understanding the customer allowed it to move beyond books and dominate the retail space. Entire industries are getting upended and transformed as a result. This story about disruption is a familiar one. We’ve seen how it plays time and time again – and it’s not pretty for the incumbents who fail to catch up with ...…

Last June, comedian John Oliver devoted a long segment to the struggling coal industry on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. He turned his attention to Robert Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy, one of the most bombastic advocates of coal. And then Murray sued Oliver for defamation. That defamation lawsuit was thrown out by a judge last week. But th ...…

If storage is the Swiss Army Knife of the electric grid, then U.S. energy regulators are breaking out their tool belts. Last week brought a historic ruling at FERC. Commissioners told regional grid operators to create rules valuing the grid services of energy storage. Will it screw natural gas peakers – or maybe cut, saw, file, prune, hook, or ...…

Since the White House slapped penalties on solar panels made outside America, a handful of companies say they’re likely to ramp up production in the U.S. In recent weeks, two Asian producers -- Jinko Solar and United Renewable Energy -- said they're planning to set up new module assembly plants. Other domestic producers are making plans to hire ...…

There are tens of thousands large-scale wind turbines scattered across America. That means over a million and a half households are located five miles from a turbine. And they’re actually inching closer to homes on average, according to government researchers. So how do those machines impact our property values, our soundscapes, and our quality ...…

The Trump Administration just imposed 30 percent tariffs on imported solar cells and modules. How much will it stunt solar growth in America? Will it spark a broader trade war? There are a lot of questions about the impact. In this podcast, we’re giving you the answers – or, as many answers we have, just a day after the decision. This week, we' ...…

The next sector ripe for electrification: aviation. Electric airplanes could completely make over the regional airline sector -- fundamentally changing the way we move around the country and creating new economic opportunities. On this week's Energy Gang, we'll talk with Ashish Kumar, the CEO of Zunum Aero, about the company's electric propulsi ...…

Nearly one year after President Trump was sworn into office, we’re re-examining the state of energy politics in Washington. Our post-election episodes were some of our most popular shows of last year. This week, we’re returning to the subject now that we’ve got experience, and not just speculation. Amy Harder, an energy and climate reporter wit ...…

What's it like inside the Environmental Protection Agency as the Trump Administration dismantles it from the top down? This week, ProPublica’s Talia Buford joins us on The Energy Gang to talk about how Scott Pruitt’s aggressive regulatory rollback agenda is changing the agency’s relationship to science, to industry, and to the staffers who've w ...…

We spend most of our time talking about other companies. For our first podcast of the year, we're turning the tables and reflecting on GTM. In this edition of Watt It Takes, Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch interviews GTM Co-Founder Scott Clavenna about the origins of our company, the challenges of being a startup in the cleantech world, and our rec ...…

Good journalism is more important than ever. In our last episode of the year, we're choosing our favorite energy reporting of 2017. We'll start off with a conversation about a damning investigative piece on how U.S. utilities put ratepayers on the hook for $40 billion in failed coal and nuke projects. Tony Bartelme, a special projects reporter ...…

Energy storage has arrived. This year brought numerous record-breaking battery projects, dozens of acquisitions and partnerships, and over a dozen utility integrated resource plans that factor storage. Within a decade, the U.S. storage market could be 25 times bigger than it is today -- swamping natural gas peaker plants, and enabling a vast ar ...…

Southern New England is hungry for more clean energy, and states like Connecticut and Massachusetts are turning to Hydro-Quebec for its excess hydropower. There's one sticking point: they need a new transmission line to get all that power from Northern Quebec. And citizens in the states that could host new transmission projects -- New Hampshire ...…

We've reached a new stage in cleantech. Years after the VC bubble popped, startups are pursuing new approaches to scaling, finding customers, partnering, and raising money. Those new approaches to scaling early-stage cleantech were crystallized this year. And we're going to talk about them. This week, we recorded live at Greentown Labs, the lar ...…

Dan Shugar lives, breathes and bleeds solar. "If you cut my wrist, pure silicon comes out," he exclaimed in an interview with Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch, as part of the Watt It Takes interview series. This week, Shugar steps behind the microphone to talk about turning his passion for PV into deals and acquisitions worth over $1 billion. Shugar ...…

The House passed its tax reform bill yesterday that includes cuts to renewable energy tax credits. The package is already having a chilling effect as developers stall projects because of a potential change to the tax code. What will happen when the Senate and House try to reconcile their two bills? We'll try to anticipate the political chess ma ...…

This week: a conversation with Andrew Birch, the co-founder and CEO of Sungevity. For those who’ve been following the wild ride in solar, you’re going to want to listen to this conversation. Sungevity was once one of the biggest residential solar installers in the U.S. – until it filed for bankruptcy protection at the beginning of the year. In ...…

Since taking over as administrator of the EPA, Scott Pruitt's meeting calendar has been filled almost exclusively with industry interests. Now he's opening the door even wider for industry. On Tuesday, the Administrator issued a new decree: any scientist getting funding from the EPA will no longer be allowed to serve on the agency's scientific ...…

"Don’t let government pick winners and losers." That was Rick Perry’s mantra as Texas governor and a presidential candidate. But it didn’t take him long to abandon it as energy secretary. This week, we’ll revisit the rare, bizarre request from Perry asking federal regulators to restructure electricity markets and prop up struggling coal and nuc ...…

This week, we’re unveiling a new podcast collaboration between Greentech Media and Powerhouse, called "Watt it Takes."Watt It Takes is produced and recorded live at Powerhouse, a cleantech incubator and seed fund in Oakland, CA. Each month, a founder of a top clean energy company shares the personal story behind the company they’ve built.Our fi ...…

When we first hit the record button four years ago, the energy landscape looked very different.Oil prices were above $90 per barrel. Utilities were only just starting to take distributed resources seriously as grid assets. Coal was still on the upswing globally. There was great uncertainty around a global climate deal. And Donald Trump was stil ...…

Donald Trump was in New York City this week. We left him some tickets for our live podcast at the box office, but he never showed up.Still, we had a blast taping our latest episode at WNYC's performance space in Manhattan. And this week, we've got that episode in its entirety.Special guest Mark Chambers, director of the mayor's office of sustai ...…

India has blossomed into one of the most important renewable energy markets in the world.It currently has the fourth-most cumulative wind capacity installed, and will become the third-biggest solar market globally by 2022. The country also has plans to sell only electric vehicles by 2030.With immense growth comes new businesses and economic opp ...…

We made it. We finished summer without nuclear war or an international catastrophe -- and now we can calm our nerves with pumpkin spice everything.This week, as we close out summer and prepare for a busy fall news cycle, we're checking in on the stories that we think will define the remainder of 2017.Katherine gives us a rundown on the top prio ...…

While Texans start the painful process of rebuilding their lives after Hurricane Harvey, many are asking: could anything have been done to lessen the impact?In this week's podcast, we're going to discuss the storm through the lens of climate, urban planning and federal policy. All three of those factors created the perfect storm for maximum dam ...…

What makes Elon Musk tick? What will the grid look like in 2030?This week, we (re)answer both of those questions. We're featuring a couple of our favorite podcast segments for your summer listening enjoyment.First up, a 2015 Energy Gang interview with Ashlee Vance, a Bloomberg reporter and author of the book, Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Q ...…

White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (unwittingly) gave an interview this week, saying America is locked in "an economic war with China."Bannon mentioned arcane sections of the 1974 Trade Act to penalize China for alleged steel and aluminum dumping. Could solar be on the list, too?Bannon's comments suggest he's also paying attention to Sec ...…

What happens when lawmakers and industry craft a large, complicated bill and then rush it through the legislature without reading it?We saw the consequences in South Carolina. That's where two utilities in the state walked away from a nuclear plant they were building – leaving ratepayers to foot the bill and putting thousands of people out of w ...…

While venture capitalists swoon over startups devoted to making people click on ads and stare at their phones longer, they’re decidedly less interested in solving more difficult real-world problems -- like transforming the energy sector.Yes, we’ve been talking about this downward trend for years now. And there are still a number of venture firm ...…

Al Gore is back in the climate spotlight with the release of "An Inconvenient Sequel." This week, we’ll revisit his role as the unofficial spokesman for climate action. There’s still an active debate over how effective Gore has been in that role throughout the last decade.Then, Energy Secretary Rick Perry didn’t give away any nuclear secrets in ...…

After numerous attempts, a desperate plea from the governor, and some pot sweeteners to industry, legislators in California finally passed an extension of cap-and-trade to 2030.It’s a big deal. California is the world’s seventh-largest economy. With Governor Brown vowing to fill in the climate diplomacy vacuum left by Donald Trump, it would hav ...…

With America now a climate pariah on the global stage, cities around the country are stepping up their commitments to action. But are they just cheerleading, rather than actually leading?This week, guest Sam Brooks tells the hard truth about why cities are not living up to their bold pronouncements -- not yet, anyway.Brooks is the former direct ...…