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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Jennifer McDermott from the Associated Press, who wrote about how enhanced geothermal company Eavor is starting up their first commercial power plant in Germany using techniques from the oil and gas industry to drill deep and extract heat from hot rock.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Johanna Anderson, who shared her experience as one of the Federal employees terminated last Friday. Despite this setback, she remains deeply committed to climate action and making a difference. Her resilience is a testament to the passion and perseverance driving the clean energy transition forward. Congratulations, Johanna!

This Week in Cleantech — February 21, 2025

1. You already know Elon Musk. You need to know Harold Hamm. — HEATED
2. White House Starts Unwinding Environmental Permitting Rules — Bloomberg Law
3. California’s Push for Electric Trucks Sputters Under Trump — The New York Times
4. The False AI Energy Crisis — The Atlantic
5. Major test case for new geothermal technology launches in small German town — AP News

Check out FactorThis.com — your new, one-stop shop for energy news, insights, and commentary. We've combined the reach and expertise of Renewable Energy World, POWERGRID International, and Hydro Review to serve you better. Sign up for our free newsletter today.

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Sponsored by OATI

The energy industry loves a shiny new object.

Distributed energy resource management systems, or DERMS, land squarely in that bucket. The software’s ability to autonomously control and communicate with millions of potential devices, while facilitating power market participation, could be the Swiss Army Knife the energy transition so desperately needs. It's also a key enabler of virtual power plants, which have received a fair amount of hype on their own.

But this rapidly growing market has created an environment of ambiguity. Even the acronym, DERMS, doesn’t have a clear industry definition, creating an opportunity for half-baked solutions to cash in on the optimism. So what's real?

In this episode of the Factor This podcast, Linda Stevens, the chief strategy officer for smart grids and smart cities at OATI, joins me to demystify DERMS.

That's all next on Factor This.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Tim McDonnell from Semmafor, who wrote about how Trump's return could freeze clean energy investments by rejecting or clawing back DOE’s $400B Loan Programs Office (LPO) funding.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Peter Roy, International Consultant for Soluz Honduras. Peter recently took a trip to Honduras to witness the company’s operations in Yoro, where solar energy was brought to a remote, off-grid community that used to rely on wood sap for light.

This Week in Cleantech — February 14, 2025

1. Record-breaking growth in renewable energy in US threatened by Trump — The Guardian
2. How China Became The World's New Nuclear Energy Superstar — HuffPost
3. Trump Sets 25% Steel, Aluminum Tariffs, Widening Trade War — Bloomberg
4. Green Energy Ambitions of European Companies Take a Beating — The New York Times
5. Trump’s unpredictability scares energy investors, Biden’s green banker says — Semafor

Check out FactorThis.com — your new, one-stop shop for energy news, insights, and commentary. We've combined the reach and expertise of Renewable Energy World, POWERGRID International, and Hydro Review to serve you better. Sign up for our free newsletter today.

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Matthew Zeitlin from Heatmap News, who wrote about how how huge load growth in Georgia, partially from its green manufacturing boom, is keeping coal plants open.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Liz Burdock, CEO of Oceantic Network. Liz was open about the tough road ahead for offshore wind, but reminds us that despite the obstacles, we must stay united and keep fighting for our future as a community. Congratulations, Liz!

This Week in Cleantech — February 7, 2025

1. Trump Has Paralyzed Renewables Permitting, Leaked Memo Reveals — Heatmap News
2. Boiling Point: Farewell to Ivanpah, the world's ugliest solar plant — LA Times
3. $100 Billion Stargate AI Venture Touted by Trump to Depend Partly on Solar Power — Bloomberg
4. Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it's not fair — AP News
5. Georgia’s Green Manufacturing Boom Is Keeping Coal Plants Open — Heatmap News

Check out FactorThis.com — your new, one-stop shop for energy news, insights, and commentary. We've combined the reach and expertise of Renewable Energy World, POWERGRID International, and Hydro Review to serve you better. Sign up for our free newsletter today.

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Alexander Kaufmann from HuffPost, who wrote about President Trump declaring an “energy emergency” in his inaugural speech to boost oil drilling, weaken environmental protections, and cut gasoline and electricity prices in half.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Adrien Lelièvre, CEO of Pi POP, a French company that has designed the first e-bike that uses supercapacitors instead of heavy lithium-ion batteries. It works by storing energy while braking or coasting downhill and releases it for acceleration or climbing. Congratulations Adrien!


This Week in Cleantech — January 24, 2025

1. Trump temporarily halts leasing and permitting for wind energy projects — AP News
2. Trump plots a return to fossil fuel expansionism — Semafor
3. Trump Orders Agencies to Halt Spending From Biden’s Climate Law — Bloomberg
4. Smoke from fire at California lithium battery plant raises concerns about air quality — AP News
5. Energy Production Is At A Record, But Trump Declares An Emergency — HuffPost

Tell us what you think of the show!

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Brendan Koerner from WIRED Magazine, who wrote about the lives of young men recruited by door-to-door solar sales companies.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Will Heegaard, CEO of Footprint Power. Footprint Power’s South California team are bringing mobile solar power and other renewable energy resources to base camps and distribution sites, and supporting 92,000 displaced people due to the LA wildfires.

This Week in Cleantech — January 17, 2025

1. The Insurance Crisis That Will Follow the California Fires — The New Yorker
2. Los Angeles Utilities’ Decisions to Keep Power On Are Scrutinized – The New York Times
3. This group says natural gas bans hurt minorities. It has gas industry ties. — The Washington Post
4. REC Silicon pulls the plug on polysilicon production at Moses Lake plant — Renewable Energy World
5. The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman — WIRED Magazine

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Rachel Frazin from The Hill, who wrote about how the Biden administration finalized fairly strict climate rules for the nascent hydrogen energy industry, that determine which facilities can qualify for hydrogen tax credits.

This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Aaron Nichols from Exact Solar, who reminds us that solar in the U.S. continued to expand during Trump’s first term. Shout out to Aaron for bolstering our determination as we face this unprecedented time. Congratulations Aaron!

This Week in Cleantech — January 10, 2025

1. EVs, Nuclear and Forever Chemicals: Climate Predictions for 2025 — Bloomberg
2. Banks Celebrate the New Year by Quitting Their Climate Pledges — The New Republic
3. Trump Says He Wants No Wind Farms Built During Presidency — Bloomberg
4. Climate-friendly electricity sees big battery projects soar again for 2024 — AP News
5. Biden administration adds exemptions into new climate rules for hydrogen energy — The Hill

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This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.

This week’s episode features Dana Clare Redden, from our “Cleantecher of the Year” committee, who has picked our Cleantecher of the Year!


This Week in Cleantech — December 20, 2024

1. Trump’s Energy Pick, Chris Wright, Argues Fossil Fuels Are Virtuous — The New York Times
2. Cipher analysis: Emerging clean technologies see sharp drop in investments this year — Cipher News
3. The Age of Electrons Has Arrived, but Maybe Not for the Right Reasons — Heatmap News
4. PG&E Secures $15 Billion Loan From U.S. Energy Department — The New York Times

Watch the full episode on YouTube


Cleantechers of the Year

Most Impactful - Bill Weihl - Climatevoice

Bill Weihl, transitioned from ClimateVoice’s Co-Executive Director to the role of Founder & Chief Strategic Advisor. ClimateVoice leverages corporate influence from climate-positive companies to win policy battles.

Most Entrepreneurial - Emilie Oxel O'Leary - Green Clean Wind LLC

Emilie is actively urging her LinkedIn followers to reach out for their solar recycling needs, highlighting the growing concern over solar components ending up in landfills. She’s asking for every steel pile, aluminum racking component, nut, and bolt, so she can help clean up your site.

Most Disruptive - Michael Tekabe/Hayat Bedene - Kübik

Michael Tekabe, Chief Operating Officer, and Hayat Bedane, Engineering Lead at Kubik, an Africa-based startup, make building materials out of recycled plastic for affordable, sustainable, and easy-to-deploy homes, clinics, and warehouses. Their construction materials reduce 5x less carbon pollution than traditional materials.

Most Innovative - Gregg Patterson- Origami Solar

Gregg is leading the effort to reframe the global solar industry with recycled steel, replacing aluminum solar module frames. This entire effort is designed to lower the carbon pollution footprint of the global solar industry.

Cleantecher of the Year - Jonathan Foley - Drawdown

Jonathan Foley, climatologist and Project Drawdown Executive Director, wrote a piece that shares the impact of agricultural pollution, and how we need to prioritize sustainable agricultural practices. Jonathan shared that total carbon pollution from the food system, including food waste, transport, packaging and refrigeration sits at 34%, making food the single largest polluting economic sector — more than power generation or industry, which both sit at roughly 23%.