Catalyst with Shayle Kann Latitude Media

Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3 lays out the company’s model for a decarbonized economy — and makes the case for why it's economically viable. It outlines a vision for extensive electrification and a reliance on wind and solar power. 
In this episode, Shayle talks to one of the executives behind the plan, Drew Baglino, who was senior vice president for powertrain and energy at Tesla until April when he resigned. In his 18 years at Tesla he worked on batteries, cars, and even Tesla’s lithium refinery. Shayle and Drew cover topics like:

Why Drew isn't sure that AI-driven load growth “is going to be as dramatic as people think”

Drew’s optimism about the U.S.’ ability to build out enough transmission for decarbonization

How to deal with the high rates of curtailment and what to do with that excess power

Meeting the material requirements of decarbonization and Drew’s experience with permitting Tesla facilities 


Recommended Resources:
Tesla: Master Plan Part 3
CNBC: Tesla execs Drew Baglino and Rohan Patel depart as company announces steep layoffs
The Carbon Copy: AI's main constraint: Energy, not chips
Catalyst: Understanding the transmission bottleneck

Utility rates could make or break the energy transition – so how do we do it right? On June 13, Latitude Media and GridX are hosting a Frontier Forum to examine the importance of good rate design and the consequences of getting it wrong. Register here.
And make sure to listen to our new podcast, Political Climate – an insider’s view on the most pressing policy questions in energy and climate. Tune in every other Friday for the latest takes from hosts Julia Pyper, Emily Domenech, and Brandon Hurlbut. Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Batteries are making their way into more passenger cars and commercial vehicles than ever before, but the limits of electrification mean that we’ll likely need alternative fuels to decarbonize heavy transport like ships, planes, and trucks. 
So what are those fuels and what modes of transport do they suit best?
In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane, partner and head of research at Energy Impact Partners. They talk through the limits of electrification and the alternatives for decarbonizing trucks, ships, and planes, drawing on Andy’s recent blog post, “How will we move the big, heavy things?”. They cover topics like:

The main limitations of batteries: density and infrastructure

Volumetric and gravimetric density, and why they matter for different types of vehicles

How fossil fuels would beat out even a theoretical “uber-battery” multiple times denser than current batteries

Why upgrading “always-on” grid infrastructure can be lengthy, expensive, and disruptive 

The alternatives to electrification: biofuels, hydrogen, and e-fuels

The advantages and limitations of each for different modes of transport


Recommended Resources:
Port of Long Beach: Our Zero Emissions Future
Enterprise Mobility: Electrifying Airport Ecosystems by 2050 Could Require Nearly Five Times the Electric Power Currently Used
Catalyst: Understanding SAF buyers

Utility rates could make or break the energy transition – so how do we do it right? On June 13th, Latitude Media and GridX are hosting a Frontier Forum to examine the imperative of good rate design, and the consequences of getting it wrong. Register here.
And make sure to listen to our new podcast, Political Climate – an insider’s view on the most pressing policy questions in energy and climate. Tune in every other Friday for the latest takes from hosts Julia Pyper, Emily Domenech, and Brandon Hurlbut. Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This week, we’re featuring a crossover episode of With Great Power, a show produced by Latitude Studios in partnership with GridX. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.
Ahmad Faruqui has been researching electricity pricing since the mid 1970’s, when the cost of a kilowatt-hour was flat. But in the 80’s and 90’s, he started working on dynamic pricing – pioneering the concept of time-of-use rates.
The big breakthrough for time-of-use rates came during the fallout from the California energy crisis. Later, thanks to the rollout of smart meters, more power providers started experimenting with dynamic rates.
Now, new technology is making time-of-use rate design more transparent. This week, Ahmad talks with Brad about why dynamic pricing is gaining momentum among electric utilities – and what makes for good rate design. 
On June 13th, Latitude Media and GridX will host a Frontier Forum to examine the imperative of good rate design – and the consequences of getting it wrong. Register at the link in the show notes, or go to latitudemdia.com/events. See you there!

The U.S. rooftop solar market has tanked. Residential applications in California, the largest market in the country, plunged 82% from May through November 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Contractors are going bankrupt. The big culprits are high interest rates and California’s subsidy cuts. But there are some bright spots. Battery attachment rates in California have surged.
So what will it take to revive the U.S. rooftop solar market?
In this episode, Shayle talks to Jigar Shah, director of the Loans Programs Office at the U.S. Department of Energy. Jigar argues that the rooftop solar industry should reinvent itself, relying on batteries and virtual power plants (VPPs). He also argues that regulations should focus on system-level dispatchability. 
Shayle and Jigar cover topics like:

The pros and cons of California’s latest regulations, new energy metering or NEM 3.0

Learning from the mistakes of California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (S-GIP)

The role of VPPs and rooftop solar in meeting accelerating load growth

Incentivizing system-level dispatchability 

How VPPs complicate the sales pitch for rooftop solar

How VPPs could help utilities increase the utilization of infrastructure

How to make VPPs more reliable


Recommended Resources:
U.S. Department of Energy: Virtual Power Plants Commercial Liftoff
Latitude Media: Defining the rules of DER aggregation
Latitude Media: Unpacking the software layer of VPP deployment
CalMatters: What’s happened since California cut home solar payments? Demand has plunged 80% 
The Wall Street Journal: The Home-Solar Boom Gets a ‘Gut Punch’

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.

Airlines are lining up to buy as much sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as they can, despite it costing two to three times more than conventional jet fuel, according to BloombergNEF. United Airlines has secured 2.9 billion gallons of SAF over, and others like Delta, Air France-KLM, and Southwest have secured around 1 billion gallons each. And yet to meaningfully decarbonize aviation, the SAF market needs to grow thousands of times larger than it is today. BloombergNEF estimates that global production capacity will grow 10-fold by 2030, but by then supply will still only meet 5% of jet fuel demand.
So how are airlines thinking about scaling up their procurement of SAF?
In this episode, Shayle talks to Amelia DeLuca, chief sustainability officer at Delta. They cover topics like:

Who pays the green premium

Infrastructure considerations, like SAF hubs and blending

Technical pathways, like hydroprocessing, alcohol-to-jet, and power-to-liquids

The role of incentives and regulation, like ReFuelEU

Why airlines should procure SAF instead of buying carbon removal


Recommended Resources:
BloombergNEF: United Airlines Is Betting Big on a Pricey Green Aviation Fuel
The Verge: Delta Air Lines lays out its plan to leave fossil fuels behind 
Canary Media: Can corn ethanol really help decarbonize US air travel?
Canary Media: How hydrogen ​‘e-fuels’ can power big ships and planes
Catalyst: CO2 utilization

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.

This week, we have something a little different: a news quiz. 
We recently took the stage with four investors at the Prelude Climate Summit — armed with a bell, a buzzer, and four different categories of questions. We tested two teams of venture investors on their knowledge of the most recent industry news.
Shayle Kann and Cassie Bowe, partners at venture firm Energy Impact Partners, are team High Voltage. 
Dr. Carley Anderson, principal at venture firm Prelude Ventures, and Matt Eggers, Prelude’s manager director, are team Shayle Gassed. (Prelude led fundraising for Latitude Media.)
Stephen Lacey, executive editor of this show and host of The Carbon Copy, quizzes the teams on the latest in climate tech news.
Which team will come out on top?
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.