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2D AGO

The geopolitics of rare earth elements

China’s new export controls on rare earth elements (REEs) are a problem for EVs, renewables, and other industries that rely on the minerals, especially the permanent magnets they’re used in. The vast majority of the global supply chain is in China. Plus, Chinese companies control supply chain operations around the world. So is it possible to stand up a rare earth supply chain outside of China’s control? In this episode, Shayle talks to Ahmad Ghahreman, co-founder and CEO of REE recycler Cyclic Materials. (Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle is a partner, invests in Cyclic.) They cover topics like: REE 101: the basket of 17 minerals, how they’re mined and processed, and the most important five Why an REE supply chain hasn’t been built outside of China, even though the raw materials exist outside the country The timeline of Chinese export controls leading up to the April escalation and what could come next The specifics of what’s limited, including oxides, alloys, and magnets Why Ahmad is optimistic about building an ex-China supply chain Other potential pathways, like recycling and designing more REEs-efficient products Recommended resources: The New York Times: The Mine Is American. The Minerals Are China’s. The New York Times: How China Took Over the World’s Rare Earths Industry Axios: China trade war risks stifling America's electric car movement Heatmap: China’s Minerals Pause All Pain, No Gain for U.S Latitude Media: Building a supply chain for rare earth elements Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by Anza, a platform enabling solar and storage developers and buyers to save time, reduce risk, & increase profits in their equipment selection process. Anza gives clients access to pricing, technical, and risk data and tools that they’ve never had access to before. Learn more at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

2d ago

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34 min
APR 17

Serving data center load with carbon capture

Big tech’s data center construction boom is fueling a flurry of natural gas development, despite the fuel’s challenges, and it’s complicating big tech’s climate goals. But carbon capture and storage (CCS) could mitigate emissions from those new plants, and hyperscalers could secure low-carbon power while meeting their needs for speed and reliability. So how could natural gas with CCS serve data center loads? In this episode, Shayle talks to Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at Carbon Direct, who recently co-authored a couple pieces on the topic. Despite recent high profile cancellations of natural gas projects, Julio makes the case that gas-plus-CCS has attractive advantages, provided the carbon capture actually happens. Shayle and Julio cover topics like: The surprisingly attractive economics, even at lower flue concentrations Where it may be faster and cheaper than renewables, storage, and nuclear The challenges of siting CO2 infrastructure and uncertainty around the 45Q tax credit Whether “CCS-ready” kicks mitigation down the road, like H2 blending Big tech companies like Meta that are signaling interest, but not taking action The range of CCS technologies and the manufacturers jockeying to supply them CCS’s uncertain political future in the U.S. Recommended resources: Carbon Direct: Carbon Capture for Natural Gas-Fired Power Generation Carbon Direct: Carbon capture for natural gas-fired power generation: An opportunity for hyperscalers Latitude Media: Where does gas fit in the puzzle of powering AI? Latitude Media: High costs, delays prompt withdrawal of five more Texas gas plants Latitude Media: Hydrogen-ready’ power plants aren’t actually ready for hydrogen Latitude Media: Engie’s pulled project highlights the worsening economics of gas Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by Anza, a platform enabling solar and storage developers and buyers to save time, reduce risk, & increase profits in their equipment selection process. Anza gives clients access to pricing, technical, and risk data and tools that they’ve never had access to before. Learn more at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

Apr 17

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39 min
2D AGO

What’s next for the battery storage boom? [partner content]

The U.S. storage market is experiencing hockey-stick growth, with multiple gigawatts being installed quarterly. But new policy uncertainties around tariffs and the Inflation Reduction Act are threatening this momentum. But Jeff Waters, the CEO of Powin, remains optimistic. "This industry will figure out a way to work with it," says Waters, who brings decades of experience from the semiconductor and solar industries. "What we're doing is important." Powin is a leading storage integrator that designs, commissions, and services some of the largest utility-scale batteries in the world. As Waters puts it, "If you are a utility or if you are an IPP, if you want to integrate storage and own and operate a storage asset, we are that one throat to choke." In this episode, produced in partnership with Powin, Stephen Lacey talks with Jeff about why he's still optimistic about the market despite significant headwinds. Drawing from his experience in semiconductors, Waters makes a case for how America should approach domestic battery manufacturing. "When I hear people talk about storage and say, 'We don't want Chinese companies investing or getting taxpayer money to build plants,' I think it's a ridiculous notion," Waters explains. "The only way we're going to get anywhere in the U.S. market with storage is by partnering with the Chinese." They discuss the extraordinary scaling of project sizes, the surge in electricity demand from data centers, technology trends beyond lithium-iron phosphate batteries, diverse deployment models, regional market opportunities, and the remarkable resilience of an industry used to navigating policy volatility. This is a partner episode, brought to you by Powin. Powin is pushing the frontiers of energy storage. To learn more about Powin's integrated energy storage systems and to read case studies of how the company is executing projects, go to powin.com.

2d ago

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20 min
2D AGO

The scrappy beginning of Tesla’s energy business

In 2014, Drew Baglino was helping build Tesla's energy division with a passionate, scrappy team. Using parts from Tesla's vehicles, they created the first Powerwall home battery. But as demand grew, they hit a critical bottleneck: cell shortages. Customers across multiple markets were already excited about the new product, but Drew’s team struggled to keep up with demand. With Powerwall 2 already announced, pressure mounted while the supply chain faltered. And with Tesla prioritizing vehicles,, the energy team was left to "get the scraps and figure it out". In this episode, Lara Pierpoint talks with Drew Baglino, former senior vice president of powertrain and energy at Tesla, about building a new product category through bootstrapping and creative resource sharing. Drew shares how a couple dozen "Swiss Army knife" engineers created a residential battery system that would ultimately define the market. Credits: Hosted by Lara Pierpoint. Produced by Erin Hardick. Edited by Anne Bailey and Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The Green Blueprint is a co-production of Latitude Media and Trellis Climate. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get podcasts. For more reporting on the companies featured in this podcast, subscribe to Latitude Media's newsletter.

2d ago

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36 min
APR 10

How climate disasters are shaping insurance markets

Premiums are rising. Insurers are leaving markets. But people keep building in risk-prone areas, and the climate disasters just keep coming. Can insurance markets adapt? In this episode, Shayle talks to Dr. Judd Boomhower, an assistant professor of economics at the University of California-San Diego and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He studies how insurance markets are reacting to climate change. Shayle and Judd cover topics like: Why insurers are limiting coverage in California, Florida, and other high-risk markets How disaster insurance, unlike auto or health insurance, faces a flood of claims all at the same time How catastrophe models (or “cat models” for short) work and why AI and other improvements struggle the solve the fundamental problem: a lack of historical data needed to predict future events The challenges of private “black-box” catastrophe models that can’t be reviewed by third parties Reinsurance markets and why they’re not attracting more capital to shore up insurers The pros and cons of parametric insurance, an emerging category of insurance products Undercapitalized “fly-by-night” insurers that risk insolvency and failing to pay out claim Recommended resources NBER: How Are Insurance Markets Adapting to Climate Change? Risk Classification and Pricing in the Market for Homeowners Insurance Brookings: “How is climate change impacting home insurance markets?” Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by Anza, a platform enabling solar and storage developers and buyers to save time, reduce risk, & increase profits in their equipment selection process. Anza gives clients access to pricing, technical, and risk data and tools that they’ve never had access to before. Learn more at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

Apr 10

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35 min
APR 9

LineVision's quest to win over utilities

In 2018, LineVision was a young company with revolutionary technology for electric transmission lines. Its dynamic line rating sensors and software could increase the capacity of existing power lines by up to 40% without building new infrastructure — a critical solution for integrating renewables and meeting growing electricity demand. But to prove its tech, it needed to win over notoriously cautious utilities. When a crucial project worth $750,000 went to a competitor, LineVision's leadership made a last-ditch appeal that changed the company's trajectory. In this episode, host Lara Pierpoint talks with LineVision’s vice president of customer success, Karthik Rao, about navigating utility cybersecurity requirements, escaping “pilot hell,” and how LineVision became the partner behind the world's largest DLR project. Credits: Hosted by Lara Pierpoint. Produced by Erin Hardick. Edited by Anne Bailey and Stephen Lacey. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. The Green Blueprint is a co-production of Latitude Media and Trellis Climate. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get podcasts. For more reporting on the companies featured in this podcast, subscribe to Latitude Media's newsletter.

Apr 9

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29 min
APR 7

Frontier Forum: Future-proofing data center power infrastructure

Data centers face a critical timing problem. They need massive amounts of power immediately, but grid upgrades can take more than seven years to complete. Microgrids could be a solution to this growing power gap. "How do you future-proof your systems through adaptability of technologies? Microgrids are really a nice technology to address that," explains Adib Nasle, CEO of Xendee. In this episode, recorded as part of a live Frontier Forum, Latitude Media's Stephen Lacey speaks with Xendee co-founders Adib Nasle and Michael Stadler about how microgrids can help data centers get power quickly, while also preparing for future technology changes. The conversation explores how the combination of combined heat and power systems with supplemental technologies like batteries and renewables can create flexible, adaptable power solutions for mission-critical facilities. Their research across different energy markets shows striking cost reductions. "We saw cost reductions up to 80 percent in California and 60 percent in Virginia," notes Dr. Michael Stadler, CTO of Xendee. "If you really go with the utility, it's always the most expensive case." Using a stepped approach to microgrid implementation, data centers can achieve electricity prices significantly below grid rates — while maintaining complete control over their power infrastructure and preparing for future technologies like small modular reactors. "One way to think about microgrids is really as a Swiss army knife of energy infrastructure," says Nasle. "You're getting localized resilience, economics, flexibility, scalability, efficiency through controls, and the inherent benefits of a decentralized system." This is a partner episode, brought to you by Xendee. It was recorded live as part of Latitude Media's Frontier Forum series. Watch the full video to hear more details about microgrid design for data centers.

Apr 7

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29 min
APR 4

Specialized AI brains for physical industry

Everyone wants a piece of general purpose models. Instacart has deployed ChatGPT for recipes and meal planning. The Mayo Clinic is using it to summarize patient records. Schneider Electric is using an OpenAI LLM to generate sustainability reports. With such powerful models, what’s the need for specialized models built for specific industries, especially in climate tech? In this episode, Shayle talks to Sam Smith-Eppsteiner, partner at Innovation Endeavors. She recently wrote a blog post arguing that there may be a market that general purpose models struggle to meet: physical industries where training data is siloed, unstructured, and private. She talks through climate-relevant examples like Cadstrom’s copilot for electrical engineers, Hubflow’s automated trucker scheduling, WeaveBio’s AI-powered platform for regulatory approvals. Shayle and Sam also cover topics like: Applicable cases, like cross referencing complicated technical manuals, repetitive manual work that employees dislike, and technical compliance The technical knowledge lost when workers retire and how specialized AI could help What it takes to build specialized models, including data access, vector embedding, prompt engineering, and fine tuning What budget categories businesses might use to pay for specialized models Selling the technology (i.e. the traditional SAAS model) vs selling the work (i.e. answers informed by models) Recommended resources Innovation Endeavors: Specialized brains for industry: the immense potential for domain-specific AI Innovation Endeavors: The next industrial unicorn: Where is AI rapidly transforming the physical economy Catalyst: The coming robotics wave Latitude: How utilities are designing and embedding AI operating models Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by Anza, a platform enabling solar and storage developers and buyers to save time, reduce risk, & increase profits in their equipment selection process. Anza gives clients access to pricing, technical, and risk data and tools that they’ve never had access to before. Learn more at go.anzarenewables.com/latitude. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com.

Apr 4

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39 min
FEB 20

The promise and perils of sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion could be the next big thing. Last August, Natron announced a $1.4B factory in North Carolina. Other U.S. companies like Peak Energy, Bedrock Materials, and Acculon Energy are jockeying for position in the market. Meanwhile, almost all of the world’s sodium-ion manufacturing capacity, current and planned, is in China. CATL’s CEO Robin Zeng suggested that sodium-ion could ultimately take up to half of LFP’s market share. The potential advantages are exciting: Sodium-based chemistries could be cheaper and safer. They could also use domestically sourced materials, avoiding the geopolitical headaches of minerals critical to the lithium-ion supply chain, like nickel, cobalt, and copper. So, amid all the sodium-ion hype, what's credible and what’s not? In this episode, Shayle talks to Adrian Yao, founder of Stanford’s STEER program, a battery research group specializing in techno-economic analysis. He’s also a board member of lithium-ion manufacturer EnPower, where he was once a co-founder and CTO. Shayle and Adrian talk about the findings from a recent Nature paper Adrian co-authored exploring a techno-economic analysis of sodium-ion batteries. They cover topics like: The differences between sodium-ion and lithium-ion, as illustrated by the battery sandwich Misconceptions about sodium-ion, for example, that it’s necessarily safer The biggest challenges: energy density and cost competitiveness How players in the lithium-ion supply chain could pivot to sodium-ion Why the technology’s success may hinge on the price of nickel, copper, and other lithium-ion materials Recommended resources Nature Energy: Critically assessing sodium-ion technology roadmaps and scenarios for techno-economic competitiveness against lithium-ion batteries Latitude Media: Peak Energy’s quest to build US sodium-ion battery dominance Heatmap: Is Sodium-Ion the Next Big Battery? WSJ: U.S. Battery Rush Spurs $1.4 Billion Sodium-Ion Factory in North Carolina Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Feb 20

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47 min
MAR 6

A skeptic’s take on AI electricity load growth

The predictions are coming in hot. Data centers could grow to consume more than 9% of U.S. electricity generation by 2030, according to EPRI. That’s more than double its current estimated data center load. AI will increase global data center power demand 165% by 2030, says Goldman Sachs. And billions of dollars are at stake. Utilities, megasite developers, and data center operators are all basing major decisions on predictions like these. But they’re also the kinds of predictions we’ve seen before. In 1999, when the internet was growing fast, a couple researchers claimed it would grow to consume half of all U.S. power generation within a decade — until a team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory debunked it. Jonathan Koomey was one of those researchers. Although today’s predictions about energy usage are tamer than those in 1999, Jonathan still has questions about the current hype around AI power demand. He's is now the founder and president of Koomey Analytics, which has published multiple papers on the topic, including a recent report for the Bipartisan Policy Center: Electricity Demand Growth and Data Centers: A Guide for the Perplexed. So what are the assumptions that go into these new predictions? And how do they hold up to scrutiny? In this episode, Shayle talks to Jonathan about why he questions the hype around AI load growth predictions and why he believes energy constraints will incentivize the AI industry to focus on efficiency. Shayle and Jonathan cover topics like: The time lags and proprietary data that hinders precise data center load estimates, both in historical analyses and future predictions The difficulty of reproducing the predictions of even prominent institutions like the IEA The two basic assumptions that go into predictions: AI demand and AI power requirements Why Jonathan believes conventional wisdom relies on questionable sources, like Nvidia’s business plan The unexplored areas of AI energy efficiency, like computer architecture, software improvements, algorithms, and special purpose computers Recommended resources Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report Nature: Will AI accelerate or delay the race to net-zero emissions? Joule: To better understand AI’s growing energy use, analysts need a data revolution WSJ: Internet Hype in the ’90s Stoked a Power-Generation Bubble. Could It Happen Again With AI? Open Circuit: The data center boom: ‘All the cheap power is gone’ Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Mar 6

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56 min
FEB 13

The case for colocating data centers and generation

Sheldon Kimber says the grid is broken — at least for new data centers and other large, industrial loads that need lots of clean power, fast. But the founder and CEO of Intersect Power believes there’s a workaround that enables larger data centers and speeds up time to power: colocating behind-the-meter generation and storage on megasites rich with renewable resources. In short, instead of bringing clean generation to load, bring load to clean generation. Major partners are on board with the strategy. Last December Intersect announced $800M in investment from Google and private equity firm TPG, along with a goal of catalyzing $20B in projects by 2030. So how does colocation work? And how far does it go? In this episode, Shayle talks to Sheldon about how colocation can help sidestep the challenges associated with grid upgrades, transmission, and permitting. They dig into topics like: Major forces shaping the market, like AI demand, the IRA, and tariffs Optimal PPA prices and tenures The right mix of grid-connected and behind-the-meter power The extreme version of colocation: off-grid data centers Megasite developers for hydrogen and crypto and how they took advantage of the AI boom Whether DeepSeek will cause energy demand to temper or accelerate Recommended resources Latitude Media: Google’s new data center model signals a massive market shift Latitude Media: Load growth is changing how Silicon Ranch develops solar projects Latitude Media: Amazon’s data center strategy: ‘Get back to being grid-tied’ Catalyst: The US power demand surge: The electricity gauntlet has arrived Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Feb 13

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47 min
FEB 6

More 2025 trends: DeepSeek, plug-in hybrids, and curtailment

Didn’t catch last week’s episode on Nat Bullard’s mega slide deck on energy transition? Start there. This is the second half of our extended conversation with Nat, the former chief content officer at BloombergNEF and current co-founder at data insights company Halcyon. In this episode, Shayle and Nat dig into topics like: Rising solar installations and stagnating wind Why we’re wasting so much renewable power amid skyrocketing load growth The rise of Chinese plug-in hybrids and exports Whether DeepSeek’s efficiency will temper or turbocharge load growth The woeful state of transmission buildout, despite demand for it Why one quarter of Virginia’s power demand comes from data centers Recommended resources Latitude Media: Does DeepSeek call the data center boom into question? Latitude Media: To get data centers online, one Virginia co-op is proposing a new business model Latitude Media: A dizzying year at the AI energy nexus Catalyst: Demystifying the Chinese EV market Reuters: Exclusive: Global solar capacity hits 2 TW on path to climate goal, data shows Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Feb 6

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50 min
JAN 30

2025 trends: aerosols, oil demand, and carbon removal

Out today: Nat Bullard’s 200-page slide deck with data from across the energy transition. Nat is the former chief content officer at BloombergNEF and current co-founder at data insights company Halcyon. In part one of their two-part conversation, Shayle cherry-picked the most interesting slides and sat down with Nat to unpack them. They cover topics like: Accidental solar geoengineering and the state of aerosols The United States’ record-setting fossil fuels exports Whether Chinese oil demand is peaking Conflicting indicators for the state of ESG investing Whether you can have too many carbon removal startups Recommended resources Catalyst: Putting a halt to geoengineering — by accident Catalyst: 2024 trends: batteries, transferable tax credits, and the cost of capital Catalyst: 2023 trends: biomass, ESG, batteries and more Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Jan 30

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36 min
MAR 13

An ode to electrochemistry

Batteries were electrochemistry’s breakout hit. For years it was a field that kept a low profile, outshined by flashier cousins like biotech and computer science. That is until lithium-ion batteries became big business, showing that studying the relationship between chemicals and energy could unlock technical pathways that other disciplines could not. Now the field is making breakthroughs in critical areas like cement, metallurgy, and new battery chemistries. So what else can electrochemistry do? Which problems is it especially good at solving? In this episode, Shayle talks to Dr. Yet-Ming Chiang, a professor of materials science and engineering at MIT. He’s also the co-founder of at least six electrochemistry companies, including Form Energy and Sublime Systems, which are both portfolio companies of Energy Impact Partners where Shayle is an investor. They cover topics like: Promising applications like mining, SAFs, and other industrial processes that require a high concentration of energy The strengths of electrochemistry and where it fits best in larger system The weak spots of electrochemistry, like solid-solid transformations and the limitation to 2-dimensional surfaces How electrochemical processes work with intermittent power and the role of embedded chemical storage AI’s potential to shape the field — and its limits Recommended resources Catalyst: What do you do with a 100-hour battery? Catalyst: Fixing cement’s carbon problem Catalyst: Seeking the holy grail of batteries Catalyst: The promise and perils of sodium-ion batteries Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor. Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Antenna Group, the public relations and strategic marketing agency of choice for climate and energy leaders. If you're a startup, investor, or global corporation that's looking to tell your climate story, demonstrate your impact, or accelerate your growth, Antenna Group's team of industry insiders is ready to help. Learn more at antennagroup.com.

Mar 13

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38 min
MAR 21

Frontier Forum: How tax credit transfers are reshaping energy finance

In 2023, the U.S. market for transferable clean energy tax credits was just getting started. One year later, that market has tripled in size, with credits diversifying beyond wind and solar into nuclear, manufacturing, and other technologies. "The statistics on just how much it grew over that period are really impressive — indicating the transparency, efficiency, liquidity, and growing nature of the market," explains Alfred Johnson, CEO of Crux, which operates a debt and tax credit platform for clean energy. When new rules allowed clean energy tax credits to be sold for cash, it suddenly opened up a dynamic new market. Now, instead of only large banks with a tax appetite being able to finance projects, any corporate buyer with tax liability can participate — and they're rushing in. In this episode, recorded during a live Frontier Forum, Latitude Media's Maeve Allsup moderates a conversation with Crux's Alfred Johnson, Stephanie Deterding, Crux's managing director of markets and transactions, and Timmi Kloster, senior vice president of tax credit syndications at US Bank Corp. The panelists discuss six key findings from Crux's recent market report: the market grew and diversified; pricing improved; smaller credits saw the greatest price improvements; hybrid transactions enabled tax equity market growth; tax insurance became more prominent; and forward commitments grew significantly. "What surprised me the most is just how quickly investors entered the market and were willing to transact," explains Timmi Kloster of US Bank. "We saw three times the amount of new investors enter the space through transferability that we would have seen in a typical, pre-IRA traditional tax equity partnership market." Despite post-election policy uncertainty, the market remains robust. "In the weeks following the November election, bidding activity was the highest we have seen yet," says Johnson, noting that 90% of projects benefiting from the credits are in Republican districts. This is a partner episode, brought to you by Crux. It was recorded live as part of Latitude Media's Frontier Forum series. Watch the full video to hear more details about the booming tax credit market. Or read the Crux report.

Mar 21

•

34 min

Latitude Media is an integrated B2B news, research, and events company focused on the new frontiers of clean energy and climate technology. We go beyond the headlines to provide impactful and actionable coverage, diving deep into the trends and stories that matter most to professionals across the sector. Producers of industry-favorite climatetech podcasts: The Green Blueprint, Catalyst with Shayle Kann, and The Latitude

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Latitude Media

Top Shows

The geopolitics of rare earth elements

Serving data center load with carbon capture

What’s next for the battery storage boom? [partner content]

The scrappy beginning of Tesla’s energy business

How climate disasters are shaping insurance markets

LineVision's quest to win over utilities

Frontier Forum: Future-proofing data center power infrastructure

Specialized AI brains for physical industry

The promise and perils of sodium-ion batteries

A skeptic’s take on AI electricity load growth

The case for colocating data centers and generation

More 2025 trends: DeepSeek, plug-in hybrids, and curtailment

2025 trends: aerosols, oil demand, and carbon removal

An ode to electrochemistry

Frontier Forum: How tax credit transfers are reshaping energy finance

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Latitude Media

Top Shows

Top Episodes

The geopolitics of rare earth elements

Serving data center load with carbon capture

What’s next for the battery storage boom? [partner content]

The scrappy beginning of Tesla’s energy business

How climate disasters are shaping insurance markets

LineVision's quest to win over utilities

Frontier Forum: Future-proofing data center power infrastructure

Specialized AI brains for physical industry

The promise and perils of sodium-ion batteries

A skeptic’s take on AI electricity load growth

The case for colocating data centers and generation

More 2025 trends: DeepSeek, plug-in hybrids, and curtailment

2025 trends: aerosols, oil demand, and carbon removal

An ode to electrochemistry

Frontier Forum: How tax credit transfers are reshaping energy finance

About