The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be the Most Disruptive Yet
2 Apr, 2019
Building new solar, wind, and storage is about to be cheaper than operating existing coal and gas power plants. That will change everything. When the history of how humanity turned the corner on climate change is written, we’ll look back and see that clean energy –…
R e a d M o r eClean Technology is Disrupting Fossil Fuels Faster Than Ever
18 Sep, 2018
The best news in the global fight against climate change is the pace at which clean technology is advancing. That technology is on a path to disrupt fossil fuel electricity, oil, the automotive industry as solar and wind power, batteries, self-driving cars used by the…
R e a d M o r eSolar doesn’t need a “breakthrough”. It’s a breakthrough on it’s own.
4 Jan, 2018
Yesterday, Tyler Cowan, who I’m a major fan of, wrote a piece for Bloomberg View arguing that solar needs more R&D for a true green energy breakthrough. This logic mirrors that of Bill Gates, the Breakthrough Institute, and others who, over the years, have argued…
R e a d M o r eClean Energy Disruption – Video from South Africa
13 Nov, 2017
I spoke at the SingularityU South Africa Summit earlier this year, about the way that solar, wind, storage, and electric vehicles are disrupting the $6 Trillion a year energy industry worldwide, and the opportunities for South Africa and the whole of the African continent. It was…
R e a d M o r eWind Power Blowing More Reliably Than Ever
17 Aug, 2016
New wind turbines produce power more steadily – with less up and down intermittency – than ever before. As I wrote in August of last year, NREL believes that next-generation wind turbines can reach a capacity factor of 60%. That is up from a capacity…
R e a d M o r eWhy I’m Starting the First AngelList Cleantech Syndicate
22 Feb, 2016
I’ve been writing and speaking about the incredible pace of solar, wind, and storage for years. I’ve been quietly investing in startups in that space as well. Today I’m taking a new step: I’m launching an AngelList Syndicate specifically focused on investing in clean energy…
R e a d M o r eRenewables are Disruptive to Fossil Fuels
18 Feb, 2016
A shorter version of this post first appeared at the Marginal Revolution blog. Cleantech, and specifically renewables like solar and wind (and their fellow traveler energy storage) are disruptive to fossil fuels. Over the last 5 years, the price of new wind power in the US…
R e a d M o r eHow Far Can Renewables Go? Pretty Darn Far
31 Jan, 2016
This is part 4 of a series looking at the economic trends of new energy technologies. Part 1 looked at how cheap solar can get (very cheap indeed). Part 2 looked at the declining cost and rising reliability of wind power. Part 3 looked at…
R e a d M o r eHow Cheap Can Energy Storage Get? Pretty Darn Cheap
14 Oct, 2015
This is part 3 of a series looking at the economic trends of new energy technologies. Part 1 looked at how cheap solar can get (very cheap indeed). Part 2 looked at the declining cost and rising reliability of wind power. Part 3, below, talks…
R e a d M o r eHow Steady Can Wind Power Blow?
30 Aug, 2015
This is part 2 of a series looking at the economic trends of new energy technologies. Part 1 looked at how cheap solar can get (very cheap indeed). Part 3 looks at how cheap energy storage can get (pretty darn cheap). Part 4 looks at…
R e a d M o r eSolar + Wind, More Than the Sum of Their Parts
28 Apr, 2015
David Roberts has an amazing first post in his new job at Vox, on why a solar future is inevitable. Clearly I’m bullish on solar. My own reasons are that: 1. Solar is plunging in price far faster than any other energy source. 2. Solar…
R e a d M o r eWhy Energy Storage is About to Get Big – and Cheap
14 Apr, 2015
tl;dr: Storage of electricity in large quantities is reaching an inflection point, poised to give a big boost to renewables, to disrupt business models across the electrical industry, and to tap into a market that will eventually top many of tens of billions of dollars…
R e a d M o r e2014 Was a Good Year: Better Than You Remember
21 Dec, 2014
Eric Garner. Michael Brown. The Sony hack and surrender to fear. 2014 seems to be ending on a crappy note. My twitter feed is full of people expressing good riddance to the year. 2014 was better than that. I want to take a moment to…
R e a d M o r eSolar and Wind Plunging Below Fossil Fuel Prices
5 Oct, 2014
Asset management firm Lazard has a fascinating new analysis of renewable and other energy prices out. There are a huge number of insights in this, from an outside analyst whose primary interest is financial. (Those are, in my mind, the most objective analysts in this…
R e a d M o r eThe Renewable Energy Revolution
29 Sep, 2014
Transforming the world’s energy supply will take decades. It is a very tall order. But it’s starting. The price of renewables – and energy storage – continues to plunge, putting them on a path to being cheaper than any other form of energy within the…
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