The Promise of Sodium-Ion To build a reliable, renewable grid, we need to scale grid scale batteries at an unprecedented pace. Solar paired with battery storage, represents the clearest path to cheap, abundant energy. Lithium-ion batteries, particularly LFP (lithium iron phosphate), have led the way in driving costs down and scaling deployment. But we need … Read more
The energy landscape is undergoing a generational shift. We built the grid with predictable demand and supply from large power plants in mind. This status quo is quickly changing and in this post, I’ll dive into the software tools we’ll need to adapt to the evolving grid. What’s Changing? Why? After decades of relative stagnation, … Read more
Rethinking buildings as power plants is an essential part of reducing the emissions footprint of buildings. Despite the economic viability of deploying solar at a majority of commercial buildings in the U.S., less than 1% of commercial buildings have onsite solar deployments. The problem is particularly acute at non-owner occupied buildings due to the split … Read more
In this post, I dive into innovative companies and approaches that will help us attain net zero targets for the built environment. For a refresher on net zero commitments, see my prior writing here. Buildings contribute over 1/3rd of global CO2 emissions. This includes 27% from operational emissions (direct and indirect energy use to run … Read more
An increasing number of organizations, 46% of publicly listed entities as of 2022 (up ~4x from 2018 levels) have announced some form of net zero commitment. However, net zero commitments across entities are far from equal with greenwashing becoming an increasing concern. In this post, I’ll dive into what net zero commitments are and how … Read more
In Part 2, I’m going to discuss interesting approaches to addressing emissions in transportation, industrial production, and agriculture. If you haven’t read Part I, I’d recommend starting there. Transportation The transportation industry by end-use is one of the largest contributors to GHG emissions (~28% of all emissions in the U.S.). On the bright side, vehicle … Read more
Climate change has been particularly prominent in the public sphere recently. There are a plethora of ways in which anthropogenic activities contribute to emissions (and climate change). The public policy and private industry responses are similarly wide-ranging and disparate. This makes it challenging for an engaged citizen to identify & find activities that will help … Read more