We have a few job openings for Field Operators at Vulcan Line Tools, a startup based in Birmingham, AL. The Field Operator will primarily be responsible for planning and executing data collection trips. We are primarily contracted by electric utilities who are performing storm hardening initiatives on their distribution grids and by fiber internet companies who are planning to attach wires to power pole. Please see the link for more info or message me directly!
We have quite a few open roles at ev.energy, with the aim of making EV charging greener and cheaper - we're hiring for a Sales Director and Proposal Manager, with upcoming roles for Product and Engineering.
Recently I've seen the rhetoric shift on solar geoengineering... People I respect in climate are now saying that it's inevitable and necessary. The shift reminds me of what happened with carbon capture, it went from "no one talk about this" to "obviously it's going to be a part of the toolbox" in the mid to late 2010s
Have you thought about this much? I'm a pessimist and it feels like society will underutilize all other solutions in favor of this cheap/deployable failsafe even though it's palliative and probably has tons of unknown downsides.
I agree. One of my top ten podcasts just shifted heavy on this approach. It turns out, one of the hosts has quite a legacy of study on the topic.
I'm kind of in the Mark Z. Jacobson camp of simply deploying wind, water, solar (also geothermal and batteries) to replace fossil fuel use, ASAP. Any money going elsewhere is probably going to extend the pain. For any solution outside of these, I can probably do a couple of Googles and write the napkin math to show it's an inferior use of funds, if not flat-out counter-productive.
How dependent is Volts on Substack to continue functioning? I trust it's not very likely that there would be political pressure to silence David in the near term, but the idea of the current government putting pressure on corporations to shut down unfriendly content isn't that far-fetched. And the idea of corporate leaders showing any degree of courage seems fanciful. Does David, for example, have all of the subscriber e-mail addresses backed up independently?
Ironically, it is Substack's fanatical loyalty to free speech insofar as it extends to providing a platform for Nazis that I would hope might cause Volts to leave it before too long...
Chris Hayes mentioned RSS (episode of Jan 29, 2025). Podcast tech is built on the RSS foundation. People I respect imagine a scenario where the internet goes back to being more decentralized, and using RSS and mailing lists. This is a future where people get fed up with the Musks, Zuckerbergs, endless bots, and trolls. I'm somewhat prepared for this scenario, and try to maintain the skills. It's really not that hard for people with much of an IT background. But growing one's network without some exposure from the big boys is a little tough.
Talk of the "Tech Bros" can be a little misleading. There are a lot of people in Tech that *really* understand Freedom. I'm just a little worried they're aging out and/or sitting on the sidelines too much, in the present moment.
I don't know much about Substack. I'd really be interested to see how Apple and Spotify might fold to authoritarian censorship. They are the big enshittifiers, IMO, and Apple, in particular, is a serious chokepoint for podcasts.
It's funny, digital communication and the internet got started as a decentralized thing, and got consolidated. Is there a way back? It's similar to what I'd like to see happen with energy.
A good alternative to Substack is the nonprofit platform Ghost. I subscribe to bloggers/podcasters who left Substack for Ghost and set up similar free and paid subscription models. https://ghost.org/
I hear a lot of left-of-center folks these days bashing environmental regulations as being the real hold-up for both housing and renewable energy, even occasionally David Roberts. But I have difficulty finding much in the way of serious analysis probing these questions:
1) How much of the delays and obstructions are really due to environmental regulations? And wouldn't opponents find other tools for obstruction in their absence? Are environmental regulations just the most convenient scapegoat in a much greater morass of overlapping rules and jurisdictions?
2) Given that many natural systems do seem to be collapsing around us from habitat loss, chemical poisoning, etc., how do we balance the need for large land areas for renewable energy with the desire to preserve at least a bit of the amazing and beautiful natural diversity of our planet? (Perhaps a Volts favorite--planning?)
3) Do international or interstate comparisons teach us anything about how to structure environmental regulations that achieve good outcomes without gumming up the works?
We are told by Ezra Klein, etc., that our regulations are no longer fit for purpose, so then what *should* they look like? Surely not just "build whatever you like anywhere"?
I'd really like to hear a grown-up discussion about this, rather than the simplistic black-and-white that the topic usually evokes. Perhaps this is a plea for an entire episode, not a mailbag question, but I'd really like to hear more on this.
I'm curious about this as well. For example, the episode about pumped hydro, where building two artificial ponds and connecting them together takes like ten years in permitting and approval.
That ten year lag is such a black box to me, and I'm curious about the mechanics inside of it. I'm sure its a timeline with a lot of completion-dependent sequences - Step 37 can't happen until Step 36 is finalized. and so forth.
But like ... why ten years? What on earth could be taking so long? How do we trim the chronological fat from the timeline?
I have two "I heard about this thing, why isn't it a bigger deal?" questions:
1. Hybrid residential solar panels. The idea here is that you have a PV panel with a water cooled backplate. Basically a PV panel combined with a solar water heater. It's a symbiotic relationship because by cooling the PV junction, the PV panel runs more efficiently, and the energy the water wicks away can be dumped somewhere useful, like a hot water tank, reducing total electrical demand.
It seems like this should be a bigger deal! It's merging two already mature and simple technologies into one package.
I try to answer my own question before asking it. My best guess for why it's not in the norm: too new, patent/IP stuff makes it more expensive, maybe the added complexity of the panel adds liability that makes it not worth the cost savings (e.g. something about the hybrid panel's design makes corrosion/leaking a big problem), and the multiplication of liability with added points of failure.
2. Why aren't battery-only, grid-communicating residential installations more of a thing? It seems like it could serve both the utility and the customer quite well. Load shifting saves the utilities the pain of demand spikes, and residents can take advantage of time-of-use discounts. Not to mention, a buffer during outages.
You don't need to price in a bunch of contracting work for PV stuff - assessing solar flux, roof work, the inverters and the permits and net metering and so forth - you're just modifying a panel, and running a few feet of conduit to the battery and its inverter and whatever else is needed. If it's just a battery hookup, the installation becomes a lot more cookie cutter and scalable, in my estimation.
Edit: I think even 4-5kWh pack size would be beneficial.
On point #1, this is kind of a recurring thing that doesn't seem to take off. I suspect the dirt cheap solar panel is a factor. Just deploy, deploy, deploy! Connecting water lines would probably more than double labor costs, and, as you say, maintenance headaches. I used to follow a company called Icarus RT, Inc. https://icarusrt.com/ in case you're looking for a lead.
Thanks for the reply! Yeah, my suspicion is that a lot of small liabilities isn't worth the potential gains. As I thought about it more, I also realized there's possible added complexity with the fluid system, for example maybe you have to vent off excess heat somehow if your system that accepts heat is saturated.
I would suggest waiting a few weeks for a post-mortem. We will most likely have a general election soon, and the outcome of that election could be two very different futures for Canadian climate policy.
We are experiencing a naked power grab by the Executive Branch that is deeply troubling and often illegal. We need to do all we can to stop our slide into authoritarianism.
However, I also recognize the urgency of climate action and the potential need for a future president to take decisive executive leadership to address the climate crisis, particularly when legislative and judicial pathways may be constrained.
Given this tension, I'm curious about your perspective on these questions:
What specific, high-impact executive actions could significantly reduce emissions?
Have any precedents set or norms broken by the current administration created pathways for more effective climate action by future presidents?
After Trump, how can we balance the need to protect our democracy from future presidents who want to be authoritarians with the need to take bold executive action on climate independent of Congress?
Have you noticed that I am trying to escape from reality and fast forward to a time post-President Trump?
Would love your thoughts. Also, consider having Marc J. Dunkelman on the show to discuss his new book. Thanks!
I spend a bit of time on climate, volunteering with Citizens' Climate Lobby, listening to podcasts (oh so many), but I sometimes think I've lost the forest for the trees. "Why are we doing this again?" comes to mind, and I can't answer of my own knowledge. Perhaps my daughter-in-law put it best, "What's really going to happen?" What would you say to a back-to-the-very-basics episode of the risks and their level of certainty, in the super-accessible style we love you for. I need something to refer back to when I lose track of the why.
How much change can the federal government drive through procurement? If the Department of Transportation required green concrete and steel in all federal projects could that be enough to get those industries off the ground?
What about the GSA putting in solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps, and demand response systems in buildings wherever it made sense, or turning large federal campuses into energy parks with district heating? Would that drive further investment and savings in those industries?
If David (or anyone else) is in Chicago for the Canary Media event, please check out the Climate Action Museum! It's located on the river downtown, just a short train ride from the Canary event venue. It's free to visit, and I'll even give you a tour if anyone is interested!
We're also hosting an awesome fundraiser/award ceremony on Earth Day for climate action heroes. Tickets are on sale now, and we also have sponsorship opportunities for anyone wanting to support sustainability efforts in Chicago and beyond. Website: https://www.climateactionmuseum.org/
I love the Climate Action Museum! They are a great group of folks, and talk about building decarb but also the importance of land use and creating walkable communities
Best Volts episodes? My favorite is "What? The sun isn't always shining?" with Jesse Jenkins.
I found the framing of the issue - intermittency on the shortest time scale, and working up to the longest time scale, to be enormously satisfying. It's a great overview of why we want to do it this way, and how we build from small to big.
I think it's a great narrative structure for a novice, somebody who has vague notions about intermittency in renewables and is genuinely curious about the answer.
An episode I think of often - not sure if it's good for a Starter Pack or not - the one about manufacturing cement using electrolysis. It's just so mind-blowing, and it's an example of how the podcast features really interesting and sometimes game-changing technologies and processes. This is a podcast that's often for the nerdy and that's a perfect example.
Another one I refer to a lot is the one about how DERs make a sustainable grid more affordable because they reduce the need for expensive investments in transmission.
(I just linked to those from a comment on a Construction Physics post, the other day.)
I've discussed Enhanced Rock Weathering with folks a few times, under the department of "what can we actually do affordably to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere", and if this item with Zeke Hausfather had been published earlier, I'm sure I would've linked to it, because it's a fantastic primer on the topic. And that leaves aside log-rolling for Zeke, who's an old friend (by way of having worked for a while with his wife).
I'm sure I've linked to some item of yours on geothermal once or twice, but the very recent episode about FERVO may have rendered the older ones obsolete.
I may end up adding the YIMBY episode to my "frequently shared" list, but I haven't actually listened to it yet. It's literally the next thing queued up in my podcast app. I'm very involved with land use stuff (I'm a planning commissioner), and "the intersection of housing and climate" is more or less my home address. :-P
I especially liked this episode, but that was the Biden DOE:
The Department of Energy has gotten serious about technology commercialization
A conversation with Vanessa Chan of DOE's Office of Technology Transitions.
I'm interested in a couple of possible future topics:
France mandated solar canopies on large parking lots everywhere in the country within 5 years, with incentives (carrots) & stiff non-compliance penalties (sticks). I've heard from someone living there that there are lots of canopies, but it would be interesting to find out more about how this policy is working out.
I've read that VW is updating ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, ID.7, and ID.7 Tourer vehicle software in Ireland, allowing owners to use their EVs as a power source (V2H) or for grid balancing (V2G). NEMA has finally published their technical standard for V2G in the USA, and Wallbox & Enphase already have V2G chargers, albeit +$5k. What's the status of V2G in Ireland, and the outlook for V2G development along with community solar parking lot micro grids in California?
Just want to endorse the "What the F is happening" series. Even if the news is moving too fast for the medium, it's always helpful to hear David contextualize the headlines.
For best episodes, I'll throw in Solutionary Rail. Such a great story, and about so much more than "just" the energy transition.
I'm still talking about your conversation with Dan Savage from last fall. The archipelago of blue cites is the right way to think about politics in this country. Also, I'm a liberal, but I deeply relate to the discussion of the Insufferable Left.
Hi David - this harkens back to several previous guests who debunked Nimby arguments against increased density and housing development. One of my left-leaning friends who opposes most new multi-unit housing in Berkeley sent out a report of this latest study by the Fed https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/wp2025-06.pdf The study found that gentrification and income inequality are far more important than constraints on supply as the cause of high housing prices. This calls into question work by legislators like state Senator Scott Wiener to increase housing supply in cities throughout California. I'd love to see some reactions from you or your previous guests.
Jumpstart Pods! I share and re-listen often to "What Rural People Really Think About Clean Energy" (hopefully I more or less got the title right) and, I know it is recent, but the episode with Greenlight America is also an instant favorite.
As someone who grew up the daughter of a farm and ranch (and often timber) realtor, these episodes feel personal to me -- rural America, with the right outreach, is *the* key ally to the clean energy future. It is literally where so much of the needed infrastructure will have to go! And there is so much benefit to these communities in this transition. I really believe that with amplification of success stories, that narrative will get through. There is so, so much opportunity for the good here on all sides, and I think these episodes lay things out clearly, *respectfully* and in an actionable way.
There are SO MANY good episodes, but if I had to pick only two off the top of my head, these would be the ones.
The Volts episode I shared with friends most recently was the conversation with Dan Savage about Seattle, "stroads", and the failure of liberal local government. Very engaging.
--- CLIMATE JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES ---
We have a few job openings for Field Operators at Vulcan Line Tools, a startup based in Birmingham, AL. The Field Operator will primarily be responsible for planning and executing data collection trips. We are primarily contracted by electric utilities who are performing storm hardening initiatives on their distribution grids and by fiber internet companies who are planning to attach wires to power pole. Please see the link for more info or message me directly!
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4177324422/
We have quite a few open roles at ev.energy, with the aim of making EV charging greener and cheaper - we're hiring for a Sales Director and Proposal Manager, with upcoming roles for Product and Engineering.
https://www.ev.energy/careers
All of our salaries are publicly listed on the adverts.
--- MAILBAG QUESTIONS ---
Recently I've seen the rhetoric shift on solar geoengineering... People I respect in climate are now saying that it's inevitable and necessary. The shift reminds me of what happened with carbon capture, it went from "no one talk about this" to "obviously it's going to be a part of the toolbox" in the mid to late 2010s
Have you thought about this much? I'm a pessimist and it feels like society will underutilize all other solutions in favor of this cheap/deployable failsafe even though it's palliative and probably has tons of unknown downsides.
I agree. One of my top ten podcasts just shifted heavy on this approach. It turns out, one of the hosts has quite a legacy of study on the topic.
I'm kind of in the Mark Z. Jacobson camp of simply deploying wind, water, solar (also geothermal and batteries) to replace fossil fuel use, ASAP. Any money going elsewhere is probably going to extend the pain. For any solution outside of these, I can probably do a couple of Googles and write the napkin math to show it's an inferior use of funds, if not flat-out counter-productive.
How dependent is Volts on Substack to continue functioning? I trust it's not very likely that there would be political pressure to silence David in the near term, but the idea of the current government putting pressure on corporations to shut down unfriendly content isn't that far-fetched. And the idea of corporate leaders showing any degree of courage seems fanciful. Does David, for example, have all of the subscriber e-mail addresses backed up independently?
Ironically, it is Substack's fanatical loyalty to free speech insofar as it extends to providing a platform for Nazis that I would hope might cause Volts to leave it before too long...
Chris Hayes mentioned RSS (episode of Jan 29, 2025). Podcast tech is built on the RSS foundation. People I respect imagine a scenario where the internet goes back to being more decentralized, and using RSS and mailing lists. This is a future where people get fed up with the Musks, Zuckerbergs, endless bots, and trolls. I'm somewhat prepared for this scenario, and try to maintain the skills. It's really not that hard for people with much of an IT background. But growing one's network without some exposure from the big boys is a little tough.
Talk of the "Tech Bros" can be a little misleading. There are a lot of people in Tech that *really* understand Freedom. I'm just a little worried they're aging out and/or sitting on the sidelines too much, in the present moment.
I don't know much about Substack. I'd really be interested to see how Apple and Spotify might fold to authoritarian censorship. They are the big enshittifiers, IMO, and Apple, in particular, is a serious chokepoint for podcasts.
It's funny, digital communication and the internet got started as a decentralized thing, and got consolidated. Is there a way back? It's similar to what I'd like to see happen with energy.
A good alternative to Substack is the nonprofit platform Ghost. I subscribe to bloggers/podcasters who left Substack for Ghost and set up similar free and paid subscription models. https://ghost.org/
I hear a lot of left-of-center folks these days bashing environmental regulations as being the real hold-up for both housing and renewable energy, even occasionally David Roberts. But I have difficulty finding much in the way of serious analysis probing these questions:
1) How much of the delays and obstructions are really due to environmental regulations? And wouldn't opponents find other tools for obstruction in their absence? Are environmental regulations just the most convenient scapegoat in a much greater morass of overlapping rules and jurisdictions?
2) Given that many natural systems do seem to be collapsing around us from habitat loss, chemical poisoning, etc., how do we balance the need for large land areas for renewable energy with the desire to preserve at least a bit of the amazing and beautiful natural diversity of our planet? (Perhaps a Volts favorite--planning?)
3) Do international or interstate comparisons teach us anything about how to structure environmental regulations that achieve good outcomes without gumming up the works?
We are told by Ezra Klein, etc., that our regulations are no longer fit for purpose, so then what *should* they look like? Surely not just "build whatever you like anywhere"?
I'd really like to hear a grown-up discussion about this, rather than the simplistic black-and-white that the topic usually evokes. Perhaps this is a plea for an entire episode, not a mailbag question, but I'd really like to hear more on this.
I'm curious about this as well. For example, the episode about pumped hydro, where building two artificial ponds and connecting them together takes like ten years in permitting and approval.
That ten year lag is such a black box to me, and I'm curious about the mechanics inside of it. I'm sure its a timeline with a lot of completion-dependent sequences - Step 37 can't happen until Step 36 is finalized. and so forth.
But like ... why ten years? What on earth could be taking so long? How do we trim the chronological fat from the timeline?
I have two "I heard about this thing, why isn't it a bigger deal?" questions:
1. Hybrid residential solar panels. The idea here is that you have a PV panel with a water cooled backplate. Basically a PV panel combined with a solar water heater. It's a symbiotic relationship because by cooling the PV junction, the PV panel runs more efficiently, and the energy the water wicks away can be dumped somewhere useful, like a hot water tank, reducing total electrical demand.
It seems like this should be a bigger deal! It's merging two already mature and simple technologies into one package.
I try to answer my own question before asking it. My best guess for why it's not in the norm: too new, patent/IP stuff makes it more expensive, maybe the added complexity of the panel adds liability that makes it not worth the cost savings (e.g. something about the hybrid panel's design makes corrosion/leaking a big problem), and the multiplication of liability with added points of failure.
2. Why aren't battery-only, grid-communicating residential installations more of a thing? It seems like it could serve both the utility and the customer quite well. Load shifting saves the utilities the pain of demand spikes, and residents can take advantage of time-of-use discounts. Not to mention, a buffer during outages.
You don't need to price in a bunch of contracting work for PV stuff - assessing solar flux, roof work, the inverters and the permits and net metering and so forth - you're just modifying a panel, and running a few feet of conduit to the battery and its inverter and whatever else is needed. If it's just a battery hookup, the installation becomes a lot more cookie cutter and scalable, in my estimation.
Edit: I think even 4-5kWh pack size would be beneficial.
On point #1, this is kind of a recurring thing that doesn't seem to take off. I suspect the dirt cheap solar panel is a factor. Just deploy, deploy, deploy! Connecting water lines would probably more than double labor costs, and, as you say, maintenance headaches. I used to follow a company called Icarus RT, Inc. https://icarusrt.com/ in case you're looking for a lead.
Thanks for the reply! Yeah, my suspicion is that a lot of small liabilities isn't worth the potential gains. As I thought about it more, I also realized there's possible added complexity with the fluid system, for example maybe you have to vent off excess heat somehow if your system that accepts heat is saturated.
I saw Canada is ending its consumer carbon tax. It seemed like a great program on paper, do you have a post mortem on what went wrong?
I would suggest waiting a few weeks for a post-mortem. We will most likely have a general election soon, and the outcome of that election could be two very different futures for Canadian climate policy.
We are experiencing a naked power grab by the Executive Branch that is deeply troubling and often illegal. We need to do all we can to stop our slide into authoritarianism.
However, I also recognize the urgency of climate action and the potential need for a future president to take decisive executive leadership to address the climate crisis, particularly when legislative and judicial pathways may be constrained.
Given this tension, I'm curious about your perspective on these questions:
What specific, high-impact executive actions could significantly reduce emissions?
Have any precedents set or norms broken by the current administration created pathways for more effective climate action by future presidents?
After Trump, how can we balance the need to protect our democracy from future presidents who want to be authoritarians with the need to take bold executive action on climate independent of Congress?
Have you noticed that I am trying to escape from reality and fast forward to a time post-President Trump?
Would love your thoughts. Also, consider having Marc J. Dunkelman on the show to discuss his new book. Thanks!
I spend a bit of time on climate, volunteering with Citizens' Climate Lobby, listening to podcasts (oh so many), but I sometimes think I've lost the forest for the trees. "Why are we doing this again?" comes to mind, and I can't answer of my own knowledge. Perhaps my daughter-in-law put it best, "What's really going to happen?" What would you say to a back-to-the-very-basics episode of the risks and their level of certainty, in the super-accessible style we love you for. I need something to refer back to when I lose track of the why.
How much change can the federal government drive through procurement? If the Department of Transportation required green concrete and steel in all federal projects could that be enough to get those industries off the ground?
What about the GSA putting in solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps, and demand response systems in buildings wherever it made sense, or turning large federal campuses into energy parks with district heating? Would that drive further investment and savings in those industries?
--- CLIMATE EVENTS & MEETUPS ---
If David (or anyone else) is in Chicago for the Canary Media event, please check out the Climate Action Museum! It's located on the river downtown, just a short train ride from the Canary event venue. It's free to visit, and I'll even give you a tour if anyone is interested!
We're also hosting an awesome fundraiser/award ceremony on Earth Day for climate action heroes. Tickets are on sale now, and we also have sponsorship opportunities for anyone wanting to support sustainability efforts in Chicago and beyond. Website: https://www.climateactionmuseum.org/
I love the Climate Action Museum! They are a great group of folks, and talk about building decarb but also the importance of land use and creating walkable communities
--- EVERYTHING ELSE ---
Best Volts episodes? My favorite is "What? The sun isn't always shining?" with Jesse Jenkins.
I found the framing of the issue - intermittency on the shortest time scale, and working up to the longest time scale, to be enormously satisfying. It's a great overview of why we want to do it this way, and how we build from small to big.
I think it's a great narrative structure for a novice, somebody who has vague notions about intermittency in renewables and is genuinely curious about the answer.
An episode I think of often - not sure if it's good for a Starter Pack or not - the one about manufacturing cement using electrolysis. It's just so mind-blowing, and it's an example of how the podcast features really interesting and sometimes game-changing technologies and processes. This is a podcast that's often for the nerdy and that's a perfect example.
I will second Battery Week: Everything In One Place.
https://www.volts.wtf/p/battery-week-everything-in-one-place
And add Transmission Month:
https://www.volts.wtf/p/transmission-month-everything-in
Another one I refer to a lot is the one about how DERs make a sustainable grid more affordable because they reduce the need for expensive investments in transmission.
https://www.volts.wtf/p/rooftop-solar-and-home-batteries
These two about ways to improve the grid while dodging the cost of building entire new corridors also come up a fair bit.
https://www.volts.wtf/p/one-easy-way-to-boost-the-grid-upgrade
https://www.volts.wtf/p/getting-more-out-of-the-grid-weve
(I just linked to those from a comment on a Construction Physics post, the other day.)
I've discussed Enhanced Rock Weathering with folks a few times, under the department of "what can we actually do affordably to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere", and if this item with Zeke Hausfather had been published earlier, I'm sure I would've linked to it, because it's a fantastic primer on the topic. And that leaves aside log-rolling for Zeke, who's an old friend (by way of having worked for a while with his wife).
https://www.volts.wtf/p/whats-the-deal-with-enhanced-rock
I'm sure I've linked to some item of yours on geothermal once or twice, but the very recent episode about FERVO may have rendered the older ones obsolete.
https://www.volts.wtf/p/catching-up-with-enhanced-geothermal
Thank you @Auros for cutting short my looking through past episodes.
I agree with all of these.
I may end up adding the YIMBY episode to my "frequently shared" list, but I haven't actually listened to it yet. It's literally the next thing queued up in my podcast app. I'm very involved with land use stuff (I'm a planning commissioner), and "the intersection of housing and climate" is more or less my home address. :-P
https://www.volts.wtf/p/what-yimbys-are-learning-from-their
Here's an update article on new Enhanced Geothermal development in Sonoma County CA:
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/sonoma-geysers-geothermal-energy-regulation/
I especially liked this episode, but that was the Biden DOE:
The Department of Energy has gotten serious about technology commercialization
A conversation with Vanessa Chan of DOE's Office of Technology Transitions.
I'm interested in a couple of possible future topics:
France mandated solar canopies on large parking lots everywhere in the country within 5 years, with incentives (carrots) & stiff non-compliance penalties (sticks). I've heard from someone living there that there are lots of canopies, but it would be interesting to find out more about how this policy is working out.
I've read that VW is updating ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, ID.7, and ID.7 Tourer vehicle software in Ireland, allowing owners to use their EVs as a power source (V2H) or for grid balancing (V2G). NEMA has finally published their technical standard for V2G in the USA, and Wallbox & Enphase already have V2G chargers, albeit +$5k. What's the status of V2G in Ireland, and the outlook for V2G development along with community solar parking lot micro grids in California?
"which Volts episodes do you find yourself returning to and/or sending to friends and colleagues?"
Battery Week: everything in one place!
Just want to endorse the "What the F is happening" series. Even if the news is moving too fast for the medium, it's always helpful to hear David contextualize the headlines.
For best episodes, I'll throw in Solutionary Rail. Such a great story, and about so much more than "just" the energy transition.
This is a list of my favourite episodes:
Why electrifying industrial heat is such a big deal
A conversation with John O'Donnell, CEO of Rondo Energy.
A super-battery aimed at decarbonizing industry
A conversation with Andrew Ponec of Antora Energy.
Learning curves will lead to extremely cheap clean energy
Doyne Farmer discusses the explosive implications of his new research.
and the one on electric school buses! 🚌⚡
--- SHARE WORK, ASK FOR HELP, FIND COLLABORATORS ---
I'm still talking about your conversation with Dan Savage from last fall. The archipelago of blue cites is the right way to think about politics in this country. Also, I'm a liberal, but I deeply relate to the discussion of the Insufferable Left.
Hi David - this harkens back to several previous guests who debunked Nimby arguments against increased density and housing development. One of my left-leaning friends who opposes most new multi-unit housing in Berkeley sent out a report of this latest study by the Fed https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/wp2025-06.pdf The study found that gentrification and income inequality are far more important than constraints on supply as the cause of high housing prices. This calls into question work by legislators like state Senator Scott Wiener to increase housing supply in cities throughout California. I'd love to see some reactions from you or your previous guests.
Will you do another news roundup? Any insight into whether the gop will revoke IRA?
Jumpstart Pods! I share and re-listen often to "What Rural People Really Think About Clean Energy" (hopefully I more or less got the title right) and, I know it is recent, but the episode with Greenlight America is also an instant favorite.
As someone who grew up the daughter of a farm and ranch (and often timber) realtor, these episodes feel personal to me -- rural America, with the right outreach, is *the* key ally to the clean energy future. It is literally where so much of the needed infrastructure will have to go! And there is so much benefit to these communities in this transition. I really believe that with amplification of success stories, that narrative will get through. There is so, so much opportunity for the good here on all sides, and I think these episodes lay things out clearly, *respectfully* and in an actionable way.
There are SO MANY good episodes, but if I had to pick only two off the top of my head, these would be the ones.
The Volts episode I shared with friends most recently was the conversation with Dan Savage about Seattle, "stroads", and the failure of liberal local government. Very engaging.
Episodes I return to/recommend:
Interview with Marissa Gilette, PURA Chair; interview with Jane Melia, CEO of Harvest Thermal.
Just a quick hello
And
Thanks so much
Your discussions are always educational.👍✌