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Hey everybody, welcome back for another round of this week in Clean Tech, your favorite 15-minute or so roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy each week.
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Today is Friday, September 18th, 2026.
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We've got a returning guest that we lured back into our clutches.
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Jake Spring from the Washington Post is waiting in the lobby.
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I'm Factor This Contact Director Paul Gurky, joined once more by Clean Tech commentator Mike Casey of TigerCom.
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Mike, you were gone last week.
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The people missed you.
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Have you waited out from underneath the letters you received asking about your well-being?
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I'm I'm about halfway through.
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I mean it's but uh the handwritten ones are tough to respond to these days.
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My hands not used to writing.
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I get crampy.
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They're very moving, I gotta say.
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Is she sleeping through the night yet?
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Yeah, we've been working on some some techniques lately.
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Uh producer Brian Mendez was sharing how he strings his sleep cycles together, and that has helped my daughter tremendously.
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They they've just been comparing tips, and uh now neither one of them is waking up for overnight feedings.
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It's great.
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Um anyway, we always I'm gonna make a I'm gonna make billions of dollars for us because I'm gonna invent a um parental um sleep dart gun, and you can just you can just blow it and that sounds humane.
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Yeah, I don't think anyone will have a problem.
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We would make billions.
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Brother, I'm just gonna be using that on myself.
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Let's be real.
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I'm gonna be turning the lights out on my own when I'm having a tough time tossing and turning.
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Anyway, I do want to say, um, you know, yesterday I had um three I I broke bread with three people in this industry, and I was just coming in this morning preparing for the show, and I'm just gonna say I'm reminded again how um generally awesome people are in this space.
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Like, you know, you like when you go to when you hang out with people in clean economy, your average clean economy person is they're kind of cool to hang out with.
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They're smart and they're committed and they're trying to do things.
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I just I just want to give a hats off to people listening to the show and who work in this these sectors we cover, because um y'all are a good bunch.
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So yeah, that must make you feel like a real outlier.
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I don't understand why they keep associating with you, but I'm glad that they do.
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And I'm glad that they like the show too.
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If you guys want to be a part of it, you can reach us anytime.
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Tw-I-C at TigerCon with two M's.us.
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You can't throw me a softball like that, Mike.
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Get to our first story this week.
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What are we talking about?
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All right, unsentimental Paul Gherky.
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Our first story is by unsentimental Zach Coleman, and he's in Politico, and he says a solar industrial complex is turning Republicans into believers, Paul Gherky.
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Yeah, we're talking about the Rs out in Bartow County, Georgia, where uh President Trump won three-quarters of the vote back in 2024.
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They're turning into some of Solar's biggest supporters.
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If you haven't been paying attention to what's going on down there, there's one, the Hanwa Q cells factory in Cartersville.
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That's that big end-to-end facility, almost a mile-long,$2.3 billion or so, opened in June.
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They make every part of the solar panel under one roof, ingot wafer sales modules all the way up, which is a far cry from most U.S.
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manufacturing efforts.
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That's actually the first U.S.
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facility that does all of that.
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And it followed Q cell's original Dalton, Georgia plant.
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You might recall that opened back in 2019 as a response to the first wave of tariffs on polysilicon and the like in Trump's first term.
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The Cartersville plant alone employs about 2,000 people.
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Mayor says the town went from asking where the jobs are to asking where the workers are.
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It's a nice place to be in, I guess, Mike.
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Your thoughts.
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So State Senator Chuck Huffstetler told Politico that Congress nixed the tax credits.
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Homeowners were counting on to buy solar, and without it, he's worried about the future of other solar factories in the state.
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Uh, State Senator, thank you.
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We hope you will step up and express that uh concern to people who can restore the tax credit.
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So a state rep, Matthew Gamble, says he sees himself really as a champion for jobs, not really as a champion for solar.
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He led a group of state lawmakers who tried and failed to get Republicans in Congress to save the consumer tax credits and the bonus for American-made content.
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QCell's executives say they're working to depoliticize solar and sees Trump's new terrorism price floors as helpful, but says factories won't thrive without steady demand.
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Analyst Wood Mackenzie expect flat solar additions over the next five years despite growing need for power.
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Paul story number two.
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Our second story this week is from Amy Harder over at Axios.
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It's titled Tech Giants Launch Flexible Power Coalition for Data Centers.
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Tell me about it, Mike.
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Yes, sir.
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And we have uh we've had Amy on the show.
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I want to note Google and NVIDIA, perhaps you've heard of them.
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They're backing a new coalition with Startup Emerald AI called the AI Energy Management Alliance, aimed at getting data centers to flex their power demand.
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It launched Wednesday with 20 companies and organizations involved, including Enthropic, Utilities National Grid, and AES, and power producers Constellation Energy and RWE.
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Data centers have always been treated as giant 24-7 power users.
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The coalition wants to change that so that data centers can reliably cut their grid demand when supplies get tight and connect fast faster and skip some of the costly grid upgrades.
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An earlier version of this group started back in 2014 to push demand response, but had gone largely inactive before this revival.
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Paul?
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Mike, I just did an interview this week with a company that was selected as part of the Google Startup Accelerator that's working on software that does exactly this, a flexible data center.
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Basically, you make a deal with the utility for a certain amount of like hard, reliable capacity, and the rest of it is flexible depending on conditions, and it can help sites get online like three to five years faster than they would otherwise.
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And we all know speed to power is such a critical part of that equation right now.
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So Google says it's already committed about one gigawatt of power demand that it can reduce when needed through various utility agreements around the country.
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Now, Google's obviously going to be a bit of an outlier amongst those customers.
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New polling released uh the same day as the report we mentioned shows that 84% of Americans now say they're concerned about data centers' impact on local electricity prices.
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The last number I saw was north of 70% don't want one in their community.
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More than half are now extremely or very concerned about AI's environmental impacts, and that's up from like 40% or so a year ago.
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In a rare point of bipartisan agreement, Democrats and Republicans are pretty aligned here, despite what you might see.
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79% and 76%, respectively, backing a requirement that data center developers pay for grid upgrades that their projects need.
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The whole bargain here depends on data centers actually delivering that flexibility, though, when they're called upon.
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Federal regulators only direct grid operators back in June to start looking at these kind of options.
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So it's going to take some time to suss out, but we know a little flexibility goes a really long way, Mike.
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Yeah.
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Our third story.
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Um Benoit, Moran, and Colin Eaton from the Wall Street Journal titled Oil Executives Say the Great Fuel Crisis Is Here.
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Yeah, so do the gas stations down the street.
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There's this one guy who really tries to keep it under four bucks.
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And if if it's possible to get a gallon of unleaded for under four, he's gonna have that on the sign.
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And brother, we are not looking back toward the four.
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We're headed toward five in a hurry.
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And I'm not driving a diesel rig, thank goodness.
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I've seen signs or smokes have been out this week.
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Oil executives say the fuel crisis that they've been talking about for months to the point that our wives stopped listening has now arrived.
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Uh commercial fuel stocks keep depleting.
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Strategic crude reserves can't be tapped much further.
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You heard about the attacks last week that knocked out a major crude pipeline in Saudi that had been bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
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It strands in an estimated two and a half billion or two and a half million barrels a day, rather, from an already tight global market.
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Uh Chevron's CEO, Mike Wir said in an emergency or uh an energy conference in Austin, say, I forgot how to read now, I got all worked out.
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The mechanisms that had been cushioning gas prices and supply have largely been exhausted.
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That system doesn't have the buffers that it once did.
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Those diesel prices that I mentioned, they just hit a record, six dollars and twenty-three cents a gallon.
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Gasoline, which as you recall, dipped below four bucks in most places this summer, now up to a national average of uh 432 and climbing, Mike.
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Have you seen it at the pump?
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Uh I have.
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And um, I you know, I wrote this on LinkedIn.
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I am not a national security expert or a military expert.
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Stop giving you my passwords.
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But but you know, if you're the Iranians and you can basically shut down the Strait of Hormuz and keep it shut, and your proxies can attack backdoor ways of getting Middle Eastern oil out, why wouldn't you?
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Why wouldn't you do this and do it all the way through the midterms?
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And I'm here to predict uh predict inexpertly that I think by time in the next five, six weeks, I think gas is gonna start inching towards six dollars a gallon.
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And when that happens in places like Florida and Texas, people are gonna lose their minds.
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I mean, you you've got an entire way of life that's built around long commutes and large vehicles, and you're reintroducing mileage thinking to uh a public that for a long time didn't have to think about it, and it's gonna be a shock.
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So I think that's the really big shock here.
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But you know, you you've got um Interior Secretary Doug Bergum, uh, never very far from a bad idea.
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And here he's saying prices under the Biden administration were just as high.
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He blamed Biden for shutting down refineries and told reporters to make sure they use the word temporary when writing about current prices.
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Thank you, Secretary Bergum, for your journalistic instructions.
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I'm sure Paul and all the people we have on the show will be busy fighting.
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I usually just shut up about political things, but why why are we still talking about the Biden administration exactly?
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Like, when does that stop?
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When do we stop finger pointing and just be like, hey, we have a current problem, a temporary problem, but our problem?
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Yeah.
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Who knows, man?
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We better go to our fourth story.
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Yeah, let's get moving before we find ourselves in the weeds again.
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Story number four this week.
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It's Martham Weir over at the Financial Times titled There is No One Size Fits All Solution for the Energy Transition.
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What fits then, Mike?
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Uh, new SP Global Report argues the energy and climate planning needs to stop treating the energy transition as one global plan since rich and developing countries are working from two different starting points.
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Developing countries must expand their energy systems rather than swap out fossil fuels or clean energy clean technologies like the transition assumes.
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Everyone assumes data centers are what's driving global energy demand, but SP claims that most of the growth is coming from emerging markets and developing economies.
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They're on track to grow energy demand 60% by 2060, which is like adding an entire second China to the world's energy system.
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So China drove energy growth for 25 to 30 years.
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Its energy needs are plateauing now as it drives the clean energy transition.
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Developing economies are where growth is headed next.
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Paul, your thoughts?
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Yeah, you said an entire second China.
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My in-laws gave us an entire second set of China, and we'd have no use for it.
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So I can't imagine how cumbersome that would be.
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Uh they project that even under the aggressive decarbonization.
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Sorry, that was a once-in-a-lifetime joke opportunity.
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I'm never gonna have another shot at that.
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That is the most painful dad joke I have ever heard, and I have slung a lot of them in my time.
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But you can't.
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It came to me like a fever, and there was no way I was gonna exercise it any other way.
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So I apologize to the listeners.
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Anyway, back to the analysis.
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Uh, they're projecting here that even under the uh aggressive decarbonization paths, don't hold your breath.
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Most developing countries will not reach net zero until the end of the century.
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Some advanced economies could get there by 2060.
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Could.
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First, these countries need to make efficiency upgrades, they need to switch fuels, and then after that is the hard stuff or stuff we really haven't figured out yet.
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Heavy industry, long-haul transport, carbon capture.
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SP's takeaway is that policymakers need a completely new framework that weighs affordability, security, economic benefit, country by country, instead of a one-size-fits-all global plan as their North Star.
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Without any further ado or corny jokes, Mike, our last story this week.
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Our last story is not corny by Jake Spring, who is also not corny.
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Uh he writes to the Washington Post EPA repeals Biden era rules limiting power plants climate.
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The story this week, Jake.
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Pollution, I'm gonna say the right word since uh Washington Post editors are going full geek.
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Jake Spring, welcome back to the show.
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We have not matured one bit since you were last with us.
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Um sorry about that, but uh you know, you you know what you got yourself into.
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Um so my take on your story could be translated as into fossil fuel lobbyists earn extra billings, but perhaps I'm just a cynic.
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Uh tell us the big takeaway on the story.
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Uh thanks for having me back, guys.
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Appreciate it.
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And yeah, I am I am in fact a bit corny, but hopefully I won't show that off too much right now.
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It's your chance to shine.
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But uh but yeah, I mean this story, like uh listen, I mean, I guess it was expected, you know.
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Lee Zelden to his credit, he came in as EPA administrator, he said, Hey, we're gonna do all these things.
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They put out a proposal, hey, we're gonna do this, and and this is it, it getting getting done.
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I guess the big surprise is just that, you know, they added on, okay, we're gonna propose to go even further.
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We're not going back to just Obama, let's get rid of every standard that ever existed before this.
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And uh, yeah, so they're they're going deeper on this one.
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So, what does this really mean, Jake?
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To you and to me and to everybody else that has to live in the world uh on the other side of this, um, what does it really mean?
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Yeah, I mean, it probably I would guess it means the most for natural gas.
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I still find it hard to believe like people are gonna go out and build coal plants, given, I mean, there the US government is funding a few of them, but just the economics of it don't really seem to bear out.
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But it's basically saying, you know, power producers, power generators can can do what they want.
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It's up to them to decide whether that's economical or not.
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They're not gonna get in the way and say you have to install this or that uh technology.
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Um so I think that's uh the main takeaway.
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Just as a quick follow-up before you jump in, Mike, Jake, does that apply to all the temporary generation solutions that the metas and the hyperscalers of the world are rolling out these loud, noisy diesel machines as temporary solutions while they figure out they're either behind the meter or grid connection?
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I don't believe it does.
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I mean the EPA laws are byzantine and sliced a million different ways.
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I don't think this is in that slice, no.
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And uh Jake, I know this is almost like a captain obvious question, but this is beneficial from the natural gas lobby.
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Yes?
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Oh yeah, of course, of course.
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I mean yeah, they'll no longer have to, you know, pursue these types of equipment that they said was unfeasible.
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I mean, it is expensive.
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So yeah, they'll have to spend less money on compliance for sure.
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Well, they're a struggling industry.
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Like they hardly make any money.
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So I I think this is a reasonable thing to do.
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I mean, if you were if you're living in a homeless shelter like a lot of these gas executives are, I don't think Cynic isn't a strong enough word for you.
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We need a superlative to Cynic.
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I I I'm comp where's your compassion?
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Where is your compassion, Gherky?
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But you know what we gotta do now?
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We gotta go to Clean Tecker of the Week because we're trying to keep this bad boy under 20 minutes, Senator Gherky.
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All right, you're gonna cut Jake off that fast.
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Unreal.
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He comes back to the show and we're like, sorry, Jake.
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Jake, is there anything else you didn't get into the piece that you want to share before we do Clean Tecker of the Week?
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I'm grabbing the wheel.
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I mean, I'll just say, you know, in terms of lobbyists making their money, I mean, uh it sounds like the government came in, Zeldon and them came in wanting to do this anyway.
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Nobody had to sit down with them and say, please do this.
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I think, you know.
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Because he is a lobbyist.
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Mike Casey, everybody.
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All right.
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This week's Clean Tecker of the Week.
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Drum roll, please.
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It's not Lee Zeldon.
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It's not, unsurprisingly.
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It's Dulce Madden, co-founder and CEO of Dig Energy.
00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:57.519
If you haven't heard about it, her small startup spent five years developing technology in a New Hampshire barn.
00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.480
Who among us?
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:07.519
And this month, it completed its first commercial job, drilling a set of geothermal wells for a Boston office building using a high-pressure water jet that cut water use by 90%.
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.920
The approach in total could cut geothermal drilling costs by up to 80%.
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.839
And the company's already got bookings with jobs into mid-2027.
00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:21.039
Congratulations, Miss Madden, co-founder and CEO of Dig Energy, our clean tech of the week.
00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.880
And starting your company in a New Hampshire barn makes you officially a badass.
00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.480
I just gotta say, like, that's that's severe badassery.
00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:29.119
All right.
00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.759
Uh speaking of badasses, we want to thank Claire Queer and Alex Peterson for gathering these stories.
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.599
And I guess we'll acknowledge our wonderful producer Brian Mendez.
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.359
Terrific producer Brian Mendez.
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:46.880
You should look up the last time Mike Casey made a bold time-based prediction on our show, which I think it got it like it was wrong like by the next day.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:55.200
So make sure you've got that clip ready for when gas prices go down to$3.50 this weekend, uh, and just be ready to run it next week.
00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.400
Anyway, we just want to thank you all for joining this week in Clean Tech.
00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.119
Special shout out to Jake Spring for sticking around for another episode.
00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.640
If you enjoyed the show, subscribe, leave a little feedback, share a story suggestion.
00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.799
You can reach us at the email address we mentioned.
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.200
You can also find all the articles we talk about each week.
00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:14.079
They're in the links in the episode description and in the post where this thing lives on factorthis.com.
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.480
Until next time, be good, everyone.
00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:21.359
Hey everybody, welcome back for another round of this week in Clean Tech, your favorite 15-minute or so roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy each week.
00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.239
Today is Friday, September 18th, 2026.
00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:27.519
We've got a returning guest that we lured back into our clutches.
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.559
Jake Spring from the Washington Post is waiting in the lobby.
00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:37.200
I'm Factor This Contact Director Paul Gurky, joined once more by Clean Tech commentator Mike Casey of TigerCom.
00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:39.359
Mike, you were gone last week.
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:40.640
The people missed you.
00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:45.119
Have you waited out from underneath the letters you received asking about your well-being?
00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.880
I'm I'm about halfway through.
00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.560
I mean it's but uh the handwritten ones are tough to respond to these days.
00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:52.000
My hands not used to writing.
00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:52.880
I get crampy.
00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:54.960
They're very moving, I gotta say.
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:14.879
Is she sleeping through the night yet?
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:17.200
Yeah, we've been working on some some techniques lately.
00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:23.120
Uh producer Brian Mendez was sharing how he strings his sleep cycles together, and that has helped my daughter tremendously.
00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:29.040
They they've just been comparing tips, and uh now neither one of them is waking up for overnight feedings.
00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:29.760
It's great.
00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:45.200
Um anyway, we always I'm gonna make a I'm gonna make billions of dollars for us because I'm gonna invent a um parental um sleep dart gun, and you can just you can just blow it and that sounds humane.
00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:46.560
Yeah, I don't think anyone will have a problem.
00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:49.760
We would make billions.
00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:51.680
Brother, I'm just gonna be using that on myself.
00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:52.400
Let's be real.
00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:57.120
I'm gonna be turning the lights out on my own when I'm having a tough time tossing and turning.
00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:17.439
Anyway, I do want to say, um, you know, yesterday I had um three I I broke bread with three people in this industry, and I was just coming in this morning preparing for the show, and I'm just gonna say I'm reminded again how um generally awesome people are in this space.
00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:27.919
Like, you know, you like when you go to when you hang out with people in clean economy, your average clean economy person is they're kind of cool to hang out with.
00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.879
They're smart and they're committed and they're trying to do things.
00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:38.319
I just I just want to give a hats off to people listening to the show and who work in this these sectors we cover, because um y'all are a good bunch.
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.120
So yeah, that must make you feel like a real outlier.
00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:44.960
I don't understand why they keep associating with you, but I'm glad that they do.
00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:46.800
And I'm glad that they like the show too.
00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:48.960
If you guys want to be a part of it, you can reach us anytime.
00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.759
Tw-I-C at TigerCon with two M's.us.
00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.080
You can't throw me a softball like that, Mike.
00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:55.599
Get to our first story this week.
00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:56.639
What are we talking about?
00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.039
All right, unsentimental Paul Gherky.
00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:09.120
Our first story is by unsentimental Zach Coleman, and he's in Politico, and he says a solar industrial complex is turning Republicans into believers, Paul Gherky.
00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:16.240
Yeah, we're talking about the Rs out in Bartow County, Georgia, where uh President Trump won three-quarters of the vote back in 2024.
00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.400
They're turning into some of Solar's biggest supporters.
00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:23.919
If you haven't been paying attention to what's going on down there, there's one, the Hanwa Q cells factory in Cartersville.
00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:29.919
That's that big end-to-end facility, almost a mile-long,$2.3 billion or so, opened in June.
00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:36.479
They make every part of the solar panel under one roof, ingot wafer sales modules all the way up, which is a far cry from most U.S.
00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:37.680
manufacturing efforts.
00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:39.120
That's actually the first U.S.
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facility that does all of that.
00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.360
And it followed Q cell's original Dalton, Georgia plant.
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.919
You might recall that opened back in 2019 as a response to the first wave of tariffs on polysilicon and the like in Trump's first term.
00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.639
The Cartersville plant alone employs about 2,000 people.
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:56.960
Mayor says the town went from asking where the jobs are to asking where the workers are.
00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:58.960
It's a nice place to be in, I guess, Mike.
00:03:59.039 --> 00:03:59.759
Your thoughts.
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:06.400
So State Senator Chuck Huffstetler told Politico that Congress nixed the tax credits.
00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:12.400
Homeowners were counting on to buy solar, and without it, he's worried about the future of other solar factories in the state.
00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:14.000
Uh, State Senator, thank you.
00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:19.920
We hope you will step up and express that uh concern to people who can restore the tax credit.
00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:27.360
So a state rep, Matthew Gamble, says he sees himself really as a champion for jobs, not really as a champion for solar.
00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:35.199
He led a group of state lawmakers who tried and failed to get Republicans in Congress to save the consumer tax credits and the bonus for American-made content.
00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:44.800
QCell's executives say they're working to depoliticize solar and sees Trump's new terrorism price floors as helpful, but says factories won't thrive without steady demand.
00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:51.759
Analyst Wood Mackenzie expect flat solar additions over the next five years despite growing need for power.
00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.120
Paul story number two.
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:56.319
Our second story this week is from Amy Harder over at Axios.
00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.399
It's titled Tech Giants Launch Flexible Power Coalition for Data Centers.
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:01.279
Tell me about it, Mike.
00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:01.920
Yes, sir.
00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.600
And we have uh we've had Amy on the show.
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.480
I want to note Google and NVIDIA, perhaps you've heard of them.
00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:16.160
They're backing a new coalition with Startup Emerald AI called the AI Energy Management Alliance, aimed at getting data centers to flex their power demand.
00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:26.800
It launched Wednesday with 20 companies and organizations involved, including Enthropic, Utilities National Grid, and AES, and power producers Constellation Energy and RWE.
00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:31.360
Data centers have always been treated as giant 24-7 power users.
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:42.000
The coalition wants to change that so that data centers can reliably cut their grid demand when supplies get tight and connect fast faster and skip some of the costly grid upgrades.
00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:48.800
An earlier version of this group started back in 2014 to push demand response, but had gone largely inactive before this revival.
00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:49.360
Paul?
00:05:49.680 --> 00:06:00.480
Mike, I just did an interview this week with a company that was selected as part of the Google Startup Accelerator that's working on software that does exactly this, a flexible data center.
00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:13.600
Basically, you make a deal with the utility for a certain amount of like hard, reliable capacity, and the rest of it is flexible depending on conditions, and it can help sites get online like three to five years faster than they would otherwise.
00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:17.199
And we all know speed to power is such a critical part of that equation right now.
00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:24.800
So Google says it's already committed about one gigawatt of power demand that it can reduce when needed through various utility agreements around the country.
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:28.720
Now, Google's obviously going to be a bit of an outlier amongst those customers.
00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:38.879
New polling released uh the same day as the report we mentioned shows that 84% of Americans now say they're concerned about data centers' impact on local electricity prices.
00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.120
The last number I saw was north of 70% don't want one in their community.
00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:50.079
More than half are now extremely or very concerned about AI's environmental impacts, and that's up from like 40% or so a year ago.
00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:56.000
In a rare point of bipartisan agreement, Democrats and Republicans are pretty aligned here, despite what you might see.
00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:03.519
79% and 76%, respectively, backing a requirement that data center developers pay for grid upgrades that their projects need.
00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:09.120
The whole bargain here depends on data centers actually delivering that flexibility, though, when they're called upon.
00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:21.360
Federal regulators only direct grid operators back in June to start looking at these kind of options.
00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:26.160
So it's going to take some time to suss out, but we know a little flexibility goes a really long way, Mike.
00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:26.639
Yeah.
00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:27.920
Our third story.
00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:37.199
Um Benoit, Moran, and Colin Eaton from the Wall Street Journal titled Oil Executives Say the Great Fuel Crisis Is Here.
00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.720
Yeah, so do the gas stations down the street.
00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.160
There's this one guy who really tries to keep it under four bucks.
00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:49.199
And if if it's possible to get a gallon of unleaded for under four, he's gonna have that on the sign.
00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.079
And brother, we are not looking back toward the four.
00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:53.680
We're headed toward five in a hurry.
00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.000
And I'm not driving a diesel rig, thank goodness.
00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:58.639
I've seen signs or smokes have been out this week.
00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:06.160
Oil executives say the fuel crisis that they've been talking about for months to the point that our wives stopped listening has now arrived.
00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.399
Uh commercial fuel stocks keep depleting.
00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.879
Strategic crude reserves can't be tapped much further.
00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:17.199
You heard about the attacks last week that knocked out a major crude pipeline in Saudi that had been bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:24.079
It strands in an estimated two and a half billion or two and a half million barrels a day, rather, from an already tight global market.
00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:31.120
Uh Chevron's CEO, Mike Wir said in an emergency or uh an energy conference in Austin, say, I forgot how to read now, I got all worked out.
00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:36.080
The mechanisms that had been cushioning gas prices and supply have largely been exhausted.
00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:38.720
That system doesn't have the buffers that it once did.
00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:44.080
Those diesel prices that I mentioned, they just hit a record, six dollars and twenty-three cents a gallon.
00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:52.960
Gasoline, which as you recall, dipped below four bucks in most places this summer, now up to a national average of uh 432 and climbing, Mike.
00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:54.320
Have you seen it at the pump?
00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:55.360
Uh I have.
00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.840
And um, I you know, I wrote this on LinkedIn.
00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:01.759
I am not a national security expert or a military expert.
00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:03.519
Stop giving you my passwords.
00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:18.480
But but you know, if you're the Iranians and you can basically shut down the Strait of Hormuz and keep it shut, and your proxies can attack backdoor ways of getting Middle Eastern oil out, why wouldn't you?
00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.320
Why wouldn't you do this and do it all the way through the midterms?
00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:33.120
And I'm here to predict uh predict inexpertly that I think by time in the next five, six weeks, I think gas is gonna start inching towards six dollars a gallon.
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.759
And when that happens in places like Florida and Texas, people are gonna lose their minds.
00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:52.080
I mean, you you've got an entire way of life that's built around long commutes and large vehicles, and you're reintroducing mileage thinking to uh a public that for a long time didn't have to think about it, and it's gonna be a shock.
00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:54.159
So I think that's the really big shock here.
00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:01.519
But you know, you you've got um Interior Secretary Doug Bergum, uh, never very far from a bad idea.
00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:05.519
And here he's saying prices under the Biden administration were just as high.
00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:13.279
He blamed Biden for shutting down refineries and told reporters to make sure they use the word temporary when writing about current prices.
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.240
Thank you, Secretary Bergum, for your journalistic instructions.
00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:19.279
I'm sure Paul and all the people we have on the show will be busy fighting.
00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:24.879
I usually just shut up about political things, but why why are we still talking about the Biden administration exactly?
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:26.080
Like, when does that stop?
00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:32.320
When do we stop finger pointing and just be like, hey, we have a current problem, a temporary problem, but our problem?
00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:33.120
Yeah.
00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:34.159
Who knows, man?
00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.240
We better go to our fourth story.
00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.120
Yeah, let's get moving before we find ourselves in the weeds again.
00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:40.399
Story number four this week.
00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:47.919
It's Martham Weir over at the Financial Times titled There is No One Size Fits All Solution for the Energy Transition.
00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:49.440
What fits then, Mike?
00:10:49.600 --> 00:11:01.600
Uh, new SP Global Report argues the energy and climate planning needs to stop treating the energy transition as one global plan since rich and developing countries are working from two different starting points.
00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:09.519
Developing countries must expand their energy systems rather than swap out fossil fuels or clean energy clean technologies like the transition assumes.
00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:18.799
Everyone assumes data centers are what's driving global energy demand, but SP claims that most of the growth is coming from emerging markets and developing economies.
00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:27.600
They're on track to grow energy demand 60% by 2060, which is like adding an entire second China to the world's energy system.
00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:30.879
So China drove energy growth for 25 to 30 years.
00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.759
Its energy needs are plateauing now as it drives the clean energy transition.
00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.799
Developing economies are where growth is headed next.
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:39.679
Paul, your thoughts?
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.240
Yeah, you said an entire second China.
00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:46.080
My in-laws gave us an entire second set of China, and we'd have no use for it.
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.720
So I can't imagine how cumbersome that would be.
00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.080
Uh they project that even under the aggressive decarbonization.
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.399
Sorry, that was a once-in-a-lifetime joke opportunity.
00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:55.919
I'm never gonna have another shot at that.
00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.639
That is the most painful dad joke I have ever heard, and I have slung a lot of them in my time.
00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:01.200
But you can't.
00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:05.200
It came to me like a fever, and there was no way I was gonna exercise it any other way.
00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.799
So I apologize to the listeners.
00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:08.720
Anyway, back to the analysis.
00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:14.000
Uh, they're projecting here that even under the uh aggressive decarbonization paths, don't hold your breath.
00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.360
Most developing countries will not reach net zero until the end of the century.
00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.039
Some advanced economies could get there by 2060.
00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:21.759
Could.
00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:28.799
First, these countries need to make efficiency upgrades, they need to switch fuels, and then after that is the hard stuff or stuff we really haven't figured out yet.
00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:31.759
Heavy industry, long-haul transport, carbon capture.
00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:42.559
SP's takeaway is that policymakers need a completely new framework that weighs affordability, security, economic benefit, country by country, instead of a one-size-fits-all global plan as their North Star.
00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.399
Without any further ado or corny jokes, Mike, our last story this week.
00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:51.840
Our last story is not corny by Jake Spring, who is also not corny.
00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:57.600
Uh he writes to the Washington Post EPA repeals Biden era rules limiting power plants climate.
00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.519
The story this week, Jake.
00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:04.639
Pollution, I'm gonna say the right word since uh Washington Post editors are going full geek.
00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.159
Jake Spring, welcome back to the show.
00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.200
We have not matured one bit since you were last with us.
00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.360
Um sorry about that, but uh you know, you you know what you got yourself into.
00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:25.679
Um so my take on your story could be translated as into fossil fuel lobbyists earn extra billings, but perhaps I'm just a cynic.
00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.799
Uh tell us the big takeaway on the story.
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:30.879
Uh thanks for having me back, guys.
00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:31.440
Appreciate it.
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:36.240
And yeah, I am I am in fact a bit corny, but hopefully I won't show that off too much right now.
00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:38.000
It's your chance to shine.
00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:44.320
But uh but yeah, I mean this story, like uh listen, I mean, I guess it was expected, you know.
00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:50.080
Lee Zelden to his credit, he came in as EPA administrator, he said, Hey, we're gonna do all these things.
00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:55.200
They put out a proposal, hey, we're gonna do this, and and this is it, it getting getting done.
00:13:55.360 --> 00:14:01.039
I guess the big surprise is just that, you know, they added on, okay, we're gonna propose to go even further.
00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:06.879
We're not going back to just Obama, let's get rid of every standard that ever existed before this.
00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.799
And uh, yeah, so they're they're going deeper on this one.
00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.679
So, what does this really mean, Jake?
00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:20.639
To you and to me and to everybody else that has to live in the world uh on the other side of this, um, what does it really mean?
00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.360
Yeah, I mean, it probably I would guess it means the most for natural gas.
00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:37.759
I still find it hard to believe like people are gonna go out and build coal plants, given, I mean, there the US government is funding a few of them, but just the economics of it don't really seem to bear out.
00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:43.279
But it's basically saying, you know, power producers, power generators can can do what they want.
00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.000
It's up to them to decide whether that's economical or not.
00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:51.039
They're not gonna get in the way and say you have to install this or that uh technology.
00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:53.600
Um so I think that's uh the main takeaway.
00:14:54.080 --> 00:15:09.360
Just as a quick follow-up before you jump in, Mike, Jake, does that apply to all the temporary generation solutions that the metas and the hyperscalers of the world are rolling out these loud, noisy diesel machines as temporary solutions while they figure out they're either behind the meter or grid connection?
00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:10.799
I don't believe it does.
00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.399
I mean the EPA laws are byzantine and sliced a million different ways.
00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:16.559
I don't think this is in that slice, no.
00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:25.440
And uh Jake, I know this is almost like a captain obvious question, but this is beneficial from the natural gas lobby.
00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:26.320
Yes?
00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:28.480
Oh yeah, of course, of course.
00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:36.080
I mean yeah, they'll no longer have to, you know, pursue these types of equipment that they said was unfeasible.
00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.759
I mean, it is expensive.
00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.879
So yeah, they'll have to spend less money on compliance for sure.
00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:42.559
Well, they're a struggling industry.
00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.159
Like they hardly make any money.
00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:46.799
So I I think this is a reasonable thing to do.
00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:54.799
I mean, if you were if you're living in a homeless shelter like a lot of these gas executives are, I don't think Cynic isn't a strong enough word for you.
00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.720
We need a superlative to Cynic.
00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.759
I I I'm comp where's your compassion?
00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:01.759
Where is your compassion, Gherky?
00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:03.440
But you know what we gotta do now?
00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:08.720
We gotta go to Clean Tecker of the Week because we're trying to keep this bad boy under 20 minutes, Senator Gherky.
00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:10.960
All right, you're gonna cut Jake off that fast.
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:11.600
Unreal.
00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:15.039
He comes back to the show and we're like, sorry, Jake.
00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:19.360
Jake, is there anything else you didn't get into the piece that you want to share before we do Clean Tecker of the Week?
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:20.960
I'm grabbing the wheel.
00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:32.159
I mean, I'll just say, you know, in terms of lobbyists making their money, I mean, uh it sounds like the government came in, Zeldon and them came in wanting to do this anyway.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.360
Nobody had to sit down with them and say, please do this.
00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:36.159
I think, you know.
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.559
Because he is a lobbyist.
00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:41.120
Mike Casey, everybody.
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:41.360
All right.
00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:43.679
This week's Clean Tecker of the Week.
00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.200
Drum roll, please.
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:46.799
It's not Lee Zeldon.
00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.559
It's not, unsurprisingly.
00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:52.080
It's Dulce Madden, co-founder and CEO of Dig Energy.
00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:57.519
If you haven't heard about it, her small startup spent five years developing technology in a New Hampshire barn.
00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.480
Who among us?
00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:07.519
And this month, it completed its first commercial job, drilling a set of geothermal wells for a Boston office building using a high-pressure water jet that cut water use by 90%.
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.920
The approach in total could cut geothermal drilling costs by up to 80%.
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.839
And the company's already got bookings with jobs into mid-2027.
00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:21.039
Congratulations, Miss Madden, co-founder and CEO of Dig Energy, our clean tech of the week.
00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.880
And starting your company in a New Hampshire barn makes you officially a badass.
00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.480
I just gotta say, like, that's that's severe badassery.
00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:29.119
All right.
00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.759
Uh speaking of badasses, we want to thank Claire Queer and Alex Peterson for gathering these stories.
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.599
And I guess we'll acknowledge our wonderful producer Brian Mendez.
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.359
Terrific producer Brian Mendez.
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:46.880
You should look up the last time Mike Casey made a bold time-based prediction on our show, which I think it got it like it was wrong like by the next day.
00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:55.200
So make sure you've got that clip ready for when gas prices go down to$3.50 this weekend, uh, and just be ready to run it next week.
00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.400
Anyway, we just want to thank you all for joining this week in Clean Tech.
00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.119
Special shout out to Jake Spring for sticking around for another episode.
00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.640
If you enjoyed the show, subscribe, leave a little feedback, share a story suggestion.
00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.799
You can reach us at the email address we mentioned.
00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.200
You can also find all the articles we talk about each week.
00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:14.079
They're in the links in the episode description and in the post where this thing lives on factorthis.com.
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.480
Until next time, be good, everyone.
