Why We Underestimate Clean Energy Cost Declines

Why We Underestimate Clean Energy Cost Declines

In 2010, solar modules cost a little over $2 per watt. Many people questioned whether solar costs could come down another 50%.

Well, here we are today with solar modules well below 50 cents per watt, far cheaper than most expectations. And it wasn’t some breakthrough revolutionary technology -- it’s been the crystalline-silicon solar panel the whole time.

History has a tendency to repeat itself. Our guest, Jessika Trancik, an associate professor at MIT’s the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, published research earlier this month showing, quantitatively, that lithium-ion batteries have been repeating history and get cheaper, faster, than nearly anyone anticipated.

This matters because it could happen again. The obvious next candidate is hydrogen electrolysis, where experts are saying we might be able to reach the promised land of $1 per kilogram by the end of this decade.

Jessika and Shayle dug into her findings around batteries to see what broader lessons we could learn. We also talked about some other, related and fascinating research she’s done to examine what it will take to reach mass-market EV adoption.

The Interchange is brought to you by Smarter Grid Solutions, a leading enterprise energy management software company. Find out how Smarter Grid Solutions’ software can give you real control over your clean energy assets.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(352)

Thorium’s nuclear pitch: Can molten salt reactors cut cost, use waste, and scale faster than conventional designs?

Thorium’s nuclear pitch: Can molten salt reactors cut cost, use waste, and scale faster than conventional designs?

Electricity demand is rising, capital is tightening, and nuclear is back in the conversation as utilities, governments, and large power users look for firm low-carbon supply. But the central question ...

25 Aug 39min

The inverter security turn: How Europe and the US are redrawing solar procurement around Chinese hardware

The inverter security turn: How Europe and the US are redrawing solar procurement around Chinese hardware

Solar demand remains strong, storage is scaling fast, and inverter technology is becoming more central to how modern power systems actually function. But the conversation around inverters is no longer...

11 Aug 38min

Why biomining might finally work: How Endolith is using microbes and data to unlock more copper from low-grade ore

Why biomining might finally work: How Endolith is using microbes and data to unlock more copper from low-grade ore

Copper is moving from background commodity to frontline constraint. Demand is rising fast, high-grade deposits are getting harder to find, and the lead times for bringing new supply online remain brut...

28 Juli 35min

Bigger turbines, bigger consequences: how wind is rethinking risk, insurance, and predictive maintenance

Bigger turbines, bigger consequences: how wind is rethinking risk, insurance, and predictive maintenance

Wind remains fundamentally healthy: electricity demand is rising, decarbonised power is still needed, and both Europe and the US continue to pull new projects forward, albeit for different reasons. Bu...

14 Juli 45min

As racks scale, power must change: The AC-to-DC rethink inside AI factories

As racks scale, power must change: The AC-to-DC rethink inside AI factories

As AI systems scale, the infrastructure challenge is no longer just about chips, models, and software performance. It is increasingly about the physical systems that allow computation to happen at all...

30 Juni 33min

Handing back the mic: Six months of data center reality, from Bragawatts to behind-the-meter, and the questions still open

Handing back the mic: Six months of data center reality, from Bragawatts to behind-the-meter, and the questions still open

A year ago the data centre conversation was about scale. Increasingly it is about what happens when the announcements meet the physical grid. New capacity is being announced at roughly 435 megawatts a...

16 Juni 43min

The grid's missing operating system: Why a $100,000 AI controller could defer trillions in hardware and why utilities won't buy it

The grid's missing operating system: Why a $100,000 AI controller could defer trillions in hardware and why utilities won't buy it

The energy transition conversation focuses on what connects to the grid. Far less attention goes to whether anyone is coordinating what those assets do once connected. AI training runs swing hundreds ...

2 Juni 43min

The grid's immune system is retiring: Synchronous condensers, AI data centers and the physics gap that software alone can't close

The grid's immune system is retiring: Synchronous condensers, AI data centers and the physics gap that software alone can't close

As coal and gas plants retire, the energy transition conversation focuses on replacing their generation capacity. What gets far less attention is the loss of the physical properties those machines pro...

19 Maj 1h 2min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
rss-jossan-nina
varvet
svd-tech-brief
badfluence
uppgang-och-fall
rss-borsens-finest
avanzapodden
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
24fragor
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
bathina-en-podcast
tabberaset
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
kvalitetsaktiepodden
lastbilspodden
rss-hos-psykologen
rss-sparpodden-2
rss-dagen-med-di
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi