The great Bitcoin energy debate
Depending on who you talk to, Bitcoin mines are either great for the grid or the worst thing that’s ever happened to it. These warehouses of computers essentially turn electricity into bitcoins. Propo...
11 Maj 202348min
Understanding the transmission bottleneck
The U.S. power grid is clogged, and it’s holding back the energy transition. Solar and wind farms are waiting four or more years to connect to the grid. Rising congestion costs are driving up retail ...
4 Maj 202341min
The Carbon Copy: A rogue geoengineering startup sparks worry
We’re bringing you a special crossover episode this week from Catalyst’s sister podcast, The Carbon Copy. It’s about a rogue startup that was trying to do something we’ve talked about on this show: so...
27 Apr 202326min
How to build more hydropower
Hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable electricity today, according to the IEA. Like gas peaker plants, it’s highly dispatchable, meaning it can complement intermittent renewables like ...
20 Apr 202353min
What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
The battery manufacturing announcements have been coming one after another—a VW cathode facility in Canada; a Tesla factory in Mexico; a Ford battery plant in Michigan. These companies hope to take ad...
6 Apr 202333min
SVB, the banking crisis and climatetech
The run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) earlier this month was a hair-raising experience for anyone in climatetech. The bank catered to entrepreneurs in tech, especially climate. So when news of SVB’s tr...
30 Mars 202338min
Betting big on renewable natural gas
Landfills, dairy farms and wastewater plants all emit methane, the potent greenhouse gas produced when organic material decomposes in the absence of oxygen. But instead of emitting that methane (ofte...
23 Mars 202343min
The greenhouse gas you don’t know about
Nitrous oxide or N2O is the third largest source of GHG emissions behind carbon dioxide and methane. Also known as laughing gas, it’s long-lived like carbon dioxide and incredibly potent like methane....
16 Mars 202345min
