Factor This!

<p>Factor This! is a weekly podcast for the solar industry that provides in-depth and actionable content not available anywhere else. The podcast features solar energy leaders who actually move the needle, in hopes of making you smarter, your solar job easier, and moving the industry forward. Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy, and is hosted by John Engel. Have an idea for an episode or want to sponsor the show? Email john.engel@clarionevents.com for more information. Find show notes, transcripts, and resources at RenewableEnergyWorld.com. Subscribe today to renewable energy's newest podcast. </p>

This Week in Cleantech (12/20/2024) - The 'age of electrons'

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Dana Clare Redden, from our “Cleantecher of the Year” committee, who has picked our Cleantecher of the Year!This Week in Cleantech — December 20, 2024 Trump’s Energy Pick, Chris Wright, Argues Fossil Fuels Are Virtuous — The New York TimesCipher analysis: Emerging clean technologies see sharp dr...

12-20
17:05

This Week in Cleantech (12/13/2024) - Trump's 'all of the above' energy approach

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Camila Domonoske from NPR, who wrote about how under a second Trump administration, an "all-of-the-above" energy policy is likely to return, meaning support for oil, gas, and renewable energy sources together.This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Kevin Minton, Vice President of Spruce Power, who ...

12-13
18:56

This Week in Cleantech (12/06/2024) - A 'new climate era'

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Izzy Ross from Grist, who wrote about how Michigan's fast-tracking of renewable energy projects under a new law, Public Act 233, is facing legal pushback from about 80 townships and counties.This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Robert Wilson and Louisa Ziane, Co-Founders of Toast Brewing, which b...

12-06
15:21

This Week in Cleantech (11/22/2024) - Will the U.S. ever compete on lithium?

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Amanda Chu from the Financial Times, who wrote about how Albemarle, the largest lithium producer in the world, said it is not economically viable to build a lithium supply chain in North America or Europe. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun. Mary just was named t...

11-22
16:09

This Week in Cleantech (11/15/2024) - How will climate tech adapt under Trump?

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Katie Brigham from Heatmap, who wrote about how climate tech companies are uncertain, but hopeful, of their future under a Trump presidency.This week's "Cleantecher of the Week” is Sara Samanieg, Latin America’s first recycling influencer. She has taught people how to sort recyclables and brought att...

11-15
15:18

This Week in Cleantech (11/08/2024) - How will clean energy fare under a second Trump term?

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Tim McDonnell from Semafor, who wrote about how many in cleantech believe the clean energy transition will happen regardless of who is in the White House, since the growth of U.S. clean energy industries is driven by fundamental economics.This Week in Cleantech — November 8, 2024Utility regulators ta...

11-08
20:57

This Week in Cleantech (11/01/2024) - Who benefits the most from the IRA?

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Shannon Osaka from The Washington Post, who wrote about how districts that favored Trump in 2020 received three times as much Inflation Reduction Act investment as those who favored Biden. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week," is Colin Hughes from Rebel, who just shared his bikeshare experience in R...

11-01
17:30

This Week in Cleantech (10/18/2024) - Big Tech revives nuclear (and coal, too)

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Washington Post reporter Evan Halper, who covered how a coal power plant's life was extended when Meta and Google data centers came to town. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Michael Graham of the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities & Communities Coalition. Michael leads the EMPOWER project, ...

10-18
18:45

This Week in Cleantech (10/11/2024) - A flooded solar supply chain

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Maddie Stone from Grist, who wrote about how Hurricane Helene caused the temporary closure of Spruce Pine, NC's two main quartz mines, which has disrupted the solar supply chain. This week we have multiple "Cleantechers of the Week.” The industry has truly come together to support those impacted...

10-11
16:44

Greetings from Asheville. We need your help.

Tell us what you think of the show! Hello, Factor This! listeners. This is John Engel, editor-in-chief of Renewable Energy World and POWERGRID International. As many of you know, I live in Asheville, which was devastated from Tropical Storm Helene. This conversation between myself and Renewable Energy World content director Paul Gerke was hastily recorded on Wednesday, Oct. 2, so please excuse the production quality. Some of the conditions discussed in this podca...

10-07
27:12

This Week in Cleantech (9/30/2024) - Interest rates and climate change

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. This week’s episode features Catherine Boudrea, a Business Insider reporter who wrote about Constellation Energy's plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Robin Swanhuyser, the Executive Director of Twende Solar. Twende Solar empowers under-resourced commun...

09-30
16:56

This Week in Cleantech - Live from RE+ 2024

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week's episode features Ivan Penn from the New York Times, who wrote about how one of the country's largest coal plants, located in Minnesota, is being replaced by solar and storage. It will be the largest solar farm in the Upper Midwest when completed, but some residents are worried about the change.This week's "Cleanteche...

09-20
14:16

This Week in Cleantech (9/6/24) — Cleantech hits a rough patch

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week's episode features Tim De Chant from TechCrunch, who wrote about a possible path to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from the airline and shipping industries: a startup working to develop "green" methanol, which is made without fossil fuels.This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Nora Zacharski, Press Secretary at...

09-06
16:08

Can we collaborate? Utilities and developers work to mend fences

Tell us what you think of the show! The energy transition was always going to produce some form of tension. That isn't altogether negative— friction keeps a speeding train on the tracks, after all. In the energy industry, it's electric utilities and clean energy developers who most often collide, one positioned as the gatekeeper of the grid and the other a disrupter.Plenty of challenges face the energy transition, but one underpins nearly all of them: interconnection. Utilities and developers...

09-02
28:50

This Week in Cleantech (8/30/24) — Does clean energy need a Marshall Plan?

Tell us what you think of the show! his Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week's episode features Dan Gearino from Inside Climate News, who wrote about how progress in solid-state battery technology may soon enable electric vehicles to achieve up to 600 miles of range. This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Emilie Oxel O’Leary, founder of Green Clean Wind LLC. Emilie is actively urging her ...

08-30
18:12

This Week in Cleantech (8/23/24) — The human side of virtual power plants

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week's episode features CNET senior editor Jon Reed, who visited an energy-efficient home in Vermont that will eventually be part of a virtual power plant, or VPP.This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Jim Kapsis, CEO of the Ad Hoc Group, who recently wrote about his 531-mile trip from Virginia to Maine in an electric veh...

08-23
22:19

This Week in Cleantech (8/16/24) — What are the friendliest states for solar?

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Business Insider reporter Catherine Boudreau, who wrote about Con Edison's plans to capture heat from data centers and large commercial buildings to power underground thermal energy networks.This week's "Cleantecher of the Week" is Samuel Truthseeker, CEO of Solvari Solar. His system view of rooftop ...

08-16
15:25

This Week in Cleantech (8/09/2024) - Turning air conditions into batteries

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features MIT Technology Review reporter Casey Crowhart, who covered how new tech turns air conditioners into batteries. This Week in Cleantech — August 8, 2024 Red-State Republicans Say They’ll Defend Biden-Era Green Jobs — BloombergFormer Rooftop Solar Giant SunPower Files for Bankruptcy — BloombergArou...

08-09
15:29

This Week in Cleantech (8/02/2024) - Permitting bill pits clean energy industry against climate activists

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less.This week’s episode features Jael Holzman, a senior reporter at Heatmap, who reported on how the clean energy industry is colliding with climate activists over a long-awaited energy permitting bill. This Week in Cleantech — August 2, 2024The Rush to Shore Up the Power Grid Against Hurricanes, Heat and Hail — The Wall Street Jour...

08-02
17:41

Going inside utilities to scale DERs

Tell us what you think of the show! The energy industry often pits utilities and clean energy advocates as enemies duking it out from opposite corners of the ring.As the narrative goes, utilities drag innovation in favor of the status quo. They're lobbying, some say, has tanked the value of distributed energy resources, leaving the residential solar and storage industry in turmoil.But one company doesn't bother with that framing, even if it may be true in some cases. Instead, they're going in...

07-29
50:40

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