ChatGPT generated panoramic aerial view of a Canadian port, with container cranes and shipping containers on one side and bulk oil tanks on the other, symbolizing Canada’s trade crossroads
Canada is preparing to spend potentially half a trillion dollars on major infrastructure projects that will shape the economy and society for decades. The list spans ports, high speed rail, hydroelectricity, nuclear, mining, oil and gas, carbon capture, offshore wind, and transmission. On paper it looks like a bold nation … [continued]
A proposed 1.5-gigawatt pumped storage hydropower project in New Mexico aims to leverage 70 hours of long duration energy storage capacity to help decarbonize the regional grid.
ChatGPT generated panoramic aerial illustration of Calistoga with hydrogen trucks arriving, overlayed with a supply chain route traced from Georgia to California
The just-commissioned Calistoga hydrogen microgrid is a telling example of how public money can end up funding energy pathways that deliver little of what they promise. At first glance, the project appears well-intentioned. PG&E has positioned it as a resilience measure for a California community that faces wildfire-driven grid shutoffs. … [continued]
ChatGPT generated illustration showing Gates, Bezos, and Branson looming over nuclear, geothermal, and hydrogen infrastructure—symbolizing Breakthrough Energy’s enduring bias toward firm, capital-intensive energy solutions
CATF recently published a report entitled Beyond LCOE: A Systems-Oriented Perspective for Evaluating Electricity Decarbonization Pathways advocating for a shift in how we evaluate energy technologies. At face value, their core criticism, that Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) alone does not capture the full economic complexity of integrating intermittent renewable … [continued]
ChatGPT generated image of a gas turbine assembly facility, illustrating the multi-year manufacturing delays that new gas plants face—delays renewables avoid entirely
In recent remarks, John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, laid out a curious and somewhat baffling narrative: renewables should serve as a transition solution toward expanding natural gas generation. Yes, you read that correctly. After decades of framing gas as a so-called “bridge fuel” to a renewable future, the argument … [continued]
Workers in a copper recycling facility sort scrap wire and tubing—highlighting copper's critical circular economy role in the energy transition, from ChatGPT.
The April 2025 paper by Cathles and colleagues in SEG Discovery, Copper: Mining, Development, and Electrification, examining global copper supply constraints in the context of electrification and renewable energy, is rapidly becoming influential in industry and policy circles. It is important to closely scrutinize its assertions and underlying assumptions, as … [continued]
ChatGPT generated this panoramic image of wind turbines and solar panels spanning a rural Indian landscape, complete with a traditional temple to signify its location
India’s energy landscape is at a pivotal crossroads, exemplified by the notable recent decline in coal- and gas-fired power generation, which in May 2025 marked the steepest year-over-year drop since COVID-19. The rapid contraction in coal usage, attributed to an amalgamation of economic slowdowns, surging renewable deployment, and increasingly cost-competitive … [continued]
Two new renewable energy technologies are in the news this week. One of them seems like it might actually work.
At a recent Solar Citizens rally in the seat of Dixon, I had the intellectually stimulating opportunity to converse with Mike Westerman of GHD about the viability of pumped hydro (PHES). Mike is the lead for GHD on hydropower. GHD (named from the initials of the founders, engineers Gutteridge, Haskins, … [continued]
ChatGPT generated time-split panorama: sepia-tinted 1929 on the left (Ardnacrusha workers building the dam), glossy 2025 on the right (technicians installing grid-scale batteries and offshore cables)
In recent months I’ve been assisting with strategy for a couple of emerging European NGOs on key decarbonization acceleration approaches, and one of the key participants asked me an interesting question this morning. This piece answers the question. The first NGO is Supergrid Europe, a Brussels-based organization which will be … [continued]
