This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate in 15 minutes or less, featuring John Engel and Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week’s episode features Cat Clifford from Cipher News, who wrote about how geothermal energy has emerged as the only renewable source viewed favorably by the Trump administration.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Tom Weirich at EDP Renewables for hosting a terrific Transformers Summit. He’s put on this summit for three years in a row. Congratulations, Tom!
Electricity prices are spiking across the U.S., and Louisiana industries want out of the monopoly utility model. Entergy Louisiana customers could see a 90% increase in base electricity rates between 2018 and 2030, driven by the need to rebuild aging infrastructure and new energy demand from data centers.
Industries in Louisiana are increasingly looking to produce or purchase their own electricity—particularly from renewable sources—rather than rely on Entergy. These users, which account for more than 40% of the state’s total electricity consumption, argue that managing their own power supply could significantly reduce costs.
Utilities argue that letting industries generate power on their own would shift costs to residential and commercial customers, who would be left footing the bill for infrastructure and storm recovery.
Deep-sea mining is opposed by many scientists, environmental groups, and policymakers who are worried about the impact of mining on the ocean floor. Companies are looking to harvest polymetallic nodules on the seafloor that are rich in metals like nickel and cobalt – important materials for the clean energy transition.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is currently working to develop rules for the practice, which 160 countries have ratified already, excluding the U.S. Now, The Metals Company, or TMC, is turning to the Trump administration to support deep-sea mining efforts since the U.S. is not a part of the ISA rules and is looking to roll back environmental protections.
Global financial markets took a major hit on Thursday following President Trump’s announcement of sweeping new tariffs on dozens of countries around the world. The new policy puts a minimum 10% tax on all imports, with significantly higher rates for certain countries including China, Japan, and EU nations. UBS analysts say the move could slash U.S. economic growth by two percentage points this year while pushing inflation close to 5%.
While some banks and investment firms in the U.S. are backing away from net-zero networks, public pension funds are staying committed. After Trump’s reelection, a New York City pension fund joined a global climate action group for long-term investors.
These funds have been using their power to push investment firms and companies to keep working toward climate goals. In some cases, they’re even moving their money to European firms, since some American firms have pulled back from climate action. While energy prices and politics are making it harder for companies to stick to climate goals, pension funds are taking steps to keep the pressure on.
As a clean power source, geothermal energy is getting rare bipartisan support from the Trump administration, potentially because of its oil industry roots. It uses familiar drilling tech, making it a natural fit for fossil fuel firms looking to diversify.
Startups like Fervo and Quaise are building next-gen geothermal tech that could reach deeper, hotter rocks. Though it currently provides under 1% of global power, geothermal could supply up to 15% by 2050 if tech advances and costs fall. The sector has attracted interest from tech companies looking to satisfy new power-hungry data centers and advocates say government support will be key for the U.S. to continue leading the industry.
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