Latitude Media

Has anything upended utilities and power markets quite like AI has in 2024? You’d have to look back to, say, 1890 and the rise of electric-powered aluminum smelting... or jump forward to the 1950s and the rise of air conditioning. But those transitions played out over decades, giving markets time to absorb their impacts. In contrast, AI has been adopted at an unprecedented pace. https://lnkd.in/eNQUij_Q

When Microsoft announced in September that it was forking over $16 billion to restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the news seemed to kick off a resurgence for the technology. In the weeks that followed, nuclear energy remained in the headlines. 2024, though, isn’t the first time excitement around nuclear power has resurged. https://lnkd.in/eCBUWct3

Shayle Kann sits down with Drew Baglino, one of the executives behind Tesla's Master Plan — the company's case for why its model of a decarbonized economy is economically viable. Drew is optimistic about transmission buildout, and skeptical about the severity of AI load growth. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/e892aD62

Jigar Shah's LPO, Trump's win, and several companies' downfalls — our last newsletter of 2024 ⤵️

As we move into 2025, it’s increasingly apparent that we need to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. But, unlike other clean technologies, there is no CDR pre-existing market, and therefore no obvious funding mechanism. For carbon removal to meaningfully contribute to climate goals, we must look beyond the voluntary carbon market and embrace new demand drivers and policy frameworks. Anu Khan, founder and director of the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative (CSRI), and Noah Planavsky, professor in the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture and Vice Chair of CRSI’s Advisory Board, detail a path forward in their latest op-ed for Latitude Media. https://lnkd.in/g4UK_hZ6

All I want for Christmas is… to make energy policy boring again? That’s what Neil Chatterjee says we need 🎁 Don’t miss our Political Climate interview with the former FERC chairman on everything from #virtualpowerplants to powering the #AI race to energy policy under the next Trump admin 🎧 Listen to Political Climate on Apple, Spotify, via Latitude Media or wherever you get podcasts 📲 Happy holidays! I hope you get whatever you wished for🎄 #energypolicy #ferc #engineers #solarpower #permitting

Sweetch Energy is working to commercialize osmotic energy. The French startup is currently building its first-of-a-kind pilot project on the Rhône River, with the goal of reaching up to 500 megawatts of power across the region over the next decade. One of Sweetch’s investors is Axeleo Capital (AXC), a European venture capital firm whose latest fund, Axeleo Green Tech Industry I, specializes in these FOAK projects. According to founding partner Eric Burdier, each is a stepping stone in a company’s development towards commercialization. “The point is not just helping them build the first factory, but also organizing the go-to market,” he told Latitude Media. “That means moving the DNA of the company from a tech point of view to a sales point of view.” https://lnkd.in/edK7iC9W

One of the primary challenges of growing the supply of low-carbon products like cement, steel, and sustainable aviation fuel is connecting buyers and sellers across global markets. On this week's Catalyst with Shayle Kann, Adam Klauber of World Energy, LLC on one possible elegant solution: book and claim systems. Listen now: https://lnkd.in/gx4vAe3p

Former FERC chairman Neil Chatterjee wants to "put the nerds back in charge" of our energy system. In today's episode of Political Climate: https://lnkd.in/eat6Z-z8

Biden's team and associated federal offices had a frenzy of announcements this week, data centers continue to be major drivers of grid infrastructure, and grid resilience is more important than ever. Catch up here: