Europe wants its own Inflation Reduction Act moment

12/12/22 • 24 min

When the American clean energy industry met at RE+ in September, seemingly every conversation exuded an optimistic tone about the future.
Historic incentives for clean energy in the Inflation Reduction Act, paired with a generational industrial policy, brought U.S. climate goals within reach at a point when their prospects appeared bleak at best. Now, billions of dollars of investment is flowing into American clean energy manufacturing.
The outlook couldn't be more different in Europe, where industry leaders recently came together at Enlit Europe in Frankfurt, Germany. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated an already dire energy crisis, and the continent that once led the energy transition is watching its influence slip.
Two of Europe's clean energy leaders joined Episode 28 of the Factor This! podcast from Frankfurt to discuss Europe's path forward and the prospect for transformational industrial policy.

Guests:
Jochen Hauff, Director Corporate Strategy, Energy Policy & Sustainability, BayWa r.e.
Axel Thiemann, CEO, Sonnedix
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Climate tech takes on clean energy's biggest headaches

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Clean energy is in broad agreement: the Inflation Reduction Act is a game-changer for the industry and our goals of staving off the worst effects of climate change.
But underneath the optimism is a shared anxiety that significant headwinds still plague the industry. Costly and time-consuming permitting and interconnection processes remain poison pills for projects.

On Episode 27 of the Factor This! podcast, we introduce you to two climate tech entrepreneurs who are taking on these challenges.

Robin Laine, CEO and co-founder of Transect, used her background as an environmental engineer to shrink the environmental assessment process down from weeks or months to just minutes.

James McWalter, CEO of Paces, is developing what he calls the "Google for site selection," which allows developers to start with a set of criteria, like distance to an interconnection point, to find available parcels for development in just minutes. The platform also tracks ever-changing policies that could impact projects all the way down to the local level.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Will solar energy’s challenges finally ease in ’23? Market analyst Paula Mints weighs in

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It was a best-of-times, worst-of-times sort of year for solar: long-awaited federal policy support tempered by ongoing trade disputes involving some of the industry’s biggest suppliers.

As the year closes, giving new meaning to the term ‘solar coaster,’ we invited Paula Mints, who has been tracking the industry for more than two decades, to shed some light on what 2022 means to the solar industry and what to watch out for in the new year.

She joined Episode 29 of the Factor This! podcast to break down everything from the Auxin Solar petition to the Inflation Reduction Act and to discuss the industry’s path forward amid mounting headwinds.
Factor This! is produced by Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Connect with John Engel, the host of Factor This!, on LinkedIn and Twitter.