This Week in Cleantech

Top five cleantech stories.
Fifteen minutes. Every week.

This week’s episode explores rising electricity costs and why they’re so hard to track, alongside growing concerns about overbuilding power for AI data centers. Paul and Mike break down supply chain bottlenecks slowing U.S. data center growth, Europe’s hydropower shortfall due to climate impacts, and a massive solar development in California that could reshape rural energy and land use. The energy transition is accelerating, but not without real-world constraints.

In this episode, we covered how renewable energy could reduce global conflict, Asia’s temporary shift back to coal amid gas shortages, and growing concerns about U.S. grid vulnerabilities. We also explored the rise of virtual power plants as a fast, scalable energy solution and the UK’s push to require solar panels and heat pumps in new homes, highlighting how resilience and energy security are becoming central to the clean energy transition.

Paul Gerke (00:05.624)Hey everybody and welcome back to a fresh edition of This Week in Cleantech, our 15-minute-ish roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy every week.You’re listening to this on Friday, March 20th, 2026. We are deep in March Madness—I’ve got basketball games on all around me right now, Mike Casey.We’ve also got a returning guest in the lobby—Jennifer McDermott from the Associated Press will be joining us shortly.I’m Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined as always by cleantech commentator Mike Casey of Tigercomm. Mike, how are ya?Mike Casey...

Paul Gerke (00:02.634) Hey everybody, welcome to another edition of This Week in Cleantech, your favorite 15-minute roundup with some of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy each week. Today, if you're keeping score at home, is Friday, March 13th, 2026. We have a special guest in waiting—Chuck McCutcheon from Axios will be joining the program shortly. If you don't know me by now, I'm Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined as always by cleantech commentator Mike Casey of Tigercomm. Mike, how are we? Mike Casey (00:28.005) We are fine, and I am fine. And I want to give two...

Paul Gerke (00:02.078) Hey everybody, time must fly when we're having fun because it's already time for a fresh edition of This Week in Cleantech, your favorite 15-minute-ish roundup with the biggest stories in climate and clean energy every week. Today is Friday, March 6th, 2026. We've got a returning guest in the lobby—Evan Halper from the Washington Post will be joining us shortly. Always great to have a familiar face on the program. If you don't know mine by now, I'm Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined as always by cleantech commentator—and the real brains behind this show, I...

Paul Gerke (00:00.912) Hey everybody, welcome to another edition of This Week in Cleantech. Another day, another dollar, another Friday, another 15-minute-ish roundup of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy every week. This is being recorded for Friday, February 27th, 2026. We’re recording it on a Thursday in case anything crazy happens in the interim—don’t blame us. If you don’t know my face and voice by now, I’m Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined as always by cleantech commentator Mike Casey of Tigercomm. We also have a recurring guest on the show—I think it lends...

Paul Gerke (00:01.784) It says it’s recording now. I think we’re good, Brian. All right, here we go. Three, two. Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of This Week in Cleantech, your favorite 15-minute roundup of some of the biggest stories in climate and clean energy each week. If you’re keeping score at home—which I hope you are, have a calendar of some capacity—it’s Friday, February 20th, 2026. We’ve got a first-time guest on the show today—Arcelia Martin from Inside Climate News is waiting in our digital lobby. I’m Factor This content director Paul Gerke, joined as always by...