A Futurist’s Take on ‘Exponential’ Energy Shifts

It’s taken decades for renewables to compete with fossil fuels. But we’re now entering the third phase of the clean energy transition, when new renewables are beating existing coal and gas plants on price alone.  "We’re on the verge of a new, radically different point in history,” argues futurist and technologist Ramez Naam. This phase of the energy transition will bring change that is faster and more disruptive than at any point in history. But will it happen fast enough?  This week, we’ll ask Ramez to outline the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for our energy future. We’ll look at how the energy transition may unfold, and what we can learn from other tech sectors. In the second half of the show, we’ll talk about long-duration storage, the system-wide benefits of cheap batteries, the future of small-modular nuclear, and artificial superintelligence. Ramez is chair of energy & environmental systems at Singularity University. He is a computer scientist who worked at Microsoft developing products like Outlook and Internet Explorer. And he’s also the author of the award-winning science fiction series, “Nexus.” Recommended reading from Ramez:The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be the Most Disruptive YetClean Technology is Disrupting Fossil Fuels Faster Than EverSupport for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric. We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project. Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.