Hydrogen investors say the abundant element can replace carbon throughout economies. Hydrogen skeptics (and shorts) say that producing adequate hydrogen supply requires intolerable amounts of carbon pollution. Some startups are looking at chemistry - and tax credit financing via the United States' Inflation Reduction Act - to increase the supply...
There's too much operating need for carbon-heavy energy, and climate change is too far along, for society to do all its sustainability work through a switch to renewable fuels. Removing carbon from the atmosphere becomes necessary - and financing the removal involves a range of risks.
Amy Harder, an expert journalist, steers the storytelling for Breakthrough Energy's new publication.
Amy Harder, a veteran journalist, now runs a new site out of Breakthrough Energy called Cipher. She looks at the transition's hard questions, hard slogs, and compelling stories in a casual Zoom with undergraduates.
(Photo by Sam LaRussa via Flickr.) This coal-fired power plant outside Austin, Texas, is one of thousands across the country that owners will have to finance out of service.
Imagine that you are a utility owner. You anticipated your plant would last 40 years and invested accordingly. Now you see the value of coal plummeting, but you can't strand your assets. Someone mentions securitization. You wonder: What's that?
Our largest cohort of participants work around the world. Part of their coursework involves writing policy memos that can spark new policy. (At least one participant's memo already has helped do that.) We're sharing a sample of these memos. For more about the course and its goals, visit this page.
