Shows / Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Catalyst with Shayle Kann
A weekly podcast featuring veteran investor Shayle Kann interviewing experts about the state of the energy sector and the technologies powering decarbonization. Shayle Kann is asking the big questions about the ways we power our world: How cheap can clean energy get? Where is the smart money going on new technologies? How will the AI boom both help and hinder us on our journey to decarbonization? Every Thursday on Catalyst, Shayle dives deep into the world of energy with prominent experts…
Episodes
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The Volts crossover episode
Some technologies grab the spotlight even beyond #energytwitter, and some fly under the radar. Which ones are getting more attention than they deserve, and…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The market for microgrids
We want your climatetech questions for Shayle’s Ask Me Anything episode! Email questions to us at catalyst@latitudemedia.com. You can also tag us on Twitter or…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The pace of home electrification
Heat pumps in 140 million U.S. homes by 2050 — that’s the goal laid out in Rewiring America’s recent report on the pace of home electrification. It’s a…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
How is U.S. industrial policy affecting actual climatetech investment?
In climatetech circles, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was a big deal. The expectation was that, combined with other parts of U.S. industrial policy like…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
What electric forklifts teach us about creative policy [partner content]
This is a partner podcast episode, brought to you by DNV. Wes Whited and Angie Ziech-Malek work for DNV designing efficiency, electrification, and…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Climate tech startups need strong techno-economic analysis (TEA)
We have a flash sale for Transition-AI: New York through October 9th. Use the code FLASH30 to get 30% off your ticket price to our event on AI + energy. Spots…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Reviving the stagnant plant based meat market
It was 2020 and plant-based meats were hot. Sales were up 45% that year and expectations were high. The industry set its sights on performing as well as…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Fixing interconnection
Everything's bigger in Texas—the hats, the boots, the convenience stores. But its interconnection times? They’re surprisingly short. In the U.S. it takes power…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Stopping geoengineering, by accident
Solar geoengineering is a hot (er, cool?) topic these days. One method involves injecting a form of sulfur into the atmosphere to reflect solar radiation and…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The food-energy nexus
Last time we talked to Dr. Michael Webber, we dug into the nexus between water and energy. This episode we’re diving into food. The connections are myriad…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Can the V2X dream become reality?
Here’s the dream: Millions of EVs plugged into their charging docks, working in concert to relieve stress on the world’s power grids. They reduce charging load…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Seeking the holy grail of batteries (Rerun)
If there were a holy grail of electric vehicle batteries, it would be low-weight, long-range, and fast-charging. It would last a million miles and cost less…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Navigating the electricity gauntlet
Electrification should be a field day for utilities. As we electrify the economy, adding gigafactories, charging stations, and green hydrogen hubs to the grid…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Beaming 24/7 solar… from space
It’s the highest-intensity solar power you can get. It’s available 24/7. And you can send it anywhere on earth. All you need to do is launch a ten-by-ten…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
With Great Power: What other industries can teach utilities about innovation
This week we’re bringing you a special crossover episode from With Great Power. It’s a show about one of the most complex machines ever built – the power grid…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Mining the deep sea
The good news: The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) contains more nickel and cobalt than the rest of the world’s land-based reserves combined. It also has…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The good and bad of carbon capture
Carbon capture and storage. It’s a controversial tool in the energy transition that we don’t want to use, but probably have to. Most of the scenarios in the…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The early days of transoceanic hydrogen transport
Before hydrogen makes it big, we have to overcome a massive, ocean-sized challenge: Transporting the fuel between continents. The places that will be best…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The fungus among us
More than a third of the world’s current greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels go through underground networks of fungi, according to a new peer-reviewed…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Building out a U.S. solar supply chain
Everything, everywhere, all at once—that’s the state of the U.S. solar industry right now. Suppliers are rushing to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
AI for climate: a real world test
The list of potential uses for AI in climatetech is growing fast: developing better materials, optimizing solar farms, integrating renewables and microgrids…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The carbon market’s quality problem
Voluntary carbon credits are a lot like used cars; you really have no idea what their quality might be. Or maybe they’re more like expensive bottles of wine…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Keeping copper from limiting the energy transition
The energy transition is fueling skyrocketing demand for copper, an essential metal for renewables, batteries, and other climatetech. But supply isn’t keeping…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Four ways to store sunlight
Are you a utility or climatetech startup looking to understand how artificial intelligence will shape your company? Come to our one-day event, Transition-AI…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Unpacking EPA’s newly proposed power emissions rule
Are you a utility or climate tech startup looking to understand how artificial intelligence will shape your company? Come to our one-day event, Transition-AI…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The great Bitcoin energy debate
Depending on who you talk to, Bitcoin mines are either great for the grid or the worst thing that’s ever happened to it. These warehouses of computers…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Understanding the transmission bottleneck
The U.S. power grid is clogged, and it’s holding back the energy transition. Solar and wind farms are waiting four or more years to connect to the grid. Rising…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The Carbon Copy: A rogue geoengineering startup sparks worry
We’re bringing you a special crossover episode this week from Catalyst’s sister podcast, The Carbon Copy. It’s about a rogue startup that was trying to do…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
How to build more hydropower
Hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable electricity today, according to the IEA. Like gas peaker plants, it’s highly dispatchable, meaning it can…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
The battery manufacturing announcements have been coming one after another—a VW cathode facility in Canada; a Tesla factory in Mexico; a Ford battery plant in…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
SVB, the banking crisis and climatetech
The run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) earlier this month was a hair-raising experience for anyone in climatetech. The bank catered to entrepreneurs in tech…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Betting big on renewable natural gas
Landfills, dairy farms and wastewater plants all emit methane, the potent greenhouse gas produced when organic material decomposes in the absence of oxygen…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The greenhouse gas you don’t know about
Nitrous oxide or N2O is the third largest source of GHG emissions behind carbon dioxide and methane. Also known as laughing gas, it’s long-lived like carbon…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The Carbon Copy: The great electrician shortage
Come watch a live episode of The Carbon Copy! Canary Media and Post Script Media are hosting a live event at Greentown Labs in Somerville, Ma. on April 6…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
A theory of change for climate investing [partner content]
Last year’s surge in oil prices brought record windfall profits for oil majors, and a boon for investors. But historic trends don’t favor fossil fuels. From…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
More 2023 trends: EVs, onshoring, and the three ages of decarbonization
Come watch a live episode of The Carbon Copy! Canary Media and Post Script Media are hosting a live event at Greentown Labs in Somerville, Massachusetts on…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
2023 trends: biomass, ESG, batteries and more
It’s the first year of what we hope is an annual event: Nat Bullard has released his first climate trends report. He was the chief content officer at…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Strong opinions on SMRs
Recent announcements in the world of nuclear power might make you think that new nuclear technologies are close to deployment in North America. But look…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
What hydrogen leakage means for the climate
Recent research has raised questions about the global-warming impact of uncombusted hydrogen. When it leaks from storage, pipes and other infrastructure into…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Mailbag episode! Biotech, layoffs, battery recycling and more
It’s that time of year when we reach into our listener mailbag and answer your questions. And you had some good ones. In this episode, Shayle once again hands…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The journey to monetizing DERs
Here’s the dream: millions of controllable devices—from EV chargers to thermostats, fridges, and batteries—working together to inject power back into the grid…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
This episode is trash
In the U.S. alone, food waste is responsible for the equivalent emissions from 42 coal power plants. Globally it accounts for 10% of greenhouse gases, more…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Introducing: With Great Power, a show about the people building the future grid
In this bonus episode, we present With Great Power, a podcast from GridX about the people building the future grid, today. The grid is no longer the biggest…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Natural gas whiplash
The natural gas market has been through a wild ride, especially in Europe. The pandemic first pushed the prices way down. Then a resurgent economy and an…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Ammonia: the beer of decarbonization
The Haber-Bosch process, which turns nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia, produces an essential ingredient in fertilizers and explosives. But it’s responsible…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Why methane matters
Today we’re talking about two climate blind spots: methane and short-term warming. Most of us think of global warming as a long game. How do we reach net zero…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Advance market commitments to decarbonize heavy industry
A coalition of companies organized by the U.S. government is promising to purchase low-carbon versions of commodities from “hard to abate” heavy industries…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
The trends shaping the energy transition [partner content]
We are headed into an uncertain future for the climate – but the range of possible scenarios is getting clearer. We’ve likely avoided the worst-case scenarios…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Solving the conundrum of industrial heat
To make products like cement, cereal and even baby food, you need heat—and lots of it. Industrial heat consumes about one-fifth of all energy used in 2018…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Unpopular solar opinions, 2022 edition
We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card. In a funny twist of fate, solar’s success has made it old…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Fixing cement’s carbon problem
We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card. Join us on November 30 for a live, virtual episode of…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Unleashing the magic of heat pumps
What’s not to love about heat pumps? Well… a few things, actually. Don’t take this the wrong way: Heat pumps are magic. They heat. They cool. They’re way more…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Getting more energy on the wires
Want to build a power plant in the U.S.? Here are three things to know. First, connecting a wind farm, utility-scale battery, or other big source of power to…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Climatetech for developing economies
Utilities in developing countries are juggling a complex set of problems: How to extend electricity to those who don’t have it; how to deploy large-scale power…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
How the US climate bill will finance the energy transition [partner content]
In this episode, produced in partnership with CohnReznick, we explore the market implications of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act is an…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
What’s holding up hydrogen in Europe?
Europe’s hydrogen economy is so close to becoming a reality. Billions in public and private dollars are lining up to invest in a wave of newly planned hydrogen…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
What climatetech can learn from the oceans
So you want to build an offshore wind farm. Are you prepared to manage the marine ecosystem impacts of construction? What about monitoring and protecting…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
How well does soil actually store carbon?
Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate…
- Catalyst with Shayle Kann
Columbia Energy Exchange: Will Putin’s Energy Strategy Backfire?
Don’t miss our live episode of Climavores in New York City on October 20! Sign up here for a night of live audio and networking with top voices in climate…