JULY 3, 2024

Greetings from Vienna, where I’m taking a breather after the Breakthrough Energy Summit last week.

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In this edition:

• We share our quick-hit top takeaways from the summit.
• A Voices author underscores the importance of clear communication.
• In our Data Dive, Anca takes the pulse of global cleantech investments.

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Send your energy photos, story tips and more to news@ciphernews.com.

Inside the Tobacco Dock, the Breakthrough Energy Summit’s large, indoor/outdoor venue that historically has been used for trading various commodities, including tobacco, on June 25, 2024. Photo by Cat Clifford.

Plotting a new clean industrial revolution
Top takeaways from London climate tech conference

BY: CIPHER STAFF

LONDON — In the country that gave rise to the world’s Industrial Revolution, at a venue known for the historical trading of tobacco and other commodities, more than a thousand people from across the world’s climate solutions industry gathered last week to pursue what organizers called a “clean industrial revolution.”

Cipher journalists were on the ground with roughly two-dozen other reporters to cover the second-ever Breakthrough Energy Summit. The first was held in 2022 in Seattle, home of Bill Gates, who founded Breakthrough in 2015 to complement his work as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

(Cipher is supported by Breakthrough Energy but retains editorial independence over its coverage.)

Read all about Cipher’s key takeaways from the event here.

Here is a quick overview:

• It’s all about scale: A primary theme of the summit was understanding the scale of the energy transition and, correspondingly, the enormity of the solutions needed to address the challenge.
• A new, clean industrial revolution: At the opening plenary, Breakthrough Energy CEO Rodi Guidero welcomed attendees to the United Kingdom, calling it “the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.” He then urged more action: “We have to bring about a clean industrial revolution as quickly as possible. It's our responsibility, especially as our energy demands go up.”
• Facing political headwinds: Despite recent political and economic obstacles, the energy transition needs to accelerate, with innovation playing a central role, according to United States climate advisor John Podesta, former prime minister of Italy Mario Draghi, and chief executive of the global bank HSBC Noel Quinn.
• IRA update: Podesta, a key architect of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act climate law in the U.S., said the IRA is not only pushing U.S. decarbonization forward but also bolstering the credibility of the U.S. as a leader globally.
• The business case for the European Green Deal: The European Union is set to embark on a new five-year political cycle with a revamped pitch for its trademark European Green Deal: it’s good for business.
• AI could accelerate climate solutions: Artificial intelligence will accelerate climate solutions and use a tremendous amount of power — a double-edged sword discussed at a packed breakout session.
• A plan for power grids: To move all the world’s power grids away from fossil fuels and expand those grids to provide more electricity, we need more visibility into those systems and their decarbonization plans.
• Calling in the private sector: Private sector investments will be key for securing the trillions of dollars needed for the energy transition, said former U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
• Green premium going, going… gone, at least for cement: Scaling up climate solutions often begins with overcoming the “green premium,” the additional cost of producing a clean product to replace a greenhouse-gas emitting one. That hurdle has already been cleared for the world’s most common product — cement.

Check out the full article on Cipher’s website.

Lunchtime Reads and Hot Takes

Supreme Court curbs federal agency power, overturning Chevron precedent — The Washington Post
Amena’s take: The court said its decision won't affect prior rulings under the Chevron doctrine, such as deeming CO2 a Clean Air Act pollutant. It will affect agency actions going forward, though.

How Joe Biden lost the climate debate, too — Semafor
Amena’s take: When asked directly about his administration’s efforts to deploy clean energy and tech investments in last week’s presidential debate, Biden gave a curt response. He did mention the Samsung agreement to provide chips and the billions invested in manufacturing when referring to actions taken to counter China.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán airs EU complaints in op-ed — The Financial Times (subscription)

Anca’s take: Orban asserts the EU is imposing “its own ideologically motivated goals" in the green transition and not “adequately consulting industry." Competitiveness tops the agenda for Hungary’s euroskeptic government.

Data centers in space are a viable, sustainable option — The Wall Street Journal

Cat’s take: Report from Thales Alenia Space (on a study partly funded by the EU) illustrates how meeting the huge electricity demands of data centers, which power AI, is a hot topic now. Space-based data centers would be powered by solar energy.

Rising seas submerge some islands, build others — The New York Times

Bill's take: The impact of rising temperatures globally is complex and unpredictable. Sometimes the myriad interconnected changes wrought by a warming climate surprise even the scientists studying them.

EU motorists will pay more for diesel starting in 2031, which could prompt protests — The Financial Times (subscription)

Anca’s take: Beginning in 2027, suppliers will be forced to buy allowances that cover their carbon emissions. Unsurprisingly, suppliers are expected to pass that cost on to consumers.

Using water to make fuel moves from fiction to reality — The Washington Post

Amena’s take: Projects like the one profiled in this story show that technology and policy are coming together to turn a futuristic vision into a real-world climate solution for the future.

More of what we're reading:

• Science Based Targets Initiative CEO to step down — Reuters

• Biden administration provides $504 million to support 12 technology hubs nationwide — Associated Press
• Tech Industry Wants to Lock Up Nuclear Power for AI — The Wall Street Journal

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We have to talk like humans to build demand for climate solutions

Illustration by Nadya Nickels.

BY: JOHN MARSHALL

Marshall is founder and CEO of Potential Energy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit marketing firm accelerating the energy transition by building demand for solutions. You can reach him at info@potentialenergycoalition.org.

“I’m the greenest person you’ll ever meet.”

In April, my team was talking to self-described “climate champions” as part of a focus group to understand how they think about climate change impacts and solutions. But as we dug deeper, we learned the self-described super green participant quoted above had never heard of the Inflation Reduction Act — passed by the United States in 2022 and arguably the most significant climate policy in recent history — and he also believed recycling and composting were the most effective ways to tackle climate change.

Adopting clean energy technologies at the speed and scale needed to tackle climate change depends on building public demand for those technologies. After decades of efforts to sell the world on the benefits of cleantech solutions, as our recent focus group participant illustrates, we’re nowhere near where we need to be to turn the tide. That’s largely a communication failure.

Check out three principles for communicating about climate solutions in the full article, here.

EU set to trail in cleantech investments, risking energy goals

Source: Rystad Energy • Figures include both private and public investments.

BY: ANCA GURZU

The European Union’s cleantech investments are set to plateau by the end of the decade, putting the bloc’s ambitious energy transition targets at risk, according to an analysis from Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy.

Rystad looked at the EU’s clean-technology capital expenditures, which refers to spending by a company to acquire, upgrade and maintain physical assets like manufacturing plants, technology or equipment.

The bloc’s capital investments in clean technologies — including renewables, carbon capture, utilization and storage, hydrogen, batteries and nuclear power — totaled $125 billion in 2023. China, by comparison, spent $390 billion last year. The United States is currently behind the EU in annual cleantech spending, having invested just $86 billion in 2023. But the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is set to stimulate U.S. investments; such expenditures are expected to equal and then surpass the EU’s clean energy spending after 2030.

“While the EU has set ambitious cleantech goals, they face various challenges related to policy uncertainty, supply chain vulnerabilities, high energy costs, skills gaps and competitiveness issues, which are expected to limit the growth of cleantech investments in the region,” said Lars Nitter Havro, senior analyst for energy systems at Rystad Energy.

Building a globally competitive cleantech industry has shot to the top of the EU agenda in recent months. The new European Commission (its formation is currently under negotiations following the June European elections) is expected to propose a so-called competitiveness deal to both complement the European Green Deal and to foster homegrown technological advancements.

AND FINALLY...
Cipher sighting

We snapped this photo of the Cipher News team on the ground in London last week! From left to right, say hello to Cat Clifford, Anca Gurzu, Amy Harder (me!) and Bill Spindle.

Each week, we feature a photo that is somehow related to energy, the thing we all need but don’t notice until it’s expensive or gone. Email your ideas and photos to news@ciphernews.com.


Editor’s note: In addition to supporting Cipher, Breakthrough Energy also supports and partners with a range of entities working to tackle climate change, including nonprofits, corporations, startups and research firms. For more information on Cipher’s editorial policy, click here.