Can Solar Power and Battery Tech Save the World From Climate Change?

Plain English with Derek Thompson

You could make the argument that last year was the worst year in human history for climate change. The Earth experienced its hottest day on record over and over and over again. Air surface temperature anomalies set a record in September. Ocean heat set a record too. The number of wildfires in Canada? Another record high.

But you don’t have to squint too hard to see the good news. U.S. and European carbon emissions have actually declined this century. The rate of global deforestation is going down. And investment in clean energy technology—particularly solar and batteries—is smashing records and changing the world.

Those glimmers of hope come from an epic annual report from Nat Bullard, an independent, Singapore-based climate researcher who spent several years at Bloomberg. In today’s episode, Nat and I discuss the twin pillars of the global clean energy revolution (solar and storage), how these two technologies have consistently beat expert predictions, how they’re reshaping energy generation around the world, and what stands in the way of a clean energy future based around sunshine and batteries.

If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [e-mail].

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Nathaniel Bullard

Producer: Devon Baroldi

Links:

Nat's presentation on the clean energy revolution: https://www.nathanielbullard.com/presentations

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