A net zero future starts with zero-carbon electricity and then electrifying everything, so why are developers with fully funded solar and wind energy generation projects waiting to build them? What's the biggest constraint to increasing zero carbon energy in North America? How do you handle the 'wind doesn't blow and sun doesn't shine problem?'
The grid, the grid, and the grid. In the third episode of season three, Nathan interviews Rob Gramlich, a "grid geek" who has spent his entire career working to make the world more sustainable by effecting change at the highest levels of government and industry. His latest effort is utilizing his 20+ years of directing or advising energy industry and policy leaders to ensure the grid is ready to support the clean energy transition. During the episode Nathan dives into Rob's climate journey, how the grid works, and why getting the grid right is so critical to achieving net zero.
Rob Gramlich is President of Grid Strategies LLC, a consultancy focused on transmission and power market reforms for a low carbon grid. He is also Executive Director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid and of Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT Coalition).
Rob oversaw transmission and power market policy for the American Wind Energy Association from 2005 through 2016 as Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs, Interim CEO, and Policy Director. He was Economic Advisor to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III from 2001 to 2005, Senior Economist at PJM Interconnection in 1999 and 2000. He has testified before the US Congress at the invitation of both parties, as well as the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and state regulatory commissions.
Rob has a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree from UC Berkeley and a BA with Honors in Economics from Colby College.
You can learn more about Grid Strategies LLC on their website, https://gridstrategiesllc.com/, and if you’d like to get in touch with Rob, you can follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Season three of The Net Zero Life is powered by Climate People. If you are a software engineer looking to get into climate tech, Climate People is the best place to start. You can reach Brendan Anderson, CEO of Climate People, at brendan@climatepeople.com.
Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life on Twitter and Instagram (@thenetzerolife). You can also get in touch at www.thenetzerolife.com or via email at nathan@thenetzerolife.com.
#41 Regenerating Nature Through Capital with Manuel Pinuela of Cultivo
#40 Sustainable Food and Refrigeration with Manik Suri, Founder and CEO of Therma
#39 Reporting on the Climate Space with Akshat Rathi of Bloomberg Green
#38 Rating Carbon Markets with Ted Christie Miller, Head of Carbon removal at BeZero Carbon
#37 Energy Innovation Towards Net Zero with Bryan Trudel Co-founder of Avatar Innovations
#36 Climate Science 101 for the Consumer with Dr. Kimberly Nicholas, Author of Under The Sky We Make
#35 Renewable Drinking Water with Neil Grimmer, Brand President of Source Global
#34 Financing a Net Zero Future and Carbon Recycling with Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech
#33 Seven Practical Steps to Save the Planet with Justin Gillis and Hal Harvey, authors of The Big Fix
Introducing: The Net Zero Life Season 4
#32 Investing in a Net Zero Future with Louis Schick, Director of Investments at Clean Energy Ventures
#31 The True Impact of Renewable Energy, with Laura Zapata, CEO and Co-founder of Clearloop
#30 Reversing Climate Change through Podcasts with Ross Kenyon, Co-Founder of Nori and Host of the Reversing Climate Change Podcast
#29 Creating New Markets to Achieve Net Zero with Elena Schmidt, Executive Director at The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB)
#28 The Sustainable Possibilities of Crypto with Jonathan Rackoff, ex Coinbase, Obama White House and EPA
#27 Discovering Your Inner Environmentalist with Mark Tercek, Former CEO of The Nature Conservancy
#26 Grand Challenges with Apoorv Sinha and Madison Savilow of Carbon Upcycling, winners of the Carbon X-Prize X-Factor Award
#24 Sustainable Corporate Governance with Diana Birkett Rakow, SVP Alaska Airlines
#23 Hacking Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis with Gavin McCormick, Executive Director of WattTime
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL