Back in 2002, California passed a groundbreaking target that required the state's utilities to source 20% of electricity from renewables by 2017.
Supporters made a simple bet: Renewable energy costs would come down, making it easier to expand targets.
Fast-forward to 2018, when California lawmakers passed a bill to source 100% clean electricity by 2045. How did the politics evolve? And more importantly, how will the target be met?
Then, writing in The New York Times this weekend, journalist Bethany McLean warned about fracking’s financial bubble. Is this a dire warning or a rehash of old arguments?
We’ll end with a look at battery materials. Sustainability concerns are growing, while markets for lithium, nickel and cobalt fluctuate wildly. Are EVs and stationary storage batteries already shaking things up?
Recommended reading/listening:
- Political Climate: Taking 100% Clean Energy From ‘Radical’ to ‘Political Reality’
- GTM Squared: The Grid Edge Implications for California’s 100% Clean Energy Plan
- GTM Squared: How California Could Fulfill 100% Clean Energy, Based on the Best Available Data
- New York Times: The Next Financial Crisis Lurks Underground
- GTM: Battery Markets and Metals Markets Have Officially Collided
- Washington Post: Tossed Aside in the 'White Gold' Rush
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