How the 2008 Financial Meltdown Shaped Clean Energy

On this week’s Energy Gang: In retrospect, the financial crisis was a good thing for renewables and natural gas.

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Ten years ago this week, stock markets around the world cratered as fears grew that the global economy was headed into a deep, dark recession. Alan Greenspan called it “a once-in-a-century credit tsunami.”

The drama was high in energy. Oil prices collapsed. Carbon prices cratered. Capital dried up. The burgeoning renewables sector looked like it was about to get crushed before it really got started. But then governments stepped in — creating an opportunity for renewables and shale gas.

In this episode of The Energy Gang, we’ll be discussing the impact of the 2008 market meltdown a decade on. Would renewables and gas have grown so quickly without the unprecedented government support after the crisis?

Then, we’ll turn to biomass. Biomass is one of the world’s top renewable resources for heat and electricity, but it’s facing some serious challenges, particularly here in the U.S. We’ll detail some of those problems.

Finally, Canada is putting a national carbon tax in place. How will it work? And can Prime Minister Trudeau rally Canadians in conservative-leaning provinces behind it?

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