The Gist

Fossil gas is a big problem for the climate. And there are major political battles being waged on how much we need and for how long.

Regardless of their outcome, we’re going to have a gas system for the foreseeable future. So, as Ian Rinehart and Sam Bauer write in this month’s Gist, we should lean in hard to stop methane leaks from gas extraction and infrastructure.

As we kick off 2024, I invited five experts to share their predictions for tech, funding, and policy.

Here’s mine: 2024 will be big for resilience. In an election year, when climate action will become even more politicized, resilience tech should avoid the political crosshairs. The reality of extreme weather and wildfires will prompt utilities (no CEO wants a repeat of Hawaii), big real estate, and other vulnerable sectors to invest in their self-interest.

As 2023 comes to a close, we are yet again on track to mark the hottest year on record. But it wasn’t all bad news.

We invited some of my AHG colleagues to share their favorite climate tech achievements this year – things that may not have captured all the headlines but nonetheless demonstrate progress.

In honor of his four-year anniversary at Ad Hoc, we invited our first full-time team member, Ian Rinehart, to take over the Gist this month. He shares his reflections on how the climate tech market and AHG itself have changed since he joined the company, and what he’s most excited about looking ahead.

In other news, we shared the importance of resilience on the With Great Power podcast, which dropped this week, and how policymakers, utilities, advocates, and startups have to do more to ensure we’re prepared for the worst.

Electrification is a cornerstone of any reasonable climate strategy. So is deploying solar at scale. But there is a squabble brewing between the new electrification vanguard and the solar industry. We cover it in this month’s Gist.

Greece experienced a summer from hell with raging wildfires and a punishing heatwave. And that’s less than two years after the war in Ukraine sent energy prices soaring.

But the land of sun and wind is poised to capitalize on the energy transition, says Nikos Tsafos, chief energy advisor to Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

On the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the most significant piece of climate legislation in US history, we’re taking you inside the Department of Energy. Karen Zelmar is the manager of the home energy rebate programs, which provide $8.5 billion for home efficiency and electrification projects. We talked to her about their newly released guidance and what it’s like to work at DOE during a pivotal time.

At AHG, we pride ourselves on being climate wonks. Some of us also pride ourselves on being fashionable climate wonks. But recently, we’ve been wondering if that’s an oxymoron.

In honor of Juneteenth, we wanted to do something different. We invited two leaders, Devin Hampton, CEO of UtilityAPI, and Vida Asiegbu, principal at Energy Impact Partners, for a candid conversation on equity and representation in the energy transition.

With extreme weather and resilience on our minds, we’ve dug into microgrids and how they can help us keep the lights on..