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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Tim McDonnell of Semafor, who discusses how solar has overtaken coal as China's top power source for the first time, after a massive build-up. 
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Kofi Asante, founder and CEO of Bluecore Energy. Just two months after launching out of stealth, Asante's startup closed an oversubscribed $50 million seed round this week to build small nuclear reactors mounted on floating barges, generating clean power for ports and nearby infrastructure without needing a fixed site. 
This Week in Cleantech — September 11, 2026 
Massachusetts Will Require New Data Centers to Use Clean Energy — Bloomberg
Carbon Capture Won’t Save Us Anytime Soon — The New Republic
Why California Is Reconsidering Its Decision to Shun Nuclear Power — The New York Times
China’s cleantech exports are widening the “energy dominance” gap — Latitude Media
China's solar beats coal — Semafor
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In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a final permitting reform rule to streamline the authorization process for large electric transmission projects without sacrificing environmental reviews. The Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) program uses the Federal Power Act to establish the DOE as a coordinating entity between federal agencies and the state and local stakeholders responsible for permitting decisions needed to site transmission lines. CITAP sets a binding two-year schedule for a process that has historically taken four years or longer. It also requires developers to submit a comprehensive public participation plan to ensure that communities and key stakeholders are included in the permitting process.
By acting as the lead agency, DOE aims to reduce duplication of effort that would otherwise be expended across several distinct agencies, processes, and procedures. Ultimately, by enabling faster buildout of new electric transmission infrastructure, CITAP promises to increase access to a diversity of energy sources, reduce transmission congestion and energy prices, and deliver reliable, affordable power to consumers when and where they need it. 
More than two years have passed since the final rule was issued- so where is the first wave of streamlined transmission projects?
This episode of the Factor This Policycast, the latest in a series presented in partnership with national business association Advanced Energy United, explores that question. Hosted by Factor This content director Paul Gerke, the podcast features Advanced Energy United managing director Dylan Reed and Ashley Kang, senior director of external affairs and communications for transmission developer Grid United. They dive into the details of the CITAP program and share why community engagement plays a critical role. The group discusses the value of grid-to-grid projects and gets into why they're so tricky to build. They also highlight the early fruits of the feds' efforts, including the North Plains Connector project, which just broke a record for the fastest turnaround on an environmental impact statement.
Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Evan Halper from The Washington Post, who breaks down new drama surrounding the Trump administration's settlement requiring RWE to abandon offshore wind leases in exchange for $1.2 billion.
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Emily McAteer, co-founder and CEO of Odyssey Energy Solutions, which just closed $74 million to scale a platform that connects more than 6,000 solar installers and EPCs across 50-plus countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with financing and bulk equipment procurement. The company's already facilitated $3.6 billion in capital and unlocked 1.5 gigawatts of distributed solar projects, with activity in India up 205% over the past year.
This Week in Cleantech — September 4, 2026
Meet the super PAC working to crush clean energy's political foes — Canary Media
Data Center Backlash Reaches the Ballot Box — Data Center Knowledge
Is electricity dimming oil’s political power? — POLITICO
Fervo bets big on geothermal energy — CNBC
$900 million from a canceled wind deal will benefit a Trump donor — The Washington Post
Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast

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Modern grid management is about much more than routine efficiency. Utility teams are under pressure to enable proactive wildfire mitigation, rapid storm response, and continuous oversight across thousands of miles of aging infrastructure, but maintaining and scaling these tasks can be a major challenge when teams are constrained by traditional field inspection methods that are slow, expensive, and visually limited. How are autonomous, long-range drone platforms and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations transforming grid monitoring across massive service territories? And what does it actually take to deploy and scale these capabilities?
Trevor Perrott, CEO and Co-Founder of Censys Technologies, sat down with us to answer those questions and more. He breaks down the operational realities of moving from reactive maintenance to predictive asset management, explores how utilities can achieve "asset omniscience" to protect critical infrastructure, and outlines strategies for turning massive aerial datasets into actionable intelligence. Perrott also outlines how to navigate ever-evolving FAA regulations, what approaches are being used to scale pilot programs into high-ROI enterprise deployments, and more. 
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This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm’s Mike Casey.
This week's episode features special guest Dan Gearino from Inside Climate News, who lays out how new tariffs and the phaseout of federal tax credits have dealt a heavy blow to the rooftop solar industry. 
This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Richard Wang, CEO and co-founder of Voya Energy, which just raised $35 million to turn scrap aluminum into backup power for data centers. Instead of diesel generators, Voya's system runs an electrochemical reaction that pulls energy out of aluminum with zero carbon pollution, aiming to be quieter, smaller, and cleaner than the diesel backup that's become a flashpoint in local data center opposition. The company plans to have generators ready for on-site testing by the end of 2027, with nearly a dozen companies already lined up for pilot demonstrations.
This Week in Cleantech — August 28, 2026 
Exclusive: 75% of Americans Now Oppose Local Data Center Development — Heatmap
The Clean Energy Transition Has A Grid Problem. Here’s How To Fix It. — Atmos
US building twice as much gas-fired capacity as China in AI boom, analysis finds | Fossil fuels — The Guardian
Hyperscalers’ Off-Grid Power Push Comes With Risks — The Wall Street Journal
Rooftop Solar Is Having a Rough One — Inside Climate News
Energy policy on your mind? Check out all episodes of the Factor This Policycast