Episode 23: Tom Starrs PT. II

This is Part II with the brilliant Tom Starrs. Tom’s interview was rich with information on cleantech government affairs and communications, so we decided to split this episode in two parts.  2:11 - We need to scale up renewables to make it a larger portion of our electricity supply, but to do so, we need a new grid model and new technologies such as battery storage and transmission enhancements. 19:04 - There have been missteps in managing the solar supply chain issue. While we’ve aimed to reduce dependence on imported solar panels from China, the transition takes time, and we still need materials from China in the short term. 24:01 - The most important barrier to the clean energy transition is transmission. We need to aggressively pursue new transmission policy that deals with streamlining the siting and permitting of new high voltage transmission lines across the country, in combination with new transmission tech, including grid enhancing tech. This needs to be deployed in existing transmission quarters but also new ones.