Plain English with Derek Thompson9 Feb 2024

Can Solar Power and Battery Tech Save the World From Climate Change?

You could make the argument that last year was the worst year in human history for climate change. The Earth experienced its hottest day on record over and over and over again. Air surface temperature anomalies set a record in September. Ocean heat set a record too. The number of wildfires in Canada? Another record high. But you don’t have to squint too hard to see the good news. U.S. and European carbon emissions have actually declined this century. The rate of global deforestation is going down. And investment in clean energy technology—particularly solar and batteries—is smashing records and changing the world. Those glimmers of hope come from an epic annual report from Nat Bullard, an independent, Singapore-based climate researcher who spent several years at Bloomberg. In today’s episode, Nat and I discuss the twin pillars of the global clean energy revolution (solar and storage), how these two technologies have consistently beat expert predictions, how they’re reshaping energy generation around the world, and what stands in the way of a clean energy future based around sunshine and batteries. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Nathaniel Bullard Producer: Devon Baroldi Links: Nat's presentation on the clean energy revolution: https://www.nathanielbullard.com/presentations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Episoder(391)

A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory for Why the World Feels So Weird

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14 Jul 58min

How Israel Is Transforming American Politics

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7 Jul 1h 4min

MEGAPOD: The Most Overrated American Who Ever Lived

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3 Jul 1h 9min

A Surprising Theory About the Future of War

From the bombing campaigns of World War II to the precision strikes of the modern era, for 80 years air power has defined modern warfare. But today, a new technology is changing the battlefield: drone...

30 Jun 56min

SpaceX, AI Bubble Fears, and The Age of the Trillion-Dollar, Zero-Profit Company

For decades, investors valued companies based on a familiar formula: Grow revenue, earn profits, and reward shareholders. But a new era may be beginning - one where trillion-dollar companies can lose ...

26 Jun 53min

The Iran War Is Ending. Everybody Lost.

Four months ago, the U.S. and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran. Supporters predicted a decisive victory that would curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reshape the balance of power in the Middle...

23 Jun 56min

The Donald Trump Corruption Scandal Draft

What is Donald Trump good at? In his second administration, he promised lower prices, stronger manufacturing, and an end to foreign conflicts. Instead, inflation has risen, blue-collar job growth has ...

19 Jun 1h 8min

The Most Exciting Month of Medical Breakthroughs in Years

For years, scientists worried that medical progress was slowing down. Drug development became more expensive than ever with more complex clinical trials, and even then, many new treatments offered onl...

16 Jun 59min