In this episode, I talk with Taylor Krause, who went from working on hydrogen policy at RMI to finding a quantum physicist husband and unexpected fame on Netflix's Love Is Blind. We unpack her surreal journey from clean-energy wonk to popular influencer and how she's navigating using her newfound influence.



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A journey from clean-energy wonkery to influencer fame

In this episode, I chat with Johanna Wolfson, co-founder of Azolla Ventures, about their unique philanthropic-backed VC model tackling the tough problem of sustainable mining for the clean energy transition. We explore the promising tech Azolla is backing to reduce mining's impact, from using electrochemistry to refine copper without dirty smelting to advanced techniques for processing low-grade ores and even waste.



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How to reduce the impact of mining

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This week on "What the F is Happening" (periodic episodes in which we reluctantly discuss current events) we talk with Adrian Deveny, a former Senate aide who was in the trenches for the IRA's creation, about the House GOP's "Big Beautiful Bill." In its current form, it amounts to wholesale destruction of the last four years of climate policy. We ponder the bill's chances of becoming less catastrophic in the Senate amid the lack of meaningful pushback from the industries being kneecapped and the predictable folding of "moderate" Republican opposition.

What the F is happening? Part 3

In this episode, I talk with Catie Gould and Alan Durning of the Sightline Institute about the "dark matter" of urban land use: parking — specifically, the municipal parking mandates that help make housing more expensive and scarce. We discuss a landmark new parking reform bill in my home state of Washington, what it does and the coalition that made it possible, and point to other places where parking reform is coming soon.



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Parking reform in Washington, parking reform everywhere!

This week, I chat with Dawn Weisz of MCE Clean Energy about the nitty-gritty of community choice aggregation, where local governments take control of their electricity procurement. We get into issues like navigating utility obstruction, the complexities of rising grid costs they don't control, and their push for smarter, more autonomous regulation.



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The past and future of community choice aggregation

In this episode, I sit down with Page Crahan, who leads Tapestry, an audacious effort to “make the grid visible.” We explore how disparate, scattered data sources can be stitched together by AI into a coherent realtime map of the grid, to slash operation and maintenance costs and speed up the grid interconnection process.



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A "Google Maps for electrons"

In this episode, I’m joined by Marissa Hummon, whose team partnered with NVIDIA to tuck a credit-card-sized GPU computer with AI software into the humble electricity meter. We discuss how that edge computing digests 32,000 waveform samples per second, spots failing transformers, and orchestrates VPPs — plus the guardrails that keep it from becoming Skynet.



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Embedding intelligence at the edge of the grid

The hype about hydrogen is back with a vengeance, and thus, so is Joe Romm, who just issued a revised and updated version of his 2003 book The Hype About Hydrogen. We discuss the persistent economic and technical hurdles that make widespread hydrogen adoption unrealistic, explain why most applications are better served by direct electrification, and scrutinize the massive investments and motivations behind the current hydrogen push.



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Taming the hydrogen hype

In this episode, I chat with Kathy Hannun of Dandelion Energy about ground-source heat pumps, which are twice as efficient as air-source units but still more expensive up front. Dandelion has designed its own drills and heat pumps, and with a new 1,500-home partnership with a developer in Colorado, it’s looking to scale up and bring costs down.



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Trying to bring geothermal heat pumps to scale 

In this episode, I’m joined by consultant Jarrett Walker to take the pulse of US transit in a world of empty downtown office towers, surging weekend ridership, and the tech elite’s dream of transit without strangers. We unpack the myths that plague buses, reveal why Canada’s transit abundance should be our model, and map the policy battles that will determine whether US transit systems shrink or soar.



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How is public transit doing in the US?

Volts is a podcast about leaving fossil fuels behind. I've been reporting on and explaining clean-energy topics for almost 20 years, and I love talking to politicians, analysts, innovators, and activists about the latest progress in the world's most important fight. (Volts is entirely subscriber-supported. Sign up!)

www.volts.wtf [https://www.volts.wtf?utm_medium=podcast]