Welcome to Zeroing In by Speed & Scale, where we cut through the noise to deliver a data-driven update on progress toward net zero.

IN WEEK TWO OF A NEW U.S. ADMINISTRATION, President Donald Trump made it clear that he intends to keep his campaign promise to reverse many of the climate and clean energy policies enacted by President Joe Biden. These include an exit from the Paris Agreement and the pursuit of a variety of executive, regulatory, and legal actions, including a broad flurry of executive orders.  While Trump’s administration has focused on supporting the oil, gas, and coal industries, it has also signaled that geothermal, hydropower, and nuclear—all low-carbon, around-the-clock energy solutions—are part of its preferred energy mix. These clean energy technologies are critical complements to variable renewables, such as wind and solar. They can deliver electricity even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.  

At Speed & Scale, we continue to advocate for a broad portfolio of clean solutions to “go for the gigatons.” Let’s zero in on geothermal, hydropower, and nuclear to learn more about their huge potential:

• GEOTHERMAL: Next-generation innovations–in particular, deeper wells–are expanding the potential of this resource across the globe. Projections suggest it could meet up to 15 percent of global electricity needs by 2050​ and generate 125 GW of power in the U.S. alone.

• HYDROPOWER: U.S. hydropower capacity could grow by close to 50 percent by 2050, to nearly 150 GW. This would cut a cumulative 5.5 gigatons in greenhouse gas emissions, save 30 trillion gallons of water, and avoid up to 16,200 premature deaths caused by GHG pollution.

  • Hydropower’s marine technology sisters, notably wave and tidal power, could generate up to 6,400 TWh annually and address a substantial share of U.S. electricity demand​.

• NUCLEAR: Global nuclear power capacity expanded slightly to 414 GW in 2022, or 10 percent of electricity generation worldwide. Extending the lifespan of existing nuclear power plants is a cost-effective source of clean electricity, while continued support for nuclear innovation, especially for small modular reactors, can speed our progress toward net zero goals while meeting surging demand.

These clean energy technologies offer vast opportunities. To accelerate their deployment and realize their full potential, we’ll need innovation breakthroughs, permitting reform, policy support, and continued strategic investments.

OKRs in the News

🚗 1.0 – Electrify Transportation

• The New Battery Belt: The future of many U.S. EV battery projects depends on federal subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act, now threatened by political uncertainty. A $133 billion investment wave, expected to create 109,000 jobs across the South and Midwest, may be at risk (Wall Street Journal).

• Toll Tales: In its first week, New York City’s congestion pricing program, designed to reduce gridlock and encourage mass transit use, saw weekday vehicle entries into Manhattan’s tolling zone drop by 7.5 percent, or 43,800 fewer vehicles daily. Not coincidentally, bus commute times on key routes were shortened (New York Times).

💡 2.0 – Decarbonize the Grid

• Solar Flare Up: China has unveiled an ambitious plan to build a solar power station, likened to a “Three Gorges Dam in space,” to provide continuous, high-density energy transmission to Earth. Meanwhile, a breakthrough in laser communication (to a record-breaking 100 gigabits-per-second) has leapfrogged China ahead of Starlink for next-gen satellite technology (South China Morning Post).

• Sweating the Grid: Driven by soaring demand for air conditioning, U.S. households used a record 701 billion kWh of electricity during the summer of 2024, the hottest year on record. Residential homes now use more energy than the commercial sector, which heightens the challenge of balancing rising cooling demands with the peril of continued global warming (Bloomberg).

• Dam Big Deal: China is set to build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, at a cost of $137 billion. Expected to generate enough power for 300 million people, the project aims to achieve carbon neutrality. Nonetheless, it has triggered concerns over displacement, ecological impact, and tensions with India and Bangladesh downstream (The Economist).

🐄 3.0 – Fix Food

• Better Burritos, Greener Planet: Chipotle is ramping up initiatives aimed at lowering livestock climate impacts and expanding plant-based alternatives for future menus. The company is investing in CH4 Global’s methane-cutting cattle feed and Plantible’s aquatic plant-based protein to reduce emissions and explore sustainable food options (Chipotle).

• Toxic Sludge: The EPA warned that PFAS and other “forever chemicals” in sewage sludge fertilizer can exceed safety thresholds and pose serious health risks. This marks a potential shift toward regulating PFAS in biosolids, which have contaminated farmland and water supplies despite limited use nationwide (New York Times).

🌳 4.0 – Protect Nature

• Heating Up and Hitting Limits: Driven by El Nino and accelerating climate trends,  global temperatures in 2024 exceeded the 1.5°C warming threshold for the first time, according to leading climate agencies. Scientists warn that the planet is warming faster than anticipated, a clarion call for the urgency of addressing climate change (Bloomberg).

• Reducing Wildfire Hazards: With wildfire risks projected to threaten 13 million U.S. homes by 2050, experts urge retrofitting homes with fire-resistant materials, maintaining defensible space, and initiating community-wide planning to reduce wildfire hazards and protect property (Bloomberg).

🧱 5.0 – Clean Up Industry

• Peak or Plateau?: On the heels of a report that China’s greenhouse gas emissions were either flat or only slightly increased in 2024, Heatmap’s latest podcast explores whether the country’s emissions have peaked. The discussion highlights the challenge of balancing China’s booming energy demand with clean energy growth (Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air).

• Hydrogen, a Natural Goldmine: The U.S. Geological Survey has released the first publicly available prospectivity map of geologic hydrogen, a clean alternative to fossil fuels. (When burned, hydrogen’s only byproduct is water.) The map identifies high-potential regions such as the midcontinent, central California coast, and offshore Eastern Seaboard. This groundbreaking tool could accelerate the exploration of geologic hydrogen as a low-carbon energy resource (United States Geological Survey).

🧹 6.0 – Remove Carbon

• Clearing the Air Gap: In 2024, Frontier facilitated $279 million in carbon removal purchases. All told, the industry delivered 35,000 tons of carbon removal—three times as much as in 2023. Even so, current scale remains far from the five to ten billion tons needed annually by 2050, highlighting the urgent need for more buyers and policy-driven demand to bridge the gap (Frontier Climate).

• Restoring Carbon Offset Confidence: Though the Rimba Raya site in Borneo has offset 26 million tons of emissions since 2013, its future is threatened by frequent fires, greenwashing accusations against buyers, and a market value drop of more than half from a $2 billion peak in 2021. Advocates are hoping for a 2025 revival, driven by stricter standards to restore confidence and by polluters seeking effective solutions (Bloomberg).

  
  

Watch Bloomberg’s explainer on Instagram here!

🏛️ 7.0 – Win Politics And Policy

• Climate Tops Global Risks: The World Economic Forum has identified extreme weather events as the top-ranked global risk over the next decade, with costs per event increasing nearly 77 percent in the past five decades due to climate change. Biodiversity loss ranked second, a sharp rise from 37th place in 2009–and a clear signal of growing alarm over ecosystem collapse (World Economic Forum).

• Carbon Capture’s New Ally: Doug Burgum, the newly appointed Secretary of the Interior, is an advocate for carbon capture and storage policies. During his term as governor of North Dakota, he pushed to make the major oil-producing state carbon-neutral by 2030. The industry remains optimistic that allies in Washington, including Burgum, will help preserve the federal carbon capture tax credit (Washington Post).  

🏃 8.0 – Turn Movements Into Action

• An Environmental Legacy: Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president, left a lasting environmental legacy as an early champion of renewable energy. From installing solar panels on the White House to creating the U.S. Department of Energy to protecting 157 million acres through the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Carter laid the groundwork for modern climate policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act (NPR).

⚡ 9.0 – Innovate!

• Tree Tech: Sardinia is piloting cutting-edge, AI-driven fire-detection sensors to combat the rising threat of wildfires. Developed by Dryad Networks, the $100 sensors detect chemical anomalies from smoldering fires far earlier than traditional methods, enabling faster intervention. Similar technology shows promising results globally in reducing wildfire spread and damage (Economist).

• Battery’s NBT: Sodium-ion batteries offer a promising alternative to the lithium-ion variety. They leverage sodium’s abundance and lower cost to reduce reliance on scarce minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt, while supporting the massive battery deployment needed for the energy transition. Over 240 GWh of sodium-ion manufacturing capacity is planned by 2030, which should help it achieve cost-competitiveness amid volatility in lithium prices (Nature).

• Geothermal Potential: An investment of $100 billion to $150 billion in geothermal heating and cooling (GHP) by 2035 could triple U.S. capacity and serve seven million homes. By 2050, it could enable widespread adoption in 36 million homes. Though underutilized today, GHPs could enhance grid resilience and cut building emissions to support a cleaner energy future (Department of Energy).

• Virtual Update: The North America capacity of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) has surged to 33 GW, with the potential to scale to 80 to 160 GW by 2030—enough to serve 10 to 20 percent of peak load demand. VPPs could reduce costs as rising electricity demand and extreme weather strain the U.S. electric grid (Department of Energy).

💰 10.0 – Invest!

• Leveling Up Nuclear: Nuclear energy is poised to generate a record level of electricity by 2025, with over 70 GW of new capacity under construction. With interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) rising, they could account for 10 percent of nuclear capacity by 2040. But to reach nuclear’s full potential to help meet surging electricity demand, much of it from AI-powered technologies, we’ll need to address financing challenges, diversify highly concentrated supply chains, and deliver projects on time and on budget (IEA).

OKR Highlight

Climate philanthropy makes dramatic progress: In 2023, global philanthropic funding for climate change mitigation efforts grew by about 20 percent from 2022, to an estimated $9.3 to $15.8 billion, according to ClimateWorks Foundation. While our Philanthropic Investing KR 10.5 aims to boost funding to $30 billion per year, this progress is an important step forward.

From 2019 to 2023, clean energy, forests, and food and agriculture remained the top-funded sectors in global philanthropy. Support for the targeting of super pollutants, including methane, grew the fastest. Geographic disparities persist, with 75 percent of total foundation funding going to grantee organizations based in the U.S. and Europe. Climate adaptation and resilience initiatives, while not the report’s primary focus, received at least $600 million in foundation funding in 2023.

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