Catalyst with Shayle Kann

The global geopolitics of nuclear fuel

The new landscape for gas turbines

The natural gas turbine market faces unprecedented demand, with major OEMs like GE Vernova, Siemens, and Mitsubishi sold out through 2030-2032. Driven by the massive power requirements of data centers, this backlog has created a "let a thousand flowers bloom" environment for alternative technologies. While established ...

The battery boom behind the AI buildout [partner content]

The rapid buildout of AI-driven data centers is creating an unprecedented demand for power, forcing operators to integrate large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) to ensure reliability and grid stability. As chip power density increases—exemplified by NVIDIA’s latest hardware requiring 50 times more power tha...

BTM data centers’ looming methane surge

Behind-the-meter natural gas generation for data centers creates a significant, often overlooked, climate risk due to methane emissions. Olya Irzak, founder and CEO of Frost Methane, highlights that these emissions originate from wellhead extraction, midstream gathering, facility leaks, and engine methane slip. With 50...

Can natural gas supply handle the AI boom?

Data centers are increasingly turning to behind-the-meter natural gas generation to meet rising electricity demand, raising questions about potential supply and infrastructure constraints. Unlike the electricity grid, the natural gas system has historically been more flexible regarding pipeline construction and product...

The truth about data center water usage

Data center water consumption is primarily a function of design choices rather than an inherent requirement of modern computing infrastructure. As rack densities climb to 400 kilowatts or higher, the industry is shifting from traditional air cooling to direct liquid cooling (DLC) to manage heat more effectively. While ...

ERCOT batteries: boom, bust, or rebound?

Texas has experienced explosive growth in grid-scale battery capacity, surging from 200 megawatts to over 16 gigawatts in just a few years. This rapid expansion has saturated the ancillary services market, forcing developers to pivot toward energy arbitrage, where revenue has plummeted from nearly $200 per installed ki...

The rush for clean, on-site power [partner content]

The rapid expansion of data centers and industrial facilities is forcing a fundamental shift toward permanent, on-site power generation as traditional grid infrastructure faces severe capacity constraints. Aman Joshi, Chief Commercial Officer at Bloom Energy, explains that this transition is no longer a temporary bridg...

Anduril's vision for powering maritime defense

Maritime defense operations face unique energy challenges driven by the extreme density of water and the harsh subsea environment, which necessitate specialized propulsion and power systems. Unlike commercial ground vehicles, autonomous maritime platforms must carry all required energy for missions, as recharging infra...

AMA: Fuel cells, geopolitics, and the solar growth curve

The energy sector faces significant shifts in 2026, driven by rapid AI-related demand and evolving geopolitical tensions. Data center development encounters widespread, bipartisan community opposition, leading to localized delays that, while significant, will not impede the broader pace of AI advancement. Meanwhile, th...

Do data centers actually increase electricity prices? No...and yes

Data centers create a complex, bifurcated impact on electricity prices, functioning differently at local and global scales. Locally, these facilities often exert downward pressure on rates because utilities negotiate specific, protective tariffs and capacity agreements that prevent residential customers from bearing th...

What comes after the data center backlash?

Large-scale data center development faces a significant public and political backlash, shifting from community-welcomed economic drivers to targets of intense scrutiny. This opposition stems from the rapid scale of new projects and a broader, often emotional, resistance to AI technology. While data centers can lower lo...

The rise of metal fuels

Diesel generators currently provide critical backup power globally, yet they suffer from significant drawbacks, including high emissions, noise, maintenance burdens, and strict permitting requirements. Aluminum-based electrochemical power systems offer a superior alternative, leveraging the metal's high energy density—...

Can AI revolutionize grid operations?

Modernizing the electrical grid requires shifting from manual, siloed, and reactive planning processes to AI-driven, physics-informed automation. Josh Wong, CEO and founder of ThinkLabs, explains that current utility planning relies on expensive, time-consuming studies that often fail to keep pace with modern electrifi...

Is now the time for DERs to scale? [re-published]

Distributed energy resources (DERs) have reached a critical inflection point where their integration into the power grid is no longer a theoretical aspiration but a functional necessity. Historically, DERs failed to scale because the grid lacked significant load growth, and these resources functioned as optional "vitam...

Critical Capital: Senator Tillis' case for "all-of-the-above" energy

The electrician shortage slowing the AI boom

The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure faces a critical, often overlooked bottleneck: a severe shortage of specialized, highly skilled electricians. To address this, data center developers are shifting from traditional stick-built construction to modular, manufacturing-based assembly, which improves safety and allows...

The commercial battery comeback

Commercial and Industrial (C&I) energy storage, historically stagnant compared to residential and utility-scale sectors, is entering a period of rapid growth driven by shifting economic incentives. Rising electricity rates and demand charges, coupled with new revenue streams like capacity markets and "Bring Your Own Ca...

The multi-billion dollar promise of vehicle-to-grid integration

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology stands at an inflection point, transitioning from long-standing pilot programs to a scalable grid resource as major automakers integrate bidirectional capabilities into new electric vehicles. Steve Letendre, Senior Advisor at the Vehicle-Grid Integration Council, identifies three essent...

When will quantum computing have its breakout moment?

Quantum computing is transitioning from theoretical laboratory experiments to tangible productization, though achieving widespread, practical utility remains three to four years away. While significant capital flows into the sector, current hardware is hampered by high error rates, necessitating a shift from noisy inte...