Emin Askerov
Cleantech FOAK Advisor

I’ve just picked up my New Year read—a collection of solarpunk short stories. If you’re wondering, what is solarpunk, and why does it matter?  Here’s the heart of it: “Solarpunk is about finding ways to make life more wonderful for us right now, and more importantly for the generations that follow us—extending human life at the species level, rather than individually.” This line, from the article Solarpunk: Notes Toward a Manifesto,  hits home for me. Whether you’re in renewa

The last weekend of 2024 long-read on AI and Energy

Q3 VC investment data from Pitchbook Inc shows otherwise.

Crypto's Energy Hunger: Problem or Opportunity?

$𝟭𝟮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿? $𝟯 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 $𝟭 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁ion

How Much to Solve Climate Change? $150 Trillion and Counting

Well, guess what? The data tells a different story... Every time I talk about the rise of renewables, someone pops up to say they’ll destabilize the grid. With renewables now generating over 40% of Germany’s electricity, it’s time to check that narrative against the facts. One key metric for grid stability is SAIDI—the System Average Interruption Duration Index, which measures how much time the average customer is without power. And here’s the kicker: as Germany's share of re

What does it mean for scaleups? With lithium-ion batteries locking down short-term storage, investors are now flooding the long-duration energy storage market, raising $582.4 million in Q2 2024 alone, according to PitchBook Inc. Key players are pitching everything from thermal energy to compressed gas. Highview Power and Rondo Energy are leading the charge, but here’s the catch: as grids absorb more renewables, the actual need for long-duration storage may not be as big as we

Australia can now run its grid on close to 100% renewables. What are the takeaways for cleantech scaleups?

Why Are Batteries Trailing Behind Renewables? 🔋🌞

The Battery Boom (no, not THAT one!): VC Funding Surges as Renewables Demand Grows