Under Trump, carbon capture sector mulls rebrand and sees optimism

While some parts of the clean energy sector have faced high-profile criticism under the new Trump administration — think electric cars and wind energy — carbon capture technologies have so far not faced similar scrutiny. Uncertainty still looms large. Latest News

Amena H. Saiyid 5 min read

Solar’s dizzying investments return to normal level

China's investments in solar factories plunged after reaching a high in 2023. U.S. investments, meanwhile, are steadily rising. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

2025 climate solutions trends: Scrutiny, humility and surprises (probably!)

Amy Harder shares the five global climate solutions trends she's watching in 2025. Harder Line

Amy Harder 5 min read

2024 reflections: AI power, elections and more

We knew some of what this year would bring — like consequential elections — while some events took many of us by surprise — like a sudden boom in electricity demand fueled (largely) by artificial intelligence. Harder Line

Amy Harder 5 min read

Cipher analysis: Emerging clean technologies see sharp drop in investments this year

Spending announced for several key emerging clean technologies in the United States fell this year, as market forces, lack of infrastructure and political and regulatory uncertainty disrupted the momentum built up in recent years. Latest News

Amena H. Saiyid 4 min read

Calling for adaptation over emissions in development funding

A new study urges global development banks to prioritize funding for lower-income nations to help them adapt to climate change, above and beyond reducing emissions. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

At COP29, dancing delegates, purring cats and long days

A flurry of parallel activities was the norm at the United Nation's climate summit, leaving a reporter both overwhelmed and with a bit of FOMO at times. Reporter's Notebook

Anca Gurzu 6 min read

Global cleantech market to top $2 trillion by 2035 – IEA

The global clean technology market has more than tripled in the last eight years and, under current policies, is expected to nearly triple again by 2035. Data Dives

Cat Clifford 2 min read

Five things to know as COP29 kicks off in Azerbaijan

Money talks are front and center as the United Nations summit gets underway — but the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president is also set to loom over the summit. Explainers

Anca Gurzu 4 min read

Latin America buying more cheap solar this year

Brazil's voracious appetite for small-scale solar projects is driving Latin America's clean energy investment surge. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

Southeast Asia’s path to universal energy access and net-zero emissions

Southeast Asia is projected to keep increasing its reliance on carbon-intensive fuels like coal for the next 25 years. We need to slow, and ideally reverse, that fossil dependence. Voices

Nicole Iseppi & Sunita Dubey 4 min read

Lower interest rates should offer relief to renewables

The events of the last few years have changed the math for clean energy projects, and the industry’s challenges are far from over. Latest News

Bill Spindle 4 min read

Majority of top states for jobs from new clean energy projects are GOP, battleground

Politically conservative and battleground states are leading the way in jobs created by new clean energy projects announced since President Biden’s signature climate law passed two years ago. Data Dives

Cat Clifford < 1

Wind and solar drive new U.S. tax credit market

A new clean energy tax credit market created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is drawing transactions in the billions, essentially freeing up dollars for the clean energy developers to invest anew in the cleantech space. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

How innovation, coordination and compassion can help us tackle climate change

We drive economic growth without disrupting complex human and environmental systems by focusing on three key goals. Voices

Robert Murphy 3 min read

How investors can help solve AI’s energy problem

The road forward for artificial intelligence hinges on solving climate and energy challenges, so it is imperative investors back the entrepreneurs hard at work building sustainable solutions. Voices

Ben Hemani 3 min read

How to close the ‘missing middle’

There is a financing gap in the economy for getting so-called ‘first of their kind’ projects to scale. A few solutions could help cleantech companies and investors bridge that gap. Voices

Heather Zichal & Ramaswamy Variankaval 4 min read

Private sector “race to the top” crucial for the transition, John Kerry says

The energy transition has a price tag in the trillions of dollars. Securing all that funding will depend heavily on the private sector, says the former U.S. climate envoy. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 2 min read

Get to know this secret climate tech star

Catch up on Cipher's full profile of MIT professor and serial entrepreneur Yet-Ming Chiang. Latest News

Cat Clifford 11 min read

How a secret climate star turns ‘stone soup’ into climate progress

Professor and serial entrepreneur Yet-Ming Chiang's superpower is getting the right people around a cutting-edge idea and helping bring out their best Latest News

Cat Clifford 6 min read

Meet the MIT professor who is a secret star of climate tech innovation

If you’re not deeply enmeshed in climate tech innovation, there’s a good chance you don’t know the name Yet-Ming Chiang. But if you are, you probably do — or you know about the companies he has helped launch. Latest News

Cat Clifford 6 min read

The carbon credit industry attempts a comeback

Over the last two years, the industry has faced a barrage of critical news stories, academic studies and lawsuits. But in recent weeks, carbon credits have received some big boosts. Latest News

Bill Spindle 4 min read

U.S. energy loan chief on hydrogen, peak power demand, pipelines and his coffee mug

Cipher sits down with Jigar Shah, director of the Loan Programs Office in the U.S. Energy Department for a Q&A about the energy transition landscape. Q&A

Cat Clifford 4 min read

Helping entrepreneurial scientists cross the first ‘Valley of Death’

Many scientists develop breakthrough materials and new processes that could be successful commercial products. But most of these breakthroughs remain in lab notebooks or seminar slides and never translate into startup ideas. Voices

David Jaramillo 3 min read

Changes in US tax rules provide big boost for renewables

Changes in how U.S. tax credits can be deployed are giving renewable energy financing a big boost. Explainers

Bill Spindle 3 min read

Let’s build an apprenticeship program for climate entrepreneurs

It’s time for startups to actively adopt a cleantech apprenticeship model from their inception. The urgency of climate change today means we don't have the luxury of letting apprentice-mentor relationships form organically.   Voices

Alice Havill 4 min read

Clean energy fueled China’s economy last year

Massive investments in solar power, electric vehicles and battery storage accounted for virtually all of China's economic growth in 2023. Data Dives

Bill Spindle 2 min read

Why cleantech groups want the EU’s public lending arm to prop them up

They want the European Investment Bank to offer them a safety net through so-called public guarantees, which they argue would allow for a faster scale-up of emerging technologies. Explainers

Anca Gurzu 4 min read

High costs deter investors from industrial sector technologies

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the global industrial sector is an uphill battle because investors are reluctant to pour money into costly, emerging technologies like clean hydrogen, according to Bloomberg NEF’s latest findings. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

Climate tech venture capital spending set to drop 28% in 2023

Venture investments in climate and cleantech are on track to fall 28% below last year's spending, according to PitchBook's data shared exclusively with Cipher. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid < 1

Japanese venture capital takes up climate finance

Rising concern about climate among Japan’s youth combined with a burgeoning enthusiasm in traditional corporate Japan for clean technologies has led to a new focus on venture capital and startups. Latest News

Bill Spindle 4 min read

On net zero goals, corporate pledges rise but progress lags

Companies are getting better at “talking the talk” of net zero, but they’re not doing nearly as well in “walking the walk." Data Dives

Bill Spindle 2 min read

United States home to more than 1/3 of cleantech startups

The United States is far and away the global leader when it comes to where cleantech companies are headquartered, but some metrics from a new report show its influence may be waning. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

How to understand direct government aid for climate change

Wealthier nations say they are on track to belatedly meet a goal of providing $100 billion a year to poorer nations for climate adaptation and mitigation, but critics say this fund won't be enough for countries buffeted by climate-fueled impacts. Explainers

Amena H. Saiyid 4 min read

In poorer nations, coal persists despite energy transition efforts

Just Energy Transition Partnerships — often referred to as JET-Ps — are seen as one of the primary ways wealthy, industrialized countries can help phase out coal use in low and middle-income countries while addressing the cost of closing coal plants and loss of employment. But progress implementing the deals is slow. Explainers

Bill Spindle 4 min read

Climate cash hopes hang on development bank reforms

Reforming how huge lenders like the World Bank operate is key to channeling more climate financing to developing countries. But proposed reforms of multilateral development banks are limited and must come with fresh cash. Explainers

Anca Gurzu 5 min read

Here are the five states leading on cleantech investments

Electric cars and their supply chains are driving record cleantech investments across the United States, led by California, Texas and Florida. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid < 1

COP28’s big challenge is closing the energy investment gap

Clean energy investment is ramping up fast, but most of it is still not reaching beyond the world’s richest countries.  Explainers

Bill Spindle 4 min read

U.S. cleantech investment soars, new database finds

U.S. cleantech investments have nearly tripled in the past five years since the enactment of three key pieces of legislation, according to a new database from Rhodium Group and MIT CEEPR. Data Dives

Amena H. Saiyid 2 min read

At year’s halfway mark, climate tech investments down

The amount of money that went into climate and cleantech venture capital investments in the first half of 2023 is roughly 29% less than the amount invested by this time last year, according to new PitchBook data shared exclusively with Cipher. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

Why we must invest in innovative climate software and AI

Venture capitalists and startup founders are fiercely debating where we should focus our climate tech investments over the next five to 10 years. Voices

Illai Gescheit 3 min read

Big oil sends cash to shareholders over drilling and cleantech

Despite record profits and a growing pile of cash, the world’s oil and gas industry has been slashing its investments in exploration and new production. Data Dives

Bill Spindle 2 min read

Economic headwinds slow climate tech investments

The amount of money going into climate and cleantech venture capital investments so far this year is nearly a quarter less than at this time last year. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

With profits reigning, clean energy struggles to compete

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund—the largest of its kind in the world at more than $1.3 trillion—has made some 10,000 investments across the global economy. Harder Line

Amy Harder 5 min read

Renewables boss says world needs to prop up new energy system

Power grids, undersea cables and ports are overlooked yet essential connectors ensuring renewable energy can flow across great distances from production to consumption. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

The Silicon Valley Bank collapse can be a catalyst for climate tech

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank created a significant void in the world of climate finance, but it's now providing an opportunity for new support to emerge and for the industry to continue to grow and thrive. Voices

Katie Rae 2 min read

The clean energy transition is bigger than Silicon Valley Bank

A harmful and misguided narrative is taking shape that Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse could derail our progress in fighting climate change. From where I sit, I see no connection. Voices

Peter Davidson 2 min read

Three learnings from a tough week

For ten years, climate tech investing could feel as chilly as the ocean in my home state of Washington. It was hard to get others to jump in. Voices

Dawn Lippert 2 min read

Despite banking crisis, cleantech outlook stays positive

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank—a huge lender to clean energy technology startups—poses short-term risk to the sector, but experts say its outlook over the longer horizon remains positive. Latest News

Amena H. Saiyid 3 min read

Europe scrambles to reclaim its industrial edge

The European Union wants to get its industrial groove back. The world’s largest trading bloc is scrambling to take part in the global cleantech race. Explainers

Anca Gurzu 4 min read

Cleantech race risks sidelining developing countries

The global cleantech race underway between the United States, Europe and China could leave developing countries behind. The world’s major economies are competing to become industrial leaders in the burgeoning cleantech sector. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

Long-duration energy storage projects set for growth despite hurdles

Interest in long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects is growing around the world, but developers will struggle to scale the technology up cost effectively before 2030. Data Dives

Anca Gurzu 2 min read

Energy security and federal climate funding to shape 2023

A historic 2022 will drive what happens this year. In our last December edition, we reflected on the five trends we predicted would shape 2022. This week, we’re looking at five trends we’re watching at Cipher in 2023. Harder Line

Amy Harder 5 min read

War and new climate law make history in 2022

Every year since 2018, I’ve looked back and ahead at the trends shaping the past year and the year to come, including reality checks of my previous predictions. We’re keeping the tradition going. Harder Line

Amy Harder 5 min read

Low-carbon power and electric vehicle investments drive path to net zero

The world needs to nearly triple investments in low-carbon electricity and carbon capture technologies in the power sector for a chance to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a new report by BloombergNEF. Data Dives

Anca Gurzu < 1

As the world bakes, developing world scrambles to adapt

The world is not cutting emissions fast enough to slow climate change, leaving everyone—but especially developing nations—scrambling to adapt to a hotter planet and its extreme-weather consequences. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

How to unlock clean tech for the developing world

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt—A half day’s drive from this resort town where thousands are gathered at an annual climate gathering, one of the world’s biggest solar farms stands as a rare example of how clean energy can be financed and built in a developing country. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

Clean tech is not reaching the developing world fast enough

Not enough cash is flowing to clean energy technologies in the developing world, widening the investment gap between rich and poorer countries and hampering the energy transition. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 4 min read

Clean energy investments on the rise, but boost needed for net zero path

Global clean energy investments need to triple between now and the end of the decade if the energy sector is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Data Dives

Anca Gurzu 2 min read

Energy security and new laws fuel clean energy race

Nations are increasingly competing to establish themselves as pioneers of clean energy technologies, racing to boost energy self-sufficiency and green their economies. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

Looking back to move ahead: Lessons learned from cleantech 1.0

Conventional wisdom says cleantech 1.0 was a bust. In a nutshell, cleantech 1.0: Beginning in 2006, venture capitalists poured more than $25 billion into clean energy technologies. Harder Line

Amy Harder 4 min read

Bending capitalism to fight climate change

Governments, corporations and nonprofits are coming up with novel ways to prod capitalism to help tackle—instead of fuel—climate change. Harder Line

Amy Harder 3 min read

Collaboration could help tackle climate change faster, more affordably

When it comes to tackling climate change, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

Clean jet fuel could take off with new climate law

The U.S. government is for the first time in history singling out and subsidizing cleaner aviation fuel. Such a move is poised to help clean up one of the most high-profile ways our society contributes to climate change. Harder Line

Amy Harder 4 min read

No energy access leaves millions scrambling for survival, says U.N. special rep

The world needs to drastically step up funding to end energy poverty or risk leaving millions of people in poor countries fighting for their lives. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

U.S. climate spending comes with a global perk: regained respect

The United States’ decision to pour hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up clean energy may have given the country more than what money can bring: an opportunity to renew its credibility at November’s international climate negotiations. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 3 min read

Rocky path to wind growth offers cautionary tale for cleantech tax credits

The U.S. Congress’ on-again-off-again relationship with wind energy tax credits portends choppy roads ahead for all types of cleantech. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

Europe’s solar goals caught up in high prices—and China

The European Union wants to ally with the sun to boost energy security and meet climate goals but soaring prices for essential raw materials could thwart those plans. Latest News

Anca Gurzu 4 min read

Wind, solar can be main source of EU clean grid by 2035, report says

Wind and solar energy can become Europe’s dominant source of electricity as part of an almost entirely clean power system by 2035, according to a recent report by climate think tank Ember. Data Dives

Anca Gurzu 2 min read

How EU aims to use clean hydrogen

The European Commission’s plan to help the 27-member bloc end its reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports includes a quick scale-up of renewable hydrogen production and use over the next several years. Data Dives

Anca Gurzu < 1

Risky business: betting on climate tech in an uncertain world

For nearly 50 harrowing days (and counting), Ukrainians have risked their lives defending their homeland from Russia. For more than two years, all of us have weighed innumerable risks living through a relentless pandemic. Harder Line

Amy Harder 3 min read

Corporate climate disclosure sees biggest annual percentage increase

The number of companies filing disclosure statements on climate change through CDP increased 36.5% between 2020 and 2021. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

Urgency grows for obscure clean-energy tax provision

Tucked alongside more than $300 billion worth of clean-energy tax credits pending in Congress is an obscure but important provision whose supporters span the corporate gamut. Harder Line

Amy Harder 3 min read

Five ways to make net zero happen

Governments increasingly understand the urgency of climate change. Ahead of and during COP26, the 2021 Glasgow climate summit, many have committed to zero carbon emissions by mid-century. Voices

Sam Frankhauser 2 min read

Why the government needs to speed up our energy transition

To summarize almost 200 years of the developed world’s energy history in 20 words: Wood came first, and then coal was king, and now oil and natural gas are dominating energy consumption today. Harder Line

Amy Harder 3 min read

Lofty climate-change goals risk becoming empty promises

An overlapping mix of corporate pledges, investment fervor and government targets risk setting us up for a dangerous phase in the quest to tackle climate change. Harder Line

Amy Harder 4 min read

Carbon recycling pioneer LanzaTech eyes going public

LanzaTech is not a household name, but the company’s technology is helping clean up household items. Q&A

Amy Harder 3 min read

Looking back and ahead: climate tech trends in 2021 and 2022

Much like the curve of the Earth you can’t see from the ground, we’ve embarked on a curve in energy and climate history. Harder Line

Amy Harder 5 min read

Record-breaking cleantech investments

The infrastructure law and the still-pending Build Back Better bill would inject record-breaking amounts of federal funding into energy research, development and deployment. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

Private sector leads in financing for climate action

Private-sector investments are projected to far exceed public-sector investments in a world drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1

Finance ministers urged to fill central role in climate debate

Environment ministers have long taken center stage when it comes to the annual United Nations climate change negotiations. Harder Line

Amy Harder 3 min read

Record-breaking investments going into climate since Paris Agreement

A record nearly $30 billion of venture capital money has gone into climate-change technologies so far this year, according to an exclusive sneak peak of a forthcoming report by PitchBook. Data Dives

Amy Harder < 1