Tag: Energy
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Blixt
(Crossposted to the USV blog) Existing electrical infrastructure is ill-suited to our current needs. It was developed for a world where we simply sent firm AC power from centralized power plants to end-customers. Today, however, electricity flows multi-directionally, as both AC and DC, and more intermittently. As we continue to…
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Making Energy Programmable
(crossposted from the USV blog) We’ve previously written about the storage gap. The proliferation of solar has led to an abundance of energy when the sun is out and a dearth of energy when it’s not. Batteries help address this gap by storing excess energy in times of plenty and…
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Towards a Theory of Decentralization
One force that drives centralization is comparative advantage. If I’m sufficiently good at making clothes, it might be mutually advantageous for me to focus on making clothes all day and to free up the person who’s good at making food to do that and the person who’s good at building…
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Power Electronics 101
I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of the grid, which I think will look increasingly decentralized and multi-directional. Power electronics, or devices that manipulate power with semiconductors, are a critical part of that story. They offer greater control and flexibility to facilitate the expanding variety of…
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New Cities
I think new city projects are fascinating. Although it’s definitely hard to start a new community from scratch (especially from the top-down), greater experimentation can help unearth better ways to live together that we can all learn from and might push existing cities to improve lest their residents move away.…
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Climate Tech Policy And The Inflation Reduction Act
This week is Climate Week in New York. There’s been an awesome density of interesting founders, policy people, and other investors in the city, and I’ve had an absolute blast meeting everyone. Today we hosted an event at USV on the impact of the IRA on climate tech startups. Sophie…
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Mind the Storage Gap
(crossposted from the USV blog) Deployment of renewables has been accelerating globally. In 2022, around 12% of electricity came from wind and solar, compared to less than 3% a decade ago. These resources offer access to low-cost clean energy – but only intermittently. Energy storage systems can capture excess renewable energy in…