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No. 139: Turning Tides

Tidal power could be a more reliable renewable energy source than solar or wind if it can overcome permitting hurdles in the United States.

No. 139: Turning Tides
Photo by Lefty Kasdaglis / Unsplash

We always seem to need more energy, and we are no strangers to a diversified energy portfolio: coal, natural gas, solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and nuclear come to mind immediately, and I'm sure you could brainstorm a few yourself. This week, we're talking about tidal power and its potential in the U.S. – I'm a big fan of this idea, but it's a nascent technology still trying to get a foothold globally.

Startups feature rather prominently in the newsletter this week, purely by coincidence. Our featured job this week comes from a startup that is making healthcare more accessible for underserved communities, and an electric vehicle startup is making waves with a dirt cheap truck.

You know the best part about startups? They challenge us with new ideas about the way the world can be. We're due for a bit of inspiration – shall we jump in?

~ Greg

What we're reading

Tidal power could be a more reliable renewable energy source than solar or wind if it can overcome permitting hurdles in the United States. Ah yes, permits: we've been here before with renewable energy projects, right? (Inc.)

  • The premise of tidal power is to harness energy from ocean tides to generate electricity. It has garnered more attention in other countries, but there have been demonstrator projects in the United States and a slew of startups racing to production-level capability.
    • For example, Verdant Power installed a pilot project in New York that successfully demonstrated their underwater turbine technology and was decommissioned a year later.
    • In the Pacific Northwest, Panthalassa is building a "Node" to harness energy from the ocean and is working on ramping up their production capabilities.
  • One of the biggest benefits of this approach is that you can generate energy around the clock. Intermittent renewables like solar and wind have a baseload power challenge – that's part of why battery storage technology has been such a focus in the renewable energy transition.
    • Unlike solar and wind, which depend on weather conditions, tides are predictable and stable. As a result, tidal power could be especially useful for nighttime energy needs when our personal consumption rises – think charging your electric vehicle, turning your home's lights on, and so on.
  • Unfortunately, startups developing tidal power technologies face significant hurdles around securing funding and navigating the permitting process to install arrays.
    • The uncertainty around permitting raises red flags for potential investors – you can see how this would become a problem where you need money to wait out the permitting process, but investors don't want to invest due to the risk of not receiving permits in a timely fashion.
    • In my experience, it's also more difficult to get a hardware-based startup off the ground than a software-based one. It's much more capital intensive, and given the complexity of what these companies are building, this isn't quite the same as calling up an existing manufacturing company to build your product for you. They are setting up their own production lines in some cases.
  • Despite the challenges, I'm excited to see if this approach takes off. Permitting feels like something that could be solved, leaving the technical hurdles as the main impediment. Even then, I'd say these companies are on the right track.

Job of the week

Over the years, I've been impressed by the growth of telehealth services as a way to make healthcare more accessible, and this week's featured company is making a difference with women's healthcare in underserved communities specifically. Twentyeight Health is looking to hire a Manager of Strategic Insights who can help them with big data problems – if you know your SQL from your Tableau, you're on the right track.

This is a startup role, but they have a few years under their belts already and have multiple investors backing them. If you like working on a small team and "building" more than "sustaining" a business, this is a great time to add your talents to their mission.

Community roundup

  • The Wikimedia Foundation is challenging a law in the U.K. called the Online Safety Act because it could require them to verify the identities of their volunteer editors. (BBC News)
    • Improving online safety is a positive for people in general, so why would Wikimedia want to fight this? It's kind of interesting actually: aside from the administrative burden this law requires, Wikimedia is arguing that the law could affect contributor privacy in a way that makes them less likely to contribute on controversial topics because they feel unsafe doing so.
  • A new study of GLP-1s out of Israel shows that the drugs are more effective at reducing obesity-related cancers than bariatric surgery, which already reduced the risk by 30-42%. (The Guardian)
    • It's still relatively early with these drugs, but I'm starting to notice a pattern in the research where we've moved beyond weight loss to secondary effects. This study talks about cancer risk, but I've seen other news about positive impacts on cardiovascular health and substance abuse.
  • Electric vehicles are generally more expensive than their internal combustion counterparts, and that is one of the reasons why they haven't been selling as well. A company in the U.S. called Slate Auto recently came out of stealth and has introduced a barebones electric vehicle with an emphasis on car modding and a target price below $20,000 after tax incentives. The big news this week is that after announcing their vehicle, they received 100,000 reservations in just over two weeks. (Electrek)
    • This is very impressive, but I'll couch it in the fact that reservations were only $50. That's a low barrier to entry, and I doubt that many people will convert. Still, if you haven't seen this vehicle, I'd recommend checking out the website. The low-cost EV market is largely untapped.
  • The U.K. is adopting a policy that requires solar panels to be installed on all new homes. It is estimated to increase homebuilding costs by £3,000 to £4,000 but reduce homeowners' annual energy bills by £1,000. (The Guardian)
    • The government is trying to position itself as a green superpower and decarbonize its electricity grid by 2030. I think the trick is making sure there's a solid economic rationale for doing so, because the average person will take the more sustainable option if it's cheaper.

Civic corner

  • President Trump has floated the idea of eliminating FEMA for a while now, but it seems we're closer than ever to eliminating the disaster relief agency. The acting head of FEMA testified before Congress last week that eliminating FEMA was not "in the best interest of the American people" and was removed from his position a day later. (Inside Climate News)
  • While we're on the subject of natural disasters, NOAA will no longer update its Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database past 2024 and will archive the existing data. This was the gold standard dataset for the most expensive disasters and helped researchers understand climate and disaster recovery trends.
  • On a more positive note, people continue to respond to the dismantling of our government with their own grassroots efforts to fill in the resulting gaps. NPR spotlighted one called Project Resource Optimization, which is connecting philanthropists to mid-implementation projects.
    • I kind of want to see this taken one step further: the amount of money requested far exceeds what an individual like you or I can fund alone, and I wonder if there's a crowdfunding opportunity here.
  • Lastly, you may know that the Trump Administration is seeking a massive $4 trillion tax cut package and needs a way to pay for it, so Republicans in Congress are evaluating where to make cuts. One of the areas they are evaluating is the Inflation Reduction Act, which still has $522 billion that hasn't been spent yet. (NYT)
    • This is causing some contention because the vast majority of what has been spent to date – $321 billion – has benefited red states and districts.
    • I'm sharing a gift article to the NYT so you can see where that money is going: the article has some excellent visualizations on the funding as well as predictions from the Rhodium Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on what will happen to wind, solar, and battery technology adoption should tax credits be revoked.

Hot job opportunities

Resource of the week

If you've been following the news, you might have noticed that the Energy Star program may be axed shortly. I can't think of a better reason to remind you of how useful that website is for finding rebates if you're considering new appliances, smart thermostats, heat pumps, and more.

I'm in Clark County, Washington, and a few months ago I found I could effectively get a smart thermostat for free. On top of that, we went with new construction when we moved and the home itself had an Energy Star NextGen certification – there's an outlet in the garage to support an electric vehicle for example. If you're thinking of moving, Energy Star can help you find homes with a smaller footprint.

All that to say, it's worth checking out the website before it goes kaput. The good news is that industry organizations are lobbying the government to try to keep Energy Star around, so keep your fingers crossed.

Test your knowledge

Our last trivia question was about national parks – a coincidence despite my plans to visit one of our nation's jewels last week. The first of them was Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872 by a law signed by President Ulysses S. Grant.

The idea that Congress had a hand in creating our national parks got me thinking: how popular was this idea at the time? After some digging, I found out the answer: the voting record for the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act included 115 ayes, 65 nays, and 60 not voting. You might also find it interesting that of those who voted 'aye', 97 were Republicans and 15 were Democrats – a reminder that party politics have evolved significantly since the nation's founding.

Now it's time for everyone's favorite topic: taxes! This tax is a good one though.

Which country was the first to introduce a carbon tax?

Email me your guess, and I'll send one lucky winner a couple of One Work stickers!

I was in Palm Springs last week to enjoy the outdoors and stumbled onto a few things that you might appreciate. It was surprisingly windy through the Coachella Valley for one, and I saw a lot of wind turbines. Many homes had solar panels as well, which makes sense given how hot it is in the summers.

I was also struck by the water use: the juxtaposition of desert landscapes next to golf courses and even seeing which homes had grass lawns versus something more sustainable (I might go so far as to say "responsible") was wild to me.

The highlight was Joshua Tree National Park though. Definitely worth a visit for the views.