# Climate tech’s surprising bottleneck – land access

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2022-06-02
- Length: 39m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access

## Summary

Shayle Khan, partner at Energy Impact Partners (EIP), and Andy Lubershane, managing director of research at EIP, discuss land availability as a critical bottleneck for the energy transition. They analyze the massive land requirements for net-zero wind and solar deployment, the permitting challenges for new transmission lines, and the competition for underground 'pore space' for carbon sequestration and hydrogen storage. The conversation also covers the geopolitical constraints of mining energy transition metals and the limited supply of waste biomass for carbon removal.

## Chapters

- [0:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=2) Introduction: Land as the Hidden Bottleneck
- [5:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=320) Historical Context: From Photosynthesis to Fossil Fuels
- [12:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=731) Land and Transmission Constraints for Renewables
- [18:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=1098) Hydrogen Pipelines and Industrial Off-grid Power
- [24:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=1492) Underground Pore Space for Storage
- [28:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=1719) Metals, Mining, and Geopolitics
- [32:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=1973) Biomass, Arable Land, and Carbon Removal
- [36:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2022-06-02-climate-techs-surprising-bottleneck-land-access#t=2191) Conclusion: Key Risks to Net Zero

## Topics

- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)
- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Energy Impact Partners (company)
- Rondo Energy (company)
- Form Energy (company)
- Electric Hydrogen (company)
- Energy Hub (company)
- Bloom Energy (company)
- Nori (company)
- Arcadia (company)
- Advanced Energy Economy (company)
- Net Zero America Study (other)
- Superpower (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [What It’s Really Going to Take to Save the Planet: Lessons from 2024](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2025-01-02-what-its-really-going-to-take-to-save-the-planet-lessons-from-2024) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [EP 186: Mobile Bottlenecks, Skyrocketing AI CapEx, and the Compute Crunch](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2026-08-03-ep-186-mobile-bottlenecks-skyrocketing-ai-capex-and-the-compute-crunch) (The Circuit)
- [Powering the AI Era Sustainably: Breakthrough Climate Hardware Tech from 8 Innovators](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2025-12-04-powering-the-ai-era-sustainably-breakthrough-climate-hardware-tech-from-8-innova) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [Plasma Tunnel Boring Machines to Revolutionize Energy Transmission: Insights from Troy Helming, Founder and CEO of EarthGrid](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-06-20-plasma-tunnel-boring-machines-to-revolutionize-energy-transmission-insights-from) (Hardware to Save a Planet)

## Citing this page

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