# More 2024 trends: ESG, carbon certifications, curtailment, and AI

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2024-02-15
- Length: 42m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai

## Summary

Nat Bullard, formerly BloombergNEF’s chief content officer, joins host Shayle Khan to discuss decarbonization trends, highlighting how ESG has become a political 'third rail' in the US while fund flows stagnate. They analyze the decline in hydropower capacity factors due to drought, the persistence of coal additions in Asia, and the growing problem of solar curtailment in California. Bullard also details First Solar’s success with cadmium telluride technology under the IRA, the fragmentation of carbon certification standards, and the rising energy intensity of AI data centers.

## Chapters

- [2:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=130) Introduction: ESG as the new third rail
- [7:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=447) Sustainable fund flows and Larry Fink's letters
- [12:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=762) Declining hydropower capacity factors globally
- [16:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=990) Coal growth in China and Southeast Asia
- [20:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=1225) Solar curtailment and the need for redesign
- [26:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=1586) Fragmentation of carbon certification standards
- [30:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=1831) First Solar's success with cadmium telluride
- [33:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=2007) Biodiesel and animal fat supply in Europe
- [36:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai#t=2206) AI hype and data center energy consumption

## Topics

- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)
- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- BloombergNEF (company)
- Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (other)
- Morningstar (other)
- BlackRock (company)
- Energy Impact Partners (company)
- Energy Hub (company)
- Form Energy (company)
- First Solar (company)
- Electric Hydrogen (company)
- Latitude Media (company)
- Antenna Group (company)
- Atmos Financial (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [142. Decarbonizing with Energy Modeling](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2023-10-03-142-decarbonizing-with-energy-modeling) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [ESG, Sustainability, & the Future of Electronics w/ Tom Raftery](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2024-03-05-esg-sustainability-the-future-of-electronics-w-tom-raftery) (OnTrack)
- [Aligning Passion With Purpose: A Journey to Electrification and Sustainability](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2025-06-17-aligning-passion-with-purpose-a-journey-to-electrification-and-sustainability) (Moore's Lobby)
- [232 - Talking COP28 and Climate Science with, you know, a climate scientist! Roger Pielke, Jr](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2023-12-07-232-talking-cop28-and-climate-science-with-you-know-a-climate-scientist-roger-pi) (People of Packaging)
- [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)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2024-02-15-more-2024-trends-esg-carbon-certifications-curtailment-and-ai. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.