Nobody in the West Knows How to Respond to the ‘Electrotech Revolution’

A new stack of electricity technologies — including solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, and power electronics — seem to be displacing fossil fuels across China and the developing world. Are we watching an irresistible technological revolution happen? Or is something weirder going on — something that has far more to do with China’s singular scale and policy goals than physics and economics? 

Kingsmill Bond argues that a global electrotech revolution has already begun — and that it will soon sweep Europe and the United States, too. Bond is an energy strategist at Ember, a London-based electricity data think tank. He previously worked for more than 30 years as a financial market analyst and strategist, including at Deutsche Bank and Citibank. 

On this week’s show, Rob and Jesse talk with Bond about what the electrotech revolution looks like worldwide in 2025, why electricity will win out against fossil fuels, and how American and European climate policy should respond to this moment — and if they can respond at all. Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. 

Mentioned:

The Electrotech Revolution

Ember’s research on solar-plus-batteries

Oxford’s Doyne Farmer on how clean energy tech will get cheaper

Jesse’s upshift; Rob’s upshift.

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This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …

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Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

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