The stormy weather that engulfed San Francisco this week served as a metaphor for policies that have buoyed battery, solar and electric-vehicle investments and a host of climate tech innovations.
Aside from occasional references to “policy uncertainty,” the hundreds of clean tech professionals at this week’s BloombergNEF Summit largely looked past the first-month actions of the Trump administration. Most speakers highlighted bullish market trends and a strong global outlook with the optimism that has always been a hallmark of the clean tech industry.
Prominent among them was Galvanize Climate’s Tom Steyer, who once ran for president on a climate platform.
“People around the world are choosing new, better, cheaper technologies. Is that going to change? No,” Steyer said. More than 90% of new electricity generation installed last year was renewables he crowed. Solar and battery costs have dropped by 80% in the last decade. “Fossil fuels, adjusted for inflation, have not gone down in price in 100 years.”
Focus on EVs
Trump may kill EV incentives, but globally, electric vehicles show no signs of slowing. In China, the world’s largest auto market, sales of EVs have surpassed those of internal combustion engines for the first time. EVs are cheaper than ICEs to build there, said Rachel Muncrief of the International Council on Clean Transportation.
The same crossover could occur in the US by 2029, she said. Other EV stats: EVs last year accounted for 20% of new vehicle sales globally, 10% of sales in the US and an eye-popping 43% in Silicon Valley, as PG&E chief Patti Poppe shared.
Green China
China accounted for 81% of the world’s $112 billion in clean tech factory investments last year, BNEF’s Albert Cheung said in his kickoff presentation. Overall clean tech investments grew 11% to $2.08 trillion, but the market is diverging into a “two-speed transition,” he said.
More than 93% of investments went to mature technologies such as renewables, EVs, storage and power grids, where “the technology works and the business models are scalable,” Cheung said.
Just 7% went to emerging technologies such as industrial decarbonization, hydrogen, and carbon capture, where investments declined by a collective 23% in 2024.
Brewing battle
A battle is shaping up between California, which has led the nation in clean energy and air standards, and the Trump administration. One speaker who did take on Trump’s policymaking was the state’s top energy official, David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission.
“Never discount the state of California and what we’re able to achieve,” said Hochschild defiantly. “We are going to get to 100% clean energy in this state. I am absolutely confident of that. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”
“The thing that the Trump administration is going to have to contend with is that the private sector sees this as well. The energy transition can be slowed, but it can’t be stopped.”
