10×13: John Woolard, former BrightSource President and CEO, on Solar Power

Are you curious about energy storage’s role in addressing renewable energy intermittency? Or about the “interesting trick” that natural gas must pull off to supplant coal and then in turn be overtaken by renewables? What about the tension between the greater societal benefits of renewables and some of the NIMBY opposition they face? And the need to address the challenges at the intersection of energy and water?

To hear a cleantech pioneer and former President and CEO of Brightsource opine on these and other determining factors in renewables’ growth, please watch our conversation with John Woolard in one of his last interviews before stepping down.

Each of these issues is individually, and more so collectively, playing at times conflicting roles in the growth of renewable energy, which is becoming an increasingly significant source of overall electricity production. Renewables may even be poised to overtake nuclear and natural gas as quickly as 2016, according to a new study by the International Energy Agency. Understanding and resolving these challenges, therefore, will help determine how effectively and efficiently the electricity sector will be able to provide affordable, clean, diverse, reliable power on which the broader economy relies.