One of the most efficient ways to get to a net-zero economy is to generate electricity from renewable sources, and then make as many things run on electricity as possible. But, as more end-use services (transportation, heating, industry) are electrified, and the source of electricity transitions from fossil fuels to renewables like solar and wind, the electricity supply chain - the pathway from electricity producers to consumers - will need to evolve, too.

A 2018 government report projected that even with innovation to make electric technologies more efficient, US electricity consumption will go up 40% by 2050. So utilities-side innovation will need to address how we meet that rising electricity demand even when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, and how we transmit and distribute that electricity to a growing network of end-users.

Monica Varman, a climate technology investor at G2 Venture Partners who specializes in investments in grid resilience, joined Climate Now to explain how the electricity sector works and how it is evolving: What is the pathway from creating electricity from a renewable or fossil fuel source, to us being able to flip a switch in our home and have the light come on? And how are companies innovating the electricity generation-transmission-distribution supply chain to prepare us for a carbon-neutral future?

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Visit climatenow.com for the transcript.

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