I recently came across a spot-on quote from Jigar Shah, an impressive man who leads the expansive Department of Energy Loan Program. Commenting on the clean energy transition, he shared this point about climate technology innovation, "Deployment drives innovation."
It's the truth. Breakthrough climate technologies are sweet. Climate technologies that attract mainstream adoption are sweeter because widespread usage is necessary to reduce carbon emissions in a significant way.
Across the country
less than 1% of the 250 million cars on the road are EVs
around 4% of households have installed rooftop solar panels
13% of homes have heat pumps
For climate technologies to catch on and grow from early adopters to the mainstream, climate technology manufacturers will need to humanize their technologies, highlighting the benefits for homeowners.
"Most people care more about what technology does for them rather than how cutting-edge the technologies are"
It reminds me of how Apple changed the world with the "There is an App for that" campaign back when the iPhone was first released. The advertising spoke about the benefits more than the technologies.