Why I Hate S-Curves: An Interview with Rob West from Thunder Said Energy

This week, our guest is Rob West, founder and CEO of Thunder Said Energy. Founded in 2019, the research firm aims to help decision-makers find economic opportunities in the energy transition. Rob lives nine time zones away in Estonia and is an uber-productive energy expert who covers a wide range of topics in his consultancy. 

Rob explains why he hates S-curves, since they are often used to assume future growth rates for new energy technologies instead of properly analyzing what is realistic.  

Here are some of the questions Peter and Jackie asked Rob: What do you think of the recent sell-off of clean energy stocks and the reasons behind some company failures? How much do you think the electricity demand will grow due to AI? Will there be investment in new natural gas-fired generation to meet this demand growth, despite the concerns about carbon emissions?  Why do you think solar is the most important energy source in the world? Why do you see power grids as the biggest bottleneck in the energy transition? Do you think naturally found hydrogen in the earth’s subsurface, also called “gold hydrogen,” could be the next “gold rush”? 

Other content referenced in this podcast:  

• Thunder Said Energy website, see past research notes and sign up for daily email: https://thundersaidenergy.com/ 
• FT article “More cleantech companies fail as fundraising challenges emerge (ft.com),” September 2, 2024 

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