My RE POV in July 2022: Fleet Electrification
The following point-of-view represents my current understanding of the renewable energy space as it is coupled to the larger Clean Energy Transition movement and ultimately being propelled by the existential climate crisis.
I am almost 18 months into this journey and it has been very rewarding. I have gone from being overwhelmed to feeling very confident about my own renewable path. I use these POV posts to formally update my point of view, or more specifically, to outline what I think the most interesting challenges in the Renewable Energy space will be for a Software Product Manager like me.
A *Clean* Energy Transition
When I first started posting articles to this site, I was admittedly a lost babe in the staggering expanse of the energy & climate woods. But early on, I discovered a term that helped me navigate my way: the Energy Transition. I quickly latched on to that concept and eventually posted an article here.
The Energy Transition (this latest one) is a comprehensive global agenda to convert things that currently depend on dirty fossil fuels to operate instead on clean, renewable power. And a great deal of that work will happen under the broad energy umbrella effort referred to as electrification.
I have been exploring electrification in depth for a while now and I have found it a convenient place to start thoughtful conversations with colleagues and friends. The key points to understand are that we can - and should - convert as many devices, machines and vehicles as possible over to run on electricity (vs. gas, diesel, coal, oil, kerosene, biomass, etc.) while at the same time making sure that all the electricity is being produced from clean, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and even nuclear.
Many of us are increasingly being exposed to the alternative options available to us in our homes or garages, but we also need to be conscious of the other side of the plug. If you are charging your EV with electricity originating from a coal plant, we cannot call that a true win! If your new home heat pump is still being powered by a natural gas power plant, that is not getting us all the way there.
Now that I better understand the electrification story, I have modified my previous go-to phrase to insert a critical adjective. All my conversations and communications now center on a Clean Energy Transition.
Organizing My Thoughts
At some point along this renewable path, I became convinced that I would spend the next decade of my product management career in the Renewable Energy space. And when you read about the scale of the problem and how long experts think it will take for us for effective mitigation and/or adaptation, the timeframes are long and sobering.
We will still be working on these problems long after I retire and likely long after I stop breathing (climate joke here?). Many of us are feeling ashamed of what we will be leaving behind for future generations. The more optimistic of us are rolling up our sleeves and doing what we can.
In terms of my own commitment, I realized I wouldn’t be able to able to ramp up, much less contribute to the conversations out there if I didn’t take care to keep good notes. I found Roam Research and it has become an indispensable tool for organizing all the information that I am gathering.
My Roam Research graph has become quite dense after 18 months of research
This is not an endorsement of Roam or any tool really. But I would recommend to anyone looking to navigate clean energy and/or climate change to find a note-taking solution that works for you and supports your long-term needs.
My Roam graph is more than just a dumping ground for keeping track of companies & organizations, links & articles, contacts & connections. All across my research notes, I’ve been tagging and cross-linking (some of which happens magically in tools like Roam) and over time, I have built up a rich database that I can now query to produce useful results for myself and others.
For example, this recent article on my recommended energy and climate-related podcasts was pulled from a search of several dozen shows that I had collected and consumed over the last year or so. I have shared similar recommendation lists with colleagues around books, subject matter experts, online communities and more.
I am not quite satisfied with Roam Research’s ability to export results from these queries and that is making it more difficult to share my data with friends and colleagues. But know that I want to! Please contact me if you think you could benefit from tapping into my company database.
And most importantly, as I’ve collected information about companies working on climate and energy solutions, I have been creating company profiles for each. So, with my attention now focused on Fleet Electrification, I am able to easily query for companies that specialize in EV Charging, are based in favorable locations (for me), and that are investing in enterprise software products as part of their portfolio. My expanding renewable energy research database has become an indispensable resource for me on my journey.
My Climate Action Venn Diagram
One of the original hosts of the How to Save a Planet podcast is Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and her recent contribution to the climate movement(s) is the Climate Action Venn Diagram which she promotes as a way to help folks (like me) find a way to contribute to climate solutions.
On her website, she lays out a straightforward approach for balancing what you’re good at, what brings you joy and what (climate) work needs doing. This exercise follows the Japanese ikigai exercise for finding meaning in one’s life.
I took a stab at this although I admit I was a little skeptical at first. It was harder to fill out the first two sections about myself than it was to list the energy/climate work that needs to be done. After several iterations and reviews with folks in my circle of trust, I was left staring at my answer, my calling! I had arrived at a conclusion that clarified the road ahead for me.
I am not comfortable sharing the entire diagram (apologies to Dr. Johnson for not supporting the Instagram campaign) but I have become an advocate for using this approach to help zero in on a potential career path.
I feel much more confident in my path forward, thanks in part to the Venn Diagram exercise which helped me align my strengths and my passion with the specific areas in the Clean Energy Transition that I feel I can have the greatest positive impact: Fleet Electrification.
Where I go from here
I am taking some time off this Summer to get away for a bit (a long way away actually) but before I go, I have queued up some research activities for when I get back.
I’ve queried my Roam Research database to identify about a dozen target companies that I would like to work for in a Product Management leadership role. For each of those companies, I have tracked down their senior Product resources - many of which have the very job I’m looking for!
In a few weeks, after I’ve become bored with staring at wild animals on the Serengeti, I will start a networking campaign to engage with these peers and begin to weave my way into their world.
Stay tuned.