With oil prices at the time of this interview–April 2026–close to $100/ barrel because of the war in Iran, will we see higher deployment of renewable energy and electric vehicles (EV)?

Wesley Herche, co-founder of Sustainability Decoded and director of energy and sustainability solutions at Prologis, where he deploys solar, battery storage and commercial EV charging infrastructure for the world's largest companies, provides a global perspective on the status of clean energy and the effects of high oil prices.

Topics discussed include:

• Why large U.S. companies are investing in renewable energy and how high oil prices could affect them.

• EV purchases make up 80% to 90% of new car sales in certain parts of the world. Will this trend continue?

• How China's aggressive deployment of solar will impact oil prices there.

• How Pakistan is insulated to some degree by its solar deployment.

• Why gasoline prices have jumped so quickly in the U.S.

Learn more about host Lisa Cohn at https://cleanenergywriters.com/

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Enel North America's Blue Jay Agrivoltaics project in Grimes County, Texas spans 2,700 acres, produces 270 megawatts (MW) of solar and includes a 59-MW battery storage system. It uses sheep for vegetation management and includes pollinator habitat, veteran-managed apiaries and drone maintenance. Jesse Puckett, director of sustainability projects and community affairs at Enel North America describes how the project helps improve the company's business, bottom line, the environemnt and the local community.

Millions of people are driving electric vehicles (EV) which, with bidirectional charging, can provide value to the electrical grid and back up homes and businesses during outages.

What's standing in the way of unlocking these benefits? Steve Letendre, an  energy economist, senior advisor to the Vehicle-Grid Integration Council and the founder and editor of V2G News, says bidirectional charging technology is trapped behind one-way rules. He offers policy ideas that could advance bidirectional charging.

About the Guest:

Steve Letendre's work centers on unlocking the value of distributed energy resources, especially bidirectional EVs to accelerate the clean energy transition. He has led regulatory affairs at two leading V2G companies (Fermata Energy and Nuvve), where he developed and executed cross-functional strategies to shape state and federal policy, influence regulatory proceedings and align market rules with emerging technologies.

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Learn about host Lisa Cohn at CleanEnergyWriters.com