This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. All quotations are drawn from an interview with Professor Bartlett; minor fixes have been made only for obvious transcription errors. Even when not directly quoted, all commentary is either directly from Professor Bartlett or based on his direct quotes.
What happens when emerging markets become the main engine of clean-technology deployment as the United States and other developed economies retreat from ambitious climate policies? How should students and early-career professionals prepare for a sustainability landscape shaped as much by Artificial Intelligence and venture capital as by government programs and international agreements?
Here at American University’s Kogod School of Business, Professor David Bartlett is the go-to source for students interested in technology, innovation, and climate. His course, Sustainability and Technology, explores business applications of advanced technologies in decarbonization, renewable energy, water management, and related areas. The course draws students from Kogod’s MSSM (Master of Science in Sustainability) program and other AU programs pursuing sustainability-related careers in the private, public, and NGO sectors. As a longtime scholar of global business and international technology commercialization, he has written extensively on ag-tech (agricultural technology) clusters, fin-tech (financial technology) accelerators, vertical farming, and other related topics.
In this interview, Professor Bartlett addresses the expanding role of emerging markets in clean technologies and the growing importance of AI literacy for the next generation of sustainability leaders.
KSR: “You’ve written about ag-tech clusters and fintech accelerators. What’s the throughline for inclusive tech development in emerging markets—and how does sustainability fit in?”
Bartlett: “My earlier interest—before ‘sustainability’ became central—was global technology commercialization, especially the role of emerging markets. The connection to sustainability is clear: China has become, by a significant margin, the global leader in clean technologies. This past year, China installed more solar photovoltaic capacity than the rest of the world combined. Meanwhile, the United States has backtracked on national sustainability policy.”
Professor Bartlett points to China’s experience as emblematic of a tension between sustainability and economic development in emerging markets. While China is heavily investing in solar, wind, and nuclear energy, the country remains dependent on coal and other fossil fuels to power its huge manufacturing-centric economy. Similarly, India and other large emerging markets pursuing energy-intensive growth paths face tradeoffs between decarbonization and development.
Yet he sees this tension as an opening rather than just a constraint, one that creates a sense of both urgency and opportunity. Emerging markets may "leapfrog" barriers to entry through commercialization and scaling of advanced technologies that originate in developed economies like Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. Through rapid deployment of green technologies, emerging markets can meet rising energy demand while protecting natural resources.
KSR: “If you could pull one policy lever to accelerate sustainable growth—i.e., economic expansion that actually internalizes sustainability—what would it be?”
Bartlett: “If we focus on governmental levers, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is instructive. Despite its name, the IRA was fundamentally a climate bill that used unprecedented federal incentives—tax credits and related measures—for EVs and batteries, green hydrogen, geothermal, and more.”
Enacted in 2022, the IRA demonstrated how industrial policy tools can quickly mobilize private capital to spur deployment of clean technologies—while also showing how vulnerable such policies are to political reversal. In its first two years, the IRA catalyzed substantial private sector investment in American clean energy. In particular, the IRA included tax incentives that triggered a surge in electric vehicle sales. But the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of 2025 rescinded the EV tax credits and other components of the IRA, slowing the momentum of clean technology investment in the US.
KSR: “Coal plant retirements in the United States have accelerated. Does that mean market forces will naturally bring cleaner energy online, or do we still need strong regulation?”
Bartlett: “Coal’s role—in both employment and power generation—is a shadow of its former self. Policy mattered (e.g., power-sector emissions rules), but the main driver was market forces: the rise of natural gas and the fracking revolution, which cut gas prices and undercut coal’s competitiveness. There is continued political rhetoric about ‘clean coal,’ but investor appetite for that fossil fuel industry is limited.”
Parallel with the replacement of coal-fired power plants with natural gas, the falling cost of solar photovoltaic has boosted the share of renewable energy in the U.S. power sector. Globally, solar PV has achieved remarkable scale, reaching grid parity with fossil fuels in many countries. The United States still trails Europe in offshore wind and other renewable energy sources, underscoring the need for predictable regulations (e.g., permitting, interconnection, transmission build-out) to accelerate project deployment.
KSR: “Given extreme weather and rising energy demand, does the current pace of innovation match our sustainability challenges? If there’s a mismatch, where is it most acute?”
Bartlett: “If you look at global data, installed capacity of solar and wind has grown dramatically over the past two decades. But the overall balance between renewables and fossil fuels has barely changed during this period, reflecting the continued growth of aggregate energy demand. Incremental improvements won’t suffice; we need true technological breakthroughs to alter the renewable/fossil fuel mix.
Professor Bartlett believes that solar photovoltaic offers the greatest upside potential in renewable energy technology. While wind power is a relatively mature technology (albeit with promising innovations in floating offshore platforms), solar PV is poised for advances in materials science that promise to raise the current efficiency level of 20-22 percent to 33-35 percent–a technological development that would be truly transformative in the renewable energy sphere.
Equally important is grid modernization and infrastructural development to connect new renewable energy capacity to users. Around the country, one frequently observes wind turbines that are not spinning- not because of a lack of wind, but because the current grid structure cannot absorb the power. This demonstrates the importance of transmission and permitting reform to support the construction of interstate lines in the United States. Here, the US can take a page from China's book, which is deploying long, high-capacity transmission lines to move power from distant solar frameworks to coastal load centers.
KSR: “Vertical farming and smart greenhouses are attracting attention in East Asia and beyond. Can these models reshape climate-sensitive agriculture, or are they still too costly to scale?”
Bartlett: “For a while, I viewed vertical farming as a clear win: weather-independent production, pest control, data-driven optimization, proximity to consumers (shorter supply chains), and drastically reduced water use with recycling. It seems especially promising for food deserts and distressed urban areas.”
However, the data from his own research on vertical farming was sobering. The research found that there was a high failure rate in the first wave of venture-capital-funded vertical farming companies, with roughly 85% of those enterprises going bankrupt. Many of these early movers in vertical farming were over-engineered (with a high capital expenditure), while competing in commodity markets (e.g., lettuce) where consumers weren’t willing to pay premium prices.
He sees more promise in a second wave of vertical farming companies, noting that the success stories in this cohort have pursued more pragmatic strategies emphasizing right-sized technologies, heightened operational efficiencies, and diversification into high-value crops. One example is Oishii, a Japanese strawberry company that grows its entire supply in indoor vertical farms. For the kind of product quality and year-round supply that Oishii provides, consumers are willing to accept a higher price premium. Professor Bartlett remains optimistic about vertical farming as the business model and crop portfolios continue to evolve.
KSR: “Business schools emphasize strategy and finance. What competencies should MBAs and MS students build to lead in sustainable technology?”
Bartlett: “At Kogod, we’ve leaned into AI. Like it or not, our students need basic fluency in AI—both capabilities and ethics. We use licensed tools in class, and we require disclosure forms to ensure transparency about AI use. Practically, AI accelerates tasks like charting long-run solar PV trends and summarizing technical documents—great for analysis, but not for outsourcing thinking. Paired with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and drone/satellite data, ‘GeoAI’ is especially powerful for sustainability analytics.”
Professor Bartlett argues that AI literacy is fundamental. There's no stopping the growth of artificial intelligence, so he and his faculty colleagues are stressing the importance of ethical boundaries and transparency regarding the use of AI in their classrooms. He emphasizes the need to engage correctly and responsibly, noting that using AI for research is one thing, but using it for content creation is quite another. For students contemplating careers in sustainability, AI is a fundamental tool—especially when fused with geospatial data to monitor and manage environmental systems. ‘Geo AI’- AI applied to geospatial data- is a backbone for sustainability analytics and can serve to capture massive amounts of data, aiding in future technological breakthroughs.
KSR: “Which standards or policies will matter most for scaling sustainable tech—data rules, carbon border adjustments, or product standards? How should startups prioritize?”
Bartlett: “It depends on the industry. For hard-to-abate sectors—steel, cement, chemicals, autos—decarbonization pathways (e.g., green hydrogen, electrification) are ‘low-hanging fruit’ in terms of climate impact, so that’s priority one. For consumer-facing firms (e.g., Consumer Packaged Goods businesses, retail), delivering credible ‘green’ products that customers will actually choose (possibly at a small premium) is paramount.”
On the policy side, he highlights the way rigorous environmental regulations and product standards exert a "pull" effect on global multinationals. For example, the European Union’s greenhouse gas mandates, green chemical rules, and packaging regulations set a de facto standard for both European companies and non-European companies operating in that region. For globally active companies, compliance with the strictest regulatory regime may be less costly than adopting different standards across separate regions. In the United States, California’s demanding regulatory standards play a similar role in the domestic economy.
When asked where capital is likely to go over the next decade, Professor Bartlett notes that solar and wind are the most established renewables, with the former exhibiting rapid scalability and steady efficiency gains. Geothermal power is garnering mounting investor interest in the United States. That development reflects the complementary infrastructure of the oil and gas industry, opportunities for repurposing of inactive wells, and innovations in drilling technology that expand the geographic domain of geothermal energy. Meanwhile, advances in small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors are spurring private sector investment in nuclear power.
Professor Bartlett is frank about the headwinds: AI is reshaping labor markets, some climate policies are being rolled back, and traditional federal career paths in sustainability have narrowed. Yet he repeatedly circles back to the breadth of opportunities outside Washington, from state and local governments to NGOs and the private sector, and to the way new tools like AI and GeoAI can shorten the distance between ideas and implementation. He closes with a sentiment of both caution and urgency. The past few years have been the hottest on record, and we're all in a collective race against time. We're "flirting with thresholds scientists warn against,” and that sense of urgency should be a driving force in the swift deployment of advanced technologies, grid and permitting reforms, and policy change.