In this edition of our Rising Stars Winner Interviews, we speak with Kiana Michaan, a climate storyteller and advocate working at the intersection of clean energy, community, and communication. From championing agrivoltaics as both a climate and land-use solution to tackling misinformation through her media work, Kiana represents a new generation of energy leaders — those who understand that technical innovation alone isn’t enough. It’s the stories we tell, and who we tell them to, that will ultimately shape the pace and impact of the energy transition.
You’ve positioned agrivoltaics as both a climate solution and a land-use innovation. How do you see storytelling shaping public perception of emerging technologies that many people have never encountered before?
Storytelling is a critical tool for education on environmental challenges, climate solutions, and emerging clean energy technologies. We need to share the stories of farmers experiencing the benefits of solar on their farms and communities benefiting from community solar. Communicating about clean energy tech is important as often people’s knowledge of clean energy technologies comes from limited coverage in the media, especially in a time when there is a lot of anti-clean energy rhetoric, with no basis in science, coming from the federal government in the US.
Considering that agrivoltaics is a fairly emerging market in the US, there is less widespread awareness about its unique potential as a climate solution. Agrivoltaics is an exciting and innovative clean energy solution. Agrivolatics– co-locating solar and agricultural land– provides a plethora of benefits to both the solar and agricultural activities. Agrivoltaics can be done with animal grazing, pollinators, or crops utilizing the land between the solar panels. Grazing sheep and pollinators eliminate the need to mow. The solar arrays create a mirco-climate that provide climate resiliency benefits to crops, including greater soil moisture retention, shading in extreme heat, and wind protection. Agrivoltaics provide an efficient land use climate solution that also provides additional & stable revenue for farmers. The ability to co-locate these two important needs is really exciting. We need the work of many climate and energy storytellers and communicators to share stories of clean energy innovations especially to communities who may have limited access to clean energy resources.
Through your podcast and environmental media work, you’ve tackled topics from energy justice to offshore wind. What responsibility does a Rising Star in energy branding have when it comes to countering misinformation?
While there is unfortunately an undeniably excessive amount of misinformation online and in the media these days, the reality is we still have the foundation and basis of scientific facts that support the clear path forward to reduce global emissions through the deployment of clean distributed energy resources. Disinformation can be countered with truth and by calling out falsehoods & injustices in structures of power. Especially in a time when there is so much misinformation around energy that is politically motivated. The need is greater than ever for literacy and understanding of clean energy systems and technologies, in order to increase public support for climate friendly energy policies. So energy branding wise, there is a responsibility to tell the science based stories that show the reality of the energy injustices and pollution that continues to affect frontline communities and highlight now we can implement clean energy solutions in a systemically just way.
You’ve combined technical solar permitting knowledge with creative communications. How important is it for the next generation of energy leaders to bridge technical fluency and narrative clarity?
I think the need to bridge technical fluency and effective narrative storytelling in energy is not a new issue. We see this particularly around climate science and science communication. There has been a long-standing challenge of how do we have effective science communication that moves people into action.
The data has always shown that people are more moved by stories which they can emotionally connect to rather than facts or figures. So, I think the question is often how can people feel inspired to engage in their local communities around energy whether that’s buying into community solar, attending local meetings, engaging in local energy policy proceedings, understanding available tax credits or other beneficial financial structures that are available to you. There is a need to communicate energy stories in a way resonates personally to how energy impacts everyday life.
I think that technical fluency and narrative clarity is key to effectively communicating the many innovation solutions of the clean energy transition. The reality is we have all of the technical solutions and policy tools that we need to successfully address the climate crisis and ensure better energy access and quality of life globally. The main roadblocks to reducing emissions and implementing a more rapid and widespread clean & just energy transition are largely political, financial, and institutional. There is a clear need for more widespread and accessible education about clean energy technologies and their benefits. That said, there is a great opportunity for technical experts to share their experiences and stories of how clean energy is impacting and changing communities for the better. Whether it’s through lower to no cost energy bills, more consistent access to power, increased revenue, improved farmer operations, improved air quality, or a plethora of other benefits, energy leaders are working to best communicate these stories that share the human side of technological innovation.
Your work emphasizes community, connection, and uplifting others. How do you define leadership in energy branding in a way that goes beyond visibility and into real systems change?
Having had the opportunity to speak to many incredible leaders in the energy space, through my podcast and through my broader work, I really believe that community is one of the most vital solutions we have. In terms of translating the visibility of storytelling into impact, I think it’s about taking the action step from just enjoying environmental/energy related media to getting involved in your local communities. Most people can start engaging in energy solutions even in their own household. Is solar for your home or community solar available to you? Are you eligible for efficiency upgrades in your home? Can you engage with local organizations and/or politicians that support clean energy? I think communications work that uplifts opportunities and pathways for people to become more civically engaged are crucial. All that said, some of the best leadership happens behind the scenes. There are so many community organizers and energy leaders working to move the needle and uplifting others. I think we will continue to see more creativity in energy communications branding as the work continues to engage and involve everyone in the clean energy transition.
As someone focused on equitable clean energy deployment, what does “impact” truly mean to you — and how should the energy industry measure whether its brand aligns with justice and accessibility?
There’s a number of ways to measure and define impact when it comes to equitable clean energy deployment. It can be measured in megawatts and gigawatts of clean energy deployed into the grid. Beyond more technical metrics, I think we also need to be measuring the human impact. For example, workforce development—how many people are trained and hired within a given clean energy program or project? How are communities benefiting? Are frontline communities receiving benefits–financial and otherwise– from clean energy projects? Is a program or policy actively improving quality of life communities through lower energy costs, more reliable access to electricity, lower local emissions, and better air quality? Do communities have decision making power in their local energy systems? In the case of agrivoltaics, are farmers experiencing increased resiliency for their crops, increased revenue from the solar, and low cost to no cost energy bills for their farmer operations? Results are seen in the day to day improvements that the end users of energy systems experience and it is our job to communicate these stories. Impact in clean energy work is much more than just building solar, reducing emissions, and adding megawatts of clean energy onto the grid. The important impact is how communities and farmers benefit and will continue to benefit from solar for decades to come.
As far as brand & marketing goes, it is important the branding steers away from ‘greenwashing’ and is reflective of the actual impact of the work that has taken place.