Built for Earth

*This is a re-published episode of an initial posting from 3/1/23 that was accidentally archived.*

Nate Kirchhofer, an experienced physical electrochemist, co-founded Biozen Batteries in 2019 where he is developing an organic electrolyte fluid for batteries intended to mimic the energy storage process of plants. Prior to starting Biozen, he received his PhD from UC Santa Barbara and was a part of two acquired start-ups. Now, the company is in the process of commercializing their technology to create bio-inspired grid-level energy storage.

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Episode Recorded on February 22, 2023

OnePointOne (OPO) is developing a revolutionary approach to vertical farming by using robots and AI to produce 250x more plants per acre while utilizing 99% less water.

Samuel Bertram is CEO and Co-Founder of OnePointOne. With backgrounds in robotics and advanced engineering, Sam and his brother, John, were looking to use their education to make a difference in the world. Together, they founded the company in 2017 to “fundamentally rethink how plants are grown, utilized, and optimized” to help the 1.1 billion people who began this millennium malnourished. In 2022 was recognized as a member of Forbes 30 under 30, specifically for social impact.

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Episode Recorded on March 16, 2023

Renewell is on a mission to develop Gravity Well’s across the country by repurposing inactive oil and gas wells into low-cost, green energy storage. With over 1,000,000 viable wells in the US, Renewell has the potential to transform these abandoned assets into a vast network of distributed clean energy storage.

Kemp began his journey at UT Austin where he studied mechanical engineering. After graduation, he went on to work for Shell where he coordinated large operations teams to lead projects across the Americas. Kemp then returned to the classroom to pursue his Master’s in Environmental Engineering at Stanford, where he founded Renewell in 2019.

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Episode Recorded on March 17, 2023

NEXT Energy Technologies is developing transparent photovoltaic window technology that allows architects and building owners to transform windows and glass facades into producers of low-cost, on-site, renewable energy for buildings. NEXT's technology is enabled by proprietary organic semiconducting materials that are earth-abundant, low-cost, and are coated as an ink in a high-speed, low-cost, and low energy process. The Santa Barbara based company has grown to over 30 people and secured partnerships with industry giants including sustainable apparel manufacturer, Patagonia.

Jeff Horowitz has been with NEXT Energy Technologies for over 6 years, where he has led scaling the business and developing industry partnerships. Since completing his Master’s at UC San Diego in 2008, he has spent over a decade in the climate technology industry, most recently as the Director of Clean Technology Development at the US-China Clean Tech Center prior to joining Next Energy. 

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Episode Recorded on March 8, 2023

Dimensional Energy, founded out of Cornell University in 2016, turns captured carbon dioxide into sustainable aviation fuel by using renewable energy. The company is on a mission to decarbonize the aviation industry, which is responsible for over 10% of the United States’ transportation emissions and about 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr. Brad Brennan is leading strategic technology and development of proprietary chemical reactors and catalysts to produce Dimensional’s main product, Syngas. He has been with Dimensional since 2019, and previously spent time as a researcher at CalTech and Yale, as well as a leading chemist and consultant across various industries.

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Episode Recorded on March 1, 2023

Bret Kugelmass is the founder and CEO of Last Energy, the most commercially successful next-gen nuclear company in the world. The company has 55 projects under development across Europe, with their first commercial project anticipated to be completed by 2025. He also founded the Energy Impact Center, a Washington DC-based research institute that focuses on climate restoration with a nuclear power specialization. As part of his work at the Energy Impact Center, he started the Titans of Nuclear Podcast, where he has interviewed over 400 experts in the world of nuclear power.

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Episode Recorded on February 23, 2023

Arpit Dwivedi is the CEO & Founder of Cache Energy. Cache is developing a long-duration, non-flammable energy storage material that can be safely stored at room temperature and transported easily. Founded just last year, Cache has already raised funding from leading venture capitalists and accelerators including Third Derivative and Evergreen Climate Innovations.

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Episode Recorded on February 16, 2023

"We’re still putting 162 million tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every single day and the accumulated amount is now trapping as much extra heat as would be released by 600,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every single day on the earth." - Former Vice President, Al Gore January 23rd, 2023

The scale of the climate crisis is alarming. We have to act NOW to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and to suck greenhouse gasses out of the sky. On this podcast, hear from the people who are building game-changing climate technology companies that will enable us to do just that. Join us for the ride.