Climate Positive

In this episode of Climate Positive, Gil Jenkins and Kenny Gayles speak with Heikki Pöntynen, CEO of Norsepower, about how rotor sails are helping the maritime industry cut fuel use and emissions. By harnessing the Magnus effect with spinning cylinders mounted on cargo ships, Norsepower is delivering 5–25% fuel savings today—sometimes even more. Heikki discusses the company’s rapid growh, including a new factory in China to scale production, the evolving policy landscape at the IMO and EU, and why ship owners are increasingly open to wind propulsion. 

Links

• Norsepower Website
• Norsepower on LinkedIn
• Video: How do Norsepower Rotor Sails work?
• Press Release: COSCO Shipping partners with Norsepower to enable a step change in the global rotor sail market
• Article: How wind tech could help decarbonize cargo shipping | MIT Tech Review |January 2, 2025
• Article: These 150-foot-high sails could help solve shipping’s climate problem | The Washington Post | April 22, 2024

Episode recorded on September 3, 2025 

Email your feedback to Gil, Guy, Hilary, and Kenny at [email protected].

In this episode of Climate Positive, hosts Guy Van Syckle and Gil Jenkins are joined by Matt Traldi, co-founder and CEO of Greenlight America, to discuss how local dynamics are driving—or delaying—clean energy progress in the United States. Drawing on Matt’s background in grassroots advocacy and his transition to targeted climate action, the conversation explores how data-driven insights, strategic engagement, and community partnerships can accelerate renewable energy deployment. Matt shares practical examples of how Greenlight America is mapping local decisions, empowering advocates, and reducing friction in the permitting process.

Links:

• Greenlight America Website
• Matt Traldi on LinkedIn

Episode recorded June 10, 2025 

Email your feedback to Gil, Guy, Hilary, and Kenny at [email protected].

In this episode of Climate Positive, host Hilary Langer speaks with Aadith Moorthy, founder and CEO of Boomitra, a global soil carbon marketplace that pays farmers for adopting regenerative agriculture. Boomitra’s AI-powered platform uses satellite data to measure and verify carbon sequestration, turning healthier soil into long-term income for farmers. 

Aadith shares how attending a farmer’s funeral in India sparked the idea for Boomitra, how their marketplace is already increasing farm revenues, and when they expect to reach gigaton-scale carbon removal. A winner of the Earthshot Prize and a Time100 Next inductee, Aadith is helping redefine how we fight climate change—from the soil to the sky.

Links:

• Boomitra website
• Aadith Moorthy on LinkedIn
• Earthshot Prize | Boomitra
• Time100 Next 2024
• Boomitra’s South America Grassland Restoration Project Achieves Verra Registration

Episode recorded February 19, 2025

Email your feedback to Gil, Guy, Hilary, and Kenny at [email protected].

In this episode of Climate Positive, host Gil Jenkins sits down with Mike Berners-Lee—author, professor, and leading expert on sustainability—to explore the central message of his latest book, "A Climate of Truth." In a world spiraling deeper into climate, ecological, and social crises, Mike argues that the most powerful lever we have isn’t new technology—it’s honesty. The conversation unpacks why truth in politics, media, and business is essential to breaking the deadlock on climate action and building a livable future.

Links:

• Purchase “A Climate of Truth: Why We Need It and How To Get It” (Published April 2025)
• Mike Berners-Lee on LinkedIn
• Mike Berners-Lee Website

Episode recorded March 26, 2025

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In this episode, host Gil Jenkins speaks with Marshall Cox, co-founder and CEO of Kelvin, a national leader in intelligent HVAC solutions for legacy buildings in major cities. Marshall shares the origin story of Kelvin (formerly Radiator Labs) and discusses the company’s flagship product—the Cozy—an insulated radiator cover that maximizes efficiency and eliminates waste in steam-heated buildings. He also outlines Kelvin’s growth plans and explains how New York’s Local Law 97 is accelerating the push for building efficiency and decarbonization. The conversation explores Kelvin’s hybrid electrification strategy and its broader implications for cost-effective, resource-efficient building decarbonization. Additional topics include market expansion, Kelvin’s innovative financing model, and the importance of partnerships with HVAC contractors and other key stakeholders.

Bio:
Dr. Marshall Cox is the co-founder and CEO of Kelvin, a pioneer in sustainable building decarbonization and innovative HVAC solutions. He earned his M.S. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University in May 2004 and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Columbia University in 2013. Marshall holds over 10 U.S. patents and has published eight peer-reviewed papers in semiconductor devices, processing, and inorganic synthetic chemistry. He has received numerous awards through his work at Kelvin, including the MIT Clean Energy Prize, the Verizon Powerful Answers Award, and the Popular Science Innovation Award.

Links:

• Kelvin Website
• Kelvin on LinkedIn
• Marshall on LinkedIn

Episode recorded February 7, 2025

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The automotive industry is undergoing a major transformation, with electric vehicles poised to dominate the future of transport. But this transition requires more than just building great EVs; it demands a comprehensive approach to ensure our electric grid can reliably support the demand from millions of new EVs. In this episode of Climate Positive, host Guy Van Syckle speaks with Apoorv Bhargava, CEO of WeaveGrid, a company at the forefront of electric vehicle deployment and grid reliability. WeaveGrid helps utilities integrate EVs into our grid at scale, with a focus on elevating the EV driver experience and keeping charging affordable.  Their platform also enables better charging alignment with renewable energy availability and broader decarbonization. Guy and Apoorv explore how WeaveGrid has built an AI software platform to transform EVs from a grid liability into a valuable grid asset, developing key partnerships with both automakers and utilities. 

Links:

• WeaveGrid Website 
• Apoorv Bhargava on LinkedIn
• WeaveGrid on LinkedIn

Episode recorded  February 6, 2025

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In this episode of Climate Positive, hosts Gil Jenkins and Daniela Shapiro sit down with Tom Hunt, CEO, and Bret Labadie, CFO, of Pivot Energy—a Colorado-based renewable energy provider and IPP that develops, finances, builds, owns, and manages solar and energy storage projects. As an ECP portfolio company and Certified B Corporation, Pivot Energy seeks to leverage its renewable expertise to deliver innovative solutions that help businesses and communities achieve meaningful decarbonization. Tom and Bret discuss Pivot Energy’s growth, the rapidly evolving community solar market,  innovative financing strategies, and the power of corporate partnerships. They also explore the expanding role of distributed solar in the clean energy transition and what lies ahead for the industry.

Bios:

• Tom Hunt is the CEO of Pivot Energy, a role he assumed in 2019. During his tenure as CEO, the company has grown by strong multiples in revenue, income, project deployment, and number of team members. In 2021, he drove a process to bring in blue-chip firm ECP as new sponsor investors for the company, allowing for renewed pursuit of Pivot's mission of making distributed generation a key part of the fight against anthropogenic climate change. A long-time community solar market leader, Tom also currently serves as the Board Chair for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, the national community solar trade association. Prior to Pivot, he oversaw corporate development, public policy, and project construction/operations for the first national community solar developer. He has also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Colorado Governor's Energy Office and as a research chemist investigating biofuels synthesis methods.
• Bret Labadie is the CFO of Pivot Energy and has spent the last 18 years in escalating roles within energy finance, 8 of which have been concentrated in distributed solar. In his tenure in the renewables industry, Bret has closed debt and tax equity financings for over $600 million of distributed generation solar projects and has led three separate corporate capital processes, including the latest partnership between Pivot and ECP. Bret currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Pivot Energy, where he leads all financial, strategic, project finance, and capital market-related activities for the company.

Links:

• Pivot Energy Website
• Pivot Energy on LinkedIn
• Tom Hunt on LinkedIn
• Bret Labadie on LinkedIn
• The Kacie Peters Community Solar Garden
• Press Release: Pivot Energy Secures Over $450 Million in Major Financing of Distributed Generation Portfolios from First Citizens, ATLAS SP, and HASI (November 21, 2024) 
• Press Release: Pivot Energy Collaborates with Microsoft to Develop Up to 500 MWac of Community-Scale Solar Projects that Will Deliver Significant Benefits to Local Communities (August 8, 2024)
• Press Release: Rivian Partners with Pivot Energy to Build Community Solar in Illinois (May 22, 2024)

Email your feedback to Gil, Guy, Hilary, and Kenny at [email protected].

In this episode of Climate Positive, hosts Gil Jenkins and Guy Van Syckle chat with Zeyneb Magavi, Executive Director of HEET, a Massachusetts-based non-profit focused on designing a strategic evolution of aging gas systems into bidirectional ambient thermal grids, with the aim of driving rapid and equitable decarbonization of heating and cooling in urban areas. The enlivening conversation centers around the networked geothermal, a novel technology gaining traction nationwide that utilizes underground thermal energy systems to provide efficient and sustainable heating and cooling. Magavi breaks down how this innovative neighborhood-scale decarbonization solution works, highlights the business case, policy drivers, the benefits for communities, utilities, workers, and more.

Links:

• HEET Website
• Zeyneb Magavi on LinkedIn
• Zeyneb Magavi Bio
• HEET on  X
• HEET on  LinkedIn
• Article: Underground Thermal Energy Networks May Be About to Have Their Moment (Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2024)
• Article: How an Unlikely Coalition of Climate Activists and a Gas Utility Are Weaning a Boston Suburb Off Fossil Fuels (Inside Climate News, December 21, 2024)
• HEET Blog:  13 Massachusetts Communities Kickstart New Geothermal Networks with $450,000 in Funding from MassCEC (February 29, 2024)
• HEET Blog: Networked Geothermal: The National Picture (April 17, 2023)

Episode recorded December 17, 2024

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Growing demand requires growing supply. With more and more data centers and industrial facilities coming online, the United States will likely need 40 GW of incremental peak power generation – requiring hundreds of billions of dollars of related investment – just over the next few years. As large corporate buyers of power seek to meet their climate goals, they are increasingly looking at nuclear power as a scalable and cost-effective option. 

In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Brandon Oyer, Head of Americas Power and Water at Amazon Web Services (AWS). They discuss Amazon’s recent efforts to contract with existing large-scale and new small modular nuclear reactors, the benefits and risks associated with nuclear power, growing bipartisan support for nuclear development and much more. 

Links:

Amazon signs agreements for innovative nuclear energy projects to address growing energy demands

7 ways Amazon is thinking big about nuclear energy

David Goggins

Episode recorded November 25, 2024

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With rising investor demand and regulatory pressure in certain jurisdictions, company disclosure of their exposure to climate risks and their environmental impact has emerged as an expectation with tangible economic benefits. Increasingly, companies can improve their access to lower-cost capital by disclosing their exposure to climate risks and opportunities. Indeed currently over 23,000 companies now report through CDP, underscoring growing investor and customer demand for environmental data. 

In this episode, CDP CEO Sherry Madera joins hosts Chad Reed and Al Jacobs from the biodiversity-focused COP16 in Colombia, to explore the competitive advantages climate disclosures provide companies who proactively measure and manage their environmental impact and the role CDP plays in driving better carbon accounting practices.
 

Links

CDP

Corporate Climate Disclosure Has Passed a Tipping Point. Companies Need to Catch Up (World Resources Institute)

EPA on Climate-Related Disclosures

Episode recorded October 28, 2024

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