Climate Positive

America’s dramatic shift towards renewable energy generation in remote areas will require a substantial transmission build-out in the years ahead, potentially doubling or tripling the current grid. In other words, there is no transition without transmission. While it's crucial that we expedite the construction of large power lines at a much faster clip, there's another technology solution that demands equal attention. This parallel approach involves the use of Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs). GETs offer a modular, cost-effective path to enhancing our existing infrastructure while also significantly amplifying the efficacy of new transmission investments. To gain deeper insights into how GETs can help us meet the needs of the 21st-century electric grid, accelerate the clean energy transition, and lower energy costs, Gil Jenkins and Manish Chaturvedi spoke with Julia Selker, Executive Director of WATT Coalition.

Links:

WATT Coalition 

• WATT Coalition Website
• What are Grid Enhancing Technologies?
• Whitepaper: Building a Better Grid: How Grid Enhancing Technologies Complement Transmission Buildouts (WATT Coalition & Brattle Group, April 20, 2023)
• WATT Coalition LinkedIn
• WATT Coalition X

More on Julia: 

Julia Selker is Executive Director of the WATT Coalition and Director of Policy and Strategy and Chief Operating Officer for Grid Strategies. She previously worked for the Business Council on Sustainable Energy, the technology startup Faraday Grid, and interned with Congressman Peter DeFazio focused on energy and climate policy. Prior to coming to Washington, DC, Julia worked on the launch of Monterey Bay Community Power through the public relations agency Miller Maxfield, Inc., in Santa Cruz, California. Julia previously worked for the Bulleit Group, a San Francisco public relations agency. She has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Reed College. 

• Julia Selker LinkedIn
• Julia Selker X
• LinkedIn Post: The grid fairy godmothers of the energy transition (Julia Selker, August 3, 2023)

Episode recorded December 8, 2023

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

In our final episode of 2023, we sit down with Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXT), a leading provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects globally. With over 30 years of experience in the field, Dan has been a driving force in advancing climate tech solutions in the U.S. and around the world.

In the conversation with Gil, Dan reflects on Nextracker's incredible success over the past ten years, including its successful IPO earlier this year; they talked at length about the company's steadfast customer-focused mindset and how that has driven so many industry-first solar tracker innovations in their mission to transition the world to affordable, renewable power. Dan also talked about Nextracker's remarkable initiatives with U.S. manufacturing expansions over the past three years and the importance of public policy engagement for our industry. He also touched on a few non-U.S. markets that are key to his optimism for the future of solar power. We even found time at the end to have fun talking about great guitar music and his new musical products venture, AmpMojo.

Links:

More on Dan 

• Dan Shugar Bio
• Shug Speaks Blog
• Press Release: Nextracker CEO Dan Shugar Named S&P Global’s ‘Chief Trailblazer of the Year’ at the 25th Annual Platts Global Energy Awards (December 12, 2023)
• Dan Shugar on LinkedIn
• Video: Dinner with Dan - Intro - 'Solar Myths Debunked"
• Website: AmpMojo - Dan’s new musical products company
• Video: Introducing AmpMojo

Nextracker, Inc. 

• Website
• Nextracker American Manufacturing Microsite
• Nextracker on LinkedIn
• Nextracker on X
• Press Release: Nextracker Opens New U.S. Factory with Dedicated Capacity in Las Vegas with Unimacts (September 11, 2023)
• Video: NX Horizon Hail Pro - The Gold Standard for Hail Risk Mitigation

Episode recorded December 8, 2023.

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

The private sector has been a critical driver of increasing clean energy on the grid. Since 2008, corporate renewable purchases have helped bring online nearly 150 GW of new renewable energy capacity globally — more than the total power-generating capacity of France. Despite these purchase commitments, overall global emissions from the power sector have remained flat at a time when we need to see a sharp decline. At the same time, extreme weather events have exposed vulnerabilities in the reliability of the current fossil-fuel powered grid that aren’t yet being addressed at sufficient scale.

Earlier this year, a group of leading companies focused on accelerating decarbonization while also bolstering grid reliability partnered with RMI, a leading climate NGO, to launch the Zero-Emissions | Reliability Optimized Grid Initiative, or ZEROgrid, with the objective of developing a comprehensive roadmap to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions grid.

In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Mark Dyson, Managing Director at RMI, about the challenges ZEROgrid aims to address, the objectives it seeks to achieve as well as the concept of applied hope.

Links:

ZEROgrid

Corporate Action Playbook

Amory Lovins (RMI): Applied Hope (May 2019)

Episode recorded November 28, 2023
Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

In this week's episode, Gil speaks with Matt Rogers, the founder and CEO of Mill, a startup revolutionizing how we tackle food waste. They delve into the inspiration behind Mill, discussing how the idea came about and the parallels to Matt's previous work as the co-founder of Nest, the company behind the iconic learning thermostat and other smart home products. Matt discusses the functionality of Mill's kitchen bin, which transforms food scraps into nutrient-rich animal feed, and how the company is bringing this groundbreaking product to the market. He explains the emissions profile of Mill's appliance and the positive impact it can have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Also, Matt shares his insights on the crucial role of technology and innovation in driving sustainable solutions.

Links: 

• Mill Website
• Mill Impact Stats
• Matt Rogers Twitter
• Matt Rogers LinkedIn
• Mill LinkedIn
• Mill Twitter
• Mill Instagram
• Mill TikTok

The episode originally aired on June 15, 2023.

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

According to the International Energy Agency, the world is expected to build more renewable projects in the next five years as we have in the past 20. But this rapid and massive growth in the renewable energy space has proven increasingly challenging for insurers of these assets, who are struggling to deal with mounting losses from natural disasters (which themselves are often driven by climate change) as well as growing demand for new products that insure against other emerging risks such as production and revenue variability. 

In this episode, Chad Reed sits down Jason Kaminsky, CEO and co-founder of kWh Analytics, perhaps the leader in delivering data-enabled Climate Insurance for zero-carbon assets. In the discussion, Chad and Jason get into the weeds on the recent evolution of the Climate Insurance industry, kWh’s Fifth Annual Solar Risk Assessment as well as data-enabled solutions to address the most pressing risks facing the U.S. solar industry today. 

Links:

2023 Solar Risk Assessment

Solar Revenue Put

From Niche to Necessity: Insuring Renewable Energy

Episode recorded October 31, 2023
Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

With the recent proliferation of sometimes conflicting standards around sustainability and impact reporting, companies across the globe are seeking trusted partners to help them determine and measure sustainability metrics that are truly material to the business and its stakeholders and also generate real value. To this end, Workiva – a global software-as-a-service company – has developed a suite of products to help companies make real progress on their sustainability journeys. 

In this episode, Chad Reed sits down with Mandi McReynolds, VP of Global Environment, Social and Governance at Workiva and the host of the ESG Talk podcast. Chad and Mandi discuss the at times differing perceptions of company executives and sustainability practitioners, the emerging role of AI in sustainability reporting and the evolving nomenclature surrounding efforts to generate and report sustainable impact.

Links:

Workiva ESG

Workiva 2023 Global ESG Practitioner Survey

Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI)

Episode recorded October 4, 2023

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

We all depend on the cold chain to keep our foods, vaccines, and medical equipment safely chilled from production to use. This energy intensive process requires constant monitoring. As CEO of Therma, Manik Suri deploys small mobile sensors that monitor conditions to optimize energy efficiency and quality along the cold chain. His work is infused with his family’s legacy of service to others, and his team is dedicated to leveraging technology to improve the well-being of both people and planet. 

In this episode, Hilary Langer is joined by Therma CEO Manik Suri to discuss the impact of the cold chain on human health, food waste and the planet. 

Links: 

Therma

The Role Of Businesses In Creating More Environmentally Friendly Cooling Systems (forbes.com)

Manik Suri on LinkedIn

Beth Simone Noveck

Episode recorded September 13, 2023 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

At this point, the science is very clear. If we want to limit global warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, we must not only reduce existing emissions, we must also at some point become net negative – meaning that we are removing more carbon from the atmosphere than we are putting into it. 

In this episode, Chad Reed sits down with Climeworks CFO Andreas Aepli to discuss the promise of Direct Air Capture (DAC) to provide a scalable, measurable and permanent solution for carbon removal. In addition to discussing how DAC works and both the DAC facilities Climeworks already has in operation and the DAC hubs in United States they are now developing, they delve into the viability of the business model for carbon removal, the need for supportive policy incentives and the imperative to establish transparency and trust for a truly scalable and tradable carbon removal credit market. 

Links: 

• Climeworks
• Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
• U.S. Department of Energy selects three out of three DAC Hub applications that Climeworks participates in

Episode recorded August 22, 2023 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

In this episode, Chad Reed speaks with Calvert Impact's President and CEO, Jennifer "Jenn" Pryce, and Beth Bafford, Calvert Impact's Vice President of Syndications and Strategy. Calvert Impact is a global nonprofit investment firm that helps investors and financial professionals invest in solutions that people and the planet need. During its 28-year history, Calvert Impact has mobilized approximately $5 billion to build and grow local community and green finance organizations.

Jenn and Beth discuss Calvert Impact’s history, evolution, and core mission. They also delve into Calvert Impact's unique nonprofit model, financial self-sufficiency, and structure. Chad, Jenn, and Beth explore the impact investing space overall and highlight the distinctions from ESG investing. Finally, Jenn and Beth share stories about what drew them into the impact investing field before closing with a discussion around Calvert Impact's work spearheading the Climate United coalition, which is participating in the EPA's National Clean Investment Fund $14 billion grant competition announced earlier this summer.

Links: 

• Jennifer Pryce Bio
• Jennifer Pryce LinkedIn
• Beth Bafford Bio
• Beth Bafford LinkedIn
• Calvert Impact LinkedIn
• Website: Calvert Impact
• Calvert Impact 2022 Impact Report
• Website: Climate United
• Climate United Press Release (June 21, 2023): Leading sustainable energy and community finance organizations join forces to pursue National Clean Investment Fund mandate

Episode recorded August 15, 2023 

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

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

In this week’s episode, we explore the world of cement.  Concrete is the second most consumed material on earth behind water and is essential to the infrastructure that will enable the transition to renewable energy. But producing cement, which is the material that glues concrete together, is incredibly carbon intensive. As CEO of Fortera, Dr. Ryan Gilliam looks to nature and how coral and shells are strengthened by imbedding ambient carbon. Fortera’s first plant, in Redding, California, will come online by the end of 2023 and Fortera cement is construction ready. 

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Gilliam discusses how he partners with existing concrete suppliers, why the first iteration of Fortera failed to gain traction, and how he has built a business savvy team to bring Fortera cement to market. 

Links: 

• Fortera
• Dr. Ryan Gilliam on LinkedIn
• Video of Fortera Redding, California Plant
• McKinsey: Spotting Green Business Opportunities in a Surging Net-Zero World

Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at [email protected] or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Episode Recorded August 9, 2023

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