Decarb Connect

Who will pay for industrial products with low or no carbon footprint? 

Received wisdom is that people won’t pay a green premium, and yet consumers and many manufacturers further down value chains are keen to have access to products that don’t carry high co2 intensity and see value in the environmental benefits of those products. So where these markets exist, albeit nascent, what levers exist that can help it take shape and come to scale? 

Join Alex Cameron, CEO of Decarb Connect and Jakob Krummenacher, Vice President of Clean Energy at LSB, for a discussion about how LSB is working both directly with existing clients and through extended value chains to create certified products that have a value and a client base willing to pay it. 

Here’s just some of the discussion highlights; 

1. What is driving LSB to create low carbon ammonia and downstream products?
2. How do projects like the EL Dorado CCS project and Houston Ship Channel blue ammonia project play into this work
3. Carbon intensity certification – the goal and process for securing independent certification
4. What does it mean to work through the end-to-end value chain to identify partners and future buyers?
5. How to price the reduction in carbon intensity and the different routes and scenarios delivering low and lower carbon intensity products

Jakob Krummenacher brings many years of experience in chem and fertilizer markets and in this video podcast we think you’ll also see the trader’s brain that he developed in his early career as an oil trader. 

If you’re looking for inspiration and insights into how we get past the mental block of marketing a green premium, especially in industrial products, then this is the conversation for you. 

Show links: 

-          Connect with Jakob Krummenacher, LSB

-          Connect with Alex Cameron, Decarb Connect (and maybe even suggest a podcast discussion theme)

-          If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why hundreds of members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to find their peers, identify the right solutions and to create high value collaborations that will deliver co2 reductions in our most critical industries. It’s the fastest growing network of its kind, so come and find out why

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Learn more about Decarb Connect

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. We events coming up in Houston, London, Amsterdam, Boston, Manchester and the opportunity to find the biggest brains in carbon management and your future collaborators. 

With 2025 underway, we are midway through what is the most significant decade in tackling climate and the energy transition. Listen in to this conversation between Alex Cameron, Founder of Decarb Connect, and Ben Moens, Managing Director of Engie Impact, as they explore the progress, headwinds and tailwinds impacting industrial decarb. 

You’ll get insights into 5 key technologies still set to impact industrial decarb, and also the route forward and expectations of where we will be by 2030. 

Key Takeaways: 

·       How the shift in delivery and attitudes around industrial decarbonisation will shape the next 5 years

·       The impact of the unforeseen crises of the 2020s and how we have responded to them 

·       How a growing need to focus on climate economics is driving tech adoption and strategy 

·       Renewables & electrification: there are strong fundamentals and momentum, but how can industrials manage market volatility?

·       Nuclear: a clear shift in sentiment but when will meaningful contributions be possible? 

·       Biomethane – a critical tool for many, but what active sourcing approaches will be needed? 

·       Hydrogen – how has the hype bubble and contraction redrawn the future market? 

·       Carbon capture - a niche solution which has gained substantial financial support 

·       End-to-end economics in a value chain, and ways to manage the transition through the downstream willingness-to-pay and transition risks 

Show Links: 

-          Connect with Ben Moens and the team at Engie Impact

-          Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 200 members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to share insights, meet partners who can accelerate their net zero plans and why it’s the fastest growing network of its kind. 

In this episode, Eva Musso – Head of Sustainability and Government Relations for BASF Canada, talks with Alex about why BASF Canada has had such a strong focus on employee and supply chain sustainability engagement programmes and the value of this activity to the business. 

Sustainability cannot be the remit of just one person, but many companies find the scale of the issue and the busyness of staff can be a block to meaningful engagement. So have Eva and her team achieved great results? 

We explore: 

• How Eva’s background in Government brought a different lens to the challenge
• The context and goals for the engagement element of her sustainability strategy
• The goals the Sustain YOU program and employee response
• The most innovative projects to come out of the Site Emission Reduction Challenge and why making it an employee-led competition made a difference

·       How employee-driven programs shift the culture of sustainability within a global corporation

·       How partnering with external organizations like Bull Frog Power & Iron and Earth, link to sustainability objectives 

·       How to engage suppliers to align with BASF’s decarbonization targets – and the role of BASF’s digital application for calculating the cradle-to-gate Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) 

For further links and information, check these links out: 

Show links: 

-          Connect with Eva Musso on LinkedIn and explore the BASF Canada sustainability site

-          Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

-          Join Eva and Alex in Toronto where she will be speaking at Decarb Connect Canada (Toronto, November 2024)

Recommended Links from BASF Canada:
Bull Frog Power

Iron and Earth

PCF 

Clean Commuting Program

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 200 members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to share insights, meet partners who can accelerate their net zero plans and why it’s the fastest growing network of its kind. 

• (00:01) - Introduction

In this episode Peter Dushenski, Managing Director of GlasCurtain (building materials producer), talks with Alex about the role that nimble and innovative companies can play in driving innovation and decarb activity by larger players. 

If you’re someone working in a start up or SME you’ll enjoy this as a clarion call for your work in the climate space – and if you’re working in a larger business, its worth listening in to hear examples of how nimble companies are adapting products for the low carbon market. 

The conversation explores what it will take to see more take up of greener/lower co2 materials in construction, how some of the seen and unseen barriers can be managed and GlasCurtain’s own growth in this space. 

Show links: 

-          Connect with Peter Dushenski and the team at GlasCurtain

-          Learn more about range of projects Peter is involved in

-          Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

-          Hear Peter as he speaks at Decarb Connect Canada (Toronto, November 2024)

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 200 members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to share insights, meet partners who can accelerate their net zero plans and why it’s the fastest growing network of its kind. 

  
1:15 Intro

2:34 Who is Peter Dushenski and his journey into the sustainable building with GlasCurtain

6:26 How GlasCurtain’s system reduces both operational and embodied carbon, contributing to decarbonization in building projects

8:39 Why startups are crucial for industry transformation

15:27 How do we help disruptive start-ups survive the early stages of business development?

18:30 The significance of critical mass and infrastructure in driving innovation

21:32 Creating Markets for Lower CO₂ Products

25:58 Balancing Aesthetics, Functionality, and Sustainability in building design 

29:32 Integrating Carbon Reduction with the Value Proposition

32.34 The Value Chain Challenge for Green Materials

38:03 Influencing the Decision Makers: Architects and Beyond

43.41 How do we keep the momentum behind decarbonisation 

46:44 Collaborating across industries at Decarb Connect Canada 2024

48:36 Closing remarks

• (01:15) - Intro

Carbon Capture Utilization is a growing category of tech and in this episode Alex Cameron, CEO of Decarb Connect, talks with one of the most advanced disruptors in the space about how they have created a commercial business model for co2 recycling that creates real financial as well as climate value. 

Seeing waste (in the form of co2 in particular) as a solution vs problem is the starting point – right now the team uses carbon dioxide emissions from any industry to lower the carbon intensity of concrete and more low-co2 materials are being unlocked through their work. Listen in to hear about their journey and these key takeaways: 

• What is the range of emissions that Carbon Upcycling can work with and what is their particular client focus?
• How do they see Industrial circularity developing and how do they fit into this? 
• Dig into the economics of CCU ad how Carbon Upcycling complements CCS
• You’ll also explore their business strategy and the business model that aims at a true system-level impact and not just product development
• The conversation also goes into the scaling of critical climate hardware and how Apoorv and team are getting through each stage of scale so successfully

Here are some links and resources to enjoy as you listen to the conversation: 

-          Connect with Apoorv Sinha and the team at Carbon Upcycling

-          Learn more about the tech, projects and plans of the team

-          Connect with Alex Cameron, CEO of Decarb Connect and suggest a podcast guest or theme

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, take a look at the discussions about industrial decarbonisation taking place across our global event series. And while you’re at it, explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and see if this high-value membership could conntect you to the partners and answers you need in industrial decarbonisation. 

Listen in to this conversation between Fred Clerc, Interim MD of Urban Future Lab (part of NYU Tandon School of Engineering), and Alex Cameron, Founder of Decarb Connect as they talk about the accelerator program UFL runs and its outsized performance results. UFL has welcomed 170 companies into its accelerator programs the last few years, and these have gone on to raise more than $2.5bn and have an 85% success rate.. great stats by anyone’s measure. 

You’ll hear about the hardtech landscape that Fred and team focus on and what they have learned in the last few years about the drivers of success for climatetech. UFL works with early stage companies helping hem scale both the tech/IP of their solution, but also the commercial partnerships and business models they need to scale essential climate tech through series A, B, C and beyond. 

Key topics: 

• How can we overcome the blocks to scaling complex, but essential, decarb hardware solutions?
• Who should be stepping into the lead investor role?
• What are we seeing change in the approach of private and philanthropic capital?
• What changes and opportunities is Fred seeing in the investor community?
• With a focus on their c2v cohorts, what pattern is the UFL team seeing in the companies that are able to go beyond Seed/Series A and really get to scale?
• Examples of key tech that has been through the program and on to funding/scale success

Show links: 

-          Connect with Fred Clerc and the team at Urban Future Labs

-          Learn more about the portfolio of tech companies working with UFL

-          Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

-          Connect with Urban Future Labs across their social links: Newsletter Sign Up • Linkedin • Instagram

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, join us at Decarb TechInvest in Boston (September 10-11, 2024) or take a look at the discussions about industrial decarbonisation taking place across our global event series.. 

Join Eduardo Gomez Mendoza, SVP and Head of CRH Ventures as he shares his perspective on how we can scale the most-needed hardware tech to deliver industrial decarbonisation. 

Welcome to this special edition of the Decarb Connect podcast featuring one of the 50+ speakers at Decarb Techinvest. We will be exploring, through a few conversations, how we scale up (beyond series B) and truly commercialise the hardware tech that transform our most essential, but co2 intensive, sectors.

Eduardo Gomez Mendoza, SVP and Head of CRH Ventures, took on the mission to launch and grow CRH Ventures back in 2022 – in this conversation we talk about how his and the team’s focus has developed, along with his view of how we can scale the most-needed hardware tech to deliver industrial decarbonisation. We take a look at CRH Ventures’ 4 main areas of interest - Decarbonisation, Water, Circularity and Productivity… important to the core business as well as their sustainability goals. It was great to hear about the 4 announced investments in companies helping to create more sustainable outcomes for industry, there is also a a strong pipeline with more investments due to be announced this soon.

Listen in to get Eduardo’s perspective on these points:

• Asset-heavy tech require significant capital to scale – can early tech show they can get the unit economics to work profitably at scale?
• What times of tech roadmaps and leadership team capabilities are essential for them?
• More capital is available for climate tech and hard tech and investors are more comfortable with asset-heavy businesses – but how are the expectations and needs of investors changing?
• The value in having strong technical and commercial teams around the world – what can CRH deliver that other CVCs may not?
• How are FOAK projects moving from plans to reality (with examples)

Show Links: 

• Connect to Eduardo Gomez Mendoza, Head of CRH Ventures and learn more about CRH Ventures
• Connect with Alex Cameron, Founder of Decarb Connect and find out more about our work with the leaders in industrial decarbonization
• Learn more about Decarb TechInvest and the other speakers and guests joining Eduardo onsite

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast –join us in Boston from 10-11 September 2024 for Decarb TechInvest. 

Eduardo is one of over 50+ speakers from across the industrial decarb tech and investor space. This is the only event that brings both high quality investors (including Eduardo) together with best in class hardtech teams at Series B+. Join us and help drive the momentum and partnership models that will define the next decade of industrial climate tech expansion. 

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Join Alex Cameron, Founder of Decarb Connect and Anne Lyck Smitshuysen, partner in DynElectro for a discussion about how scaling climate tech can make new hardware platforms cost effective and profitable, even in early stages. Anne is a fuel cell specialist and a member of the Forbes 2023 30 under 30 list – she holds a Masters in Physics and Nanotechnology and is focused on bringing unique Power-to-X technologies to market which produce carbon-neutral green fuels.

So much to check out in this conversation, including: 

•                    How do we change and challenge the perception that climate tech can’t be economical of profitable

•                    What does Anne’s experience of the funding a start up tell us about how to prove to investors that  new tech risk is being managed effectively and that early scale developments will be delivered on time?

•                    What is the market for the green fuels created by their Power-to-X platform?

•                    Hydrogen is a market that already sees high demand, synthetic fuels will add to this demand so what does this mean for price, risk and opportunity?

•                    How does DynElectro compete in the electrolyzer market – specifically, what is it about the tech that allows them to make green fuels competitively?

•                    What are the projects and partnerships have they formed (both with investors like Yara Growth Ventures and other stakeholders) 

Show links: 

• Connect with Anne Lyck Smitshuysen and learn more about DynElectro’s projects and the associated climate/energy benefits
• Get in touch with Alex Cameron and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect in industrial decarbonization 
• Check out some recent news articles about DynElectro’s 11m Euro grant for their next electrolyzer project 

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

Explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), where members share insights and experiences as they accelerate their net zero plans. Check out our full offering and learn more about our members, summits, reports and webinars. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, take a look at the discussions about industrial decarbonisation taking place across our global event series. 

If scaling essential decarb tech is something you’re focused on, join us at Decarb TechInvest in Boston from September 10-11 2024 or in Toronto (November) for Decarb Connect Canada. Keep an eye on all our meetings and events at www.DecarbConnect.com 

If you’re exploring using AI to reduce energy spend and co2 output, or are investing in this space, listen in to Alex’s conversation with Clifford Federspiel, the co-founder and President/CTO of Vigilent, an AI platform focused on optimizing energy use and reducing carbon emissions in data centers. With a background in mechanical engineering and AI/control systems research and applications, Cliff and his co-founders have built a business over 20 years that now operates in 31 countries and serves mission-critical data centres in a variety of settings. 

Listen in for these takeaways: 

-          Detail on the benefits of AI in data centre and industrial environments – manpower, power constraints, capex, water usage and energy 

-          How to adapt to AI systems, what’s needed in terms of controls – but also what expect and how to maximise their value

-          Ensuring teams are able to work through change and overcoming sceptism about AI’s ability to optimize so efficiently and specifically

With the global data centre market expanding rapidly, and the energy usage of the average data center increasing to 50 or even 100 MW, managing the efficient use of energy (and its relative co2 output) is essential and not only to the company that owns the facility. Listen in to learn more.. 

Links: 

Show links: 

-          Connect with Clifford Federspiel and learn more about Vigilent’s case studies and climate/energy benefits

-          Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

-          Watch a short video about how the Brevik plant is pursuing CCS

-          Read up on the latest CCS project to be launched, this time in France

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonization around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

Explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), where members share insights and experiences as they accelerate their net zero plans. Check out our full offering and learn more about our members, summits, reports and webinars. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, take a look at the discussions about industrial decarbonisation taking place across our global event series. You could the community of leading decarbonizers at conferences in Berlin (June), Boston (Our TechInvest event in September), Toronto (November), the UK or Houston or at any number of meet ups, site tours and virtual meetings. 

In 2023 the University of Cambridge published details that quantified how manure and synthetic fertilisers emit the equivalent of 2.6 gigatonnes of carbon per year which is more than the emissions from global aviation and shipping combined. Read up on that article in Nature Magazine here. 

Global fertiliser production is both essential and also hugely energy-intensive, yielding around 1.5% of total global CO2 emissions. CCm Technologies is a UK-based company scaling up to provide zero carbon fertilisers by taking CO2 waste streams and combining them with organic materials. With plans to triple production in the next few years, and projects in development in India and Europe, listen in to learn more about the FMCG partners who are supporting CCm’s scale up and the opportunity for their cost-comparative fertiliser products. 

Takeaways: 

• The origins of CCm Technologies and the commercialisation of CCU technology
• How partnerships with major retail and FMCG brands have helped scale CCm’s plans
• How the CCU tech works and the business model underpinning it
• Why the “green premium” isn’t such a challenge for CCm’s business model and growth
• Future plans and scale up

Show links: 

-          Connect with Pawel Kisielewski and follow his work

-          Read a profile on CCm Technologies by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation

-          Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect

-          Read up on the pilot between Nestlé, Cargill and CCm Technologies to turn cocoa shells into low carbon fertiliser

-          Watch CCm Technologies on the BBC’s Countryfile program

Learn about our Sponsor: Janno Media

Many thanks to our production partner and sponsor Janno Media for their support in delivering this podcast. They continue to facilitate great conversations that connect us with our audience, and their skills and expertise mean we can concentrate exclusively on generating great content to engage, inform and inspire.

Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? 

Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support the acceleration of industrial decarbonisation around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. 

Explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), where members share insights and experiences as they accelerate their net zero plans. Check out our full offering and learn more about our members, summits, reports and webinars. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, take a look at the discussions about industrial decarbonisation taking place across our global event series. You could join the community of leading decarbonisers this year, at conferences in Boston (Decarb TechInvest, 10-11 September), Toronto (Decarb Connect Canada, 5-7 November). Or join us next year at Decarb Connect UK, Decarb Connect North America , or Decarb Connect Europe. We also offer a number of meet ups, site tours and virtual meetings for you to join. Sign up to the Decarb Connect newsletter to stay updated.