Experts Only

This week on the pod we speak with Mike Casey, president and founder of the cleantech public relations firm Tigercomm. Tigercomm has been involved in some of the most significant political and public affairs battles in the energy sector. Mike has a background in politics, having worked on the Dukakis (1988) and Clinton (1992) campaigns and later as Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Our conversation centers on the critical -- but often overlooked -- role that communications play in America's transition to a clean energy economy.

This week on the pod, we speak with Miranda Ballentine, CEO of the Renewable Energy Buyers’ Alliance (REBA). REBA works with businesses and organizations—Google, Facebook, and GM among them—seeking to procure renewable energy across the US. Our conversation centers on how the buying power of these large energy consumers is changing energy markets and driving America’s shift to clean energy economy.

On this episode of Experts Only, host Jon Powers talks with Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)and Ethan Zindler, head of Americas at Bloomberg NEF. Bloomberg NEF produces and BCSE underwrites the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, which provides up-to-date, accurate market intelligence about the broad range of industries that are contributing to the country’s move towards cleaner energy production and more efficient energy usage. The discussion highlights some of the insights in the 2019 Factbook and how businesses, advocacy organizations, and governments are making that research actionable as we drive toward a clean energy economy.

This week on the pod, we're speaking with Amy Francetic, Managing Director of Energize Ventures. Amy is a business executive and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in the energy and technology. She is a successful entrepreneur, fundraiser, and investor, who just last year founded Energize Ventures: a $165 million venture fund, one of the largest first-time venture funds raised in Chicago in recent years.

This week, we're talking to Dr. Jennifer Gerbi, Associate Director for Technology and a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). In addition to supporting program development, recruitment, and coordinating project management across the Agency, her programmatic focus at ARPA-E includes improving energy efficiency and management of buildings via advanced sensing systems and storage, novel insulating materials for windows, as well as renewable energy generation via photovoltaics. Dr. Gerbi talks with us about how the agency's unique culture encourages innovation and current efforts to bring these exciting projects to market.

ARPA-E's 10th annual Energy Innovation Summit brings together leaders in industry, academia, and government to think about America’s energy challenges in new and innovative ways. This year’s Summit will take place from July 8-10 at the Gaylord Rockies. To learn more about the Summit and to register, visit www.arpae-summit.com.

For more information on the Pilot Request for Information, visit bit.ly/PILOTRFI for more information.

This week we're speaking with Andrea Luecke, President and Executive Director of the Solar Foundation. Andrea started out as the sole employee for The Solar Foundation in 2010 and has since expanded the organization from a shoe-string budget to a multi-million dollar set of programs dedicated to advancing solar energy growth.

Prior to The Solar Foundation, Andrea ran the City of Milwaukee’s Department of Energy Solar America Cities program, “Milwaukee Shines,” implementing policies aimed at increasing solar energy capacity.

For more about The Solar Foundation, visit https://www.thesolarfoundation.org/.

This week on the pod, Jon Powers sits down with Dr. Lucas Joppa, Chief Environmental Officer at Microsoft. They discuss Joppa's background studying ecology and biodiversity, how that led him to a career at Microsoft.

He currently leads the company’s environmental sustainability efforts as well as the AI for Earth project, a 5 year, $50 million cross-company program dedicated to AI research and technology in agriculture, water, biodiversity, and climate change.

Before becoming the Chief Environmental Officer, he worked as a researcher for Microsoft at the intersection of environmental and computer science. He has a bachelor's degree in Wildlife Ecology and Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a PhD in Ecology from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and volunteered with the PeaceCorps in Malawi.

This week on the pod, Thom Byrne speaks to Daniel Oros, co-founder of G2VP. Byrne and Oros discuss the state of venture capital and the sustainable companies G2VP invests in.

In 2009, Daniel joined Kleiner Perkins and led investments for the Green Growth Fund before co-founding G2VP. Daniel’s primary focus has been on rapidly growing technology companies in the industrial, consumer, and financial services sectors. Dan is a Board member at Fictiv, an observer at Turvo, and led G2VP’s investment in Carbon. He also serves as a Board member at Optoro, a Green Growth Fund portfolio company. Prior to this, Mr. Oros was a Vice President of the Goldman Sachs Special Situations Group and a founding member of its Alternative Energy Investing team.

Mr. Oros holds a B.S. degree, with distinction, in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford, with a concentration in Financial and Decision Engineering.

Experts Only is hosted by CleanCapital. Learn more: www.cleancapital.com/experts-only Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

To learn more about G2VP’s investment Portfolio check out: https://www.g2vp.com/

This week on the pod, Jon Powers speaks to Michael Terrell, Head of Energy Market Development at Google.

Michael leads energy market strategy at Google, where he is part of the business team responsible for the company’s data centers and global energy portfolio. In this role, Michael has advanced new approaches to Google’s procurement of 3 gigawatts of renewable power, pioneered innovative renewable energy purchase programs in the U.S. and overseas, and delivered landmark projects such as converting a coal plant to a data center.

In their discussion, Terrell and Powers talk about the market forces driving—or, in some cases, being shaped by—innovative corporate sustainability strategies.

Michael Terrell holds a B.S. in Natural Resources from Sewanee, the University of the South; an M.E.M. in Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan School of Law. Prior to his work at Google, he held positions as Special Assistant for Outreach and Strategic Planning for the White House Council on Environmental Quality; Policy Aide for the U.S. Department of State; and law clerk for the U.S. Department of Justice environmental enforcement division. He also served as Deputy Chair for the Energy and Climate Change Working Group of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Experts Only is hosted by CleanCapital. Learn more: www.cleancapital.com/experts-only Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

To learn more about Google’s sustainability initiatives, visit: https://sustainability.google/

Resources mentioned include the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance; learn more at: https://rebuyers.org/

This week on the pod, Jon Powers speaks with Rob Davis of Fresh Energy to discuss the link between pollinator insects and solar energy.

In their discussion, Davis and Powers explore bees’ impact on the environment and human agriculture, and how solar farm designs can help a pollinator population in crisis.

Rob Davis began his career working with technology start-ups and created the international crowdsourced campaign that launched the Firefox web browser. He now works as Director of the Center for Pollinators in Energy at Fresh Energy where he helps accelerate the nation’s transition to the use of clean and renewable energy.

Davis’ work on pollinator-friendly solar has been featured in trainings by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Conservation Training Center, U.S. Department of Energy, the Electric Power Resource Institute, and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center.

Experts Only is hosted by CleanCapital. Learn more: http://www.cleancapital.com/experts-only Follow on Twitter: @CleanCapital_

Learn more about pollinators and solar: https://fresh-energy.org/

Watch Rob’s TED talk: https://fresh-energy.org/beeslovesolar/

Catch Rob at the following upcoming events:

Agrivoltaics: Harvesting Multiple Benefits from Solar Sites on April 1: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/agrivoltaics-harvesting-multiple-benefits-from-solar-sites-tickets-56923291096

Read his latest Blog on why #BeesLoveSolar: https://www.organicvalley.coop/blog/bee-friendly-solar-is-win-win-win-for-people-planet-pollinators/