Inevitable

Today's guest is Jacob Nathan, CEO and Co-Founder of Epoch Biodesign.

Plastics are among the most visible and ubiquitous environmental issues plaguing Earth today. Hundreds of millions of tons of plastics are produced every year, but they weren't mass produced until after World War II (that's just one human lifetime ago). As a byproduct of the fossil fuel industry, plastics contribute significantly to the value of a barrel of oil, they create considerable emissions when produced, and they release carbon into the atmosphere when they are incinerated at the end of their lifecycle. So while plastics are a key building block of our modern world, they're also very problematic. 

Epoch Biodesign is on a mission to scale and industrialize biology to solve the world's biggest climate challenges, starting with an enzyme that eats plastic and converts it to industrial chemicals. The company is currently working with unrecyclable plastics that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration. The resulting molecules from their unique biological process can be used to create new products like adhesives, cleaning products, and fertilizers. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• An overview of plastics, their origin, widespread uses, and impacts on the environment
• Plastics and the fossil fuel industry
• Problems associated with recycling 
• End of life pathways most plastics take 
• Epoch Biodesign's solution to addressing the plastic problem 
• How enzymes can break down plastics and convert them into useful chemicals with a reduced carbon footprint 
• The company's cell-free fermentation process and target outputs 
• CO2 emissions associated with producing and incinerating plastic chemicals 
• The origin of Epoch Biodesign 
• Jacob's background and how he met his Co-Founder, Douglas Kell 
• Douglas Kell's extensive background in systems biology, machine learning, etc. 
• How Epoch Biodesign uses machine learning and tooling to design a computing platform for plastic-eating enzymes 
• Future applications of the company's proprietary methods of designing biology 
• How Epoch Biodesign's software enables them to scale and solve climate problems faster
• The company's business model 
• Adjacent opportunities including textiles 
• Epoch Biodesign's seed round and future financing 
• Who Jacob wants to hear from and open positions at Epoch Biodesign

Enjoy the show!

You can find Cody on Twitter @codysimms, @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 15, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Ketan Joshi, a writer, data analyst and communications consultant working on climate and energy. 

Ketan Joshi has been at the forefront of clean energy for eight years, starting out as a data analyst working in wind energy, and expanding his knowledge base to community engagement, climate science and new energy technology. He’s written for the Guardian, The Monthly, ABC News and has penned several hundred blog posts digging into climate and energy issues, building a position as a respected and analytical energy commentator in Australia. Ketan is also the author of Windfall: Unlocking a Fossil Free Future, and has a large following on social media. 

Before coming on the show, Ketan and Jason had a few heated exchanges on Twitter. Despite what appeared to be opposing views around climate, this conversation shed light on an important lesson about the polarization of social media platforms. When we actually take the time to meet and discuss these topics live, we might find out that we’re in agreement more than we think. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Ketan's background and personal climate journey
• His experience working in data science, communications, community engagement, and climate policy within organizations
• How his feelings about climate and theory of change have evolved over time
• The level of urgency of the climate crisis and the level of disruption we should expect in order to adequately address it
• Our dependence on fossil fuels
• The rate of change in emissions reductions and some of the impacts associated with it
• Benefits of engaging community members in climate solutions
• The role of corporate decision making in heavily fossil reliant companies
• How society impacts individual decision making
• Benefits of reducing carbon emissions and examples where it's not easy to do
• The role of natural gas in the clean energy transition
• Ketan's thoughts about carbon removal and its role in the transition
• Transforming carbon offsets
• Ketan's thoughts on nuclear and if we should be deploying it at scale
• Who he'd like to hear from

Enjoy the show!

You can find Jason on Twitter @jjacobs22, @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 7, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Jeff Nobbs, CEO and Co-Founder of Zero Acre Farms.

It turns out 20% of our daily caloric intake is made of vegetable oils that are not only harmful to human health, but also have a massive impact on the environment and deforestation. So when thinking about systems problems that impact climate change, how we produce oils for food consumption is a big lever that's yet to be pulled. Zero Acre Farms is on a mission to change that. The company is developing a new category of healthy oils and fats made by fermentation. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Broad overview of vegetable oil 
• Environmental impacts of different vegetable oils 
• The shift away from animal toward trans fats in the 1980s & 1990s 
• Drivers of vegetable oil growth, including consumer advocacy groups and large fast-food restaurants  
• An overview of Zero Acre Farms 
• How the startup is solving the problem of vegetable oils using fermentation 
• An overview of the fermentation process for food
• The company's direct-to-consumer launch and future plans to scale to restaurants and packaged foods 
• Jeff's background in food, health, and nutrition 
• Zero Acre Farm's externalities 
• How the company creates its cultured oil
• Their seed round, series A, and future funding sources 
• Zero Acre Farms as a Public Benefits Corporation (PBC) their initial product has just become available on their website, you can try cultured oil for yourself and see what you think.

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @codysimms (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 14, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Cris Stainbrook, President of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF). 

ILTF is a national community-based organization serving Indian nations and Indian people in the recovery and control of their rightful homelands. They work to promote education, increase cultural awareness, create economic opportunity, and reform the legal and administrative systems that prevent Indian people from owning and controlling reservation lands. The organization has provided over $98 million of grants, loans and services over the past 20 years. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• An overview of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF)
• How the organization came to be and its mission to restore rightful land ownership of 90 million acres
• Cris' personal climate journey
• His background in fisheries biology and transition to Indian land
• The role of the federal government in Indian land ownership
• The Dawes General Allotment Act
• ILTF's tactics at the beginning and how they've changed over time
• Importance of education for Indian history and land issues
• The organization's theory of change and how they measure progress
• Changes on tribal land related to climate
• How climate impacts day-to-day life of tribal members
• How the tribes became interested in carbon markets and some of the issues they're working to overcome
• The Indian Land Capital Company, a CDFI subsidiary of ILTF
• Buyer incentives for the tribe's carbon credits
• The National Indian Carbon Coalition and its assessment of additionality credits, setting prices, finding buyers, etc.
• What Cris sees as the biggest barriers to moving forward on climate change
• His thoughts on government's role in solving certain issues
• Cris' message to listeners both in terms of the problem of climate change and Indian lands

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @jjacobs22  (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded June 30, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Mujeeb Ijaz, Founder and CEO of ONE. 

Widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) not only face technical challenges, but also psychological barriers that consumers need to overcome. ONE has the audacious goal to design a battery that can double the range of EVs while using sustainable and safe materials, avoiding nickel and cobalt in particular. The company is also working to develop and localize raw material supply chains to bring down costs associated with this clean energy solution. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Mujeeb's background in EVs and battery innovation at Ford, A123 Systems, and Apple
• Battery range anxiety and its impact on widespread adoption
• ONE's solution to double the range of EV batteries to 600 miles
• Density of charger networks and the implications for EV drivers
• Predictions for the used market for EVs
• Impact of local driving conditions on EV range and comparisons to ICE vehicles
• Impacts of location and climate on battery range
• ONE's latest accomplishments, including their partnership with BMW
• The company's two types of batteries: Gemini and Aries
• Differences between battery chemistries like lithium ion, manganese, and nickel cobalt
• How ONE avoids nickel and cobalt in their batteries
• The predictability of commercial fleets like package delivery trucks and buses
• Cost structures associated with different battery chemistries
• ONE's go-to-market roadmap and funding to date
• Gaps in talent and training for battery manufacturing
• ONE's focus on sourcing the right talent and workforce development efforts

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @codysimms (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 11, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Marcius Extavour, Chief Scientist, Executive Vice President Energy and Climate at XPRIZE.

XPRIZE is a global future positive movement of over a million people and rising. They are a trusted, proven platform for impact that leverages the power of competition to catalyze innovation and accelerate a more hopeful future by incentivizing radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. The organization began supporting climate projects with a $20 million prize for breakthrough technologies to convert CO2 emissions into usable products. Now, they’re hosting their largest prize initiative in history funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, and awarding $100 million for Carbon Removal solutions.

This episode covers XPRIZE’s mission, how they decide on and evaluate competitions, key takeaways from their climate prize experiences, and how they measure success. We also dig into some of the nuances of the carbon removal conversation, how Marcius deals with naysayers, and why he focuses on solving the climate crisis instead of punishing polluters. 

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @jjacobs22  (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 1, 2022.

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• An overview of XPRIZE and the organization came to be
• XPRIZE's model expansion over time 
• Where XPRIZE's money comes from 
• How the org's external partnerships help XPRIZE support an innovative ecosystem
• Marcius' climate journey and background in academia, utility, policy, and fundraising
• An overview of the AAAS Science & Technology Fellowship Program
• Characteristics XPRIZE uses to determine where prizes can be helpful, including impact, an identifiable problem, public awareness, and a specific and measurable goal 
• Differences between short and long-term impact 
• The NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE and key takeaways from the competition
• How XPRIZE started to explore climate topics 
• The moral hazard argument 
• XPRIZE Carbon Removal, the org's largest incentive prize in history with Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation
• How Marcius responds to critics 
• XPRIZE's plans to improve CDR measurements
• Differences between measurement processes and tooling across solutions MRV 
• 3 evaluation factors, including operational performance, cost, and scalability 
• Marcius' predictions for how CDR can develop 
• His thoughts on the role of voluntary and compliance markets 
• Marcius' stance on whether we should punish polluters or focus on solving the climate problem
• How people can get involved with XPRIZE and the org's new Carbon Removal cohort
• The community's role in moving things forward, growing globally, and maintaining inclusivity

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Marcus Lehmann, CEO and Co-Founder of CalWave. 

Our planet’s surface is mostly covered by ocean, but harnessing the power of our ceaseless water world has not been a considerable part of the energy mix to date. CalWave is on a mission to provide reliable, cost-effective ocean wave technologies for sustainable energy access. The company’s award-winning technology transforms the motion of ocean waves into electricity to equip communities of scale with localized power.

In this conversation with Marcus, we discuss the potential of wave energy and unpack some of the challenges to operating in dynamic and complex marine environments. We also cover Marcus’ background, CalWave’s origins, the company’s roadmap for getting to market, and how wave power and offshore wind power can be combined in the future. 

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @codysimms (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 5, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Kerry Bowie, Founder, President and Executive Director of Browning the Green Space.

Browning the Green Space (BGS) is a voluntary coalition of leaders and organizations primarily in the New England region that share a passion to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in clean energy. The organization's goal is to increase the participation and leadership of people in underrepresented groups, including people of color and women in the clean energy space and beyond. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Origin story of Browning the Green Space (BGS) 
• Overview of the nonprofit and its mission
• Kerry's background in environmental engineering, environmental justice, and consulting
• BGS's focus on the 5 C's: careers, companies, capital, contracts, and communities 
• The intersection between environmental, social, and economic justice issues 
• The importance of cultural connections in community development 
• The threat of climate change to underrepresented communities on a day to day level 
• Differences of energy burden between urban centers and BIPOC communities vs wealthy neighborhoods
• How money and wealth are major contributors to environmental inequality
• Kerry's motivation in workforce development
• The luxury of thinking about climate change as an existential threat 
• Barriers to alleviating environmental issues faced by lower income communities
• Regulations that need to be upheld, including the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act 
• Kerry's thoughts on government and its shortcomings 
• Hopeful action from younger generations 
• BGS's fundraising goals and who they want to hear from

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @jjacobs22 (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded June 29, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Mohit Yadav, co-founder of BOLT. 

BOLT was founded in 2017 with the dream of making electric vehicles more accessible by easing and accelerating the transition of emerging markets to cleaner mobility. Currently, the company manages India’s largest EV charging network with over 10,000 charging points across 100 different cities.

Although we haven't spent much time on the region here on the My Climate Journey podcast, this episode is particularly important given India's population and emerging economy. How the country’s economy evolves in the years to come will be critical to global emissions reduction as its population is unfortunately feeling the effects of climate change today in a major way.

We have a great discussion about the state of the EV market in India, BOLT's business model, their future expansion plans, and how the company started in software and evolved to include a hardware component. 

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @codysimms (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded June 29, 2022. 

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guests are Craig Shapiro and Tomas Alvarez Belon from Collaborative Fund. 

Collaborative Fund is an investment firm focused on supporting and investing in the shared future. Their funds center around two macro themes, the growth of the creative class and the concept of the collaborative economy. 

Recently, Collaborative Fund announced their new Shared Future Fund which provides rapid funding and useful resources to early-stage entrepreneurs working to solve the global climate crisis. It's a programmatic fund and they aim to make 100 investments of $100,000 in 2022 alone, giving a decision within 10 days of application.

Craig is the Founder and Managing Partner of Collaborative Fund. He currently holds a board seat or board observer seat in several pioneering climate focused companies, including: Brimstone Energy, Dandelion Energy, Kula Bio, and Quaise Energy. Tomás is a climate investor at Collaborative Fund focused on decarbonization and the Shared Future Fund initiative. Prior to joining Collab, Tomás co-founded Canopi, a Y Combinator-backed carbon accounting startup, and was a consultant at Bain & Company. He also advises Climate Tech VC, a 20,000+ subscriber newsletter focused on climate innovation.

We cover a lot in this episode, including the origin story of the firm Collaborative, how their approach has evolved over the years, and what led them to get into climate investing. We also discuss the types of risk they're comfortable with, criteria they look for, and how they think about different sectors. And we cover the Shared Future Fund, what it is, how it works, Craig and Tomas’ vision for it, and how it fits in with the other things that they do as a firm. 

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @jjacobs22 (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded June 14, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant