Open Sustainability Talk

In this episode, I interview Olivier Corradi from Electricity Maps.

Olivier is the CEO and Founder of Electricity Maps, an app that shows real-time (hour-by-hour) production and consumption of electricity by source and carbon intensity across the world. Recently, the app can also show historical data up to 5 years.

The same technology of the freely accessible app (which you can find at https://app.electricitymaps.com/map) is the basis of the data and technology that Electricity Maps is selling to companies like Google and Microsoft for them to minimize the carbon footprint of their own servers and their cloud products.

Some of the topics that we cover in our conversation:

• A bit about Olivier’s past career in data and machine learning
• Reducing carbon emissions by making the electricity grid "flexible"
• Why he started Electricity Maps and the effect it’s had on the energy conversations in the context of climate change
• What Electricity Maps is
• Their business model
• Their proof of concept project with Google
• How they managed to build their software using an open source model and leveraging the community that they’ve built
• Building algorithms to fill in the blanks where electricity data is not available
• Two of Electricity Maps' attempts at using their data for carbon accounting
• The importance of having a clear focus in building sustainability solutions

Thank you for listening, and I hope you'll enjoy it. 

In this episode, I interview Theis about nuclear power and its role within sustainability.

Theis has co-founded an organization that promotes the adoption of nuclear power called Atomkraft Ja Tak - they campaign for the inclusion of nuclear power into the solutions we adopt to fight climate change. He's also the Country Manager for Kärnfull Energi DK, a utility company providing electricity supply via nuclear power credits.

Some of the topics that we cover in our conversation:

• Thais' studies and how he got interested in the energy production topic
• Energy density - as a concept and how it apply to different energy sources
• The Atomkraft Ja Tak organization's goals
• Information asymmetry when it comes to energy production
• The negative sentiment we as a society have against nuclear and why that is
• Nuclear energy in the public conversation 
• How their association works
• Kärnfull and how they sell nuclear energy in DK, where we don’t produce any
• Kärnfull Next - small modular reactors in Sweden
• 3 of the most common arguments against nuclear
• Chernobyl and Fukushima

Thank you for listening, and I hope you'll enjoy it. 

Join Open Sustainability Network: https://open-sustainability.network/

In this episode, I interview Robert about the circular and sharing economies. 

kleen hub is a story of how 3 students created a circular economy app that I use every time I get coffee.

Some of the topics that we cover in our conversation:

• Reusability models
• The scale of the single-use problem
• Plastic recycling and greenwashing
• Plastic and tote bags
• Lifecycle assessments
• Kleen hub and where to find their containers
• The circular and sharing economy
• Greenwashing in the circular economy
• ... and more

Thank you for listening, and I hope you'll enjoy it. 

Join Open Sustainability Network: https://open-sustainability.network/

In this episode, I interview Chris about the company he co-founded, Klimate and their industry and work.

Some of the topics that we cover in our conversation:

• Greenwashing in carbon offsetting
• Voluntary offsetting
• What is and isn’t carbon removal
• The Oxford offsetting principles
• Past, present and future technologies for carbon removal
• Why we can’t solve climate change by planting trees
• Klimate’s approaching in assessing removal technologies
• Klimate’s approach in business and the importance of funding the right solutions
• ... and more

Thank you for listening, and I hope you'll enjoy it. 

Join Open Sustainability Network: https://open-sustainability.network/ 

In this episode, I interview Chris about his role as Chief Footprint Officer at NØIE, a customized skincare brand that doesn't take sustainability lightly.

Some of the topics that we cover in our conversation:

• Sustainability in cosmetics and skincare
• The cost of being sustainable
• Impact of skincare on the environment
• The tools and external help he's used to assess NØIE's impact
• The balance between being precise and being impactful when it comes to offsetting
• GHG accounting, and a quick rundown of the 3 scopes
• How NØIE offsets their impact
• Collaboration for the sake of sustainability
• Greenwashing and the perception of sustainability
• Consumer trends and demands when it comes to sustainability
• ... and more

Thank you for listening, and I hope you'll enjoy it. 

My guest on the first episode of the podcast is Heidi Lindvall, General Partner at Pale Blue Dot (https://paleblue.vc/), which is a venture capital firm focused on investing in climate tech companies.

Before the episode starts, I have a quick intro to why I'm starting Open Sustainability Talk, and the associated knowledge-sharing network, Open Sustainability Network: https://open-sustainability.network/ 

In the episode itself, Heidi and I speak about:

• Heidi's slightly atypical journey and how she got into the climate tech VC game
• The breadth of the existing solutions that is also reflected in Pale Blue Dot's portfolio of investments
• The role that technology has in sustainability
• The human resources necessary for sustainability and the problems around matching impact companies with the best talent out there
• Misconceptions that entrepeneurs have about what qualifies one to develop climate solutions
• Sustainability entrepreneurship and how to gain access to funding
• How pale blue dot finds prospects
• ... and more

Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoyed it.