Dr. Steve Davis is the head of Climate Science at Watershed. 

Watershed is a leading provider of carbon accounting software. They help large companies such as Walmart, Airbnb, Sweet Green, BlackRock, and many others measure, report, and reduce their emissions. They announced a $70 million series B financing on a $1 billion valuation co-led by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins in February 2022. And Steve joined Watershed shortly after that in July 2022.

Steve spent the last decade as a professor in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California Irvine. At Watershed, he works to help close the gap between science and business, ensuring that the pathways that Watershed offers to its customers are scientifically viable. He's also a contributor to the Energy Systems chapter of the most recent IPCC report and the lead author of the National Climate Assessment mitigation chapter.

In this episode, Steve and Cody dive into his background, why he jumped into a startup from academia, what Watershed is and does, an overview of carbon accounting, the decisions Steve sees companies make around decarbonization priorities, and the advice he has for startups hiring their first climate scientist and vice versa.

Startup Series: Watershed

A growing body of knowledge about climate change and potential solutions. This series traverses disciplines, industries, and opinions with hundreds of deep-dive conversations with science, technology, and climate leaders. Hosted by Jason Jacobs, Yin Lu, and Cody Simms.

Technology

Tech News

Podcasting

Gadgets

Software How-To

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Science

Christina Yagjian leads global renewable energy strategy and origination at Cargill. According to Forbes, Cargill is the largest private company in the USA by revenue with $177 billion in the fiscal year ending in May, 2023. Before Cargill, Christina managed the renewable energy footprint at Meta, the parent company to Facebook and Instagram and one of the world's largest corporate clean power purchasers. 

Our topic today is all about clean power purchasing, why large companies have started buying power directly, how they prioritize their needs across factors like cost and emissions, and how they structure their agreements. This is one of the more complex topics in the climate space, combining carbon accounting with power grid economics and a whole lot of wonk. Cody and Christina keep the conversation accessible to folks who are just trying to understand the role of power consumption, emissions and large companies in the first place. Special thanks to Christina for balancing the need to help explain the overall landscape along with articulating some of Cargill's specific initiatives and focus areas.

Inside the World of Corporate Clean Energy Procurement

Cyrus Wadia is the CEO of Activate, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to bring their research to market. Having supported nearly 200 scientists in founding around 150 companies, including notable names like Fervo, Twelve, Sublime Systems, and Antora Energy, Activate offers selected fellows a unique blend of financial support, business capital, and access to a vast mentorship network. With hubs in Berkeley, Boston, New York, Houston, and a remote program, Activate nurtures the path from scientific discovery to entrepreneurial success.

Cyrus recently joined Activate after stints in sustainability leadership roles at Amazon, Nike, and the White House. This extensive experience, combined with his PhD in energy and resources from UC Berkeley and chemistry degrees from MIT, equips him uniquely for this role.

While the path from computer science to entrepreneurship is well-trodden, Activate champions the less common path from life sciences, chemistry, and physics to entrepreneurship. As we transition our energy systems, it seems inevitable that many new science-based businesses will become iconic industry-defining companies of the 21st century.  And for this to be realized, we need to nurture the pathway for scientist-entrepreneurs. Our MCJ venture funds have invested in multiple companies founded by Activate fellows, and we were eager to hear from Cyrus about Activate and his vision for where it's headed.

The Science of Startups with Activate's Cyrus Wadia

Dr. Seonghoon Woo is CEO and co-founder at Amogy. Amogy is building technology to unlock ammonia's potential as a clean energy fuel source for transportation and beyond. About a year ago, they raised a Series B of funding led by SK Innovations, with backers including Temasek, Aramco Ventures, Mitsubishi, DCVC, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Mitsui OSK Lines, and others.

Ammonia is a workhorse chemical in modern society. It's one of the most produced chemicals in the world today, and it's used primarily as the foundation of the nitrogen fertilizer industry, as a transport vessel for nitrogen. Chemically, ammonia is NH3, so in addition to nitrogen, it contains hydrogen. And hydrogen as we know has a strong potential as a low to zero emissions fuel source, depending on how it's produced.

But hydrogen is challenging to transport. Ammonia, therefore, also has the potential to be a transport vessel for hydrogen as a power source, and ammonia supply chains are already mature today. Amogy's unique innovation lies in cracking ammonia into hydrogen at the point of power generation and then powering vehicles via hydrogen fuel cells. They are targeting ocean shipping as most major companies seek solutions to decarbonize their supply chains.

Startup Series: Unlocking Ammonia as Energy with Amogy

Adam Stein is the Director of Nuclear Energy Innovation at the Breakthrough Institute, where he focuses on the technology, policy, risk and economics of nuclear energy. The Breakthrough Institute is a global research center that identifies and promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges. Among its many projects, the Breakthrough Institute recently launched Build Nuclear Now, a national campaign to mobilize Americans in targeted states to call for regulatory and legislative change to accelerate the licensing and deployment of new, advanced nuclear reactors in the United States.

Adam brings a pro-nuclear perspective to this conversation; and given that, Cody and Adam focus the majority of the discussion on the history of nuclear power in the US and potential paths forward, rather than debating the merits of nuclear (which could of course be a full episode by itself). Adam has a particular interest in advanced nuclear reactors, which represent a broad class of new technologies currently under development and review. This conversation covers these advanced reactors and so much more.

Reframing Nuclear Narratives with the Breakthrough Institute

In today's episode, recorded live during San Francisco Climate Week, we delve into the critical intersection of climate policy and carbon removal. Joining us are two distinguished guests:  California Senator Scott Wiener, the author of the recent landmark climate legislation known as California's SB 253 or the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, and Shashank Samala, the CEO and Co-founder of Heirloom, a pioneering carbon removal company. Shashank was a previous guest on the show in 2021, and we're excited to have him back to weigh in on this important conversation. 

Senator Wiener sheds light on the legislative landscape driving climate action, while Shashank offers insights into the  technologies transforming carbon removal. Together, we explore the convergence of policy and innovation, examining how regulatory frameworks catalyze the adoption and scaling of technological solutions. We pack a lot into this conversation, and we hope you enjoy it!

Startup Series: Watershed

Download our free app to listen on your phone