The Green Hour

In Part 1 of our series with John Kutsch, you learned about the history of nuclear, the problems of nuclear, and the public’s fear of nuclear. We looked into Plant Voggle in Georgia to understand the elements of building nuclear reactors. Lastly, we looked deeply into uranium to understand what fuels nuclear reactors today.

Today, you are going to hear part 2 of this series. You will hear from John Kutsch on a very special element on the periodic table called Thorium, you will learn about the importance of rare earth elements for the nuclear industry, specifically monazite for thorium extraction, you will uncover China’s approach to thorium-based reactors and see how the nation has become a leader, you will learn what John and his team are doing at The Thorium Energy Alliance, and lastly, you will hear how policy is aiding the nuclear energy.

Our guest on The Green Hour today is someone who has dedicated his life to finding cleaner and more efficient methods of energy through nuclear, specifically using Thorium. John Kutsch is the Executive Director for the Thorium Energy Alliance, a non-governmental, non-profit educational organization based in the United States, which seeks to promote energy security to the world through the use of Thorium as a fuel source.

What is nuclear? Is it bombs? Is it energy? Is it the future? Growing up, the little I heard about nuclear was negative – learning about World War 2 and the atomic bombs that wiped out Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the meltdowns at nuclear plants in the US, and the constant posed threat of nuclear war by Eastern nations.

Nuclear is the cleanest form of energy we have, and if we want to hit the Biden administration's target of 80% renewable energy generation by 2030, nuclear is the only answer. Nuclear is the only form of renewable energy that can scale – and why is scale important, you may ask? According to the United Nations, the world population is projected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030 and increase further to 9.7 billion in 2050. Without a cohesive approach to energy, we will suffer significantly as a world.

Our guest on The Green Hour today is someone who has dedicated his life to finding cleaner and more efficient methods of energy through nuclear, specifically using Thorium. John Kutsch is the Executive Director for the Thorium Energy Alliance, a non-governmental, non-profit educational organization based in the United States, which seeks to promote energy security to the world through the use of Thorium as a fuel source.

In Part 1 of this 2-part series, you will hear about the creation of the Thorium Energy Alliance, the history of nuclear, the problems of nuclear and the public's fear, and uranium to understand what fuels nuclear reactors today.

What if I told you that components from your cellphone, computer, television, and electric vehicle all came from mining? As with components for X-ray and MRI machines, military weaponry, and advanced military aircraft. These components are rare earth minerals, and they are extracted from the earth through rare earth mining. Most people would not be too happy to know that most rare earth minerals in our objects come from China, which has a stronghold on the market.

Our guest on The Green Hour today is Emma Ernst, Government Affairs Director at GreenMet. GreenMet accelerates the development of safe, reliable rare earth mineral supply chains. Former Green Berets founded GreenMet after they realized the overwhelming need for sustainable and secure supply chains for rare earth metals, magnets, and green steel in North America.

Emma has been involved in several different forms of policy over her career. She started with educational policy with the US Department of Education, Meeting Street Schools, and Stanford’s Hoover Institution. From there, she interned in the prestigious White House Internship Program in the Office of Vice President Mike Pence. In her internship, she worked with the administration during the COVID-19 response, the 2020 election, and the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. She later served as a Special Assistant for Communication and Strategy in the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House. From there, she worked with Congressman Morgan Griffith, the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Today, Emma works for GreenMet, a company trying to build back domestic supply chains for rare earth minerals.

Russ DeLozier knew early in his career that sustainability would play a significant role in the rest of his life. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in chemical engineering, and found himself working at The DOW Chemical Company. From there, he began a career in sustainability, specifically in the flooring industry, leading sustainability efforts for Shaw Industries, J+J Flooring Group, and Engineered Floors.

While at Shaw, Russ established the largest nationwide carpet recycling program and was directly involved in the reverse logistics of over half-billion pounds of post-consumer carpet. While at J+J Flooring Group, Russ helped lead the company to become the first in the industry to achieve 3rd party certification for Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL).

Until 2020, Russ was the longest-serving Mill representative to the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) Board, where he was actively involved in the 2012 CARE MOU Negotiation process and the implementation of California’s trial Carpet EPR legislation, AB-2398. He is the past recipient of CARE’s Carpet Recycler of the Year and one of only two two-time recipients of CRI’s distinguished Joseph J. Smrekar Memorial Award, which recognizes individuals who show exemplary service to the carpet and rug industry.

Brandie Townsend grew up on a dairy farm in western New York and knew the importance of environmental sustainability from a young age. She attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and received a master's degree in architecture. Fueled by a desire to build and create, it led her into various industries, but all of those industries included her original passion for sustainability. Her experience includes hospitality (InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Rubicon Global), government (City of Atlanta), consulting, and starting recycling and waste removal businesses. Through her studies at SCAD, she learned the basics of building, but over time she has learned about the importance of green building – constructing and deconstructing buildings with the environment in mind.

The Construction and Demolition (C&D) industry has been at a crossroads in terms of unbuilding. Buildings are dismantled for a number of reasons - it could be for safety, space, rebuilding, etc. It isn't the reason for unbuilding that puts the C&D industry at a crossroads - however, it's the process of demolition versus deconstruction. Demolition takes the form of complete destruction, an example being dynamite used to implode buildings. In contrast, deconstruction looks at all of the internal elements of the building to find new uses. With the C&D industry being the most significant contributor to greenhouse gases, deconstruction becomes even more critical.

Policy moves the needle with all things, and that includes sustainability. The Biden Administration has recently passed policy that invests billions of dollars in infrastructure to encourage higher levels of environmental sustainability. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and The CHIPS and Science Act were all passed to move our country closer to net zero emissions. Today, you will hear from Max Castroparedes, who has his finger on the pulse of current policy.

Max Castroparedes grew up in the Houston area and always felt led to policy and international affairs. During his time in undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, he felt the urge to apply for an internship in the US Senate. Max ended up interning for US Senator John Cornyn and fell in love with policy. Since then, Max has spent time in the Department of Homeland Security in the Office of Policy, Strategy, and Plans and is currently a Research Assistant at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, where he works with Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky in the Future of Diplomacy Project and supports the project’s research agenda, and coordinates events.

Alex Blum was in a very successful career in technology sales when he realized he needed more purpose. The money was great, and his lifestyle was extravagant, but he felt he needed to produce more value for the world. This led him to look into humanitarian work, and he found himself in Bangladesh in the midst of the Rohingya Genocide, trying to help the refugees who were displaced.

His story takes him from filming a documentary to increase visibility on the issue to meeting someone who would change his life forever. This person introduced Alex to the concept of bioplastics - using organic materials to make plastic products.

Today, Alex Blum is the Founder and CEO of Applied Bioplastics. The company produces material for transitional housing for natural disaster response and uses the plant compound Cellulose to manufacture plastic products. Cellulose is combined with virgin resin to reduce CO2 levels in manufacturing and create a more renewable, sustainable product.

Rodney Davenport grew up in a rural town in Michigan that lacked recycling infrastructure and education on sustainability. As he grew up and entered the workforce, he entered an industry that he would never leave - plastics. Over time, this once-foreign process of sustainability became very important in the work that he was doing.

Today, Rodney is the Vice President of CH3 Solutions, an injection molding outfit in Dalton, GA. Injection molding is a unique process that takes a small granular substance, resin, and turns it into a plastic product. CH3 Solutions uses injection molding to create plastic tiles that snap together to create recreational surfaces - basketball, volleyball, pickleball, and hockey, to name a few.

Through his career in plastics, Rodney began to see the need for sustainability. He prioritized sustainability from the start at CH3 - utilizing resources that use less waste, closing the loop by finding new ways to use rejected products, cutting waste levels down to less than 1%, and creating a culture that strives to be better.

In his first year of college at the University of Miami, Anwar Khan and his roommate noticed the lack of recycling by students on campus. In an age of instant gratification, recycling was falling behind. Recycling campaigns on campus were impactful, but they were missing the big picture – incentivization.

Anwar wanted to change all of that and reward people for recycling. Thus, he and his friends created Cycle Technology. The company uses a reverse vending machine (RVM) and a connecting app to incentivize recycling. All users have to do is insert a bottle or can, scan a QR code, and get rewarded.

What started as an idea for a pitch competition is now a trailblazing company for sustainability. Today, Cycle Technology has its infrastructure at the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Nationals, and Inter Miami CF stadiums.

Coming Soon is a Podcast for leaders in sustainability—people who care deeply about the environment and the future of our world. The Green Hour will feature innovators, activists, and government leaders in the world of sustainability. Hit the subscribe button to stay informed of future episodes!