The technology of battery recycling hasn't changed in a century - until now. In this episode, host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Megan O'Connor, Founder and CEO of Nth Cycle, a battery recycling and metals processing company. They discuss the battery materials supply chain, the need for critical mineral processing capacity in the US, and the innovation in electro-extraction for battery recycling that Megan developed during her PhD, which is now the foundation of Nth Cycle.

Last year the IEA put out a report that said that if we actually start tracking toward net zero by 2050, we will need 42x the lithium that we currently produce annually. Battery recycling will be one of the pillars of meeting that intense demand and enabling us to sustainably and ethically source the critical minerals needed to power the energy transition.

On this episode of the Wharton Current, host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Wilson Ma of Li Cycle, a leading battery recycling company in North America. They discuss the role of battery recycling in the energy transition and the significance of Li Cycle's updates to some of the traditional processes.

https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/mineral-requirements-for-clean-energy-transitions

Weaning ourselves off of carbon for energy purposes is front and center in climate work. Less discussed but arguably equally important to decarbonization is the move away from petroleum-based materials to produce the goods we consume.

On this episode of the Wharton Current, host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Wharton grad Rich Riley, CEO of Origin Materials, a carbon negative materials company. They discuss the importance of carbon negative materials in decarbonization, what it takes for a materials company to be carbon negative, how Origin Materials is scaling, and Rich's experience as CEO.

Despite contributing approximately 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, little progress has been made in decarbonizing cement production.

In this episode, co-hosts Ellie McDonald and Thomas Obermeier sit down with Cody Finke, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Brimstone, which is seeking to introduce carbon-negative cement to the market.

We discuss Cody's path to finding the most relevant problem to tackle that could have a meaningful impact at scale, how that led him to founding Brimstone in 2019 with Hugo Leandri, the existing cement and concrete ecosystem that appears uninterested in pursuing decarbonization, and why he is confident that a lower-cost solution, not CCS, is the only feasible pathway for the industry.

On this episode, co-hosts Nick Van Hollen and Thomas Obermeier sit down with Meghan O’Sullivan, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and the Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

They discuss how the geopolitics of energy will evolve during the transition to cleaner energy sources, focusing on the distinction between the long-term geopolitical implications of a net-zero world and the short-term perils that will arrive in the next few decades.

Within this framework, they also examine the counterintuitive forces sustaining petrostates, the growing importance of clean energy supply chains, and energy’s central role in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

[Updated for clarity on June 1, 2022]

On this episode of The Wharton Current, host Ellie McDonald sits down with Luke Mairo, the co-founder and COO of Voltpost. Join us as we talk about trends in the electric vehicle space, Voltpost's business model, and what policy initiatives are set to catalyze EV infrastructure build out.

To learn more about Voltpost, visit their website at https://www.voltpost.com/ or check out their LinkedIn page.

In this episode, host Thomas Obermeier sits down with Silicon Ranch co-founders Reagan Farr, CEO and President, and Matt Kisber, Chairman of the Board. Since starting the company together with former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen in 2011 in Nashville, TN, they have grown the utility-scale solar owner and operator into one of the largest independent power producers in the United States.

In this episode, they discuss Silicon Ranch's origin and unique struggles as a solar company in the Southeast in the early 2010s, their recent $775mm new equity capital raise, the value of strong stakeholder partnerships in times of crises, as well as how regenerative land management practices and solar energy can be mutually beneficial.

According to the IEA, heat is the world’s largest energy end use, accounting for almost half of global final energy consumption in 2021, significantly more than electricity (20%) and transport (30%). Of that, industrial processes are responsible for 51% of the energy consumed.

In this episode, co-hosts Thomas Obermeier and Ellie McDonald sit down with John O'Donnell, founder and CEO of Rondo Energy, which is seeking to provide low-cost zero-carbon industrial heat through its Rondo Heat Battery. We discuss why industrial heat has historically been seen as a hard to decarbonize industry, how Rondo is seeking to change that by deploying its Heat Battery, and how its product differs from other energy storage technologies.

On this episode of The Wharton Current, host Ellie McDonald sits down with Peter McHale, the Co-Founder and CEO of Gaia AI. Join us as we talk about Gaia AI's business model, trends in the carbon credit space, specifically surrounding forest carbon credits, and what climate tech startups are looking for from early stage investors.

To learn more about Gaia AI, visit their website at www.gaia-ai.eco/ or check out their LinkedIn page (www.linkedin.com/company/gaiaai/).

In this episode, co-host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Teague Egan, Founder and CEO of EnergyX, a lithium extraction startup. They discuss how Teague founded the company, the role of lithium in the energy transition, and how EnergyX is working with the government of Bolivia to run pilots of their technology. They get into why there aren't more greentech companies in Bolivia, and what might need to change for a community of greentech startups to grow there.

For the New York Times feature on EnergyX, see here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/business/energy-environment/bolivia-lithium-electric-cars.html

For more on the history of Potosi, see here: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/21/story-of-cities-6-potosi-bolivia-peru-inca-first-city-capitalism