WattPod

It takes a special type of person to be an entrepreneur and it takes a special type of courage to build a truly innovative business. @Leroy Nyangani and the team at @Need Energy including his cofounder @Desire Masunda are those special people with that special type of courage.

NeedEnergy is an energy, technology and utility startup inspired by the increasing need for clean, renewable and sustainable energy. They provide effective, intelligent solutions to Africa's growing energy demands focused on distributed small-scale renewables. Using machine learning and ssatellite imagery they identify high-potential assets for rooftop solar.

In this episode we get deep insights from one of those hundreds of millions of people who grew up without access to energy and is now working hard to disrupt Africa's energy market. As Leroy reminds us, his journey is not one of being a statistic.

Your understanding for the audio quality on this episode is appreciated as Leroy dialled in from Zimbabwe. 

Danny Thai launched zecar, a data-driven one-stop shop for all things electric cars, to help consumers make the switch to a clean, electrified future. Zecar provides a database of EV cars, helping match EV buyers to their perfect car, as well as guides on the cost of EV ownership. It's an area with string tailwinds with Australian EV sales up over 200% in 2021. As more consumers demand electric vehicles how can entrepreneurs like Danny Thai support their journey and accelerate the energy transition. 

Danny's story is a familiar one to many entrepreneurs - Following your passion to solve the world's great problems whilst building a successful business. The energy transition needs more Danny Thai's. 

@Paul Martin is one of the most vocal advocates for a fossil-fuel free future. He is a leading voice in the fight against #hopium often applied to the use of hydrogen. In today's episode, we discuss some of the myths surrounding the energy transition. We also explore the difficulties of hydrogen as an energy carrier, its applicable use cases in our fossil free future and why it gets so much attention in the energy transition despite the laws of thermodynamics. 

It's not often we get an expert straddling both energy transition and carbon markets. This week we get the opportunity to look holistically at how technology and innovation are accelerating decarbonisation with Peter Knowles. 

Peter is the President of @Financial Machines, a software company delivering tools to Manage Risk and Maximize Revenue, for Wind, Solar and Energy Storage.

He is also an advisor at @Net Zero Markets, environmental pioneers creating market-based products that make individuals' and company's climate ambitions a reality and drive investment in carbon removal projects. They recently released the Global Emissions Reduction Contract on @ACX and @Nodal and soon to be released on @EEX.

Peter is leveraging his expertise, gained through 20 years of work with Barclays, Enron and others to accelerate our carbon-free future.  

"The moment we have something we can measure is when we get excited. Without being able to measure it there is no clear business model".

Awesome interview with @Jacqueline van den ende, the co-founder & CEO @ Carbon Equity. We dove deep into the foundations of Carbon Equity and their mission to connect Capital to Climate. It is clear this solution makes sense for retail investors by delivering attractive financial returns from the biggest transition of our generation by accessing alternative asset classes these investors would not have otherwise been able to participate in. 

Jacqueline is a serial entrepreneur and it was great to understand how they have approached a problem and built a successful climate tech startup in such a short period. Per the short video clip we need to urgently find new ways to measure success so that we can truly value nature and climate solutions. 

Source Global's hydro panel technology uses renewable energy to produce safe, clean drinking water out of the air. Backed by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures their revolutionary technology will do for drinking water what solar panels have done for electricity, making water a distributed renewable resource. Rob Bartrop is the Chief Revenue Officer and has expanded operations to see Source operate in more than 50 countries across the world. 

“There’s no better solution to energy poverty than distributed energy”

@Bboxx is a Pan African super platform transforming lives and unlocking potential. Their core business solves energy poverty by servicing consumers with life-changing solar, clean cooking and other valuable services that give the 'on-grid' experience. @Anshul, originally founded the Bboxx business in Kenya and is today the Director of Global Partnerships creating strong relationships with the likes of @Mitsubishi, @Engine MKB, @Bamboo, @Doen foundation, @Khosla ventures, @EDF, @AIIM.

Quentin Draper-Scrimshire is the co-founder and CEO of Modo Energy. Modo are accelerating the energy transition by enabling companies to make better, data-backed decisions hyper-focused on energy storage. Used by 75% of participants in the GB market with over 3000 subscribers Modo is the powerhouse in energy storage data analytics for the UK market. They have a great product with an excellent founding story that will resonate with many entrepreneurs.

@RWE

Marija Petkovic is the founder and MD of Energy Synapse. Alongside bespoke advisory and research services, the Energy Synapse software platform crunches billions of data points to allow renewable energy developers, financial institutions, large corporates, government and public interest groups to easily assess the opportunities and risks of large-scale clean energy investments.

In this episode we discuss current energy market disruptions and how an increasingly renewable grid provides both a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity and a way to create a more secure and stable energy system.

@Tom Miller is a co-founder and the CEO of @Cambridge Energy Partners (CEP). CEP is at the leading edge of the next phase of solar development and deployment. Their unique pre-fab solution means that a solar farm can be shipped, ready to deploy, with tracking to any destination. The combination of pre-fabricated solar with tracking means that it can achieve the lowest cost electron possible while minimising credit risk for generators. They have forged their technology in frontier markets alongside partners such as @Scatec and are now looking to expand into developed markets. If you are wondering how renewables can get any cheaper this is the episode to listen to - it's not only about scale.