Inevitable

This week's guest is Val Miftakhov, Co-Founder & CEO of ZeroAvia. ZeroAvia is building the world's first practical zero-emission aviation powertrain. ZeroAvia utilizes hydrogen power to accelerate the transition to sustainable aviation.  Before focusing on climate solutions, Val held several senior business and product positions at Google and McKinsey & Company and was a nuclear researcher at Stan...

This week's guest is Joshua March, Co-Founder & CEO of SciFi Foods, formerly known as Artemys Foods. SciFi Foods is on a mission to empower humanity to eat sustainably. It's working on the next generation of meat alternatives by cultivating meat. To replicate the full flavor profile and aroma of meat, SciFi Foods uses cell-based meat, growing real muscle and fat outside of the animal in bioreactor...

This week's guest is Mike Hall, CEO of Borrego. Borrego is a leading developer, EPC and O&M provider accelerating the delivery of large commercial, community solar, and utility-scale solar and energy storage projects in the United States. With a background in Chemical Engineering, Mike is the 3rd co-founder of Borrego, then Borrego Solar. The origins of the company date back to the early 1980s whe...

Today's guest is Lyndall Schreiner, Director of Product at Afresh & Founder at Earthrise School.  In 2018, Lyndall had her climate aha moment after the IPCC 1.5 Degree Report came out. She was invested in redirecting her career to focus on climate. After 18 months of learning as much as she could about climate and volunteering with the Sunrise Movement, Lyndall landed at Afresh as Director of Prod...

This week's guest is Erin Burns, Executive Director of Carbon180. Carbon180 is a climate-focused NGO that partners with policymakers, scientists, and businesses worldwide to build a world that removes more carbon than it emits.  Before Carbon180, Erin focused on energy, environment, labor, and agricultural issues, including staffing for the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Public Lan...

This week's guest is Joel Jean, Co-Founder & CEO of Swift Solar. Before joining Swift, Joel served as Executive Director of the Tata-MIT GridEdge Solar research program, which focuses on scale-up of new solar photovoltaic technologies for India and other developing countries. He developed ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells that the 2017 Katerva Award recognized, and he was named a Forbes 30 U...

This Week's guest is Josephine Cheung, Director of Research & Development at GCP Applied Technologies. GCP Applied Technologies is a leading global provider of construction products technologies that include concrete and cement additives, building materials and technologies that ensure quality and enhance business productivity. In 2016, GCP Applied Technologies spun off from W. R. Grace. With a Ph...

Today's guest is Andy Towne, Founding Partner & CEO of Hobbs & Towne Inc. Founded in 1997, Hobbs & Towne Inc. is an executive search and advisory service firm. Partnering with venture capital, private equity, and family office investors, as well as global companies, HTI manages retained executive searches for high-level business leaders and C-suite positions. The firm's advisory services include r...

This week's guest is Scott Stringer, New York City Comptroller, the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. Scott has served in elected positions since the early '90s. He was elected to the New York State Assembly and represented Manhattan's West Side for 13 years. After working in the State Assembly, he became the Manhattan Borough Presid...

Today's guests are Josh Santos, Co-Founder & CEO, and Daniel Cavero, Co-Founder & CTO, of Noya. Josh and Daniel met a few years ago when they were roommates in San Francisco. In 2020, they founded Noya together. Noya captures CO2 from the atmosphere and resells it for half the cost of current options. The company works to retrofit existing industrial equipment to enable carbon capture and resale....

This week's guest is Alicia Barton, CEO of FirstLight Power. FirstLight Power is a renewables and storage company that integrates and delivers clean power to New England homes and businesses. It operates the Northfield Mountain energy storage facility and other hydroelectric, solar, and energy assets in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  I was excited about this discussion because Alicia has been on...

Today's guest is Fiona Spruill, Chief Product Officer at Overstory. Overstory's mission is to monitor all of Earth's natural resources in real-time to reverse climate change. Its first project helps utilities track forest and vegetation growth to reduce the risk of wildfires and power outages by applying machine learning to satellite imagery. We are proud to be an Overstory investor ! Prior to Ove...

This week's guest is Kate Gordon, Senior Policy Advisor on Climate to  Governor Gavin Newsom & Director of the Office of Planning and Research for California. The California Governor's Office of Planning and Research serves the Governor and Cabinet for long-range planning across three significant buckets: land use and planning, climate risk and resilience, and sustainable economic development. As...

This episode was previously for members only. In an effort to make important content more widely available, the audio for this episode is now available for everyone. Co-founder Peter Reinhardt walks me through a company overview and an in-depth explanation of bio-oil. He also talks about how a tech entrepreneur like him (or anyone else) that is motivated by climate change) can find a way to make a...

Today's guest is Sarah Saltzer, Managing Director of the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage. The Stanford Center for Carbon Storage focuses on applied and fundamental research to address critical questions around carbon storage in geological formations. The team also works on technological and economic analysis, public policy research, and carbon storage projects around the world. Sarah walks me t...

Today’s guest is Anshuman Bapna, Founder and CEO of Terra.do.  Terra.do is an online school working to solve climate change. Millions of people will need to transition into climate work in the years to come, and Terra.do is the platform to help make that happen. Since launching their flagship 12-week course, “Climate Change: Learning for Action”, they have rolled out new courses on hydrogen, clima...

Today's guest is Julia Collins, Founder and CEO of Planet FWD. Planet FWD is using the power of food the help tackle climate change. They created Moonshot, a brand of climate-friendly snacks made from regenerative ingredients. They also develop software that provides other food brands with regenerative resources to make climate-friendly products. Julia has always been involved in the plant-based a...

Today's guest is Paul Eremenko, Co-Founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen. Before Universal Hydrogen, Paul served as Senior Vice President and CTO of United Technologies and CTO of Airbus. When he co-founded Universal Hydrogen, Paul felt hydrogen was the only solution the industry has to meet the Paris Agreement's goals and decarbonize. Universal Hydrogen is an end-to-end fuel logistics company mak...

Today's guest is Andrew Savage, Founding Team & Head of Sustainability at Lime. Lime is a micromobility transportation company with a fleet of shared e-bikes, e-scooters, and now e-mopeds providing fun, efficient, and sustainable ways to move around cities. Andrew and I have a stimulating discussion about his career path from policy to transportation and what inspired him to work in urban mobility...

Founder and CEO, Bim Adisa, takes me through his career path and background, how he became involved in grid management, and why he started Beacon Power services. We also discuss why BPS is in a unique position as a company, the future of BPS, and why the African grid needs a reboot. Bim is our first guest serving the African continent, and his story is essential as the climate crisis is a global i...

Today's guest is Ron Gonen, Co-Founder & CEO of Closed Loop Partners. Closed Loop Partners is an investment firm and innovation center building the circular economy. It focuses on a profitable, sustainable future through its four asset classes: venture capital, project finance, growth equity, and private equity. In this episode, Ron walks me through what inspired him to pursue sustainability and h...

This episode was previously for members only. In an effort to make important content more widely available, the audio for this episode is now available for everyone. Living Carbon is a San Francisco, CA based startup using biotechnology to develop trees that better capture and store carbon. By using biochemistry to enhance a tree’s natural ability to drawdown atmospheric carbon, the company is not...

Today's guest is Aaron Ratner, President of Cross River Infrastructure Partners. Cross River Infrastructure Partners is a platform of development companies deploying climate technology and capital into sustainable infrastructure projects. It focuses on conversion projects in the climate, renewable energy, and sustainable food spaces. We  have a great discussion about how Aaron got hooked on climat...

Founder and CEO, Jeff Engler, takes me through his path to zero-emission aviation, why he started Wright Electric, and how the landscape has changed. We also discuss the many critics of electric airplanes, what sets Wright Electric apart, and the industry's future. Jeff and his team are tackling one of climate change's biggest problems. It was great to have him on the show! Enjoy the show! To lear...

Today's guest is John Lochner, VP of Innovation at NYSERDA. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a government agency focused on clean energy and energy innovation. With a team of around 350 people, it supports clean solutions through catalytic capital and public policies.  In this episode, John and I explore what led him to focus on energy, his role on the inno...