Positive Charge by GeekWire

What do Taylor Swift, a tank of captured carbon dioxide and used cooking oil have in common? They’re all part of the conversation about making flying less of a climate problem. In this episode of Positive Charge, hosts Lisa Stiffler and Laura Scott pull on flame-resistant jumpsuits, strap steel-toed caps over their sneakers and head inside Twelve’s new sustainable aviation fuel-making...

At a live podcast taping during Climate Week NYC, executives from organizations worldwide met to wrestle with challenging sustainability questions, including: How do we reach net zero by 2040 when the demand for energy is skyrocketing? This episode of Positive Charge takes listeners inside a private session at The Climate Pledge Hub featuring Kara Hurst, chief sustainability officer at Amazon, and...

More than 40 years after the debut of the first commercial veggie burger, the alternative protein sector has evolved far beyond dry bean patties. Today, food scientists and innovative startups are leveraging plant-based ingredients, precision fermentation and cell-cultivation to recreate the taste, texture and nutritional profile of meat while reducing the serious environmental and ethical impacts...

The world faces a glut of used EV batteries at the same time it's facing a clean energy crisis as data centers and other users are gobbling up power. But some sustainability entrepreneurs have figured out how to take one of those problems to solve the other. They are repurposing electric vehicle batteries to provide affordable, climate-friendly electricity.  In this episode of Positive Charge...

Most climate news these days is grim, but on a sunny rooftop in downtown Seattle during Pacific Northwest Climate Week, the mood was surprisingly upbeat. In this episode of Positive Charge , we pull eight climate tech investors and startup founders away from the happy hour cocktails to get their unfiltered real talk on where the industry is actually heading. The optimism isn't rooted in wishful th...

What if the greenest thing you ever do is die? This episode of Positive Charge digs into human composting — the process, also called natural organic reduction, that turns a body into clean soil instead of ash or embalmed remains. It's the end-of-life option Martha Stewart says she wants, and a Seattle entrepreneur is the reason it exists. Katrina Spade set out to build a climate-friendly alt...

Fusion has long been the holy grail of clean energy — perpetually promising, perpetually out of reach. But dozens of startups are getting closer to harnessing the reactions that power the sun and stars. We go inside two Washington state fusion companies that are leading the charge — Helion Energy and Zap Energy — and breaks down their technologies in a way that doesn't require a...

Can we actually annihilate the toxic "forever chemicals" polluting our water and soil? The debut episode of Positive Charge dives into the Herculean challenge of destroying PFAS — long-lived contaminants linked to serious health effects like cancer and immune suppression. Even the most rugged, pristine corners of Alaska are facing high levels of PFAS groundwater contamination. Fortunately, a...

Can we annihilate the "forever chemicals" in our soil and water? What's the greenest thing you can do with your body after you die? And how do we fix Taylor Swift's jet-fuel PR problem? Positive Charge by GeekWire is a new podcast about environmental hope, and the people and companies building breakthrough technologies in climate and sustainability. Hosted by GeekWire's Lisa Stiffler and independe...