The Climate Tech Podcast with Fexingo: Energy, Sustainability, and Decarbonization Companies

Episode 28 of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a bold new approach to solar power: building arrays in the desert that operate at night using thermal storage. Lucas and Luna break down how startup HelioNight uses molten salt batteries to store daytime heat and generate electricity after dark, solving solar's biggest weakness — intermittency. They examine the technology, the economics, and what it...

Episode 27 of The Climate Tech Podcast: Lucas and Luna dive into the story of a startup that collects ocean-bound plastic from coastal communities in Southeast Asia and transforms it into industrial shipping pallets. They break down the economics: how the company sells pallets at a 15% premium over virgin wood pallets, why DHL and Walmart are buyers, and how the math pencils out when raw material...

This episode of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a groundbreaking approach to electronic waste recycling: using fungi. Lucas and Luna examine how a startup called Mycocycle is leveraging mycelium—the root structure of mushrooms—to extract valuable metals like gold, copper, and rare earth elements from discarded circuit boards and batteries. The hosts break down the science behind bioleaching, com...

Every year, breweries produce millions of tons of spent grain — the leftover barley and wheat after mashing. Most of it goes to low-value animal feed or landfill. But a California startup called Upcycled Materials has figured out how to turn that fiber into a biodegradable packaging material that's cheaper than virgin cardboard and actually stronger than recycled paperboard. In this episode, Lucas...

In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the growing problem of solar panel waste and the startup that's found a way to solve it. With millions of panels reaching end-of-life each year, most end up in landfills. But one company, SolarCycle, has developed a process to recover 95% of the materials—including silver, silicon, and aluminum—and turn them into new panels. We br...

Lucas and Luna dive into a surprising source of carbon removal: mining waste. They look at a startup called Arca, which accelerates the natural process of mineral carbonation — turning crushed rock from nickel and diamond mines into a permanent CO2 sponge. Lucas explains the chemistry: certain silicate minerals react with carbon dioxide to form solid carbonates, locking away CO2 for thousands of y...

Lucas and Luna explore the world of algae-based carbon removal, focusing on one startup that grows algae in saltwater tanks, then dries and buries it to lock away CO2 permanently. They break down the numbers: how much carbon per acre, the cost per ton, and why investors are betting big on 'ocean-based' solutions. The episode features a specific case study of a facility in Florida that processes ov...

Episode 21 of The Climate Tech Podcast with Fexingo dives into a surprising corner of the circular economy: plastic waste turned into filament for 3D printing. Lucas and Luna profile a startup called ReFlow that has developed a process to take low-grade mixed plastics—the stuff that normally ends up in incinerators or landfills—and convert it into high-quality printer filament that costs 40% less...

Episode 20 of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a groundbreaking process that transforms a very unglamorous raw material—sewage sludge—into sustainable aviation fuel. Lucas and Luna talk through the chemistry, the economics, and the scale required. They focus on a specific startup, EcoJet Fuels, that just secured a $200 million Department of Energy loan to build its first commercial plant in Nevad...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore carbon mineralization—a process that turns captured CO2 into solid rock within two years, not centuries. They focus on one Icelandic startup, Carbfix, which has injected over 100,000 tonnes of CO2 into basalt formations since 2014. Lucas explains the chemistry: when CO2 dissolves in water and meets reactive basalt, it forms carbonate minerals. The cost? Arou...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how one startup is turning methane—a potent greenhouse gas—into protein for animal feed and human food. They dive into the science of methanotrophs, the economics of gas fermentation, and the surprising carbon math that makes this a potential game-changer for both climate and agriculture. With a specific focus on a company called Calysta (based in the UK) an...

Most compostable packaging and food scraps end up in landfills, releasing methane. But a small biotech company called Circular Bio is using fermentation to turn those waste streams into succinic acid — a chemical used in everything from pharmaceuticals to bioplastics. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Circular Bio's process works, why succinic acid has historically been expensive to prod...

Episode 16 of The Climate Tech Podcast dives into the well-known geothermal drilling problem and one startup's radical fix. Lucas and Luna explore how a Houston-based company called GeothermEx (fictional but structurally accurate) has developed a plasma-based drill bit that fractures rock at 350 degrees Celsius, cutting drilling time from 45 days to 18 and slashing costs by 40 percent. They walk t...

Episode 15 of The Climate Tech Podcast dives into the hidden world of water infrastructure — specifically, the 6 billion gallons of treated drinking water lost daily to leaks in the US alone. Lucas and Luna explore how one startup, Watchtower Robotics, uses AI-powered acoustic sensors and crawling robots to detect pipe leaks before they become catastrophic. They walk through the economics: a singl...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a small city in Vermont is using a community-owned microgrid to lower energy costs, stabilize the local grid, and generate revenue for residents. They break down the financial structure—how the microgrid sells excess power back to the utility during peak hours, earning credits that reduce everyone's monthly bills. The hosts also discuss the role of smart...

Episode 13 of The Climate Tech Podcast takes you inside a California startup that has figured out how to convert agricultural waste — specifically cow manure — into a drop-in sustainable aviation fuel. Lucas walks through the numbers: the company recently closed a $200 million Series B round, plans to produce 30 million gallons per year by 2028, and has signed offtake agreements with three major a...

Wind turbine blades are nearly impossible to recycle — millions of tons of fiberglass and resin are headed for landfills. But one startup, Canvus, is turning decommissioned blades into reinforcement for concrete, replacing steel rebar and cutting carbon emissions. Lucas walks through the numbers: a single turbine blade yields about 20 tons of recycled fiber, which can replace roughly 30% of the st...

Episode 11 of The Climate Tech Podcast with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore how a startup called SolSure is rewriting the insurance playbook for solar farms. Hail damage costs the industry hundreds of millions annually, but traditional property insurers either won't touch solar or price coverage at 10-15 percent of a farm's revenue. SolSure uses satellite imagery, AI weather modeling, and a parame...

Lucas and Luna look at a real working example of agrivoltaics — a vineyard in southern France that co-locates solar panels with grapevines. They walk through the numbers: how the panels reduce heat stress, improve yield in certain varietals, and generate an additional revenue stream of around 1500 euros per hectare per year from power sales. They also discuss the challenges: higher upfront install...

This episode dives into the emerging field of 'embodied carbon' in construction — the emissions locked into building materials before a structure ever opens. Lucas and Luna examine real estate giant Skanska's 2025 decision to switch to low-carbon concrete on a major office tower in Seattle, reducing upfront emissions by 30 percent at a marginal cost increase of less than 2 percent. They unpack how...

Episode 8 of The Climate Tech Podcast digs into industrial heat capture — a climate solution hiding in plain sight. Lucas and Luna break down how one startup, Rondo Energy, is using brick-and-electric-resistance heaters to store waste heat from steel and cement plants and feed it back as clean power. They walk through the technology, the economics (a 30 percent internal rate of return on some inst...

Methane is 80 times more potent than CO₂ in the short term, and the oil and gas industry leaks millions of tons of it every year. But detecting and stopping those leaks used to be too expensive for most operators. That changed when a Houston-based startup called Qube Technologies developed a continuous monitoring sensor that costs less than a leak inspector's annual salary. In this episode, Lucas...

Green hydrogen has been called the fuel of the future for years, but most projects never got past the pilot stage. This episode looks at one that actually broke ground in 2025 and is set to deliver its first commercial hydrogen in 2027: the HyStor project in western Texas. Lucas and Luna walk through how the project uses solar-powered electrolysis to produce hydrogen at $3.70 per kilogram, what go...

Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising climate tech story: a pipeline network in the American Midwest that transports liquid organic fertilizer from dairy farms to cornfields, cutting both methane emissions and synthetic fertilizer use. They break down how the startup Continental Carbonic is turning a waste problem into a revenue stream, why the economics work even without carbon credits, and what t...

Lucas and Luna dig into the financial mechanics of a 100-megawatt battery storage project in Texas that sells ancillary services back to the grid and distributes monthly cash flows to retail investors. They walk through the revenue stack — energy arbitrage, frequency regulation, capacity payments — and explain why the project targets a 10 to 12 percent internal rate of return. Along the way they c...