The ZENERGY Podcast: Energy Leadership, Finance, and Technology

Douglas J. Arent is the Executive Director of Strategic Public-Private Partnerships at the National Renewable Energy Labratory. Doug Arent focuses on strategic public and private partnerships with NREL to transform energy economies at speed and scale across the globe. Dr. Arent has worked in research on energy and sustainability for more than 30 years, publishing extensively on topics including cl...

The Zenergy Podcast interviews global climate leaders with prior guests including the founders of some of the world's largest renewable energy and electric vehicle companies including founders of SoftBank Energy, Azure Power, Ola Electric, and SunEdison. These conversations share industry developments, highlight clean tech investment opportunities, and shed light on how young professionals can inc...

Panelists: Barbara Humpton, President and CEO of Siemens Ann-Mari Kemell, State Secretary to the Ministry of Economic Affairs for Finland Doug Arent, Executive Director of Strategic Public/Private Partnerships for NREL Regardless of the investments we make in clean technology, we cannot meet our energy and climate goals without our most important investment – human capital. We are already experien...

Dr. Nicola De Blasio is a Senior Fellow leading Belfer Center research on energy technology innovation and the transition to a low carbon economy. With more than 25 years of global experience in the energy sector, Dr. De Blasio is an expert in navigating the challenges of strategic development and technology innovation toward sustainable commercial success, at scale. Dr. De Blasio spent 17 years a...

In this episode we will be speaking with Alex Laplaza, who is a Partner at Lower Carbon Capital and Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, which is a leading Climate Tech venture capital firm that was founded by Chris Sacca. Alex brings wide-ranging expertise on scalable climate solutions across energy, agriculture, transportation, and industry. In this conversation, we talk about how the start-up investme...

In this episode we will be speaking with Ram Ramanan, who is a Vice President and former Head of Engineering at Bloom Energy, which is a public company headquartered in California that is one of the leaders in developing Hydrogen Technology and Hydrogen Electrolyzers. In this conversation we discuss Ram’s career pathway, his perspective on hiring engineers, and the economics of hydrogen technology...

In this conversation, we will be speaking with Ian Springsteel, who is the Director of U.S. Regulatory Strategy at the National Grid. In this capacity, Ian develops and oversees regulatory strategy and implementation of new programs and petitions to U.S. regulators. His areas of focus include: electric vehicles and electrification of heat, solar incentive programs, grid modernization, and energy s...

We have a special episode of the Zenergy Podcast today, wheasre we are joined by 3 guests to breakdown the Inflation Reduction Act. Topics discussed:  Topic 1: There is a lot to unpack in the Climate bill. Will walks us through some of the key highlights.  Climate Tracker:  https://airtable.com/shrzbm0uBAWOyP7Sd/tblFzX5IPIamN8zzB Topic 2: The Rhodium Group initially indicated odds o...

In this conversation, we will be speaking to Shari Friedman, who leads the Eurasia Group’s climate and sustainability coverage, working across regions and sectors to help clients understand evolving policies and how they will affect clients’ businesses today and in the future. Shari has been involved with climate and sustainability issues for over 25 years. She worked for the US government during...

Vivek Pathak is IFC’s Global Head and Director of Climate Business. In this role, he facilitates business growth, provides thought leadership, new product development and facilitates all work related to climate business. He is responsible for identifying new business opportunities for climate business and facilitating the mobilization of capital into this space. Prior to his current appointment, M...

Will Hackman is a conservation and climate policy expert with more than a decade of experience in campaigns and global environmental issue advocacy. Will served as a political fundraiser and campaign manager on four federal races for the U.S. House and Senate as well as a gubernatorial campaign. He then joined the public sector conservation community as a marine fisheries conservation advocate. Wi...

In this episode, we will be talking to John Belizaire, who is the CEO of Soluna Holdings, a company helping to shape the future of renewable energy development. Soluna Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLNH) is currently the leading developer of green data centers that convert excess renewable energy into global computing resources. Prior to starting Soluna and early in his career, Mr. Belizaire was the rec...

In this episode, we will be speaking with William Brent, who is the Chief Marketing Officer at Husk Power Systems, which is one of the world’s leading distributed utilities. In this conversation we discuss everything micro grids, including the opportunities and challenges to scale this  innovative emerging technology.  Topics discussed in this episode: 1. Background on Microgrid Technolo...

In this episode, I will be speaking with Ms. Lynn Abramson, who leads the Clean Energy Business Network, which is the small business voice for the clean energy economy. CEBN elevates opportunities for small- and midsize clean energy providers through policy support, market and technology education, and business development assistance and its network spans over 6000. I hope you enjoy this wide-rang...

Brief Description: In this episode, we will be speaking with Neil Chatterjee, a former Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Mr. Chatterjee is a policy reformer who broke down market barriers for the entrance of new technologies, particularly for low-carbon technologies. He has been an advocate for harnessing technology to mitigate physical and cyber threats...

In this episode, I will be speaking with Craig O’ Connor, the founder of the Renewable Energy Business Development Program at the U.S. Export-Import Bank that, since 2008, has generated over $2 billion in financing for renewable energy projects. We dive into the stories behind Exim’s involvement in financing some of India’s earliest solar projects and also discuss key financing terms that Exim Ban...

In this episode we will be talking to Kartikeya Singh, a director of programs at the SED Fund, where he manages the portfolio to support energy transition efforts around the world. Mr. Singh is also a non-resident fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program. In this conversation, we explore different clean energy technologies and...

In this conversation, we speak to Mr. Richard Rossow, a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which is a leading think-tank based in Washington, D.C. Richard Rossow holds the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at CSIS. In this role he helps frame and shape policies to promote greater business and economic engagement between the two countries.  T...

In this episode we will be speaking with Claire Johnson, a co-founder of SunEdison, which at its peak had a market capitalization of $10 Billion and more than 7,000 employees. Sun-Edison is largely attributed as the pioneer of the US solar industry. In this conversation we discuss the origin story of SunEdison, the ‘solar as a service’ and ‘pay as you use model’ which it pioneered, and some of Ms....

In this conversation we will be speaking with Linda Silverman, who recently retired from the US Department of Energy after spending over 30 years with this government organization. Ms. Silverman and I discuss how the USG energy focus has evolved over time, what the process for multilateral energy events looks like, and also her experience running the world renowned solar decathlon competition. Hop...

In this conversation we will be speaking with Dan Stein, the Chief Economist of IDinsight and the founder of IDinsight’s Giving Green initiative. IDinsight is a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics and research organization that helps global development leaders maximize their social impact. In our conversation we discuss what types of data help maximize climate investments and the work M...

In this conversation we will be speaking with Alexander Hogeveen Rutter who was recently leading the IFC’s market creation efforts for energy storage and green hydrogen in developing Asia, and is now spearheading private sector development initiatives for the International Solar Alliance. In this conversation we dive into the economics of energy storage technology and whether renewable energy syst...

Rajeev Singh is the chief technology officer of AutoGrid, a company which is known as a pioneer in the energy management space—and the first company that was backed by Arpa-E to pursue research in smart grid applications.  Mr. Singh was AutoGrid’s first engineer, and in this conversation, we discuss AutoGrid’s work with helping grid operators integrate renewable energy. Hope you enjoy my conv...

Sameer Shukla is the Head of Global Energy Practice World Bank for the European and Central Asian regions. Mr. Shukla's background is in finance and energy and he has been working for the World Bank for 24 years. Throughout his career, Mr. Shukla has been working to support countries in energy security and reforms and also to help them successfully manage the energy transition. In this interview,...

In this episode we will be speaking with Radhika Thakkar, one of the earliest employees of green light planet, a leading global provider of solar home energy products to over 45 million rural consumers that employs over 1000 dedicated individuals. Ms. Thakkar helped expand the company’s presence from India to Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin American within one year of operations, to include hund...