In this episode, Co-Founder and CEO, Nick Myers, explains how Phoenix Tailings got started, why mining tailings are such a problem, how they have been dealt with to date, and the benefits of the Phoenix Tailings approach. We also talk about the company’s traction to-date, key priorities, and what is coming next. Given the electrification that is to come and the increasing demand for precious metals, this is a great episode to learn more about how to mine these metals in a more sustainable and ef...
Jan 07, 2021•42 min
Today's guest is Dave Riess, Co-Founder & CEO of Wunder Capital. In this episode, Dave walks me through his career path and how he got hooked on energy. We talk about Wunder Capital, its initial hypothesis, and how the company has evolved. We also dive into how the solar revolution has developed, Dave's thoughts on the future of solar, and how to accelerate the clean energy transition. I enjoyed having Dave on the podcast! Enjoy the show! You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and ...
Jan 04, 2021•56 min
Emrgy’s Founder and CEO, Emily Morris, and I have a lively discussion as she takes me through her path to entrepreneurship, Emrgy's beginnings, and the lessons she has learned looking back on her career. We talk about Emrgy's technology and its process for identifying sites. Emily also explains why hydropower is essential to a successful energy transition and the distinction between clean and sustainable. Emily was a great guest, and I enjoyed learning more about what she’s building with Emrgy. ...
Dec 31, 2020•49 min
Today's guest is Josh Felser, Angel investor and Co-Founder of Freestyle VC. I was excited for this episode, as Josh is among a growing group of very successful people coming from other industries who are looking to get serious about addressing climate change. Josh is a several time entrepreneur, (founded Spinner, acquired by AOL Time Warner and Grouper, acquired by Sony), and went on to co-found Freestyle Capital, a venture capital firm focused on backing early stage internet and mobile startup...
Dec 28, 2020•54 min
unspun co-founder and CTO Kevin Martin walks me through what motivated him and his co-founders to tackle this massive challenge within the fashion industry. We also discuss the future of apparel in a COVID world, how unspun's core robotics technology fits with their consumer-facing brand, and Kevin's vision for the future of automated and localized manufacturing. Kevin was a great guest, and I learned a lot about the climate impact of the apparel industry. To learn more about unspun check out th...
Dec 24, 2020•47 min
Today's guest is Nili Gilbert, Investment Committee Chair of the David Rockefeller Fund and Synergos. Nili and I have a really enjoyable discussion in this episode about her personal journey to find meaning in her work, and the dual tracks that took along the way, with a high profile finance career where she injected her values at every step, and through her philanthropic efforts. We also have a bigger picture discussion about these thorny systems problems, and the best ways for us to address th...
Dec 21, 2020•53 min
Founder and CEO, Julia Kumari Drapkin, walks me through her background as a climate journalist, why she started ISeeChange, what the company has accomplished so far and where it is heading. To learn more about ISeeChange, visit their website: https://www.iseechange.org/ This episode is available wherever you get your podcasts. The pitch presentation and slides are exclusively available to My Climate Journey Members. If you’re interested in watching this episode, you can learn about becoming an M...
Dec 17, 2020•43 min
Today's guest is Rob Niven, Founder and CEO of CarbonCure Technologies. Rob and I have a fascinating discussion about concrete versus cement, how he got started working in concrete, and what drew him to help solve this problem. We also talk about his experience in public policy in regards to clean cement legislation. I learned a lot from Rob about the concrete market and the future of CarbonCure Technologies. If you want to learn more about this episode, visit www.myclimatejourney.co/episodes/ro...
Dec 14, 2020•52 min
Founder and CEO Grant Canary walks me through how DroneSeed (Now Mast Reforestation) works and how he got involved in wildfire restoration. We also discuss the problem we are facing with wildfires across the western U.S., the main problems with forest restoration as it stands now, the market, and where carbon credits are heading in the future in respect to reforestation. To learn more about DroneSeed, visit their website: https://www.droneseed.com/ This episode is available wherever you get your...
Dec 10, 2020•48 min
Back by popular demand, today's guest is Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project, a non-profit that aims to significantly increase voter demand for environmental leadership by identifying inactive environmentalists and then turning them into consistent activists and voters. Nathaniel explains the Environmental Voter Project's work, how they identify environmental non-voters, and what they do to get them to the polls. He also explains WHY it is so imp...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr
Founder, Matanya Horowitz, and I discuss his background and how AMP Robotics started. We dive into the controversies of recycling, the inefficiencies that AMP is solving and where the future of recycling is going. I really enjoyed talking with Matanya and learning about the problem AMP Robotics is trying to solve, their momentum and progress, and future plans. To learn more about AMP Robotics, visit their website: https://www.amprobotics.com/ This episode is available wherever you get your podca...
Dec 03, 2020•45 min
Today's guest is Amy Francetic, Managing Director of Buoyant Ventures. Buoyant Ventures is an early stage fund investing in digital solutions to climate risk based in Chicago, IL. Amy and I have a lively discussion where she tells me about her origin story and how she first got involved in the climate fight. We talk about how climate has evolved since she started working in this space and the future of climate investing. Amy also tells me about Buoyant Ventures and digital climate solutions. In ...
Nov 30, 2020•49 min
Today's guest is Dr. Melissa Lott, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Melissa and I have a great discussion, in which we dive into her background and origin story, what brought her to working in energy, how she sees the energy transition playing out, how we can successfully decarbonize power, and how energy and environmental justice can’t be decoupled. We also discuss how her team decides which projects to take on, and goes about doing their mod...
Nov 23, 2020•50 min
Today's guests are Jon Goldberg, Founder & CEO of Carbon Direct and Julio Friedmann, Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct. I learned a lot in the episode. Jon and Julio are the first pair to come onto the podcast and it led to a fascinating discussion. We dive into Carbon Direct, their place in the market, and how Carbon Direct is changing the game. We also discuss the areas Jon and Julio are most excited about as well as net zero commitments and the controversy of offsets. In today’s episode, w...
Nov 16, 2020•59 min
Today's guest is David Hardy, CEO of Offshore NA at Ørsted, a Danish energy company. We talked about a lot in this episode. David walked me through his path to Ørsted and where he sees the company going. We chatted about how the renewables landscape has changed since he first started working in this area, and the path forwards. Then, we had a great discussion about offshore wind, its penetration to date, its future, and how these projects come about and get implemented, at a granular level. In t...
Nov 09, 2020•44 min
Today's guest is Rodrigo Prudencio, who works in Worldwide Corporate Development at Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. We discuss a lot in this episode, including what got Rodrigo initially passionate about climate change, the lessons he learned from the last cleantech wave, what led him back into cleantech and his role at Amazon, and a deep dive into the Climate Pledge Fund, its areas of focus, and how Amazon will measure its success. This episode was recorded live on October 22, 2020 as part of the...
Nov 02, 2020•51 min
Today's guest is Adam Browning, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Vote Solar. We cover a lot in this episode from Adam’s beginnings to the future of solar in the U.S. We also dive into how solar works and the potential drawbacks of it. Finally, Adam talks in depth about policy advocacy on the local level and how Prop B came to fruition. In today’s episode, we cover: What is Vote Solar and its mission? How Adam found himself at Vote Solar and in climate. The origins of Vote Solar. How the pass...
Oct 26, 2020•43 min
In today’s episode, we cover: What is Aspiration? Cherny's background & experiences that led him to the idea of Aspiration Cherny's time working for Al Gore How banks operate? Aspiration's model of success Challenges Aspiration is faced with Cherny's perspective on fossil fuels & how it applies to banking Discussion on "do no harm" Collectivism versus individualism Divestment versus advocating within the existing systems How to create change within banking The power of consumers Links to...
Oct 19, 2020•38 min
Today's guest is Daniel Kammen, Professor of Energy at the University of California, Berkeley. We have a long form discussion in this episode about Dan's background, how his perspective on the problem of climate change has evolved over the years and how he thinks about the problem today. Dan's perspective is particularly unique given the diverse background that he brings, which I find super interesting given the systems nature of the problem. In today’s episode, we cover: Daniel’s background and...
Oct 12, 2020•45 min
In today’s episode, we cover: Skelly’s background and journey as a renewable energy entrepreneur. His formative experience in canopy tourism. The reasons and motives that drove Skelly to get into wind energy. His reflection on the Industrial Revolution. What has changed in renewable energy since he first began working in it. Texas’ experience with renewable energy. Skelly’s thoughts on existing nuclear energy power plants. The prospect of putting a price on carbon. The importance of transmission...
Oct 05, 2020•41 min
Today's guest is Nicolas Pinkowski, Co-Founder of Nitricity. We cover a lot in this episode, including how Nitricity came to be, the impetus for its founding, progress made to date, and some of the twists and turns along the way. We also discuss the company’s longterm vision and what's coming next. We also touch upon the experience of starting a company within an academic environment and the pros and cons of doing so. Finally, we delve into what society can do to foster more of this type of inno...
Sep 28, 2020•37 min
In today’s episode, we cover: Jason’s work at SIPA and Center of Global Energy Policy. Jason’s time in policy in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and Brookings Institute. SIPA’s mission and how it serves as a resource for decision-makers in the energy industry. How the challenge among energy and climate policymakers is making research useful and actionable for industry. How Jason found his way in working on energy at Columbia. The early-optimism in Obama’s first-term to pass bipartisan legi...
Sep 21, 2020•39 min
Today's guest is Tim Latimer, Co-Founder and CEO of Fervo Energy. This is the first episode that I've done putting geothermal front and center, and Tim does a great job in this discussion of providing an overview of geothermal technology. I learn why it matters, where it is in its evolution, where it needs to get to and the barriers holding it back. We also talk a bunch about Tim's journey from starting as a drilling engineer, working in the Permian and Eagle Four Basins, to now being laser-focu...
Sep 14, 2020•57 min
Today's guest is Bryce Smith, Founder & CEO at LevelTen Energy. We have a great discussion in this episode about Bryce's career and experience, what brought him into the energy world, and what led him to founding LevelTen. We talk about the vision of LevelTen, the company’s origin story, the products they've had to date, and what types of things are coming next. And we have a great discussion about the energy marketplace and how the projects LevelTen facilitates are helping to usher the tran...
Sep 07, 2020•55 min
Today's guests are Nan Ransohoff & Ryan Orbuch, members of Stripe’s Climate team. Nan and Ryan work on the Climate team at Stripe, and I was very excited for the opportunity to interview them. While it’s not a climate company, Stripe recognizes that climate change poses a long term risk to its mission of growing the GDP of the Internet. As a result, Stripe is doing a number of things that I think are fascinating. For one, it’s treating the climate team like a product team. The company embrac...
Sep 04, 2020•45 min
In today’s episode, we cover: Sean’s experience as an entrepreneur. Sean’s background in science and his interest in climate change. How business revealed to him the regulatory and legislative barriers related to climate development. How his father and his work in cogeneration plants influenced his interest in biofuels and climate. The challenges faced by mission-driven energy companies. Why he feels, in general, the tech component is overstated as a barrier. Why deployment of technology is the ...
Aug 31, 2020•55 min
Today's guest is Andrew Salzberg, Loeb Fellow at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. I was excited for this one, because transportation is such a key lever in decarbonization and one that we haven't yet spent enough time talking about here on the pod. We cover a lot in this episode, including an overview of the transportation ecosystem, where we are today, where we need to go and what are some of the barriers that have been holding us back. We also talk about the arc of Andrew's career...
Aug 24, 2020•44 min
In today’s debate, we cover: What is hydrogen? How is it used and why is it important? Jigar’s and Gene’s respective background as it relates to hydrogen The applications and costs associated with hydrogen What competes with hydrogen in the energy market The necessity of a price on carbon as it relates to hydrogen What the natural gas boom says about hydrogen’s future Initiatives Jigar and Gene would respectively recommend the government to employ Predictions of hydrogen looking a decade out Lin...
Aug 17, 2020•57 min
Today's guest is Philip Behn, CEO of Imperfect Foods. In today’s episode, we cover: What is Imperfect Foods and its mission Imperfect Foods’ achievements in terms of customers-served and food waste recovered The company’s origin story Philip’s journey in food and how he joined Imperfect Foods What he learned during his stints at McKinsey and Walmart Imperfect Foods’ value proposition The landscape of the food waste problem How the resources spent on food waste has compounding effects The artific...
Aug 10, 2020•44 min
Today's guest is May Boeve, Executive Director & Co-Founder of 350.org. We have a great discussion in this episode about May's roots in activism and in fighting to combat global warming, where that came from, how it came about, and how her thinking on these topics has evolved over the past decade. We also talk about the current state of affairs in the climate movement and in the world, where we need to go, and what are some of the things that can be most impactful for helping us get there. E...
Aug 03, 2020•51 min
