Ned Tozun co-founded d.light in 2007 with a mission to provide safe, affordable, and sustainable energy solutions for all. Seventeen years later, d.light's solar products have improved the lives of over 180 million people across 72 countries, with major operations in India, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. The company employs 1,200 people and tens of thousands of local sales agents to bring its innovative products to remote, rural communities. Ned joins Supercool to share how the business h...
Nov 20, 2024•53 min•Ep. 18
What moves people to ditch their cars and use their own feet? The key, says Jeff Speck, is that the walk must be as good as a drive. Jeff wrote the book on walkability—literally. Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time is the best-selling city-planning title of the 21st century. On today’s show, Jeff presents the playbook for creating walkable neighborhoods and cities, the maddening obstacles standing in the way, and how to clear the path—one thoughtful step at a time. Sh...
Nov 13, 2024•42 min•Ep. 17
In just two years since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became U.S. law, the clean energy economy has been on a tear: $380B in new investment by companies; 900 new and expanded manufacturing facilities; and clean energy jobs growing at twice the rate of conventional jobs (4.2% vs 2%). Joining Josh to discuss these supercool accomplishments is David Turk, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. As the DOE’s second-in-command and Chief Operating Officer, David has played a key role in...
Nov 02, 2024•28 min•Ep. 16
Bitcoin mining faces frequent criticism in climate circles for its voracious energy appetite. But what if that narrative is over-generalized or maybe even entirely misses the mark? Joining Josh is Matthew Schultz, the founding CEO and current Executive Chairman of CleanSpark, a publicly traded Bitcoin miner with nearly 5% market share of new Bitcoin. CleanSpark operates predominantly using nuclear energy in rural communities throughout America. Tune in to discover how CleanSpark blends clean ene...
Oct 30, 2024•57 min•Ep. 15
Kathy Hannun began incubating within Google X, the startup that would become Dandelion, a home geothermal energy company that today is the largest and fastest-growing in America. With several thousand residential installations completed in the Northeast, Dandelion is scaling nationally, partnering with installers and homebuilding giants like Lennar. Carbon-free geothermal energy is about to become the default heating and cooling source for thousands of American homes. Show Links: Guest: Kathy Ha...
Oct 23, 2024•45 min•Ep. 14
While saving the Amazon grabs headlines, the trees right outside your front door shape your life in important ways. The more trees in your city neighborhood, the less crime, the fewer prescriptions for antidepressants, and the lower rates of asthma, childhood leukemia, and other immune diseases. These leafy giants affect everything from healthier newborns to longer life expectancy to higher property values. Geoffrey Donovan, an urban forester and economist with the U.S. Forest Service, joins the...
Oct 16, 2024•41 min•Ep. 13
Garbage trucks have gone missing in cities around the world. In neighborhoods from London to Barcelona and Singapore to Seoul, their unmistakable sight, sound, and smell are notably absent. The reason? Trash has gone underground, whisked away through a hidden network of pneumatic pipes—no trucks, no noise, no stench. If this sounds like the future, it is. But this particular slice was invented in the 1960s by Swedish company Envac. The company’s CEO, Joakim Karlsson, joins Supercool to discuss h...
Oct 09, 2024•47 min•Ep. 12
Marshall Gobuty didn’t set out to build green when he became a real estate developer in his 50s. After a successful career in the clothing and furnishings industries, he sought to establish credibility in Florida’s competitive housing market. LEED certification presented the perfect opportunity. But Gobuty didn’t stop at meeting the minimum. His first project, Mirabella, became the first LEED Platinum Certified residential community in the U.S. His next development, Hunters Point, became the fir...
Oct 02, 2024•48 min•Ep. 11
Fresh out of grad school, Kyle Wagenschutz was hired by the mayor of Memphis, TN, and given a daunting task: prevent the city from being named the "Worst Place to Bicycle in America" by Bicycling Magazine for a third year in a row. Kyle succeeded. Five years (and over a hundred miles of bike lanes) later, Memphis was recognized as a national leader, and Kyle was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change. Kyle took his insights to other cities and accomplished the near impossible: he ena...
Sep 25, 2024•52 min•Ep. 10
Stanford professor Mark Jacobson wasn’t just dreaming of a world powered by renewable energy back in 2009—he was doing the math and architecting the plan. Jacobson teamed up with actor-turned-eco-hero Mark Ruffalo to co-found The Solutions Project with a mission to transition the world to 100% renewables by 2035. As Jacobson's vision took root, states and cities began making 100% renewable pledges. By 2019, his idea had reached Capitol Hill when AOC and Senator Markey introduced the Green New De...
Sep 18, 2024•39 min•Ep. 9
At Holabird Academy and Graceland Park, two net-zero energy Baltimore public schools, the future is already in session. Solar panels line the roofs, geothermal wells lie below the ballfields, and energy-efficient features keep these buildings running entirely on renewable power. But while these schools are a win for the planet, the real story is how they’re transforming the lives of everyone who steps inside—students, teachers, administrators, and the surrounding community. Stephanie Novak Pappa...
Sep 11, 2024•57 min•Ep. 8
Cities are in a race against time to cut carbon, and the stakes are high. Responsible for 70% of global emissions, urban centers around the world are stepping up. At the heart of this global movement are mayors. Through C40 Cities—a network of nearly 100 leading cities—mayors are sharing, learning, and spreading the most effective climate solutions worldwide. David Miller served as Mayor of Toronto from 2003-2010, where he transformed the city into a climate leader with a strategy rooted in inno...
Sep 04, 2024•44 min•Ep. 7
Across America, a quiet revolution is unfolding—autonomous electric mowers are gliding silently across parks, ballfields, and backyards. These zero-emission machines couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Lawn care and gardening account for 4-5% of the U.S.'s total greenhouse gas emissions—a staggering number for a single industry. Adam Sloan is the founder and CEO of Greener, which provides climate-friendly robots to landscaping companies that install them in customers' backyards. Hundreds are...
Aug 28, 2024•49 min•Ep. 6
Geothermal energy's roots in America run deep. Before the Wright Brothers took flight and the first Ford Model-T rolled off the assembly line, residents of Boise, Idaho, were heating their homes with geothermal energy. Today, Boise’s system heats over 100 buildings and six million square feet in the downtown core and even pulls off some supercool feats—like melting snow off sidewalks in the winter. In Boise, you can wash your clothes at a geothermal-heated laundromat, swim in a geothermal-heated...
Aug 22, 2024•32 min•Ep. 5
After a determined two-year campaign, thirty Denver Public Schools (DPS) students convinced the School Board of Education to approve a climate policy to make the school district a national leader in climate action. LeeAnn Kittle, Executive Director of Sustainability for Denver Public Schools, now leads the charge, overseeing the Climate Action Plan, which already saves the district $5 million annually through carbon-cutting initiatives. LeeAnn joins host Josh Dorfman to discuss what it takes to ...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 4
Though over a hundred solar companies fled the state when its utility, Rocky Mountain Power, cut solar incentives four years ago, Utah is one of the fastest-growing states for residential solar—but with a twist. Many new customers also purchase grid-connected batteries. While others left, ES Solar, a local solar company, went all-in on solar-plus-storage. That move paid off; the company has installed 96% of Utah's residential solar-plus-storage systems. Zach Randall, ES Solar's VP of Sales, join...
Aug 07, 2024•38 min•Ep. 3
Vancouver boasts the lowest carbon emissions per capita in North America and consistently ranks among the world’s most livable cities. That's no coincidence. This week, Josh speaks with Gregor Robertson, former Mayor of Vancouver, who championed many climate innovations during his three terms in office, including installing North America's largest waste sewer heat recovery system—delivering zero-carbon space and water heating to over 6,000 apartment units. Josh is also joined by Lynn Mueller, fo...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 2
in 2014, Gundersen Health, headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, became the nation's first health system to eliminate fossil fuels, transitioning to 100% local renewable energy. Today, Gundersen saves $5 million annually on energy, helping to control healthcare costs for its patient populations across 11 hospitals and 100+ clinics in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan (Gundersen merged with Bellin Health in 2022 to become Emplify Health). Alan Eber led the effort at Gundersen. Today, as C...
Jul 17, 2024•50 min•Ep. 1
Supercool is a new conversation about extraordinary climate solutions that cut carbon and improve modern life. From tech innovation to policy implementation, host Josh Dorfman pinpoints the stories and data behind the low-carbon economy as it spreads to towns and cities across the globe. The starting point for Supercool is, "What if solving climate change improves life?" The evidence is increasingly clear: Climate innovation enables safer city streets, improved education, stronger national secur...
Jun 20, 2024•3 min•Ep. 1
