Nuclear energy is facing a marked uptick in private investment over the next five years, spurred by the escalating demand for clean energy and energy security. Both governments’ and the private sector's net-zero ambitions are driving significant interest in high-growth energy areas like nuclear energy. Further, according to the International Energy Agency, existing nuclear plants make up a large part of global energy production today - representing nearly 10% of global energy production and near...
Dec 18, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Following a riveting conversation with Killian Daly of EnergyTag about hourly matching in carbon accounting, this Energy Minute looks at the work of the Emissions First partnership - a group of companies including Akamai, Meta, General Motors and Salesforce - and its collective focus on carbon matching in clean energy procurement. Cleartrace’s Steven Goldman delves into the difference between hourly matching and carbon matching approaches, and what principles the partnership members are applying...
Dec 11, 2023•5 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Decarbonization has diversified from simply vanilla to 31 flavors, where a range of goals and strategies are being adopted as companies work to reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts. One key strategy that’s emerged has been time-matched procurement of electricity, ensuring that the electricity that’s sourced corresponds to when and how much electricity is used onsite. Granular energy attribute certificates (EACs), which add transparency by including information on where and whe...
Dec 04, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Investing in infrastructure is different and more complex than many other investment classes, often involving significantly longer timeframes and larger capital expenditures. Investing in sustainable infrastructure — like renewable energy, energy storage, or electric vehicle fleets — can be attractive to investors but adds complexity and often requires delivering with newer technologies. Generate Capital was founded in 2014 with an unusual approach: invest, operate and maintain a range of sustai...
Nov 27, 2023•35 min•Season 3Ep. 5
On this Energy Minute mini-sode, Steven Goldman explores the world of “green tariffs,” voluntary utility programs that enable eligible customers to buy the “bundled” energy and associated Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from renewable energy projects. These programs are typically offered by local electric utilities and approved by state public utility commissions (PUCs). He explains the main types of green tariffs and how they are an important tool for companies seeking to procure clean ene...
Nov 20, 2023•6 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Most people think of jet fuel the same way they think of filling up their car with gasoline: go to the pump, fill the tank, pay the price per gallon. But decarbonizing business travel and air freight is a much more complex task, where sellers, buyers and users are all part of the transaction, and standards for what makes aviation fuel “sustainable” are still being set. On this episode of The Decarbonization Race, new co-host Steven Goldman takes flight into the world of Sustainable Aviation Fuel...
Nov 13, 2023•47 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Corporate demand for clean energy continues to grow across the globe, particularly in the United States. Apex Clean Energy, a developer of commercial-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects, is a key player in this growth. With a diversified portfolio of 60 gigawatts and more than $2B in assets under management across the United States, Apex has a range of corporate offtakers including Google, IKEA, Cargill, and Meta. On this episode of the Decarbonization Race, VP of Energy Marketing for...
Nov 06, 2023•39 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Nuclear energy is a low-carbon source of electricity that has been playing a vital role in the global energy mix for decades. Today, there are about 440 nuclear power reactors operating in 33 countries, providing about 10% of the world's electricity. While the nuclear energy industry has faced an array of challenges over the last few decades - including plant closures due to competition from cheaper natural gas and renewable energy sources, as well as overall safety concerns - nuclear technology...
Oct 30, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Clean energy doesn't have to cost more. California electricity supplier Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) is charting a path to supply 24/7 renewable electricity in northern California that is competitive today and less expensive in the long run compared to typical utility electricity offerings. How is the company getting there? On this episode of The Decarbonization Race, renewable energy pioneer and PCE CEO Jan Pepper joins Lincoln to explain it all, including the genesis of PCE’s ambitious strateg...
Jun 12, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 19
In this Energy Minute episode, Dana Dohse and Steven Goldman jump into the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Direction (or CS3D for short) recently passed by the European Parliament. While the CS3D is not a regulation -- meaning member states will have several years to develop their own respective national laws on implementing the directive -- it still holds significant weight, and will impact both EU-headquartered companies as well as non-EU firms exporting goods via the E...
Jun 05, 2023•17 min•Season 2Ep. 18
On this episode of the Decarbonization Race, Lincoln Payton dives deep into the world of sustainable architecture with architect Lori Ferriss , who’s worked across her career to square sustainability, historic preservation and aesthetic concerns in cities swimming in history, like Boston. As Director of Sustainability and Climate Action at Boston architectural firm Goody Clancy , Lori leads research initiatives and project design and implementation serving a range of sectors including higher edu...
May 29, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 17
On this Energy Minute episode, Dana Dohse and Steven Goldman take a deep dive into the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) legislation that will be taking effect in the European Union in 2024. Under the new legislation, aligning with Paris climate goals or ensuring ethical supply chains will move from voluntary practices or proactive risk management to regulatory requirements with oversight by EU nations. Listen in as they examine the legislation's details, requirements, and pote...
May 22, 2023•19 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Iron Mountain Data Centers are in the vanguard of the clean energy transition: they not only run their facilities on 100% renewable energy, they are working towards a more ambitious goal, powering them with carbon-free energy 24/7. In this episode, host Lincoln Payton dives deep into decarbonization with Chris Pennington , Director of Energy and Sustainability at Iron Mountain Data Centers, to understand the more ambitious goal, and how Iron Mountain is using hourly energy and carbon data as the...
May 15, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Hydrogen is used as a heat source, a fuel or a feedstock in a range of industries… but depending on how it’s made, it can be a boon or hazard to our climate. Shifting to zero-carbon “green hydrogen” - produced using renewable energy sources like solar and wind - is critical for using hydrogen as a decarbonization resource, so much so that both the United States and European Union have passed legislation and targets aimed at quickly growing hydrogen adoption. But making sure hydrogen production i...
May 08, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Investing in infrastructure is different and more complex than many other investment classes, often involving significantly longer timeframes and larger capital expenditures. Investing in sustainable infrastructure — like renewable energy, energy storage, or electric vehicle fleets — can be attractive to investors but adds complexity and often requires delivering with newer technologies. Generate Capital was founded in 2014 with an unusual approach: invest, operate and maintain a range of sustai...
May 01, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 13
In time for Earth Day, Dana Dohse and Steven Goldman are joined by a special guest to talk about how to begin your journey into the ESG or sustainability career field. Over the past year, we’ve seen a “green wave” of skilled workers looking to shift to roles focused on sustainability or ESG issue areas, either at their current company or at a new one, or taking their talents from Big Tech to Climate Tech companies. Mike Hower , a sustainability expert with an unconventional career trajectory, ha...
Apr 22, 2023•29 min•Season 2Ep. 12
When it comes to decarbonization, local governments have a twofold role to play: reducing the impacts of their own operations, which can be broader than one thinks depending on the footprint of county services; then in supporting the ecosystem of public, private and stakeholder groups like NGOs in growing impacts within the region. In this episode, Lincoln is joined by Lisa Lin, who currently serves as the Director of Sustainability for Harris County, Texas, the third-largest county in the Unite...
Apr 17, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 11
In this Energy Minute, Dana Dohse and Steven Goldman discuss the importance of examining the marginal impact of different energy sources - using principles like additionality and emissionality - and why businesses may want to consider them in during clean energy procurement processes. Some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and others are looking hard at their energy procurement through one of these lenses, with different outcomes in mind for the fac...
Apr 10, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 10
To decarbonize the world, ensuring all homeowners and communities can play a role in adopting clean energy is critical. Under the Biden Administration’s Justice40 initiative, the U.S. federal government is directing 40 percent of certain funds and programs at helping low-income and historically excluded communities scale up renewables and energy storage locally. Why those communities? Because low-income households typically have higher energy burdens - meaning they pay a larger amount of their i...
Apr 03, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Today, discussions on decarbonization are focused about what we need to build - more clean energy assets, more electric vehicles, more hydrogen and EV-charging infrastructure, more new efficient buildings or software and equipment to make older building more efficient. But a soon-to-be-huge issue that’s emerging is waste - retired solar panels, wind turbines and blades, batteries from electric vehicles and energy storage - and what to do with it all. In this Energy Minute, co-hosts Dana Dohse an...
Mar 27, 2023•21 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Electrification is a critical part of decarbonization - but ensuring emissions come down in the process means ensuring the processes that get us there don’t create their own excessive impacts. The global appetite for electric vehicles and battery-based energy storage has grown considerably, and with it, the need for more raw materials to produce them. But as the first generations of electric vehicles and battery storage start to retire and replace batteries, processes for recycling them at end-o...
Mar 20, 2023•34 min•Season 2Ep. 7
As more and more industries are pushing to decarbonize their processes - and in the process, help curb emissions for companies’ supply chains - green steel is trending. Automakers, builders and companies in a range of other sectors are under pressure to reduce the embodied carbon in their products. But delivering “green steel” means both changing processes that have been in place for decades, and agreeing on what constitutes zero-carbon or near-zero carbon steel. In this Energy Minute, co-hosts ...
Mar 13, 2023•19 min•Season 2Ep. 6
To create the products and grow the food we eat, the industrial sector requires a lot of thermal energy—heating and cooling—which today represents approximately 13% of total U.S. emissions. However, tackling this “forgotten wedge” of the emissions mix to slow climate change requires a range of approaches and policies beyond electrification. Tackling this difficult challenge is Blaine Collison , Executive Director at the Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) and a renewable energy & sustainab...
Mar 06, 2023•35 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The Inflation Regulation Act, the United States’ most ambitious climate legislation to date, was passed in August of 2022, delivering a range of grants, loan programs, tax incentives and a greenhouse gas reduction fund, all targeted to accelerate clean energy and technologies to mitigate climate change, including energy storage, hydrogen production and direct air capture to name a few. In this Energy Minute, co-hosts Dana Dohse and Steven Goldman are joined by Michael Panfil , Senior Director &a...
Feb 27, 2023•20 min•Season 2Ep. 4
"What we need is a bunch of courageous people right now. People who are willing to advocate and fight in their business life and to fight for what we need at the civic and government and arguably global level." In this episode, Susan Hunt Stevens, CEO of WeSpire, shares with host Lincoln Payton ways in which businesses can energize employees by actively including them in ESG initiatives, develop ESG maturity models, and inspire workers to find the courage to combat the climate crisis. Susan Hunt...
Feb 20, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 3
In 2016, Peninsula Clean Energy made an ambitious move to supply its customers with 100% renewable energy. As of 2021, it met its goal with a mix of renewable and carbon-free energy, including large hydropower and nuclear power at a lower price than customers were paying for power through Pacific Gas & Electric. In this Energy Minute, Dana and Steven jump into how Peninsula Clean Energy then decided to reach for a more ambitious strategy - to provide 100% renewable energy matched every hour,...
Feb 13, 2023•16 min•Season 2Ep. 2
The Decarbonization Race is back! On our season premiere, Michael Daschle, SVP of Sustainability at Brookfield Properties, joins Lincoln to share how the company’s push to decarbonize its commercial real estate portfolio led to powering Brookfield’s flagship New York City property, One Manhattan West, with 24/7 carbon-free energy. Michael dives into Brookfield’s vision and approach to ESG, how to get the tenants on board with Brookfield’s investments in sustainability, sourcing 100% renewable el...
Feb 06, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Energy storage is playing a critical role in managing and reducing corporations’ and communities’ carbon footprint. And no one knows this better than Fluence, the technology company whose team pioneered the use of grid-scale batteries as energy storage 15 years ago. Kiran Kumaraswamy , VP of Growth & Head of Commercial at Fluence , joins our host Lincoln to share the history and importance of energy storage in transforming how countries and companies source, store and deliver electricity. Th...
Dec 19, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 13
One key publication that was highlighted during the UN COP27 summit was the International Energy Agency's (IEA) report on advancing decarbonization through corporate clean energy procurement . In this Energy Minute, Dana and Steven dive into the report and its key takeaways—in particular looking at the options available to corporations for sourcing clean energy, some differences in how decarbonization efforts would likely differ in the example countries of India and Indonesia, and how even setti...
Dec 12, 2022•14 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Turning the microphone around for an episode, our host Lincoln Payton joined Dr. Chris Wedding on his podcast, Entrepreneurs for Impact. Dr. Wedding interviews CEOs and investors on his podcast who are tackling climate change—an initiative we at The Decarbonization Race can certainly get behind. Listen in to hear the interview, including Lincoln’s “origin story,” - his career in investment banking prior to joining Cleartrace - the energy transition that led him to join the climate tech sector as...
Dec 05, 2022•47 min
