Climate Positive

In this episode of Climate Positive, host Gil Jenkins sits down with Mike Berners-Lee—author, professor, and leading expert on sustainability—to explore the central message of his latest book, "A Climate of Truth." In a world spiraling deeper into climate, ecological, and social crises, Mike argues that the most powerful lever we have isn't new technology—it's honesty. The conversation unpacks why truth in politics, media, and business is essential to breaking the deadlock on climate action and building a livable future.Links:Purchase “A Climate of Truth: Why We Need It and How To Get It” (Published April 2025)Mike Berners-Lee on LinkedInMike Berners-Lee WebsiteEpisode recorded March 26, 2025 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

In this episode, host Gil Jenkins speaks with Marshall Cox, co-founder and CEO of Kelvin, a national leader in intelligent HVAC solutions for legacy buildings in major cities. Marshall shares the origin story of Kelvin (formerly Radiator Labs) and discusses the company's flagship product—the Cozy—an insulated radiator cover that maximizes efficiency and eliminates waste in steam-heated buildings. He also outlines Kelvin's growth plans and explains how New York's Local Law 97 is accelerating the push for building efficiency and decarbonization. The conversation explores Kelvin's hybrid electrification strategy and its broader implications for cost-effective, resource-efficient building decarbonization. Additional topics include market expansion, Kelvin's innovative financing model, and the importance of partnerships with HVAC contractors and other key stakeholders.Bio:Dr. Marshall Cox is the co-founder and CEO of Kelvin, a pioneer in sustainable building decarbonization and innovative HVAC solutions. He earned his M.S. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University in May 2004 and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Columbia University in 2013. Marshall holds over 10 U.S. patents and has published eight peer-reviewed papers in semiconductor devices, processing, and inorganic synthetic chemistry. He has received numerous awards through his work at Kelvin, including the MIT Clean Energy Prize, the Verizon Powerful Answers Award, and the Popular Science Innovation Award.Links:Kelvin WebsiteKelvin on LinkedInMarshall on LinkedInEpisode recorded February 7, 2025 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

The automotive industry is undergoing a major transformation, with electric vehicles poised to dominate the future of transport. But this transition requires more than just building great EVs; it demands a comprehensive approach to ensure our electric grid can reliably support the demand from millions of new EVs. In this episode of Climate Positive, host Guy Van Syckle speaks with Apoorv Bhargava, CEO of WeaveGrid, a company at the forefront of electric vehicle deployment and grid reliability. WeaveGrid helps utilities integrate EVs into our grid at scale, with a focus on elevating the EV driver experience and keeping charging affordable.  Their platform also enables better charging alignment with renewable energy availability and broader decarbonization. Guy and Apoorv explore how WeaveGrid has built an AI software platform to transform EVs from a grid liability into a valuable grid asset, developing key partnerships with both automakers and utilities.  Links:WeaveGrid Website Apoorv Bhargava on LinkedInWeaveGrid on LinkedInEpisode recorded  February 6, 2025 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

In this episode of Climate Positive, hosts Gil Jenkins and Daniela Shapiro sit down with Tom Hunt, CEO, and Bret Labadie, CFO, of Pivot Energy—a Colorado-based renewable energy provider and IPP that develops, finances, builds, owns, and manages solar and energy storage projects. As an ECP portfolio company and Certified B Corporation, Pivot Energy seeks to leverage its renewable expertise to deliver innovative solutions that help businesses and communities achieve meaningful decarbonization. Tom and Bret discuss Pivot Energy's growth, the rapidly evolving community solar market, creative financing strategies, and the power of corporate partnerships. They also explore the expanding role of distributed solar in the clean energy transition and what lies ahead for the industry.Bios:Tom Hunt is the CEO of Pivot Energy, a role he assumed in 2019. During his tenure as CEO, the company has grown by strong multiples in revenue, income, project deployment, and number of team members. In 2021, he drove a process to bring in blue-chip firm ECP as new sponsor investors for the company, allowing for renewed pursuit of Pivot's mission of making distributed generation a key part of the fight against anthropogenic climate change. A long-time community solar market leader, Tom also currently serves as the Board Chair for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, the national community solar trade association. Prior to Pivot, he oversaw corporate development, public policy, and project construction/operations for the first national community solar developer. He has also worked as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Colorado Governor's Energy Office and as a research chemist investigating biofuels synthesis methods.Bret Labadie is the CFO of Pivot Energy and has spent the last 18 years in escalating roles within energy finance, 8 of which have been concentrated in distributed solar. In his tenure in the renewables industry, Bret has closed debt and tax equity financings for over $600 million of distributed generation solar projects and has led three separate corporate capital processes, including the latest partnership between Pivot and ECP. Bret currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Pivot Energy, where he leads all financial, strategic, project finance, and capital market-related activities for the company.Links:Pivot Energy WebsitePivot Energy on LinkedInTom Hunt on LinkedInBret Labadie on LinkedInThe Kacie Peters Community Solar GardenPress Release: Pivot Energy Secures Over $450 Million in Major Financing of Distributed Generation Portfolios from First Citizens, ATLAS SP, and HASI (November 21, 2024) Press Release: Pivot Energy Collaborates with Microsoft to Develop Up to 500 MWac of Community-Scale Solar Projects that Will Deliver Significant Benefits to Local Communities (August 8, 2024)Press Release: Rivian Partners with Pivot Energy to Build Community Solar in Illinois (May 22, 2024) Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

In this episode of Climate Positive, hosts Gil Jenkins and Guy Van Syckle chat with Zeyneb Magavi, Executive Director of HEET, a Massachusetts-based non-profit focused on designing a strategic evolution of aging gas systems into bidirectional ambient thermal grids, with the aim of driving rapid and equitable decarbonization of heating and cooling in urban areas. The enlivening conversation centers around the networked geothermal, a novel technology gaining traction nationwide that utilizes underground thermal energy systems to provide efficient and sustainable heating and cooling. Magavi breaks down how this innovative neighborhood-scale decarbonization solution works, highlights the business case, policy drivers, the benefits for communities, utilities, workers, and more.Links:HEET WebsiteZeyneb Magavi on LinkedInZeyneb MagaviBioHEET on  XHEET on  LinkedInArticle: Underground Thermal Energy Networks May Be About to Have Their Moment (Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2024)Article: How an Unlikely Coalition of Climate Activists and a Gas Utility Are Weaning a Boston Suburb Off Fossil Fuels (Inside Climate News, December 21, 2024)HEET Blog:  13 Massachusetts Communities Kickstart New Geothermal Networks with $450,000 in Funding from MassCEC (February 29, 2024)HEET Blog: Networked Geothermal: The National Picture (April 17, 2023)Episode recorded December 17, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Growing demand requires growing supply. With more and more data centers and industrial facilities coming online, the United States will likely need 40 GW of incremental peak power generation – requiring hundreds of billions of dollars of related investment – just over the next few years. As large corporate buyers of power seek to meet their climate goals, they are increasingly looking at nuclear power as a scalable and cost-effective option. In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Brandon Oyer, Head of Americas Power and Water at Amazon Web Services (AWS). They discuss Amazon's recent efforts to contract with existing large-scale and new small modular nuclear reactors, the benefits and risks associated with nuclear power, growing bipartisan support for nuclear development and much more. Links:Amazon signs agreements for innovative nuclear energy projects to address growing energy demands7 ways Amazon is thinking big about nuclear energyDavid GogginsEpisode recorded November 25, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

With rising investor demand and regulatory pressure in certain jurisdictions, company disclosure of their exposure to climate risks and their environmental impact has emerged as an expectation with tangible economic benefits. Increasingly, companies can improve their access to lower-cost capital by disclosing their exposure to climate risks and opportunities. Indeed currently over 23,000 companies now report through CDP, underscoring growing investor and customer demand for environmental data. In this episode, CDP CEO Sherry Madera joins hosts Chad Reed and Al Jacobs from the biodiversity-focused COP16 in Colombia, to explore the competitive advantages climate disclosures provide companies who proactively measure and manage their environmental impact and the role CDP plays in driving better carbon accounting practices. LinksCDPCorporate Climate Disclosure Has Passed a Tipping Point. Companies Need to Catch Up (World Resources Institute)EPA on Climate-Related DisclosuresEpisode recorded October 28, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Critical minerals are absolutely vital for the energy transition. Without nickel, copper, lithium, cobalt and other rare earth elements, we simply cannot produce the solar modules, wind turbines, batteries and other technologies necessary to decarbonize the global economy. It's no surprise then that demand for these critical minerals is expected to almost triple by 2030.  But mining, processing and incorporating these critical minerals into manufacturing processes can itself result in far too many emissions. In addition, the concentration of related supply chains in just a few – sometimes authoritarian – countries exposes the United States in particular to unacceptable geopolitical risks.  In this episode, Guy Van Syckle and Chad Reed chat with Coleman Adams, CFO of Nth Cycle – an industry leader in critical metal refining. Coleman discusses the climate and supply chain benefits of Nth Cycle's first-of-a-kind (FOAK) Oyster facility in Fairfield, Ohio, which produces from recycled materials a critical input needed to manufacture batteries. LinksNth CycleNth Cycle Begins Operations of First Domestic Commercial-Scale Nickel and Cobalt Scrap Refining System in Fairfield, OhioQualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) Program Episode recorded October 30, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this this episode of Climate Positive, hosts Gil Jenkins and Conor Fryer sit down with Tim McDonnell, Climate & Energy Editor at Semafor and the author of Semafor's Net Zero newsletter, to delve into the current state of climate journalism, real-time energy crises, and the forces driving the energy transition. Tim reflects on how far climate reporting has come, moving past basic awareness to explore intricate, interwoven stories at the heart of sustainability and energy. They also discuss Semafor's mission to bridge divided audiences with “common facts” and Tim's take on the energy demands of AI,  and the high-stakes landscape of climate policy ahead of the 2024 U.S. election.Links:Sign up for Semafor's Net Zero newsletterTim on XTim on LinkedInArticle: The data center boom is giving clean energy a jolt (September 25, 2024)Article: Political infighting is holding back Ukraine's energy reconstruction (September 18, 2024)Book Recommendation: The Bickford Fuse by Andrey KurkovEpisode recorded October 16, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode, Dr. Tallamy and Hilary Langer tap into the world of caterpillars, birds, and native flora to illuminate how individuals can be agents of change and address urgent issues of species loss and ecosystem collapse. From publishing research on insects to reviving his own property that was overrun by non-native plants, Dr. Tallamy's journey has been a fascinating exploration of the intricate web of life that begins from the ground up. He offers a fresh perspective on the symbiotic relationship between native plants, insects, and the ecosystems they support, and emphasizes the urgency of education and personal responsibility to protect species in the face of a changing climate. Links:Homegrown National ParkNew York Times: Why You Should Plant OaksDr. Doug Tallamy Professional PageBooks by Dr. TallamyMeet the Ecologist Who Wants You to Unleash the Wild on Your BackyardWhy Native Plants Are Key to Saving Our Ecosystems: An Interview With Doug Tallamy Episode recorded September 5, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Over the last few years, the United States has led the world in the fight against climate change by passing some of the most impactful and largest investments in infrastructure and related regulatory reforms ever. Together, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law seek to deploy nearly $1 trillion in climate positive infrastructure investment over the next decade. At the same time, however, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions that together significantly curtail the authority of executive agencies charged with implementing and defending legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. In its most recent term, the Court issued four such decisions including Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturns a 40-year precedent and ensures the courts will have a commanding voice over climate policy and regulation for the foreseeable future.In this episode, Chad Reed unpacks the details and implications of Loper Bright and related Court decisions with Kevin Poloncarz, a partner with Covington & Burling and one of the top climate change attorneys in the United States. Links:Supreme Court strikes down Chevron, curtailing power of federal agencies (SCOTUSblog, July 2024)CleanLaw – Suite of Supreme Court Decisions Undermine Administrative LawPalmaz VineyardsEpisode recorded September 12, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

For the world to meet its growing need for low-cost clean energy and achieve ambitious decarbonization targets, land-based onshore wind energy must be an increasingly large part of the electricity generation mix—potentially as much as 20-41% by 2050, according to BloombergNEF and the International Energy Agency (IEA). But there is a challenge: the most efficient and cost-effective wind turbines, currently applied only in offshore wind farms, have enormous blades—some longer than a football field. That makes them extremely difficult, if not impossible, to deliver and deploy, as bridges, tunnels, and road curves literally get in the way.To explore how the onshore wind industry can overcome these obstacles and drive further growth for the sector, Gil Jenkins spoke with Mark Lundstrom, Founder and CEO of Radia. Mark is a serial cross-industry entrepreneur and MIT aerospace engineer who has co-founded companies over the course of his career that seek to bring aerospace solutions to new sectors, including biotech, telecommunications, and materials science. With Radia, Mark is focused on applying these technologies to the low-carbon energy transition. Radia is in the process of building the world's largest aircraft, which will enable the deployment of the industry's biggest and best wind turbines to locations they could never reach before—creating more clean power at a lower cost.Links:Radia WebsiteMark Lundstrom on LinkedInRadia on LinkedInPress Release:Radia to Provide Low-Cost Clean Energy with the World's Biggest Wind Turbines Enabled by the World's Largest Aircraft (March 17, 2024)Press Release: Aerospace Leaders Aernnova, Leonardo and AFuzion Will Partner With Radia to Build WindRunner™, World's Largest Aircraft (July 16, 2024)Whitepaper: DeSolve Study: GigaWind has enormous economic and environmental impact (Princeton University researchers Dr. Jesse Jenkins and Dr. Nestor Sepulveda - September 1, 2023)Episode recorded August 22, 2024  Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

The maritime industry transports over 80% of goods worldwide and is essential to the deployment of climate technologies.  At present, the industry contributes approximately 2 to 3% of global emissions, but this figure is projected to grow without major changes to the industry and its ancillary services. However, decarbonizing the maritime industry is unusually challenging.  As the president of Marine and executive vice president at Wärtsilä, Roger Holm's team helps power one out of every three ships worldwide. In light of new EU regulations and the International Maritime Organization's goal of net neutral carbon emissions by 2050, Wärtsilä is now focused on solving the decarbonization riddle for clients that operate ships that can last for decades and need to be able to adapt to a wide range of infrastructure and fuels in ports. In this episode, Roger Holm chats with Hilary Langer and shares why Wärtsilä approaches maritime decarbonization at the systems level, why clients are increasingly focused on sustainability, and where he sees the greatest potential for carbon and cost savings. Links:Wärtsilä Marine SolutionsEuropean Commission - Reducing emissions from the shipping sectorWorld Resources Institute - Decarbonizing International ShippingNYTimes Gift Link – Shipping Contributes Heavily to Climate Change. Are Green Ships the Solution?Bloomberg - How the Shipping Industry Aims to Reach Net Zero by 2050Episode recorded August 14, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

As the accelerating deployment of variable wind and solar resources pushes us ever closer to Net Zero – or the state whereby we're not emitting any more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere than we are simultaneously removing – we increasingly need to deploy both battery storage as well as dispatchable renewable baseload generation. But despite its ability to serve as dispatchable renewable baseload, geothermal energy today accounts for less than 1% of the world's primary energy supply.  In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Jeanine Vany, co-founder and executive vice president of corporate affairs at Eavor, a next generation geothermal energy company based in Calgary, Canada. Jeanine adeptly explains how Eavor's Closed-Loop solution is different and better than traditional geothermal, discusses how Eavor plans to scale its initial projects, details the numerous environmental benefits next generation geothermal can provide and much more.Links:EavorUnderground, Underdog: The Eavor StoryLoonshots by Safi BahcallEpisode recorded June 21, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

We started the Climate Positive podcast just over three years ago at HASI, seeing an opportunity to contribute our unique perspective to the climate and clean energy podcast scene. As a pure play climate investment firm, we aimed to cultivate a forum for mission-driven leaders, innovators, and changemakers to engage in conversations about the challenges and opportunities on the path to a climate-positive future. Our inaugural episode of Climate Positive featured our trailblazing former CEO and current Board Executive Chair, Jeff Eckel. Now, looking back on over 75 episodes since launch, we wanted to take a moment to reflect and celebrate this journey and share more about the people leading HASI today in this special episode. Join Chad, Gil, and Hilary in this insightful conversation with three of HASI's most senior leaders - CEO Jeff Lipson, CFO Marc Pangburn, and Chief Client Officer Susan Nickey.Links: Jeff Lipson Bio & LinkedInMarc Pangburn Bio & LinkedinSusan Nickey Bio & LinkedinEp. 1: A climate finance pioneer | Jeff Eckel, CEO of HASIPress Release: HASI and KKR Establish $2 Billion Strategic Partnership to Invest in Sustainable Infrastructure Projects (May 7, 2024)Episode recorded June 13, 2024  Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

For over a century, the U.S. government has provided subsidies – often in the form of tax credits – to support domestic energy production. For renewable energy sources, these tax credits have traditionally subsidized investment (i.e., a project's capital expenditure) and production (i.e., the amount of energy produced by a project). But the Inflation Reduction Act altered these tax credits in a number of ways: it significantly extended their life, massively expanded the technologies eligible for them and made them more easily transferable so that project developers can sell them directly to a wide array of third parties for cash. The transferability provision alone has already supercharged the growth of this market and, as a result, has helped to drive low cost capital to project developers attempting to accelerate the energy transition.  In this episode, Chad Reed and Guy Van Syckle sit down with Alfred Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Crux – a new platform created for developers, tax credit buyers, banks and advisors to manage and transfer tax credits. While an inherently complex and at times eye glazing topic, Alfred dynamically details how his platform works, provides the puts and takes on recent market developments and conveys some sage advice – including lessons from U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. Links:CruxCrux Quarterly Market Update: 1Q 2024The Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoEpisode recorded May 31, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Barbara Humpton, President and CEO of Siemens USA, sits down with Gil Jenkins and Susan Nickey to discuss Siemens' pivotal role in advancing sustainability across industry, infrastructure, and transportation sectors. The conversation dives into Siemens' approach to decarbonization as an engine for growth and spotlights how innovation at the grid edge will be key to delivering a more sustainable future, guiding energy flows and balancing supply with the demands of buildings, industry, and private consumers. Additionally, Barbara discusses the encouraging trend of U.S. manufacturing expansion, advancements in EV charging infrastructure, and more. Finally, Babara shares insights into her leadership philosophy, discusses her passion for integrating work and personal life priorities, and explains why she started a podcast for Siemens, The Optimistic Outlook, back in 2021.Links: BioBarbara Humpton on XBarbara Humpton on LinkedInPodcast: The Optimistic Outlook with Barbara HumptonThe Optimistic Outlook LinkedIn NewsletterSiemens on LinkedInSiemens USA on XPress Release: Siemens launches Gridscale X™, paving the way for autonomous grid management (February 27, 2024)Video: Barbara Humpton's Address for George Mason University's 2024 Spring CommencementEpisode recorded June 12, 2024  Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Just as not every battery is created equal, neither is every renewable energy credit (REC). Even though RECs today are commodified financial products companies purchase to reduce their carbon footprint, the actual avoided emissions impact of an individual REC can vary dramatically based on the time and place it is generated. As our carbon accounting frameworks seek to become more precise and impact-driven and as transmission constraints proliferate, it is increasingly important that the markets for RECs and other net zero procurement products become more sophisticated.  In this episode, Chad Reed sits down with Casey Martinez – the Founder and CEO of Clean Incentive, an emerging new platform focused on changing the way companies think about and execute on their net zero procurement targets. In addition to the getting into the weeds on Clean Incentive's new Power Emissions Certificates (PECs), they discuss the imperative of data granularity, the challenging role of additionality and how to channel investment capital to the most impactful projects. Links:https://www.cleanincentive.com/https://www.pec-alliance.org/Thank Again by Adam Grant Episode recorded May 31, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode, Hilary Langer met with Dr. Antonius Gagern, the Executive Director of the Carbon to Sea Initiative, for a lively conservation about a hot topic: the promises and sensitivities of tinkering with the ocean's chemistry to enable it to store more carbon dioxide. Initial research on ocean alkalinity enhancement supports its potential as a significant means of capturing carbon. Carbon to Sea is a $50M non-profit effort that brings together leading funders and researchers to explore ocean alkalinity enhancement.  The area is gaining increasing attention and traction, as evidenced by the White House's launch of a “Fast-Track Action Committee” on Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal. Within the past year, the U.S. federal government has put out about $100 million in grants to accelerate research in the area, including $23.4M from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Researchers and funders are balancing the urgency of action with the need to ensure that any intervention is a clear win for the oceans they seek to protect.Links: Home - Carbon to Sea InitiativeMeta's former CTO has a new $50 million project: ocean-based carbon removal | MIT Technology ReviewClimate crisis sparks effort to coax oceans to suck up carbon dioxide | Science | AAASSupercharging Nature to Suck Carbon From the Air - WSJEpisode recorded May 15, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode, Gil Jenkins sits down with Bill Weir, Chief Climate Correspondent at CNN, for a rich, engaging, and meaningful conversation about his new book, “Life As We Know It (Can Be): Stories of People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World.”While reporting from every state and every continent, Bill Weir has spent decades telling the stories of unique people, places, cultures, and creatures on the brink of change. As the first Chief Climate Correspondent in network news, he's immersed in the latest science and breakthroughs on the topic, while often on the frontlines of disasters, natural and manmade. In 2020, Bill began distilling these experiences into a series of Earth Day letters for his then-newborn son to read in 2050, to help him better understand the world he will have grown up in and be better prepared to embrace the future. Bill's work and his letters were the inspiration for “Life As We Know It (Can Be),” which confronts the worry and wonder of climate change with messages and examples of hope for all of us on how a better future can still be written. Highlighting groundbreaking innovation in fields of clean energy, food and water sources, housing and building materials, and more, and touching on how happiness, resilience, and health and wellness factor into the topic of climate change, Bill's stories take readers on a global journey, from one community in Florida that took on a hurricane and never lost power, to the Antarctic Peninsula where one species of penguin is showing us the key to survival, to the nuclear fusion labs where scientists are trying to build a star in a box.  Through a tapestry of stories—tales of resilience, community, and the indomitable human spirit— ‘Life As We Know It (Can Be)' celebrates our planet's marvels, contemplates our collective desires, and calls us all to unite with nature and each other. It's about preparing and planning for the future, together. Links: Book: “LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (CAN BE): Stories of People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World”Bill Weir's fourth letter on Earth Day to his young son (CNN, April 22, 2024)Bill Weir BioBill Weir on XBill Weir on LinkedInEpisode recorded April 19, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Steel is the world's most used metal, and enables the construction of everything from buildings to wind turbines. Unfortunately, steel manufacturing is incredibly carbon intensive, contributing to approximately 8% of global green house gas emissions. As CEO of InventWood, Josh Cable envisions a future where the demand for steel can be satisfied with a renewable resouce: fast growing woods like Poplar. By densifying wood, Josh Cable's team produces a fire-resistant product that is stronger, lighter and cheaper than steel. The final product, MettleWood is actually carbon negative. In this episode, Hilary Langer and Josh Cable discuss InventWood's foundational technology, its early partnership with the University of Maryland, and its new 89,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Frederick, Maryland. Links:Josh Cable on LinkedInDOE Award to InventWoodLiangbing Hu makes wood stronger than steel (acs.org)Fast Company profile of InventWood innovations Episode recorded April 10, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Disclosure. Disclosure. Disclosure. In early March, the SEC issued final climate-related disclosure rules for U.S. public companies. Designed to enhance standardization and in response to increasing investor demand, the new rules mandate companies disclose material climate risks they face and greenhouse gas emissions they generate as well as other material climate-related information. While not as comprehensive as existing mandatory climate disclosure regimes in the European Union or California, the rules represent a groundbreaking step forward in climate disclosure across the United States. In this episode, Chad Reed discusses the new rules, their implications and their detractors with Steven Rothstein, managing director at the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets. Steven and his colleagues at Ceres over two decades have been instrumental in building a large and powerful investor coalition in support of greater climate disclosure and provide crucial insights on this complex and significant public policy issue. Links:SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for InvestorsLetter from Jeffrey W. Eckel (then CEO and now Executive Chair of HASI) to U.S. SEC (June 15, 2021)Ceres: Get ready for standardized climate disclosureEpisode recorded March 29, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode, Gil Jenkins sits down with Akshat Rathi, a senior climate reporter at Bloomberg News and the host of Bloomberg Green's Zero podcast, to discuss his new book, "Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of our Age," which was released on March 12 in the U.S. "Climate Capitalism" takes readers across five continents, tracking the unlikely heroes driving the fight against climate change. The stories within the book reveal how people, policy, and technology are converging to create a green economy that is not only possible but profitable. Akshat and Gil explore key chapters from the book, touching on stories like that of Wan Gang, a Chinese bureaucrat who played a pivotal role in the rapid expansion of electric vehicles in China. They also discuss India's significant progress toward solar power since 2015, the transformative influence of the International Energy Agency, and the UK's legally binding decarbonization commitments, among other topics.Links: About the BookAkshat on XAkshat on LinkedInZero PodcastEpisode recorded March 8, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

The Sustainable Energy in America Factbook serves as a key reference for the state of renewables in the United States. To mark the release of the 12th edition, Gil Jenkins and Hilary Langer talked to the people behind the annual report: Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and Tom Rowlands-Rees, Head of Research for North America at BloombergNEF. Despite significant headwinds in 2023, including high interest rates and supply chain challenges, the factbook is full of record-shattering figures that reveal momentum toward a more sustainable energy future. Lisa and Tom discuss the importance of stable federal policies, the optimism they find in reduced emissions, and how America will need to accelerate sustainable energy development to meet carbon reduction targets.Links: The 2024 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook | BloombergNEF (bnef.com)The Business Council for Sustainable Energy (bcse.org)Lisa Jacobson | LinkedInTom Rowlands-Rees | LinkedInBloombergNEF (bnef.com)Episode recorded February 26, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

As the energy density of batteries continues to increase even as costs keep declining, the stationary energy storage market is booming, with investment growing by over 7x over the last few years – from $5 billion in 2020 to over $35 billion in 2023 – and with battery installations tripling just last year alone. While an influx of storage is certainly needed to integrate the vast amount of renewables we need to fully decarbonize the grid, the storage we are adding to the grid is not always or even usually reducing overall carbon emissions. In fact, too often new batteries are resulting in positive net new emissions – an outcome almost no one wants. In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Jacob Mansfield and Emma Konet of Tierra Climate and Adam Reeve of REsurety to learn more about the efforts of the Energy Storage Solutions Consortium (ESSC), which seeks to align the economic incentives of the storage market with truly accelerating grid decarbonization.Links:Energy Storage Solutions Consortium (ESSC)Charging Towards Zero: Harnessing Batteries and Carbon Contracts to Accelerate Grid DecarbonizationDecarbonization: Stocks and flows, abundance and scarcity, net zero Episode recorded February 14, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this week's episode, Gil Jenkins sits down with Steve Raeder, the founder and CEO of Summit Ridge Energy. As a leading player in the community solar market, Summit Ridge Energy (SRE) has made significant strides since its inception in 2017, deploying over $1.6 billion into clean energy assets. With a robust development pipeline of more than 2 GW, SRE will have more than 400 MW of solar PV online by the end of 2024, powering 50,000 homes and businesses. During the conversation, Steve opens up about his journey from SunEdison to founding Summit SRE. He breaks down the incredible value proposition for community solar, which offers guaranteed savings to both residential and small commercial customers while underscoring its pivotal role in the broader energy transition. Steve also discusses SRE's growth strategy. Giving his outlook on the future of the community solar market, he details how the company is positioning itself to capitalize on this sector's continued growth. Additionally, Steve talks about the company's solar panel supply partnership with Qcells, which was announced last year and is the largest domestic community solar purchase ever. He also shares insights into their innovative sustainability apprenticeship program in Chicago. Note: Summit Ridge Energy is a client of HASI. Links: Summit Ridge Energy WebsiteSummit Ridge Energy on LinkedInSummit Ridge Energy on XSteve Raeder on LinkedInPress Release: Summit Ridge Energy and Qcells Announce Largest Community Solar Partnership in the U.S (April 6, 2023)Article: Clean energy job training has started at Chicago's Sustainability Hub (Solar Power World, May 2, 2023)Summit Ridge Energy's “Bomber” Project - Nation's Largest Rooftop Community Solar ArrayPress Release: HASI and Summit Ridge Energy Expand Partnership with New 250 MW Community Solar Portfolio in Illinois and Maryland (August 29, 2023)Article: How to run your house on clean electricity, no solar panels required (Washington Post, February 8, 2023)Steve's Book Recommendation: A Sense of Urgency, by Dr. John KotterEpisode recorded January 24, 2024 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

At the end of 2022, 200 countries signed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – what some have called the “Paris Agreement for Nature”. It calls on signatories to work together to enhance the resilience of natural ecosystems and to turn the tide on species extinction rates through the setting of national targets, the establishment of disclosure regimes and the creation of innovative financing mechanisms – such as biodiversity credits. While there has been some subsequent positive international progress on this front driven by the UK and others, most biodiversity credit markets remain in very nascent stages.In this episode, HASI's investment team lead for nature-based solutions Tim Mooradd speaks with Tim Male and Ryan Sarsfield of the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). They discuss the imperative of protecting and valuing biodiversity, the existing and potential buyers for biodiversity credits, lessons learned from other environmental markets and much more. Note also that the HASI Foundation recently provided a grant to EPIC for its work at the intersection of climate action and social justice. Links:Environmental Policy Innovation CenterBiodiversity Credits Gain Traction but Questions PersistNature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West by William CrononEpisode recorded January 10, 2024Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

America's dramatic shift towards renewable energy generation in remote areas will require a substantial transmission build-out in the years ahead, potentially doubling or tripling the current grid. In other words, there is no transition without transmission. While it's crucial that we expedite the construction of large power lines at a much faster clip, there's another technology solution that demands equal attention. This parallel approach involves the use of Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs). GETs offer a modular, cost-effective path to enhancing our existing infrastructure while also significantly amplifying the efficacy of new transmission investments. To gain deeper insights into how GETs can help us meet the needs of the 21st-century electric grid, accelerate the clean energy transition, and lower energy costs, Gil Jenkins and Manish Chaturvedi spoke with Julia Selker, Executive Director of WATT Coalition.Links:WATT Coalition WATT Coalition WebsiteWhat are Grid Enhancing Technologies?Whitepaper: Building a Better Grid: How Grid Enhancing Technologies Complement Transmission Buildouts (WATT Coalition & Brattle Group, April 20, 2023)WATT Coalition LinkedInWATT Coalition XMore on Julia: Julia Selker is Executive Director of the WATT Coalition and Director of Policy and Strategy and Chief Operating Officer for Grid Strategies. She previously worked for the Business Council on Sustainable Energy, the technology startup Faraday Grid, and interned with Congressman Peter DeFazio focused on energy and climate policy. Prior to coming to Washington, DC, Julia worked on the launch of Monterey Bay Community Power through the public relations agency Miller Maxfield, Inc., in Santa Cruz, California. Julia previously worked for the Bulleit Group, a San Francisco public relations agency. She has a bachelor's degree in physics from Reed College. Julia Selker LinkedInJulia Selker XLinkedIn Post: The grid fairy godmothers of the energy transition (Julia Selker, August 3, 2023)Episode recorded December 8, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In our final episode of 2023, we sit down with Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextracker, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXT), a leading provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects globally. With over 30 years of experience in the field, Dan has been a driving force in advancing climate tech solutions in the U.S. and around the world.In the conversation with Gil, Dan reflects on Nextracker's incredible success over the past ten years, including its successful IPO earlier this year; they talked at length about the company's steadfast customer-focused mindset and how that has driven so many industry-first solar tracker innovations in their mission to transition the world to affordable, renewable power. Dan also talked about Nextracker's remarkable initiatives with U.S. manufacturing expansions over the past three years and the importance of public policy engagement for our industry. He also touched on a few non-U.S. markets that are key to his optimism for the future of solar power. We even found time at the end to have fun talking about great guitar music and his new musical products venture, AmpMojo.Links:More on Dan Dan Shugar BioShug Speaks BlogPress Release: Nextracker CEO Dan Shugar Named S&P Global's ‘Chief Trailblazer of the Year' at the 25th Annual Platts Global Energy Awards (December 12, 2023)Dan Shugar on LinkedInVideo: Dinner with Dan - Intro - 'Solar Myths Debunked"Website: AmpMojo - Dan's new musical products companyVideo: Introducing AmpMojoNextracker, Inc. WebsiteNextracker American Manufacturing MicrositeNextracker on LinkedInNextracker on XPress Release: Nextracker Opens New U.S. Factory with Dedicated Capacity in Las Vegas with Unimacts (September 11, 2023)Video: NX Horizon Hail Pro - The Gold Standard for Hail Risk MitigationEpisode recorded December 8, 2023.Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

The private sector has been a critical driver of increasing clean energy on the grid. Since 2008, corporate renewable purchases have helped bring online nearly 150 GW of new renewable energy capacity globally — more than the total power-generating capacity of France. Despite these purchase commitments, overall global emissions from the power sector have remained flat at a time when we need to see a sharp decline. At the same time, extreme weather events have exposed vulnerabilities in the reliability of the current fossil-fuel powered grid that aren't yet being addressed at sufficient scale.Earlier this year, a group of leading companies focused on accelerating decarbonization while also bolstering grid reliability partnered with RMI, a leading climate NGO, to launch the Zero-Emissions | Reliability Optimized Grid Initiative, or ZEROgrid, with the objective of developing a comprehensive roadmap to accelerate the transition to a zero-emissions grid.In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Mark Dyson, Managing Director at RMI, about the challenges ZEROgrid aims to address, the objectives it seeks to achieve as well as the concept of applied hope.Links:ZEROgridCorporate Action PlaybookAmory Lovins (RMI): Applied Hope (May 2019)Episode recorded November 28, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this week's episode, Gil speaks with Matt Rogers, the founder and CEO of Mill, a startup revolutionizing how we tackle food waste. They delve into the inspiration behind Mill, discussing how the idea came about and the parallels to Matt's previous work as the co-founder of Nest, the company behind the iconic learning thermostat and other smart home products. Matt discusses the functionality of Mill's kitchen bin, which transforms food scraps into nutrient-rich animal feed, and how the company is bringing this groundbreaking product to the market. He explains the emissions profile of Mill's appliance and the positive impact it can have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Also, Matt shares his insights on the crucial role of technology and innovation in driving sustainable solutions.Links: Mill WebsiteMill Impact StatsMatt Rogers TwitterMatt Rogers LinkedInMill LinkedInMill TwitterMill InstagramMill TikTokThe episode originally aired on June 15, 2023.Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

According to the International Energy Agency, the world is expected to build more renewable projects in the next five years as we have in the past 20. But this rapid and massive growth in the renewable energy space has proven increasingly challenging for insurers of these assets, who are struggling to deal with mounting losses from natural disasters (which themselves are often driven by climate change) as well as growing demand for new products that insure against other emerging risks such as production and revenue variability. In this episode, Chad Reed sits down Jason Kaminsky, CEO and co-founder of kWh Analytics, perhaps the leader in delivering data-enabled Climate Insurance for zero-carbon assets. In the discussion, Chad and Jason get into the weeds on the recent evolution of the Climate Insurance industry, kWh's Fifth Annual Solar Risk Assessment as well as data-enabled solutions to address the most pressing risks facing the U.S. solar industry today. Links:2023 Solar Risk AssessmentSolar Revenue PutFrom Niche to Necessity: Insuring Renewable EnergyEpisode recorded October 31, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

With the recent proliferation of sometimes conflicting standards around sustainability and impact reporting, companies across the globe are seeking trusted partners to help them determine and measure sustainability metrics that are truly material to the business and its stakeholders and also generate real value. To this end, Workiva – a global software-as-a-service company – has developed a suite of products to help companies make real progress on their sustainability journeys.  In this episode, Chad Reed sits down with Mandi McReynolds, VP of Global Environment, Social and Governance at Workiva and the host of the ESG Talk podcast. Chad and Mandi discuss the at times differing perceptions of company executives and sustainability practitioners, the emerging role of AI in sustainability reporting and the evolving nomenclature surrounding efforts to generate and report sustainable impact.Links:Workiva ESGWorkiva 2023 Global ESG Practitioner SurveyRegister's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI)Episode recorded October 4, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

We all depend on the cold chain to keep our foods, vaccines, and medical equipment safely chilled from production to use. This energy intensive process requires constant monitoring. As CEO of Therma, Manik Suri deploys small mobile sensors that monitor conditions to optimize energy efficiency and quality along the cold chain. His work is infused with his family's legacy of service to others, and his team is dedicated to leveraging technology to improve the well-being of both people and planet. In this episode, Hilary Langer is joined by Therma CEO Manik Suri to discuss the impact of the cold chain on human health, food waste and the planet. Links: ThermaThe Role Of Businesses In Creating More Environmentally Friendly Cooling Systems (forbes.com)Manik Suri on LinkedInBeth Simone Noveck Episode recorded September 13, 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

At this point, the science is very clear. If we want to limit global warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, we must not only reduce existing emissions, we must also at some point become net negative – meaning that we are removing more carbon from the atmosphere than we are putting into it. In this episode, Chad Reed sits down with Climeworks CFO Andreas Aepli to discuss the promise of Direct Air Capture (DAC) to provide a scalable, measurable and permanent solution for carbon removal. In addition to discussing how DAC works and both the DAC facilities Climeworks already has in operation and the DAC hubs in United States they are now developing, they delve into the viability of the business model for carbon removal, the need for supportive policy incentives and the imperative to establish transparency and trust for a truly scalable and tradable carbon removal credit market. Links: ClimeworksIntegrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon MarketU.S. Department of Energy selects three out of three DAC Hub applications that Climeworks participates inEpisode recorded August 22, 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode, Chad Reed speaks with Calvert Impact's President and CEO, Jennifer "Jenn" Pryce, and Beth Bafford, Calvert Impact's Vice President of Syndications and Strategy. Calvert Impact is a global nonprofit investment firm that helps investors and financial professionals invest in solutions that people and the planet need. During its 28-year history, Calvert Impact has mobilized approximately $5 billion to build and grow local community and green finance organizations.Jenn and Beth discuss Calvert Impact's history, evolution, and core mission. They also delve into Calvert Impact's unique nonprofit model, financial self-sufficiency, and structure. Chad, Jenn, and Beth explore the impact investing space overall and highlight the distinctions from ESG investing. Finally, Jenn and Beth share stories about what drew them into the impact investing field before closing with a discussion around Calvert Impact's work spearheading the Climate United coalition, which is participating in the EPA's National Clean Investment Fund $14 billion grant competition announced earlier this summer.Links: Jennifer Pryce BioJennifer Pryce LinkedInBeth Bafford BioBeth Bafford LinkedInCalvert Impact LinkedInWebsite: Calvert ImpactCalvert Impact 2022 Impact ReportWebsite: Climate UnitedClimate United Press Release (June 21, 2023): Leading sustainable energy and community finance organizations join forces to pursue National Clean Investment Fund mandateEpisode recorded August 15, 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this week's episode, we explore the world of cement.  Concrete is the second most consumed material on earth behind water and is essential to the infrastructure that will enable the transition to renewable energy. But producing cement, which is the material that glues concrete together, is incredibly carbon intensive. As CEO of Fortera, Dr. Ryan Gilliam looks to nature and how coral and shells are strengthened by imbedding ambient carbon. Fortera's first plant, in Redding, California, will come online by the end of 2023 and Fortera cement is construction ready. Throughout the conversation, Dr. Gilliam discusses how he partners with existing concrete suppliers, why the first iteration of Fortera failed to gain traction, and how he has built a business savvy team to bring Fortera cement to market. Links: ForteraDr. Ryan Gilliam on LinkedInVideo of Fortera Redding, California PlantMcKinsey: Spotting Green Business Opportunities in a Surging Net-Zero World Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.Episode Recorded August 9, 2023

In this week's episode, we're stepping into the world of sustainable footwear with Kirsten Blackburn, Director of The KEEN Effect — the social impact division for hybrid footwear brand KEEN. Since its founding in 2003, KEEN has evolved into a leading global footwear company renowned for innovation, originality, and a strong emphasis on sustainability. Throughout the conversation with Gil, Kirsten, who has spearheaded environmental, social, and governance strategies across for-profit and non-profit sectors for over a decade, shares invaluable insights into KEEN's sustainability journey and its global commitment to ethical practices. Additionally, she sheds light on several actionable strategies to reduce the broader footwear industry's environmental impact.Links: Kirsten Blackburn LinkedInKirsten Blackburn TwitterKEEN LinkedInKEEN TwitterWebsite: Keen Impact2022 KEEN Impact ReportKEEN Green Paper: The Road to PFAS Free, a step-by-step guide to removing PFAS from your supply chainVideo: What is the KEEN Effect?Video: The Newport: How the World's Ugliest Sandal Was BornEmail your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

For several years, well-intentioned companies seeking to reduce their emissions from electricity consumption – a primary component of their Scope 2 emissions – have bought Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) or signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Known as energy or megawatt hour matching, this approach, which forms the backbone of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's Scope 2 Market-Based Method accounting system, does not distinguish the time, location or emissions profile of a company's electricity consumption from that of its REC and PPA interventions to offset this consumption.But as different grids have decarbonized at different rates over the years, the emissions impact of a REC purchased or PPA signed in one location at a particular time no longer necessarily has a similar impact to RECs purchased or PPAs signed in different locations covering different periods of time. In essence, at least as it pertains to carbon impact, not every megawatt hour is created equal. In this episode, recorded at the GreenFin 23 Conference in Boston, Chad leads a panel of industry experts – including Katherine Collins of Putnam Investments; Hank He of Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich; Lee Taylor of REsurety; and Rob Threlkeld of General Motors – on the deficiencies of energy matching, the benefits of a new approach known as carbon matching and the resulting implications for ongoing efforts to reform Scope 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Links: Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich White Paper: A Comparison of Strategies for Tackling Corporate Scope 2 Carbon EmissionsREsurety White Paper: Emissions Implications for Clean Hydrogen Accounting MethodsGeneral Motors 2022 Sustainability ReportEpisode recorded June 26, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Nanobubbles provide an effective solution to many of the challenges of climate change. These nanoscopic bubbles are 2500 times smaller than a single grain of salt and can be formed with any gas.  Unlike larger bubbles, they remain suspended in liquid longer and remain stable until they interact with surfaces or contaminants. Their size allows them to achieve dissolved oxygen levels many times greater than those achieved using traditional aeration technologies. With applications from industries including agriculture, aquaculture, oil and gas, mining, and municipal and surface water treatment, nanobubbles can improve energy efficiency, save water, and reduce chemical use. In this episode Hilary Langer talks with Moleaer's CEO Nick Dyner.  Moleaer provides nanobubbles-as-a-service, nanobubble equipment, and water quality improvement around the world. Links: MoleaerArticle: Capitalism Vs. Climate Change: Moleaer's Innovative Nanobubbles (forbes.com)Article: Moleaer Deploys Nanobubble Generators to Eliminate Foul Odour (h2oglobalnews.com)NOAA: Nanobubble Ozone Technology Shown to Eliminate Invasive Species in Ballast WaterArticle: A breath of fresh air: how nanobubbles can make aquaculture more sustainableArticle: Nanobubbles as an Emerging Sanitation TechnologyEpisode recorded: May 25, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Every community across the globe produces waste. This waste can come from landfills, decomposing food, animal manure, and wastewater sludge. As this waste decomposes, it emits natural gas – primarily composed of methane, which is a naturally occurring but very potent and harmful greenhouse gas. In fact, methane is nearly 30 times more potent at trapping heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) projects capture this methane before it harms our environment and repurposes it to create clean and reliable energy that is used to generate electricity, power our vehicles, heat our homes, cook our food, and many other productive purposes. In this episode, Chad and Gil speak with Michael Bakas, Executive Vice President at Ameresco, a leading cleantech integrator specializing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Michael details the various RNG production pathways and revenue streams, discusses his views on RNG market growth drivers, and makes a compelling case for the essential role of RNG in the energy transition. Links: Michael Bakas Bio Ameresco White Paper: Making Your Organization Carbon Neutral with Renewable Natural GasAmeresco White Paper: Beyond Hydrogen: Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) & Deep DecarbonizationAmeresco Case Study: BMW Landfill Gas to Energy, SCRNG CoalitionEpisode recorded May 4, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this week's episode, Gil speaks with Matt Rogers, the founder and CEO of Mill, a startup revolutionizing how we tackle food waste. They delve into the inspiration behind Mill, discussing how the idea came about and the parallels to Matt's previous work as the co-founder of Nest, the company behind the iconic learning thermostat and other smart home products. Matt discusses the functionality of Mill's kitchen bin, which transforms food scraps into nutrient-rich animal feed, and how the company is bringing this groundbreaking product to the market. He explains the emissions profile of Mill's appliance and the positive impact it can have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Also, Matt shares his insights on the crucial role of technology and innovation in driving sustainable solutions.Links: Mill WebsiteMill Impact StatsMatt Rogers TwitterMatt Rogers LinkedInMill LinkedInMill TwitterMill InstagramMill TikTokEpisode recorded May 2. 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Seafood provides nearly 20% of the animal protein humans consume globally. This growing source of protein is also rather healthy with many of our nutrient-rich foods coming from aquatic creatures. But already, the supply of our wild capture seafood has flattened, meaning that the vast majority of our global fisheries today are being overfished in an unsustainable manner. Fortunately, Finless Foods and other sustainable seafood startups are working to bring sustainability-driven innovation to the seafood space. With both plant-based and cell-cultured options, consumers are finally beginning to experience the taste and value of seafood alternatives that are better for our oceans and their inhabitants as well as our climate. In this episode, Chad Reed talks with Finless Foods' chief strategy officer Shannon Consentino-Roush about the past, present and future of the sustainable seafood movement and industry. Links: Finless FoodsArticle: World Tuna Day: How sustainable are tuna fisheries?Article: Wild seafood has a lower carbon footprint than red meat, cheese, and chicken, according to latest dataEpisode recorded: April 21, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this week's episode, Gil Jenkins and Hilary Langer speak with Jason Horowitz and Emma Bubola of The New York Times about their recent cover story on Venice's battle against the relentless forces of rising seas. They discuss the unlikely early success of the MOSE sea walls in protecting the city during high water events that have become increasingly commonplace due to climate change.Links: As Sea Levels Rise, the Savior of Venice May Also Be Its Curse, (The New York Times, April 2, 2023)MOSE Venezia ProjectAll Emma Bubola StoriesAll Jason Horowitz StoriesJason on TwitterEmma on TwitterRecorded: April 21, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

With extreme weather events proliferating, insurance companies are already on the front lines of climate change. In this episode, Chad Reed speaks with Sarah Chapman, Chief Sustainability Officer for Manulife – one of the world's largest insurance providers and investment managers. Sarah discusses how Manulife incorporates ESG risks and opportunities, including emissions accounting and biodiversity issues, into its operations and investment decisions, the three pillars of Manulife's ambitious impact agenda, and the role of industry associations and policy in supporting financial material ESG initiatives. Links:Manulife's Environmental, Social and Governance Report (2021)Manulife's Impact AgendaTaskforce on Nature-related Financial DisclosuresEpisode recorded: April 12, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

More than 90% of Fortune 500 companies report their emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP), which supplies the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards. But despite significant advances in data analytics around emissions measurement, it's been nearly a decade since the GHGP was last updated. Thankfully, the NGOs that manage the GHGP recently kicked off the update process, soliciting feedback from stakeholders across the spectrum. In this episode, Chad Reed and HASI Strategic Advisor Brendan Herron speak with Faraz Ahmad, Head of Net Zero Grid for Amazon. Faraz dives deep into the efforts of the Emissions First Partnership, a consortium of companies working together to reduce their emissions with the most impactful clean energy projects and to move away from megawatt hour matching and toward integration of an emissions-based framework into the GHGP. Faraz also discusses how underserved regions – both across the globe and within the U.S. itself – could economically benefit from an emissions first approach to the energy transition.Links: Greehouse Gas ProtocolEmissions First PartnershipCarbonCountEpisode recorded: March 28, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. 

Expanding access to clean energy like solar is essential to global climate goals, and it is especially impactful for the residents on island nations in the Caribbean that face high energy costs and are exposed to increasingly violent storms. As the director of projects for the Rocky Mountain Institute (now known as RMI), Chris Burgess navigates the decarbonization and decentralization of energy in markets that have previously been left out of the energy transition. Hilary Langer and Chris Burgess (Director of Projects for RMI) discuss why decentralized power is especially important to quality of life in underserved communities, how to establish alignment among disparate stakeholders, and how urgent action can be scaled. Links: RMI on 60 MinutesRMI (Rocky Mountain Institute)RMI's “Solar Under Storm” ReportChristopher Burgess on LinkedInAmory Lovins, Soft Energy PathsMia Mottley UN Profile: Champions of the Earth Episode recorded: March 23, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.comor tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

In this episode, Gil Jenkins speaks with Peter Krull, Partner & Director of Sustainable Investing at Earth Equity Advisors, A Prime Capital Investment Advisors Company. Peter focuses on creating and managing Earth Equity's sustainable, responsible, and impact investment portfolios as well as writing thought leadership pieces and elevating the responsible investing story.Gil talks with Peter about his background and journey into the industry, how sustainable investing has evolved from socially responsible investing (SRI), which focused on exclusion, and the differences between impact investing, ESG investing, and sustainable investing from his point of view.  Peter also shares his thoughts on a few of the energy and environmental sectors that excite him most. Links:WebsitePeter Krull TwitterPeter Krull LinkedInFull Bio: Pete is a well-known leader in the green business community and a long-time advocate for fossil-fuel-free and sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing.He began his investment career at Merrill Lynch in 1998 where he earned the firm's Certified Financial Manager designation. He honed his investment management skills as he guided his clients through the dot-com bubble and recovery.In 2004, he hung up his shingle as Krull & Company and began the journey as a conscious entrepreneur. From the beginning, he knew that his firm would focus on responsible investing and trademarked the phrase, helping you align your investments with your values®. In 2017, Krull & Company became Earth Equity Advisors.Over the years, he has provided leadership to clients, colleagues, and communities. From chairing the Asheville-based environmental non-profit MountainTrue through a pivotal expansion to guiding Earth Equity Advisors' rapid growth and rise to prominence as a six-time Best for the World™ honoree, Pete's impact on the responsible investing movement is clear.He was named one of the 100 most influential financial advisors in America by Investopedia in 2018 and became one of the first individuals to earn the Chartered SRI Counselor™ designation from the College for Financial Planning. In 2021, Pete was featured by The Collider among the Faces of Climate City, which highlights Asheville, NC residents who are providing leadership in the Climate industry. He was also recognized on Real Leaders' list of 70 Environmental Leaders You Should Know alongside Sir David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, and Greta Thunberg, and was selected for the LUMINARIES Class of 2021 by ThinkAdvisor in the category of Thought Leadership & Education. Recognition continued in 2022 with Pete being announced as a finalist for the RIA Intel Awards' ESG Advocate of the Year, appearing on AdvisorHub's list of Fastest Growing Advisors to Watch in 2022, and receiving the 2022 Sustainable Champion Award from the North Carolina Business Council.Pete's expert opinion is sought after by The New York Times, Bloomberg, Money Magazine, CNBC, The Washington Post, Investors Business Daily, US News & World Report, MarketWatch, Investment News, Wealth Management, RIA Intel, Barron's, and other notable national publications, podcasts, and channels. He is also a contributing writer to top business publications, Forbes and Kiplinger. As Partner and Director of Sustainable Investments, he is responsible for leading the firm's SRI initiatives, including thought leadership, education, and managing the sustainable investment portfolios.A native of Western New York, he lives in Asheville, NC with his wife, Dr. Melissa Booth, a microbiologist, author, and the founder of The Science Communicator. He is a serious amateur photographer, a lover of world travel, and a huge fan of the Buffalo Sabres. As you would expect, their house is solar-powered and their cars are electric.Episode recorded February 3, 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.comor tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Over the last few years, there has been an influx of venture capital seeking out profitable climate tech startups. At the same time, asset-backed financing has become generally more available and cheaper – all else equal – for renewable energy and other sustainable infrastructure projects. But there has been a missing middle – investors willing to underwrite both technology and project-level risk to drive systemic climate positive change. This is why Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) was created – to reimagine infrastructure investing for the 21st century. By integrating technological expertise, infrastructure experience, creative capital, and multistakeholder engagement, the firm has been making significant platform investments in the technology-enabled infrastructure of the future. Chad Reed and Jonathan Winer (SIP Co-Founder and Co-CEO) dive deep into many of the spaces SIP is investing in – from autonomous vehicle roadways, to shared broadband solutions, to waste-free recycling, to truly resilient electric grids. Links: Sidewalk Infrastructure PartnersAccelerator for AmericaOhmConnect Episode recorded: February 3, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Way back in early 2020, Microsoft made some of the most ambitious climate pledges of any corporation on the planet. It pledged to be carbon negative by 2030 and by 2050 to remove from the atmosphere all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by way of electricity consumption since its founding nearly 50 years ago. It also launched a $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund to accelerate the global development of technologies required to achieve these pledges.In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Brandon Middaugh – Senior Director of Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund. From direct air capture to sustainable aviation fuels to urban green buildings, the discussion spans several of the verticals into which Microsoft has invested a portion of the $500 million it has already deployed through its fund. In addition, Brandon touches on the value of industry coalitions, the role of climate philanthropy, and the importance of centering people at the heart of the climate movement. Links: Microsoft Climate Innovation FundThe Carbon CallThe Big BurnEpisode recorded: January 18, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.

Kim Kovacs is the Chief Executive Officer of element6 Dynamics. She is spearheading a transformation in the hemp industry to bring industrial hemp production to scale.  By replacing tree-based pulp in paper and in packaging, hemp can reduce the pressure to harvest forests while also sequestering carbon and replenishing soils. In this episode, Hilary Langer and Kim Kovacs discuss how hemp works as a carbon sink, why both farmers and corporations are eager to get involved in hemp production, and why now is the time to grow in the volume needed to reverse the carbon impact of the paper and packaging industry.  Links Element6 DynamicsKim Kovacs on LinkedInNew York Times: Where Does All the Cardboard Come From?NRDC: The Issue With TissueEpisode Recorded: January 13, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.