Talk Clean To Me

Fab has a vision - increase the deployment of electric vehicles. One big problem? Finding and implementing battery systems with both the power and energy to get the job done. The solution? Listen to find out! electravehicles.com @ElectraVehicles linkedin.com/company/electra-vehicles-inc/ contact@electravehicles.com

There is an amazing organization of people, right here in Massachusetts, working to create jobs, drive economic growth, and fight climate change. What do these superhero-like individuals call themselves? The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. They’ve been investing in innovators, de-risking technologies, and being a leader in cleantech for almost a decade. Today, we sit down with Galen Nelson, Senior Director of Innovation and Industry Support, to hear about this state economic development agency and the incredible work they do! Visit the MassCEC's website at http://www.masscec.com/

Smart homes are easy. Everybody is doing it! But what about smart apartment buildings? Well that’s another can of worms entirely. Join Robert from Embue as we explore tackling a unique challenge that requires unique solutions. Along the way we’ll also hear about the founding of Greentown Labs - from humble (and mildly hazardous) beginnings to the successful cleantech incubator it is today. Visit http://embue.com/ to learn more about Embue.

As a city council member in Cambridge, MA, Quinton Zondervan advocates passionately for sustainability, affordable housing, and clean transportation. He loves what he does and it shows. Listen in to hear Quinton’s take on innovating public policy, the yin and yang of policy and entrepreneurship, and how motivated young people can make a difference. Learn more about Quinton's work as Cambridge City Council Member at https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/citycouncil/citycouncilmembers/quintonzondervan

If you fill your car with fossil fuels, there is something easy you can do right now to reduce your carbon footprint. You can go to greengasmovement.org and sign up. With Green Gas' ingenious system, it is quick and easy to clean carbon from the atmosphere every time you gas up. In fact, for just ten cents extra per gallon, you’ll support projects that offset all of the carbon your car is about to spew out! Green Gas is the brainchild of Kyle Kornack - join Joe and Chloe to learn how Green Gas started with making juice and quickly landed Kyle on the floor of the United Nations.

This one is for the scientists… and the entrepreneurs… and the mindfulness enthusiasts? That’s right, our show with Latika from Menon Labs has something for everyone! Listen to hear how this materials science professor took her life’s work out of the lab and right into the market. Her secret? Yoga, breathing exercises, and world-class support from Northeastern University and Greentown Labs.

For Silverside Detectors, bigger means better. Better neutron detectors that is - detectors that help protect America from nuclear and radioactive threats. Join Joe, Chloe, and Sarah as they discuss creating a successful startup on DoD money, being a woman in an overwhelmingly male field, designing early for manufacture, and limericks. That’s right, limericks. Enjoy! Visit Silverside's website at https://sside.co/

Many of our guests aim to fly high, but Ben Glass from Altaeros aims to fly higher than most. Literally. What started as a vision to create high altitude wind turbines has evolved into an innovation many thought was impossible – autonomous aerostats. Join us to hear about how Altaeros is putting payloads way up in the air and transforming what’s possible in clean energy and telecom. Visit Altaeros' website at http://www.altaerosenergies.com/ Also, Ben's sister's shop in Coolidge Corner at http://alliummarket.com/

The hits just keep coming with Arron. Join us in this second bonus episode about cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer networks, and what it means for renewable energy. Also I think I finally understand bitcoin. For more information on blockchain, check out this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/_160oMzblY8 For the paper by Konstantinos Sgatzos, see this PDF: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Konstantinos_Sgantzos/project/Implementing-A-Church-Turing-Deutsch-Principle-Machine-on-a-Blockchain/attachment/5a01b45a4cde26d9055d81cc/AS:558051050233856@1510061146342/download/Sgantzos_K_GA-HSCBB17.pdf?context=projectUpdatesLog

In this TCTM bonus episode, we ask Arron a joke question about the coming robot apocalypse. He obliges us with a very serious and thoughtful reply about the nature and future of artificial intelligence.

Arron and the RISE team have a startup and a dream: to create robots that make us more than we are today. That’s right, they want to create the first real ironman suit - but for everyone, not just the ultra-wealthy. Join us as we sit down with a real-life Tony Stark to hear what it takes to create a functioning robotic exosuit. On the way there, RISE Robotics is developing and commercializing technologies to dramatically improve efficiency in industrial settings. Visit RISE Robotics' website at http://www.riserobotics.com/ Later this week, look out for bonus episodes! We chat more with Arron Acosta on AI and the robot apocalypse (to be released Thursday, 1/25) and the role of blockchain in cleantech (to be released Tuesday, 1/30). Stay tuned!

Certain industries, like brewing beer and wine making, use a lot of water. Like a lot. A lot a lot. And what do brewers do with the contaminated wastewater afterwards? They can’t just pour it down the drain, but if they are savvy, they will give Cambrian Innovation a call. Cambrian has a process of treating water cheaply and effectively while creating biogas for energy as a bi-product. In fact, some of those brewers are even reusing their water to make more beer! Join William, Claire, and us to discuss taking water resources full-cycle.

The arsenic water crisis affects over 200 million people around the globe. In fact, the World Health Organization calls it the largest mass poisoning in human history. Minhaj and his team at Drinkwell are out to address this issue, at scale, and save millions of lives. In the process, Minhaj has learned a lot about how, when the rubber meets the road, your go-to-market strategies need to adapt and grow, sometimes in ways you could have never imagined. Doing this requires a delicate balance of flexibility and a ruthlessness. Please join us as we sit down with Minhaj to learn more. Visit Drinkwell's website at http://drinkwellsystems.com/

Ben and Isaac believe that in order to fight climate change, we need to bring more voices to the table. It can’t just be the wealthy advocating for a sustainable future, it needs to come from Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum. And that means bringing renewable energy to communities that are too poor or too high risk for traditional financing models. The finance mechanisms that have brought solar to homes across the country are designed for the wealthy and creditworthy. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Please listen to hear about how Resonant Energy is changing the game by bringing the renewable energy revolution to more Americans. Visit Resonant Energy's website at http://www.resonant.energy/ From Resonant: - Resonant is proud to announce that they have recently raised capital, built a successful product, are near profitability, and are off to our next round of building and expanding to new urban areas. - Resonant Energy would like to give a special shout out to Co-op Power - a multi-class and multi-race consumer-owned cooperative that is building projects together. This partner was instrumental to their founding. - The Resonant team continues to grow and has created many great jobs for local community members - with more opportunities coming up every month!

Not every startup makes it. In fact, most don't. But we rarely hear those stories, stories of working long hours for many years, investing personal/family money, only to have it all end one day quietly and without fanfare. It's a tough truth of innovation that there are losers more often than winners - but it's those individuals who have struggled and failed that can teach us the most. And, most importantly, can show us that even though you may be down, it doesn't mean you are out - not by a long shot. Today we sit down with Alex Piña of Avalanche Energy. Contact Alex Piña at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderpina/

That's a wrap on Season 1! Interested in joining our team? Reach out at contact@talkcleanpodcast.com. AND TAKE OUR SURVEY! PLEASE! You could win $30 to starbucks. 2 minutes of your time. Pretty easy! Visit talkcleanpodcast.com to participate.

Clean energy generation and energy storage go together like peanut butter and jelly. Their combination presents an elegant solution to peak demand issues and an effective method to reduce energy costs. But you can’t just slap these technologies together and expect it to work out! It takes a lot of work to plan and pull off these projects, not to mention making sure stored energy gets deployed most efficiently. Listen up to hear Sean’s journey of starting Sparkplug power, a startup that tackles this sticky issue. Visit Sparkplug Power's website at http://sparkplugpower.com/

Can we make buildings that are better for the planet than doing nothing? When you build a home, you make an immediate and ongoing negative impact on the environment (relative to having done nothing, that is). Tune in to hear from Declan Keefe of Placetailor, a design and construction firm with a vision to do better. (Oh, their homes are also drop-dead gorgeous by the way.) Visit Placetailor's website at http://www.placetailor.com/

Just a quick update! Listen in to hear about a puppy and plans for the future of Talk Clean to Me. For photo’s of said pup, find him on instagram @thepup_finnstagram. To give us feedback as we prepare for season 2 of Talk Clean to Me, please email contact@talkcleanpodcast.

Data is the wave of the future when it comes to building efficiency. And none-too-soon: 40% of all of our energy in the U.S. is spent in buildings. In order to achieve a sustainable future, we need unique and informed approaches to reducing use in buildings. Enter Sense. Their product provides detailed information about how appliances and features of your house use energy - giving homeowners the tools they need to reduce use and save big bucks. Please join us as we sit down with Chris and Joe to hear more. Visit their website at https://sense.com/ Twitter: @TellSense

Joe and Chloe first met Katie while she was Director of the Cleantech Open, a role that put her near the center of Boston’s cleantech ecosystem. Despite her demanding position, she made time to welcome each of us, wide-eyed new cleantech entrepreneurs, to the world of cleantech, as she’s done for dozens of self-starters before and since. Katie continues to work hard, now in her position as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Greentown Labs, to make the Northeast a welcoming, efficient, and effective place for talented people to realize their visions for a cleaner future. Tweet Katie at @MoreWaterPls! Mentioned in the podcast: Greentown Labs (@GreentownLabs) Autonomous Marine Systems (@automarinesys) Grove (@GroveLabs) Viroment (@ViromentGlobal) Drinkwell Tagup (@hello_tagup) Toilets for People (@toilets4people)

More than 90% of existing dams in the U.S. don’t produce electricity. What if someone could transform these facilities into reliable clean energy sources that wouldn’t harm the environment? Surge Hydro cofounders Nicholas Cabral and David Markley decided to tackle this problem head on by buying, restoring, and upgrading several hydroelectric dams in Maine. Join Joe and Chloe in their conversation with David Markley to hear the Surge Hydro story. Visit their website at https://www.surgehydro.com/ to learn more.

About 50% of the water destined to for Boston is lost between the reservoir and the city, and most of that loss occurs at pipe joints. Concerned about this hemorrhaging of a precious resource? Enter Proper Pipe. In order to solve many problems related to transporting liquids, we need not only better joints, but also a better way of testing the integrity of those joints. Ruben and Abel, the respective Founder/CEO and Business Development Manager of Proper Pipe, join us to tell their story. Visit their website at http://www.properpipe-usa.com/ to learn more. Twitter: @properpipe

So you want to install solar panels on your house or business. How do you choose which ones to buy? Do you lease them or purchase them outright? Do you want the “Cadillac” model or the “Camry” model? Wouldn’t it be helpful if somebody else did all your research for you and tell you which companies best matched your needs? Meet Vikram Aggarwal (Founder/CEO) and Kimberly Le (Network Partnerships Manager) of EnergySage. They’re here to help consumers navigate the solar market and gain a thorough understanding of the parameters that effect their solar panel purchases. Visit their website at https://www.energysage.com/ to learn about the solar market or check out their solar calculator! Twitter: @EnergySage

Eric Graham, founder and CEO of CrowdComfort, believes that walking into most buildings is like walking half a century back in time, technologically speaking. And this is by design - buildings need to last dozens of years, and are therefore built conservatively. But Eric has a vision to bring them into the 21st century, and it involves you, me, and those tiny computers in our pockets called smartphones. Eric wants to crowdsource collecting building data by turning humans into sensors. Visit http://crowdcomfort.com/ to learn more!

Our cars are more efficient, our buildings are more efficient, but can our plants be more efficient too? Michael, founder and CEO of Genoverde thinks so. His company, spun out from UMass Amherst, bioengineers plants do more with less (and pull more carbon out of the air, too!). Join the Talk Clean Team as we explore Michael’s journey of growing a startup that grows better. Visit www.genoverde.com/ to learn more!

Winter is coming... and that means foggy glasses and windshields for everybody. Luckily, Marc and Yinyong, the CEO and CTO of Treaty, are here with their product FogKicker, a biodegradable solution applied once a month to prevent foggy surfaces. Their current product is designed for underwater applications such as snorkeling, diving, and swimming –perfect for a midwinter escape to the Bahamas– but their landlubber model isn’t far behind. They sat down with us to talk about their plan for becoming a household name and the growing startup scene in central Massachusetts. Visit treatyllc.com to try FogKicker for yourself and learn more about Treaty.

Senthil is on a mission to see every roof in the US installed with solar panels. His weapon of choice? Design. Sistine Solar's custom solar panels come in any color and design, and therefore have near limitless potential to "make solar beautiful." Senthil and his co-founder Ido Salama started Sistine Solar because they believe that superior design will be crucial in unlocking the full potential of the solar industry. Senthil sat down to tell us all about it. Thank you for joining us, Senthil! Visit www.sistinesolar.com to learn more and request a quote for their first product, SolarSkin, solar panels that match your roof! Twitter: @sistinesolar

This isn't your grandpa's solar array! The modern solar array design is over 30 years old, but Les and Katy, the CEO and CTO of Tessolar, are out to change the game. Their panel is the product of a holistic, systems level approach to optimizing the modern panel, from materials to setup. They sat down to tell us all about how to start a company with a vision to cut the cost of solar in half. Visit www.tessolarinc.com to learn more.

We frequently hear about the internet of things (IoT), but a lot that has to happen before devices and appliances can seamlessly and meaningfully integrate with the web. Jon Garrity left GE to start his own business tackling an important part of the IoT puzzle, and one that has important ramifications for cleantech. Described as a "Facebook for sensors and devices," Tagup enables a simple an intuitive way for power and electric utility devices old and new to communicate with the web. Thank you for joining us, Jon! Learn more at http://tagup.io/