Watt It Takes

As we’ve covered in other recent episodes, the growth of data centers and the massive amount of power they require is reshaping the energy landscape. Today, I want to zero in on a specific challenge at the heart of it all: the watt bit spread, a phrase coined by this month’s guest. The Watt Bit Spread is the gap between the cost of electricity and the value of computing—computing meaning, the processing power behind AI, cloud services, and digital infrastructure. Bridging that gap is one of the keys to unlocking both data center growth and new power generation.Despite countless developers' promises of abundant “powered land,” very few can deliver what data centers and other energy-intensive industries actually need. It’s not just certainty of power timelines but also land, utility agreements, capital, and community support — all critical to reducing the constraints that make the watt bit spread so persistent. Too often, there’s a disconnect between real estate and utilities. Some companies know how to acquire land. Others know how to work with utilities. But rarely both. And even when those pieces come together, projects can still be stalled without community support, labor, or equipment. That’s where Brian Janous, Co-Founder and CCO of Cloverleaf Infrastructure, comes in—working to bridge the watt bit spread by aligning land, power, and communities to meet the surging demand for computing. Put simply, Cloverleaf buys land in dollars per acre and sells it in dollars per megawatt.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations and take them to the world. Infinium are a leader in ultra-low carbon synthetic eFuels and offer comprehensive energy system solutions to support the rapidly evolving energy industry. HSBC Innovation Banking have supported Infinium with project financing to scale their latest commercial-scale project, which on completion will be the largest eFuels project in the world.So, if you’re looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to FOAK, click the link in the call notes to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.HSBC Innovation Banking is a business division with services provided in the United States by HSBC Bank USA, N.A.https://www.business.us.hsbc.com/en/innovation-banking-powerhouse-innovationAbout Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

The U.S. power sector serves more than 160 million electricity customers—across homes, businesses, and factories in all 50 states. But the grid that supplies that electricity wasn’t designed for the world we live in now, let alone the one that’s coming.Electrification is accelerating. Data centers—driven by the explosive growth of AI—are demanding more power than ever, often in places where the grid is already strained. And while decarbonization remains technically optional—for those serious about resilience, sustainability, and long term viability, it’s a necessity. These three forces—electrification, digitization, and decarbonization—are colliding, reshaping how our energy system works and who it’s built for.The challenge isn’t just technical. It’s structural. We are moving towards a world of abundant clean electricity—but too often, it’s available at the wrong time, or in the wrong place. Permitting and interconnection can add years of delays. And even when approved, major transmission projects often take decades to complete, if they manage to get built at all. And many of the rules that govern our electricity markets weren’t built for flexibility, speed, or innovation.So what if we didn’t wait for the system to catch up? What if we reimagined where clean power is built, who it serves, and how it’s delivered? What if gigawatt-scale clean energy projects were already breaking ground—designed to power data centers, industrial loads, and the digital infrastructure reshaping our world?That’s exactly what Sheldon Kimber, Co‑Founder and CEO of Intersect Power, is doing: imagining a better energy future, and then building it—faster than anyone thought possible.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations and take them to the world. Infinium are a leader in ultra-low carbon synthetic eFuels and offer comprehensive energy system solutions to support the rapidly evolving energy industry. HSBC Innovation Banking have supported Infinium with project financing to scale their latest commercial-scale project, which on completion will be the largest eFuels project in the world.So, if you’re looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to FOAK, click the link in the call notes to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.HSBC Innovation Banking is a business division with services provided in the United States by HSBC Bank USA, N.A.https://www.business.us.hsbc.com/en/innovation-banking-powerhouse-innovationAbout Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

If cement were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, behind only China and the United States. That’s because cement production alone accounts for about five and a half percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. And while that might seem really high, it actually makes sense. Just look around you: from roads to bridges, sidewalks to buildings, cement is everywhere. It’s a critical building block of modern infrastructure.What’s striking about cement production is that most of the emissions actually come from the chemical reaction itself—not just from burning fuel to heat the kiln. Cement producers use limestone, a well-known carbon-storing rock we’ve highlighted in other episodes for its direct air capture potential. But when limestone is heated to make cement, the opposite happens: it releases carbon dioxide, accounting for about 60% of the sector’s total emissions. So even if you used 100% clean electricity to power the kilns, most of the emissions would still result from this chemical process.Limestone was originally selected as a main ingredient for cement largely because it was the cheapest option. But what if it wasn’t? What if there were other rocks we could use that didn’t emit greenhouse gases at all? Better yet, what if they could produce the ingredients for cement cleanly—and generate other products critical to industry?That’s exactly what Cody Finke, CEO and Co-Founder of Brimstone, is aiming to deliver: a way to make cement without the emissions—and create other essential industrial materials along the way.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations and take them to the world. Infinium are a leader in ultra-low carbon synthetic eFuels and offer comprehensive energy system solutions to support the rapidly evolving energy industry. HSBC Innovation Banking have supported Infinium with project financing to scale their latest commercial-scale project, which on completion will be the largest eFuels project in the world.So, if you’re looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to FOAK, click the link in the call notes to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.HSBC Innovation Banking is a business division with services provided in the United States by HSBC Bank USA, N.A.https://www.business.us.hsbc.com/en/innovation-banking-powerhouse-innovationAbout Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

It’s been a few years since we last covered geothermal on Watt It Takes. Our 2021 episode with Tim Latimer, Founder and CEO of Fervo Energy, explored how next-generation geothermal was just beginning to emerge. Since then, the sector’s momentum has only grown.Meanwhile, electricity demand is rising fast, driven by data centers, AI, and the broader push to electrify everything. That’s putting pressure on the grid and renewing interest in consistent, around-the-clock power, often referred to as baseload energy.This is where next-gen geothermal comes in. It’s a new wave of technologies that could make it possible to harness the Earth’s heat in far more places. Instead of relying on rare natural conditions, these systems aim to tap into hot, dry rock deep underground—resources that could, in theory, be accessed across much of the country. And that’s what makes it so compelling: for the first time, we may be able to use this vast, untapped heat source almost anywhere to help power the grid.Just last week, the U.S. Geological Survey reported that enhanced geothermal systems, one of the most promising next-gen approaches, could technically supply up to 10% of the country’s electricity needs from Nevada’s Great Basin alone.Because some of these systems can also tap into existing oil and gas wells, geothermal is gaining support across the energy sector. It offers a way to reuse infrastructure, support local economies, and deliver reliable, affordable, and clean power. Other approaches show promise for energy storage and district heating, broadening geothermal’s role and offering new ways to complement renewables like wind and solar.That broad potential has helped earn steady bipartisan support. But the recently passed House reconciliation bill threatens to slow momentum by phasing out key tax credits and eliminating credit transferability. These provisions have been critical to financing new projects.Despite those headwinds, companies are continuing to push the boundaries of what geothermal can do. One of them is Sage Geosystems, led by CEO Cindy Taff. The company is advancing new applications of geothermal for energy storage, district heating, and dependable, clean electricity.SponsorsThis live recording, and this next season of Watt It Takes, is brought to you by our lead sponsor, HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations, and take them to the world.So, if you’re looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to First-of-a-Kind, click the link in the show notes to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.https://www.business.us.hsbc.com/en/innovation-banking-powerhouse-innovationAbout Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

You don’t meet many people like Jigar Shah.He’s one of the rare leaders who has shaped the clean energy transition from every angle — as a founder, as an investor, and most recently, as a government leader. If you know Jigar, you already know the headlines: He founded SunEdison, led Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room, co-hosted the Energy Gang podcast, co-founded Generate Capital, and most recently, ran the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, better known as LPO. If you don’t know Jigar, but you’re listening to this, chances are you’ve felt his impact. In 2024, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.And fun fact, he’s also the very first guest to return to Watt It Takes for a second episode.For more than two decades, Jigar has been behind the scenes — and sometimes out front — helping scale the technologies and financing models that define today’s energy economy. But this episode isn’t about Jigar’s résumé; it’s about what it was like for him to join and lead LPO, what he learned in his four years in government, and what he’s carrying forward in this next chapter of his career. SponsorsThis season of Watt It Takes is brought to you by our lead sponsor, HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations, and take them to the world.So, if you’re looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to FOAK, follow the link below to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.https://www.business.us.hsbc.com/en/innovation-banking-powerhouse-innovationAbout Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

There are a handful of people in the clean energy and infrastructure world whose knowledge and voices serve as guiding lights. Shayle Kann is one of those people. Known for his deep expertise, unique perspective, and distinct voice, Shayle has covered and shaped the energy transition for years.While regular listeners will know, we typically feature startup founders. But Shayle’s long-standing influence—from GTM and The Interchange to EIP and Catalyst—made it a true pleasure to turn the mic around.This episode, recorded in front of a live, sold-out audience at SF Climate Week, marked Shayle’s first time as our guest, though he's no stranger to the show. For the first few years of Watt It Takes, starting in 2017, when every episode was recorded in front of a live audience, Shayle would kick off each conversation by setting the industry context and introducing our guest.In this episode, we trace Shayle’s journey, starting with his roots in Madison, Wisconsin, and share how his entrepreneurial spirit and compelling storytelling abilities have been instrumental in his rise as a leader.On a personal note, I’ve known Shayle for nearly a decade. He has been a colleague and a friend, and I’m excited for him to tell his story.SponsorsThis live recording, and this next season of Watt It Takes, is brought to you by our lead sponsor, HSBC Innovation Banking who is proud to bank some of the most exciting companies pioneering the technologies of tomorrow.With specialist financing support, deep understanding of the challenges, and a global network across more than 50 markets, they help clients scale breakthrough innovations, and take them to the world.So, if you’re looking for early-stage funding, or well on your way to FOAK, follow the link below to learn how HSBC Innovation Banking can help on the next stage of your journey.https://www.business.us.hsbc.com/en/innovation-banking-powerhouse-innovationAbout Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors, including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Here’s a thought experiment. You’re a seasoned clean energy developer. You’ve got a pipeline of projects. You’ve navigated permitting, secured financing, refined your technology stack. Everything’s lined up, and you’re ready to build. There’s just one problem: interconnection.To connect your projects, you have to go through a complex study process run by your utility, or your Regional Transmission Organization (RTO), or your Independent System Operator (ISO). They need to evaluate how your project impacts the grid, what upgrades are required, and how the costs get assigned. It’s a system built for a different grid era, and today, the system is completely overwhelmed.For both developers and transmission providers, the interconnection queue has become a major obstacle. Developers depend on timely approvals to move projects forward. Transmission providers, meanwhile, are inundated with requests while also trying to maintain grid reliability, plan for future capacity, and, in many regions, meet aggressive decarbonization goals. And they’re doing all of that with legacy software that was never built to handle this kind of volume or complexity.If you’ve been in the energy world for a while, you know this bottleneck well. But if you’re new, here’s the scale of the challenge: around 2.5 terawatts of renewable energy projects alone are currently stuck in interconnection queues across the U.S. At the same time, electricity demand is surging, driven by data centers, AI, EVs, and industrial electrification. The average wait time for grid interconnection in the U.S. is 6 years. Speeding up the interconnection study process could remove one of the most significant barriers to getting clean energy and storage projects online. But that requires smarter, modern tools. Our guest today, David Bromberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Pearl Street Technologies, has built those tools, and is helping transmission providers and developers navigate the interconnection process with unprecedented speed. Sponsors:Watt it Takes is brought to you by Powerhouse Innovation. Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors - including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions - with cutting-edge technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Are you seeking strategic startup partnership or investment opportunities? Get in touch to see how you can leverage Powerhouse Innovation’s expert team and vast network, including a database of over 13,000 startups, to help accelerate your innovation and investing goals. To learn more visit powerhouse.co.About Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation partners with leading corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in climate. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

As a new year unfolds, 2025 has already brought devastating natural disasters. From blizzards to wildfires, climate chaos is impacting our neighbors and communities in real time. My heart goes out to the people of Los Angeles for the profound losses they suffered last month, and for the difficult path of rebuilding that lies ahead. This devastation brings to mind a tragedy that struck even closer to home in 2018.I remember driving through Oakland that year, watching ash fall from the sky as the Camp Fire ravaged Paradise, California. That fire, still the deadliest and most destructive in California’s history, was sparked by vegetation coming into contact with power lines-- a common risk that, coupled with dry conditions, strong winds, and human activity, can ignite a wildfire. That same year, at least 17 additional wildfires in California were triggered by power lines.Across the country and around the world, utilities face ongoing challenges from vegetation. The diversity of trees and their unique characteristics make it difficult to forecast where or when they might encroach on power lines. Traditional monitoring solutions like trucks, helicopters, and even drones cannot effectively or cost efficiently analyze the nearly 7 million line-miles of transmission and distribution that cover the US alone. In response, Indra Den Bakker and Anniek Schouten founded Overstory in 2018 — a software company that partners with utilities to predict and prevent wildfires caused by vegetation encroachment. Powerhouse Ventures is proud to be an early investor in Overstory, joining the team in 2020 via their seed round. It's been inspiring to watch the company grow, even in the face of immense loss.Overstory’s founding CEO Indra tragically passed away in October of last year after a devastating battle with cancer, but his vision lives on. In a world where climate risks are increasing, Overstory's work is more critical than ever. Today, Overstory’s CEO Fiona Spruill and her team are continuing to manifest Indra and Anniek’s vision to reduce wildfire risks and make our grid resilient. This episode is a tribute to Indra, Anniek, and all that they’ve built together.Sponsors:Watt it Takes is brought to you by Powerhouse Innovation. Powerhouse Innovation is a leading consulting firm connecting top-tier corporations and investors - including corporate innovation teams, CVCs, and pensions - with cutting-edge climate technologies and startups that meet their specific criteria for engagement. Are you seeking strategic startup partnership or investment opportunities? Get in touch to see how you can leverage Powerhouse's expert team and vast network, including a database of over 13,000 climate tech startups, to help accelerate your innovation and investing goals. To learn more visit powerhouse.co. About Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation partners with leading corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in climate. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

2024 was a landmark year for the energy transition. With record-setting investments in climate infrastructure, we saw the price of renewables out-compete just about every electricity source worldwide, we saw advancements in industrial decarbonization (which we’ve featured prominently on this show), and we saw a breakout year for next generation energy storage just to name a few. While momentum is definitely on our side, with the electrification of everything, our industry will face new hurdles in the coming years, including unprecedented demand for critical minerals.  From solar panels, to batteries, to EVs, critical minerals are needed to advance the energy transition. Specifically: copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt, to name a few. According to our guest today, the amount of newly discovered minerals needed to produce the anticipated number of EVs by midcentury will cost more than $10 trillion dollars. We’ve been extracting minerals for centuries, so you might assume we have it figured out. However, not only are there some serious ethical and environmental concerns, but mineral exploration has, in some ways, actually gotten worse, slower, and more expensive over time. What if there was a way to make critical mineral exploration drastically more efficient? Our guest today, Kurt House, Co-Founder and CEO of KoBold Metals wants to show the world how scientific computing can turn that idea into a reality.  SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $800M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. About Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation provides consulting services to help the world’s leading corporations and investors partner with the most innovative startups in climate tech.Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

As we touched on in our last episode with John O’Donnell of Rondo Energy, industry is a major contributor to global CO2 emissions, and it is only forecasted to get worse. According to a recent report from Rhodium Group, by 2050, the industrial sector could emit as much CO2 as the power, transportation, and building sectors combined. A term worth highlighting in this month’s episode is “Hard-to-abate”. This term refers to industrial sectors like cement, petrochemicals, and steel that people have continually categorized as too costly, slow, or lacking the necessary technology to decarbonize. For this episode, our focus is on steel. Carbon emissions, air, and water pollution from steel production can be largely attributed to their use of coal-fired blast furnaces, technology created in the 14th century. There are serious challenges to altering any centuries-long established production process, but as our guest today, Henrik Henriksson, CEO of Stegra (formerly H2 Green Steel) knows, when you replace coal with renewable energy, you can produce hydrogen, iron, and steel, with significantly lower emissions.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $800M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. About Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures Powerhouse Innovation partners with leading corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in climate. Powerhouse Ventures backs entrepreneurs building the digital infrastructure for rapid decarbonization. To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

In the same way that “Climate Change” and “Global Warming” went from scientific terms to colloquial ones, “Decarbonization” is slowly permeating modern discourse. Decarbonization is the process of significantly reducing or eliminating CO2 and other GHG emissions that result from human activity. “Human activity” encompasses a lot of different sectors. From agriculture and forestry, to transport and industry, we are emitting a lot of greenhouse gasses. And with the demand for industrial materials only projected to increase as more countries industrialize, emissions from industry are predicted to rise faster than any other emitting sector. When I say “industrial” or “industry”, I’m referring to processes used to extract and refine raw materials. These processes include mining, manufacturing, construction and waste processing. According to the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, the industrial sector is responsible for 24% of global carbon emissions and 1/3 of U.S. direct and indirect emissions. For many industrial processes, process heating is a critical component. Process heating is used to raise and maintain the temperature of materials in manufacturing processes. Heating materials above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit allows for the transformation of raw materials like limestone, metallic ore, and silica into materials we depend on everyday like cement, iron, and glass. But across the manufacturing sector, process heating is responsible for the largest energy demand and highest greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for over 30% of total industrial emissions. Most efforts to decarbonize the industrial sector have historically targeted non-heating operations, but if we could find a way to decarbonize process heat, we stand a chance to make a large dent on total global emissions. My guest today, John O’Donnell, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Rondo Energy is doing exactly that. SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Humans produce a lot of trash. How much trash you ask? We produce 2.3 billion tons of trash per year. That’s enough to fill about 800,000 Olympic pools every year. So, what do we do with it all and how does it get managed? Some of it, depending on your municipality, can be composted, some of it gets recycled, but despite our best intentions, most of it ends up in our landfills. In an ideal world, the majority of our trash would be reused and recycled, but recycling, despite its promises, is actually a regressing industry. Counterintuitively, over the last 15 years, recycling rates in the United States have stagnated and even decreased. Recycling isn’t stagnating because people don’t want to recycle. In fact, people want to recycle so badly, waste management streams suffer from “wishcycling”, a phenomenon whereby people try to recycle items that not only aren’t recyclable, but actually end up contaminating and ruining potential batches of recyclables. At the heart of it, recycling and waste management systems as they exist today face a major incentive problem. Because recycled material is sold in a commodity market, prices for recycled materials like aluminum, paper, plastic, and glass fluctuate a lot. An unreliable market disincentivizes the waste management industry from investing in more efficient sorting systems that could increase overall recycling. While it might not seem obvious, recycling has an important role to play in global decarbonization. When materials like aluminum and plastic get recycled, the extraction of new raw materials to replace them is averted, as are the emissions that would have gone into their production. For example, for every ton of aluminum that gets reused, the carbon that would’ve been emitted into the atmosphere to produce more aluminum from new raw materials is never emitted. As it stands, society is not capturing the decarbonization potential of recycling. Too much waste is wasted because of human error, a lack of incentives, and waste management systems with inefficient infrastructure. What if AI could revolutionize the way we manage our trash? Instead of exposing human lives to toxic chemicals and other dangers that inevitably find themselves in trash, what if there were technological interventions that could automate sorting, have an outsized climate impact, and make waste assets more valuable all at the same time? Our guest this month, Matanya Horowitz, CEO and founder of AMP, believes all of this is possible. *note: In the episode, Emily incorrectly says that AMP has recycled 20 million metric tons of material. The actual number is 2.5 million tons.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. This episode is also brought to you by JP Morgan.J.P. Morgan is proud to serve companies that are advancing decarbonization across the globe through innovative business and technology solutions. With J.P. Morgan’s unmatched investment capacity, strong support model, and global scale, the Green Economy Banking team delivers the full suite of the firm’s financial products and advisory services to help fuel the growth of green businesses and the industry at large. No matter what stage you're in, you can rely on JP Morgan's expertise and connections to back your boldest pursuits. So take the right risks, while banking with confidence. J.P. Morgan: Let’s build your future together.About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Extreme weather events are becoming more and more common. In July, Hurricane Beryl wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, causing 3 million Texans to lose power in the midst of a soaring heat wave, which killed 23 people. Critics have raised questions about Houston’s power providers preparedness for a disaster like Beryl, and have raised concerns about the long delay in restoring power at a time where access to AC and power could have saved lives. Ever increasing extreme weather events like Beryl require utilities, retail electricity providers (REPs), independent power producers (IPPs), and other energy traders and suppliers to rapidly forecast and adjust supply in order to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective electricity. Traditional electricity demand forecasts, which rely on sparse weather data, analog meter readings, and regression-based historical demand data, are insufficient in the face of such events. In order to better respond to extreme weather events, and facilitate the energy transition, we need solutions that turn energy data into action and insights for power providers to prevent outages, provide reliable power, predict demand, and even provide carbon insights. And that is exactly what  Sean Kelley, CEO and Co-Founder of Amperon, is building.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Carbon is everywhere, not just in the air around us, but also in the materials we use everyday.We talk a lot about reducing the overall amount of carbon in the atmosphere through approaches like avoided emissions or removal. But, what do we do in a world where GHG avoidance and removals are not at the scale required to tackle all of the emissions that come from heavy industry like agriculture and steel?Research from the Ellen McArthur Foundation shows that switching our energy use to more efficient and renewable sources would only prevent 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In order to truly decarbonize, how do we tackle the other 45% of emissions?Can we recycle carbon dioxide and monoxide? Instead of the linear fossil fuel based - make, use, waste life cycle, what if we could take CO and CO2, produced by heavy industry and turn it into the building blocks of our everyday lives, like the plastic container holding your cosmetics, your clothes, or the fuel powering your flight. In a truly circular economy, we could produce many of the materials we need from greenhouse gasses, like carbon, thus eliminating waste and pollution, and reducing greenhouse gasses across the supply chain. In order to achieve this vision, we need solutions that take emissions and byproducts of industries like agriculture and steel, and turn them into usable materials. And that is exactly what Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech, is building.  SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

One in ten American families own a Recreational Vehicle, and yet, the RV industry hasn’t seen meaningful innovation in decades, due in part to extreme consolidation and lack of competition. Despite this, 300-500,000 RVs are sold in the US every year, 90% of which are towable. Towing an RV can seriously affect the fuel economy of your car. Drivers can expect their gas mileage to decrease about 1-2% for every 100 pounds they tow. The average weight of a large travel trailer is about 6,700 pounds, which means a driver can expect between a 49-74% decrease in gas mileage. This means more stops, more money spent on gas, and more emissions.On top of that, most RVs use propane to fuel generators, which in turn power appliances or amenities, making what should be a peaceful experience outdoors noisier, and the cost of an RV trip even higher, both for a family’s wallet, and for the planet. If you drive an electric car, towing a RV means an extreme reduction in range and therefore an increase in charging stops, which is a challenge for people adventuring in areas without charging infrastructure. As the US races towards electrification, more and more people are opting to buy hybrid or electric vehicles. But, for the one in 10 American families that own an RV and may be looking for a better, or even electric, RV experience, they are in serious need of options. So, in order to electrify the RV industry, and bring automotive electrification to a new segment, we need a solution that is lightweight, super aerodynamic, and above all, fun. And that is exactly what Toby Kraus, and the team at Lightship, are building. SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Even if all emissions stopped tomorrow, the excess carbon currently in the atmosphere would take thousands of years to naturally dissipate through processes like photosynthesis, oceanic absorption, or mineralization. In addition to forests, soils, and the ocean, naturally occurring minerals are one of our planet’s most important carbon sinks. Over the span of hundreds or thousands of years, carbon dioxide in air and water binds to minerals, and eventually turns to stone, thus removing the carbon from the atmosphere. This process is called mineralization. One of the most abundant types of rocks on the planet is limestone, and it’s one of the unsung superstars of this carbon mineralization process. Meanwhile, one of the most exciting advances in the carbon removal industry that has received a lot of attention - and scrutiny - is Direct Air Capture, often referred to as “DAC.” DAC is the process of separating carbon dioxide from ambient air. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law specified funding for the deployment of DAC projects in the US, and DAC is getting more interest from companies looking to remove their carbon emissions. But, DAC technologies are typically expensive, energy and land intensive, and use materials that can be difficult to source. In order to remove billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere, we need a DAC solution that is scalable, inexpensive, and designed to leverage natural processes like mineralization via limestone, which has millennia of carbon removal capabilities embedded in its chemistry. And that is exactly what Shashank Samala, Co-Founder and CEO of Heirloom, is building. SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments.  About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

According to the World Economic Forum, if we want to reach a carbon-neutral future, the world will depend on emerging markets to build energy systems that rely on clean energy instead of fossil fuels. However, only one fifth of global clean energy investments are being channeled into emerging markets. Financing the development of distributed renewable energy projects has been slow and challenging for interested investors and project developers. In order to facilitate the growth of distributed renewable energy in emerging markets, and connect financiers, equipment providers, and project developers who see the immense opportunity in decarbonizing growth in emerging markets, we need a platform where all stakeholders get what they need to finance, build, and track the performance of these projects.  That’s exactly what this month’s Watt It Takes guest, Emily McAteer, co-founder and CEO of Odyssey Energy Solutions, is building. At Odyssey, Emily and her team are building a new kind of platform to make it possible for distributed renewable energy projects to launch in emerging markets, by connecting financiers, equipment providers, and project developers, and providing the remote monitoring and control needed to assess performance.Emily joined the podcast to speak about her journey from Concord, Massachusetts, to working on Wall Street, to the lecture that would change her life, to founding Odyssey and building a platform that’s responsible for the deployment of ~ 2.5 million standalone solar systems and positively impacting the lives of 15 million people. SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft and Shell Ventures.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. Shell Ventures specializes in unlocking deployment opportunities to help their portfolio companies scale, access customers and commercialize their solutions. Visit shell.com/ventures to learn more about how they can help your company reach the next level of growth.About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Residential energy use accounts for about 20% of greenhouse emissions in the U.S., making it one of the most important sectors to decarbonize. As the world electrifies and consumers become more climate-conscious, energy will become one of the next consumer engagement frontiers. The WattBuy platform connects clean energy providers with residential customers, helps consumers save money on their energy bills, and helps companies engage customers with insights and provide enhanced offerings and services.In this episode, Emily Kirsch sits down with WattBuy Co-Founder & CEO Naman Trivedi to learn more about founding the company, WattBuy’s mission to decarbonize the grid, and building a platform that has generated 20 gigawatt hours of renewable energy for homeowners and renters, and helped them save upwards of $4M on their energy bills.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft and Shell Ventures.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments.Shell Ventures specializes in unlocking deployment opportunities to help their portfolio companies scale, access customers and commercialize their solutions. Visit shell.com/ventures to learn more about how they can help your company reach the next level of growth.About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Some experts are calling 2024 the “make or break year” for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets, which were rocked by a shaky 2023. To usher in a new era of effective and impactful carbon markets, the verification process needs a major tech update, and a serious credibility boost.Marion Verles founded SustainCERT to be the first fully digital carbon project verification platform and Scope 3 emissions verification solution.The team at SustainCERT is employing a novel approach to verify a project’s impact on the carbon cycle, and it starts with building a digital platform where project developers and suppliers can enter, track, and adjust their projects in accordance with valuable data insights.SustainCERT has raised $47M, has a team of more than 100, and has developed what they describe as the first fully digital carbon project verification platform and, more recently, a Scope 3 emissions verification solution. I spoke to Marion about her journey, from her childhood in the south of France, to founding her first company in Cambodia after starting her career in finance, to launching and leading a digital-first verification platform.SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft and Shell Ventures.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments.Shell Ventures specializes in unlocking deployment opportunities to help their portfolio companies scale, access customers and commercialize their solutions. Visit shell.com/ventures to learn more about how they can help your company reach the next level of growth.About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

On November 17th, 2023 the average global temperature was temporarily 2 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrialization, an event with ominous climate implications. To slow global climate change, we need to find ways to supercharge natural carbon removal processes like ocean alkalization, and do it in a way that is good for the planet. That’s exactly what this month’s Watt It Takes Guest, Ben Tarbell, Co-Founder and CEO of Ebb Carbon, is doing.The team at Ebb is approaching carbon removal in a way that is both novel and as ancient as the ocean itself; integrating with existing facilities that process seawater, they use electrochemistry to remove acidity, and return the alkaline seawater to the ocean where it can then absorb more carbon.Ebb has raised $23M, has a team of 40, and is deploying their carbon removal system. I spoke to Ben about his journey, from his childhood spent obsessed with building and engineering, to his career in solar, to prototyping the Ebb System in a bathroom-less empty warehouse, to opening Ebb’s first site and starting to meaningfully remove carbon via the ocean. SponsorsWatt It Takes is brought to you by Microsoft and Shell Ventures.The $1 Billion Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund is investing in innovative technologies that have the potential for meaningful, measurable climate impact by 2030. To date, Microsoft has allocated more than $700M into a global portfolio of over 50 investments including sustainable solutions in energy, industrial, and natural systems. Visit microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility/ to learn more about Microsoft’s progress toward their impact commitments. Shell Ventures specializes in unlocking deployment opportunities to help their portfolio companies scale, access customers and commercialize their solutions. Visit shell.com/ventures to learn more about how they can help your company reach the next level of growth.About Powerhouse and Powerhouse VenturesPowerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations and investors to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate.Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund, and you can subscribe to our newsletter at powerhouse.fund/subscribe.To hear more stories of founders building our climate positive future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.