Decarb Connect

Carl Weatherell, CEO of Canada Mining Innovation Center, joins Alex to talk about the enormous value of setting much more aspirational goals (Zero waste, Zero emissions) and applying a radical innovation approach that leverages coopetition, collaboration and co-development across the mining sector.  Plenty of big ideas here for other energy-intensive sectors to learn from, as well as specifics on mining innovation opportunities from microwave technology to core mining platforms.  We talk about prototypes of mining technologies that can cut typical process energy consumption by as much as 42%, how to achieve zero tailings and 0% emissions – plus we explore how design-led thinking leads to wholly new answers to major process issues and climate threats.  Links: https://www.rethinkmining.org/www.decarbconnect.com

Ravi Gurumurthy, CEO of Nesta, joins Alex Cameron to talk about decarbonising domestic heatand the urgent changes needed to achieve net zero in the UK. Nesta is the UK’s innovation agency forsocial good and in March, Nesta published it’s ambitious 10 year strategy which aims to improve the lives of millions through mission-led innovation. Ravi Gurumurthy talks with Alex about how Nesta drives innovation and his view on achieving net zero equitably and on time.  Ravi has extensive experience in this area having been one of the architects of the UK’s Climate Change Act in 2008. Whilst at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, as Director of Strategy, he was responsible for setting and meeting the UK’s Carbon Budgets and developing the government’s 2050 decarbonisation plan. Links: https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/decarbonising-homes-consumer-attitudeswww.decarbconnect.comhttps://decarbconnect.com/events/decarb-connect-europe/ 

Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs and Pat Sapinsley, Managing Director of Cleantech Initiatives at the NYU Urban Future Lab, join Alex to talk about their joint C2V initiative, an accelerator taking the first carbon to value cohort through a program to drive scale and commercial opportunity in this cutting edge category of climate tech.  We define carbontech as any technology or business model innovation that enables the capture, utilization or sequestration of carbon dioxide and which can then convert it (sustainably) into valuable products or services. The conversation takes this as the starting point and explores how c2v tech fits as a key tool within industry’s wider decarbonisation plans and looks into the solutions that are ready right now versus those in early R&D.  Join us to find out how c2v tech might fit into your industrial strategy or investment portfolio and to learn more about the program and the cohort that has been confirmed. Show Links:https://www.c2vinitiative.com/ http://ufl.nyc/https://greentownlabs.com/ www.decarbconnect.com  C2V Cohort Links: Air Company (New York City, U.S.) Carbfix (Reykjavík, Iceland) CarbonFree (San Antonio, U.S.) CarbonQuest (New York City, U.S.) Cemvita Factory (Houston, U.S.) CERT (Toronto, Canada) Made of Air (Berlin, Germany) Mars Materials (Oakland, U.S.)Patch (San Francisco, U.S.) Planetary Hydrogen (Dartmouth, Canada)  

Nico Girod of Clear Blue Markets talks with Alex about the hot and growing market for voluntary offsets. We explore their roots and factors that are driving their growth, we also talk about the difference between high quality offsets and those that carry more reputational risk.  We look at the questions corporates bring to discussions of offsets, the change participants in the market and look ahead to predictions around volume and type of offsets entering the market.  If you’re interested to understand the opportunity, or have questions around the risks of offsets, listen in. Find out when peak-offset is likely to occur and use the discussion to flesh out questions and approaches of your own.  Show Links: https://www.clearbluemarkets.com/  - sign up for their meaty weekly newsletters of activities in regulated and voluntary carbon markets. www.decarbconnect.com 

Dr Bryony Livesey leads the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC), which forms part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF).  IDC is a £170m programme with £261m match funding from industry, designed to deploy low carbon technologies and enabling infrastructure in heavily industrialised regions of the UK.  Bryony and Alex talk about the significant program of work that is ongoing to help develop world class industrial clusters in the UK and how these commercial projects can both decarbonise at scale – but also feed valuable lessons and knowledge back to other parts of the industrial landscape. Whether you’re UK based or live and tackle co2 elsewhere in the world, this is an invaluable discussion about how government can support large scale projects - you’ll hear Bryony’s thoughts on why industrial clusters are proving so essential and how other industrial sites and groups can make use of these massive projects. Don’t miss the discussion’s additional point of value here – the social impact and benefits of these large scale projects.  Show Links: https://idric.org/the-industrial-decarbonisation-challenge/www.decarbconnect.com  

Join Alex and Joe Raia for a discussion about how Abaxx’s exchange launch presents an opportunity to create carbon neutral and offset trading products for commodities traders managing portfolios of hard to abate products.  We talk about the rapid movement of global markets towards practices and policies that support ESG initiatives and investments and look at the physical commodities and futures-based trading perspective on this.  We also discuss the view point that LNG and Green LNG  might be “bridge hydrocarbons” on route to carbon neutrality - what does this mean and is it a strong argument? Show Links: https://www.abaxx.exchange/https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/02/11/2174054/0/en/Abaxx-advances-ESG-and-carbon-markets-strategy-by-leading-Series-A-Financing-in-AirCarbon-Exchange.htmlwww.decarbconnect.com 

Andrew Smith of Greenbackers joins Alex to explore their success in matching investors to the right decarbonisation tech with true commercial potential. They talk about how to reverse engineer net zero by 2050 and how much of it requires new business models vs new tech. They also explore the role that CVCs, VCs & PE play best. Listen in to find out about the characteristics of strong start up leadership teams, what industrials need to ensure they bring to early stage projects and the role for policymakers in supporting market adoption of new tech. Links: https://greenbackers.com/ 26ForCOP26 Cleantech investment program: https://bit.ly/26-for-COP26 www.decarbconnect.com - find out more about our global decarbonization network & platformMany thanks to Sassy Clyde at Janno Media for her support and expertise in the edit and production of our series. 

Simon Ighofose talks with Alex about building technology and a new business out of a passion for supporting off-grid communities. We look at the pyrolisis tech that is the heart of PyroGenesys' business, and we talk about the scale of the market opportunity for both developed industrial markets as so-called "bottom of the pyramid" off-grid communities. The technology is about to go into a pilot phase at a facility in the north west of england and will be proving its capabilities in thermal separation - ultimately enabling crops like cassava (or any waste material) to convert to high value products including kerosene and other fuels in wide use across Africa. If, like us, you like to hear about the innovations that are getting ready to scale and which offer solutions for circular economy/decarbonization then this episode is for you. Links: https://pyrogenesys.com/  https://pyrogenesys.com/portfolio/ppa/ www.decarbconnect.com - find out more about the hosts of the podcast series and their global decarbonization networkMany thanks to Janno Media for their support and expertise in the edit and production of our series. 

Rich Powell talks with Alex about the work ClearPath does to drive policies in support of the energy transition in the US. While much is made of the democrat agenda in this space, we talk about conservative support for the energy transition and the types of programs of work and policies that they are driving to support it. We also touch on the bi-partisan support for certain aspects of clean energy policy and Rich's own views on what needs to be done. From the Clean Energy Act of 2020 to the relaunch of US export credit, from the need for policy that drives investment to the goal of creating a strong export market for US cleantech that can drive energy transition affordably in developing countries - we cover a lot of ground in the discussion about what is needed to achieve global net zero. Links: https://www.clearpath.org/ http://www.decarbconnect.com - find out more about the hosts of the podcast series and their global decarbonization networkMany thanks to Janno Media for their support and expertise in the edit and production of our series. 

With lots of change in the market for investments in clean tech, Caroline Abramo (Chief Investment Officer of Pana LCE Investments) joins Alex to talk about how private equity can invest in cleantech and decarbonization solutions in a way that really drives the right outcome. Listen in to a discussion about the fiduciary duties investors have to their clients and how to balance these with achieving real impact - and also responses to some of the criticisms being levelled at ESG focused funds and investors. With the Biden administration ramping up support for climate investments as the backdrop, the conversation is a great review of how this current cleanteach investment revolution is different to those that have come before and how investors can be change agents whilst driving great returns. Links: https://panalce.com/ www.decarbconnect.com