It takes a special type of person to be an entrepreneur and it takes a special type of courage to build a truly innovative business. @Leroy Nyangani and the team at @Need Energy including his cofounder @Desire Masunda are those special people with that special type of courage.
NeedEnergy is an energy, technology and utility startup inspired by the increasing need for clean, renewable and sustainable energy. They provide effective, intelligent solutions to Africa's growing energy demands focused on distributed small-scale renewables. Using machine learning and ssatellite imagery they identify high-potential assets for rooftop solar.
In this episode we get deep insights from one of those hundreds of millions of people who grew up without access to energy and is now working hard to disrupt Africa's energy market. As Leroy reminds us, his journey is not one of being a statistic.
Your understanding for the audio quality on this episode is appreciated as Leroy dialled in from Zimbabwe.
Danny Thai launched zecar, a data-driven one-stop shop for all things electric cars, to help consumers make the switch to a clean, electrified future. Zecar provides a database of EV cars, helping match EV buyers to their perfect car, as well as guides on the cost of EV ownership. It's an area with string tailwinds with Australian EV sales up over 200% in 2021. As more consumers demand electric vehicles how can entrepreneurs like Danny Thai support their journey and accelerate the energy transition.
Danny's story is a familiar one to many entrepreneurs - Following your passion to solve the world's great problems whilst building a successful business. The energy transition needs more Danny Thai's.
@Paul Martin is one of the most vocal advocates for a fossil-fuel free future. He is a leading voice in the fight against #hopium often applied to the use of hydrogen. In today's episode, we discuss some of the myths surrounding the energy transition. We also explore the difficulties of hydrogen as an energy carrier, its applicable use cases in our fossil free future and why it gets so much attention in the energy transition despite the laws of thermodynamics.
It's not often we get an expert straddling both energy transition and carbon markets. This week we get the opportunity to look holistically at how technology and innovation are accelerating decarbonisation with Peter Knowles.
Peter is the President of @Financial Machines, a software company delivering tools to Manage Risk and Maximize Revenue, for Wind, Solar and Energy Storage.
He is also an advisor at @Net Zero Markets, environmental pioneers creating market-based products that make individuals' and company's climate ambitions a reality and drive investment in carbon removal projects. They recently released the Global Emissions Reduction Contract on @ACX and @Nodal and soon to be released on @EEX.
Peter is leveraging his expertise, gained through 20 years of work with Barclays, Enron and others to accelerate our carbon-free future.
"The moment we have something we can measure is when we get excited. Without being able to measure it there is no clear business model".
Awesome interview with @Jacqueline van den ende, the co-founder & CEO @ Carbon Equity. We dove deep into the foundations of Carbon Equity and their mission to connect Capital to Climate. It is clear this solution makes sense for retail investors by delivering attractive financial returns from the biggest transition of our generation by accessing alternative asset classes these investors would not have otherwise been able to participate in.
Jacqueline is a serial entrepreneur and it was great to understand how they have approached a problem and built a successful climate tech startup in such a short period. Per the short video clip we need to urgently find new ways to measure success so that we can truly value nature and climate solutions.
Source Global's hydro panel technology uses renewable energy to produce safe, clean drinking water out of the air. Backed by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures their revolutionary technology will do for drinking water what solar panels have done for electricity, making water a distributed renewable resource. Rob Bartrop is the Chief Revenue Officer and has expanded operations to see Source operate in more than 50 countries across the world.
“There’s no better solution to energy poverty than distributed energy”
@Bboxx is a Pan African super platform transforming lives and unlocking potential. Their core business solves energy poverty by servicing consumers with life-changing solar, clean cooking and other valuable services that give the 'on-grid' experience. @Anshul, originally founded the Bboxx business in Kenya and is today the Director of Global Partnerships creating strong relationships with the likes of @Mitsubishi, @Engine MKB, @Bamboo, @Doen foundation, @Khosla ventures, @EDF, @AIIM.
Quentin Draper-Scrimshire is the co-founder and CEO of Modo Energy. Modo are accelerating the energy transition by enabling companies to make better, data-backed decisions hyper-focused on energy storage. Used by 75% of participants in the GB market with over 3000 subscribers Modo is the powerhouse in energy storage data analytics for the UK market. They have a great product with an excellent founding story that will resonate with many entrepreneurs.
@RWE
Marija Petkovic is the founder and MD of Energy Synapse. Alongside bespoke advisory and research services, the Energy Synapse software platform crunches billions of data points to allow renewable energy developers, financial institutions, large corporates, government and public interest groups to easily assess the opportunities and risks of large-scale clean energy investments.
In this episode we discuss current energy market disruptions and how an increasingly renewable grid provides both a once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunity and a way to create a more secure and stable energy system.
@Tom Miller is a co-founder and the CEO of @Cambridge Energy Partners (CEP). CEP is at the leading edge of the next phase of solar development and deployment. Their unique pre-fab solution means that a solar farm can be shipped, ready to deploy, with tracking to any destination. The combination of pre-fabricated solar with tracking means that it can achieve the lowest cost electron possible while minimising credit risk for generators. They have forged their technology in frontier markets alongside partners such as @Scatec and are now looking to expand into developed markets. If you are wondering how renewables can get any cheaper this is the episode to listen to - it's not only about scale.
@Assaad Razzouk is a high-profile thought leader on climate change and clean energy. He is perhaps best known as the “@Angry Clean Energy Guy” with his regular podcast covering all the topics that anger him on our transition to a cleaner future. Today, Assaad is the CEO @Gurin Energy - Developers, Owners, and Operators/Asset Managers who deploy solar, wind and storage solutions at scale. He is also the Founder @Reneum Institute - a marketplace to provide capital to renewable energy projects and incentivize new renewable development. In today's episode we cover Assaad's 20+ years in renewables, the urgent need to price environmental destruction and how blockchain technology is supporting the expansion of climate solutions.
Did you hear the story of the serial clean-tech entrepreneur who sold his successful energy technology company to Shell and started a battery network company in Africa to change the way energy is distributed and delivered to customers? Well, that's the story of @Erik Nygard, our next guest on the @Watt Pod.
Having exited @Limejump, following its sale to @Shell, Erik is currently plowing all his time and resources into urban energy access in Africa using portable batteries. @Kofa is the brainchild - a swappable battery platform that's delivering clean energy and zero emissions starting with their motorcycles designed specifically for Africa, but also for other use cases such as backup power or energy where no socket is available
"KlimaDAO has arguably been one of the most impactful and disruptive innovations in carbon markets to date. In the last 6 months, KlimaDAO has incentivised around 25% (worth approximately $250M) of the carbon credits certified by Verra during the period to be bridged onto the blockchain. Today, we hear about the story behind KlimaDAO from one of its founders, 0xymoron.
0xymoron is an environmental scientist and renewable energy professional. He has designed sustainable energy policy, performed energy consulting and lobbying as well as worked in academia. Today he finds himself at the vanguard of the intersection of crypto and climate."
"Impact lives in any company". Nancy Pfund is the original impact investor. As the Founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners she has led the field of impact investing for almost 20 years showing that it is possible to achieve both purpose and profits. She has sat on the board of or overseen investments in some legendary companies such as @Tesla, @SolarCity and @FBNFarmers. Today, DBL Partners works with companies as diverse as @ZolaElectric, @Andela, @SpaceX, @Spatialinc, and @DroneSeed. We discuss double bottom line investing, how this leads to superior returns and the fallacy of sacrificing returns for impact.
"You just get different challenges, not fewer of them". Jaap van Dijk, the Co-Founder and CEO of @greenatlas.earth lays out what its like being an early-stage climate-tech founder. We chat about leaving behind a successful career at @Citi heading both power trading and environmental products trading desks. What were the opportunities and risks he saw jumping into entrepreneurship and what drove him to focus his life on the energy transition. We discuss investors and accelerators such as @ImpactCity @Startupbootcamp of which greenatlas.earth is taking part on their journey to getting first customers.
greenatlas.earth is Europe’s first dedicated marketplace and analytics platform for early-stage renewable energy projects. greenatlas.earth maps sites, analyzes their potential and helps site owners connect with project developers, financiers and other key stakeholders to kick-start their renewable energy projects.
Accurassi is a B2B2C Saas platform for energy retail customer acquisition and management. Ross Sharman and Colin Fraser are disrupting the energy retail market by helping retailers offer hyper-personalised energy plans to customers. We cover the disruption of energy markets, the future of the energy transition and the difficulty of having households care about their energy use. Ross also provides his input on the recent investment by @1Bill in Accurassi and how the founder friendly terms and revenue based debt financing model offered by Tractor Ventures were more appropriate than equity from a traditional VC.
Mick Liubinskas is one of Australia’s leading climate tech investors. He has invested in and advised hundreds of startups and is a Co-Founder of @Climate Salad which is helping to build climate-focused startups and get the world beyond net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. He is well placed to give us investor insights into the energy transition and climate tech investments.
We cover a lot of ground including companies and investors in this space who Micks work with @Startmate, @Energy Lab, @Tenacious Ventures, @Floodmap, @Cecil, @BCG Ventures, @Australian Investment Commission, @Fable, @Goterra, @Ripe Robotics, @Village Energy, @Beyond Zero Emissions, @Alan Jones, @Rachel Neumann @Phil Morle
As an ex-trader I have a particular fondness for optionality - the right but not the obligation to buy or sell. It's something that really lights the neurons up as it is usually where the money is to be found. Today we dive right into why the optionality of a battery is so impactful with Steven Meersman, Founder Director @ Zenobē, EV fleet and battery storage specialists. Along the way we discuss the team's ambitious plans to double capacity under management every year (from 180MW to 300MW's and from 400 to >800 e-buses this year), how they are working towards a circular economy and the journey they have taken from the first 4 x 1MW asset purchase. We also hear how Zenobe has grown with the support of financing pioneers such as Al Gore's Generation Investment Management and now more traditional banks such as Santander. Steven explains to us why big is beautiful for batteries which are increasingly taking up the task of firming the grid and easing transmission choke points as fossil electricity generation dies away.
“Renewables are prisoners of time and geography”. How do we create degrees of freedom for renewable energy assets by pairing them with onsite bitcoin mining? How can bitcoin mining help the solar and wind industry to break their race to the bottom and improve returns for renewable asset owners and operators. What are the benefits of flexible loads and how are Bitcoin miners supporting the Texas grid through another winter storm? Why is bitcoin “energy backed money” and how do the laws of thermodynamics apply to the security of bitcoin mining? Is Bitcoin the Global New Green Deal?
Listen in as Ali Chehrehsaz and Nima Tabatabai, Co-Founders @ Optimize Infrastructure explain how their software is supporting a world of energy abundance and greater penetration of intermittent renewable generation. We discuss if Bitcoin mining can speed up the energy transition and energy access for all by providing a buyer of last resort. Can Bitcoin mining kickstart energy infrastructure and help to overcome the challenges of grid expansion and congestion?
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Coinshares report on bitcoin network carbon & energyhttps://coinshares.com/research/bitcoin-mining-network-2022
Bitcoin Mining Council Q4 report: https://bitcoinminingcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2022.01.18-BMC-Q4-2021.pdf
Video of the Q4 Bitcoin Mining Council update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZP3aXUnEoo