JOHN O’DONNELL · RONDO ENERGY

John O’Donnell is the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Rondo Energy. The Rondo Heat Battery powers industrial processes with renewable electricity, cutting energy costs and eliminating emissions. Emily spoke to John about his journey; from his semiconductor work in the early days of computers, to the knowledge he gained from founding six startups, to how his interest and background in industrial solar heating led to his founding of Rondo Energy, a thermal heat storage company that employs more than 150 people across five continents, has raised $198 million in less than five years, and has partnered with companies including H&M, Rio Tinto, and Microsoft.

MATANYA HOROWITZ · AMP

Matanya Horowitz is the Founder and CEO of AMP. AMP applies AI-powered sortation at scale to modernize the world’s recycling infrastructure and maximize the value of waste. Emily spoke with Matanya as part of our live summer recording of Watt It Takes at Powerhouse in Oakland. Emily learned about his journey from growing up as a homeschooled kid in Denver, to discovering his late father’s leadership in the world of robotics, to his commitment to changing the world’s approach to waste management through his company AMP. With 120 employees, over $180 million raised, and 350 operating robots across recycling facilities, AMP has enabled 2.5 million tons of recycled material and counting.

SEAN KELLY · AMPERON

Sean Kelly is the Co-Founder and CEO of Amperon. Amperon provides the highest precision electricity forecasting and analytics solutions to improve grid reliability, manage financial risk, optimize renewables, and accelerate decarbonization. Emily spoke with Sean about his journey, from growing up in Sugarland, Texas, to his 25 years of expertise in energy trading at firms like Tenaska, Lehman, EDF, and E.On, to founding Amperon, a company that raised $30 million, has over 100 employees, and operates in 19 countries across Europe, North America, and Australia.

JENNIFER HOLMGREN · LANZATECH

Jennifer Holmgren is the CEO of LanzaTech, a circular economy company that uses bacteria to transform carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into ethanol, the building block for materials like plastics, polyester, and jet fuel. Emily spoke with Jennifer about growing up in Columbia, her four decade career in renewable energy and fuels, her time as CEO of LanzaTech, which, in no small part thanks to her leadership, operates six commercial plants around the world, partners with industry heavyweights, and employs over 400 people worldwide.

TOBY KRAUS · LIGHTSHIP

Toby Kraus is the Co-Founder and CEO of Lightship, an electric vehicle company looking to revolutionize the recreational vehicle space with all-electric offerings, enabling zero-emission road trips so that we can explore nature while preserving it for generations to come.

SHASHANK SAMALA · HEIRLOOM

Heirloom is a hybrid direct air capture (DAC) and carbon mineralization company that uses limestone, an abundant and cheap mineral, as a sponge to pull carbon from the atmosphere. While limestone’s natural carbon mineralization timeline can take years, Heirloom aims to accelerate this process to just three days, with a goal of removing a gigaton of excess carbon from the atmosphere.

EMILY MCATEER · ODYSSEY ENERGY SOLUTIONS

According to the World Economic Forum, emerging markets and developing economies are the key to reaching a carbon-neutral future. And yet, these markets only capture one fifth of clean energy investments. Emily McAteer founded Odyssey Energy Solutions to accelerate the flow of capital into distributed energy in emerging markets, ultimately scaling deployment of distributed renewables. Their platform connects financiers, equipment providers, and project developers and provides the remote monitoring and control needed to assess performance.  

NAMAN TRIVEDI · WATTBUY

Residential energy use accounts for about 20% of greenhouse emissions in the U.S., making it one of the most important sectors to decarbonize. In this episode, WattBuy Co-Founder & CEO Naman Trivedi shares how he built the company that 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.

MARION VERLES · SUSTAINCERT

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.

BEN TARBELL · EBB CARBON

To slow global climate change, we need 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 Ben Tarbell, Co-Founder and CEO of Ebb Carbon, is doing. Ebb has raised $23M, has a team of 40, and is deploying their carbon removal system that is both novel and as ancient as the ocean itself.

PETER REINHARDT · CHARM INDUSTRIAL

According to industry experts, we need to be removing 10-20 billion tons of carbon per year by 2050. And removing carbon is exactly what Peter Reinhardt, Co-Founder and CEO of Charm Industrial, is doing.

The team at Charm has developed a novel process for removing carbon using biomass that is converted to bio-oil via pyrolysis, and then injected into wells deep underground. Charm is also developing a process for fossil-free ironmaking.

BOB MUMGAARD · COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS

Fusion could be a nearly waste-free, carbon-free, and all-geography answer to creating enough dispatchable power to get us through the energy transition. To achieve this, all components of a fusion power plant need to be built so that when fusion energy becomes a reality, we have the industry, infrastructure, and processes in place to distribute the power, and it has to be cost competitive. This is exactly what Bob Mumgaard, Co-Founder and CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), is building. Today, CFS has more than 600 employees, has raised $2B, and is executing on their plan to make the “holy grail” of fusion energy possible.

KIM ABRAMS · PETRA

In 2018, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history, the Camp Fire, was sparked by a faulty transmission line. In response, Kim Abrams founded Petra on a mission to underground the world’s utilities to protect communities and their access to energy from worsening disasters using their industry-leading trenchless technology.

KUNAL GIROTRA · LUNAR ENERGY

To the regular consumer, the universe of electrified solutions can be overwhelming. That’s why Kunal and Lunar are building a home battery system and an integrated ecosystem of all-electric products to make it easier than ever for homes to switch from gas to electricity, alongside software solutions to help manage residential energy production, storage, and usage.

DAVE SNYDACKER · LILAC SOLUTIONS

Dave Snydacker is Founder and CEO of Lilac Solutions. They’re revolutionizing lithium extraction using specially-formulated beads to extract lithium from briny groundwater, dramatically increasing yields, accelerating development timelines, all with a fraction of the physical footprint and environmental impact of traditional methods.

MATT CAMPBELL · TERABASE

Matt Campbell is the CEO and Co-Founder of Terabase Energy, the company developing an interconnected digital and automation platform to reduce the cost and increase the scalability of utility-scale solar. Emily sat down with Matt to hear his story, the story of building Terabase, and how the company is enabling the deployment of solar at scale.

ANDREW PONEC · ANTORA ENERGY

Andrew Ponec is the Co-Founder and CEO of Antora Energy, the company building next-generation thermal energy storage for grid and industrial applications. Emily sat down with Andrew to learn his story, the story of building Antora, and the role Antora will play in decarbonizing heavy industry.

TAYLOR FRANCIS · WATERSHED

Taylor Francis is the Co-Founder of Watershed, whose platform is simplifying corporate carbon accounting—and helping companies to decarbonize faster. In this episode, Taylor shares how they landed Sweetgreen as their first customer, what it takes to build a climate company worth $1B, and the promise and pitfalls of carbon accounting.

SHANNON MILLER · MAINSPRING

Shannon Miller is the Founder and CEO of Mainspring Energy, whose first-of-its-kind linear generator is revolutionizing flexible, on-site power for the 21st century. In this episode, Shannon shares what it takes to redesign a generator from scratch, from convincing their first investors to take a bet on an unproven technology to how they landed their first customers, and about how they’re making the grid more reliable and resilient.

ROB HANSON · MONOLITH

Rob Hanson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Monolith, a clean hydrogen and industrial materials manufacturer that was recently awarded a $1B conditional loan guarantee by the Department of Energy. In this episode, Emily sat down with Rob to talk about his journey to founding Monolith, what the DOE loan means for the company, and the future of clean hydrogen.

KAMEALE TERRY · CHARGERHELP!

Kameale Terry is the Co-Founder and CEO of ChargerHelp!, whose platform analyzes operational data about EV chargers across the US and then sends skilled personnel to fix them when they're down. In this episode, Emily sat down with Kameale to talk about her journey from working in nonprofits and banking to founding ChargerHelp!, their app-based solution to EV charger downtime, and how ChargerHelp! is building equity into an industry from the very beginning.

TIFFANY CHU · REMIX

Tiffany Chu is the Co-Founder of Remix, an industry-leading tool that’s used by more than 500 cities and transit agencies across the world to visualize and analyze their mobility systems. In this episode, Emily sat down with Tiffany to talk about how a viral tweet set her and her company on a path to change transportation planning. They also talked about why transit tech is getting so much attention right now – and its role in our zero-carbon future.

TIM LATIMER · FERVO ENERGY

Tim Latimer grew up in West Texas in the shadow of the last coal plant built in the United States, where nearly everyone he knew worked in the fossil fuel industry. But after beginning his career as a drilling engineer, he began to see how the drilling techniques he was using could help capture the natural heat in the earth’s crust. In this episode, Tim spoke with Emily about co-founding Fervo Energy to bring these advanced techniques to new geothermal projects.

ALEX BLUMBERG · GIMLET MEDIA

Alex Blumberg is a giant of the podcasting world. He produced This American Life, co-hosted Planet Money, and founded Gimlet Media—which sold to Spotify for $230 million. Alongside co-host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Alex launched the hit podcast How to Save a Planet, a show designed to make the topic of climate change fun and empowering. Alex spoke with Emily Kirsch about how he built a podcasting empire and launched a show that’s changing how we talk about climate change. 

SAMUEL ADEYEMO · AURORA SOLAR

The cost of solar panels has fallen 99% since 1980. But the cost of everything else involved in installing those panels—the paperwork, the design, the sales process—is now higher than the hardware itself. Aurora Solar makes software designed to tackle them all together. In this episode of Watt It Takes, Aurora Co-Founder & CRO Samuel Adeyemo shares how he turned a challenging experience with a solar installation in Kenya into a company valued at $2 billion.

KIRAN BHATRAJU · ARCADIA

Kiran Bhatraju is the Founder & CEO of Arcadia, which unlocks access to clean energy options for consumers and businesses. The idea for Arcadia was rooted in Kiran's upbringing in the heart of Kentucky coal country. At Arcadia, Kiran is building a vision for the zero-carbon economy that will benefit everyone, everywhere—including the places where it seemed like coal would be king forever.

MARTIN EBERHARD · TESLA

When people think of the person behind Tesla, they think of Elon Musk. But Musk wasn't there from the very beginning—he was an early investor in the company and didn't become CEO until five years after its founding.  Martin Eberhard was there from the start. And as Co-Founder and founding CEO, he'd already spent years building a new kind of electric car that people would actually want to drive.

RAMYA SWAMINATHAN · MALTA

Growing up in India and the Philippines, Ramya Swaminathan understands how the availability of electricity—or lack thereof—can dictate daily life. Now, as CEO of Malta, Ramya is enabling 24/7 clean electricity through an electro-chemical battery that converts electricity into heat in the form of molten salt. Since spinning out of Google’s moonshot factory in 2018, Malta has raised more than $76 million to commercialize its storage system.

EMILY KIRSCH · POWERHOUSE & POWERHOUSE VENTURES

In this episode of Watt It Takes, we turn the mic around to interview Emily Kirsch, Founder & CEO of Powerhouse and Managing Partner of Powerhouse Ventures. In the early days of cleantech in the Bay Area, Emily Kirsch searched for a hub for clean energy innovation, but didn’t find it. So she started it. Emily sat down with venture investor Shayle Kann to share her own founder journey.

CLEAN ENERGY “YODA” ANDY KARSNER

Clean energy “Yoda” Andy Karsner oversaw billions of dollars in wind projects in the early 2000s, and then billions more in government investment to kickstart the US wind and solar boom. Today, he’s a Senior Strategist & Space Cowboy at Alphabet’s X and a newly elected activist board member of ExxonMobil. Andy sat down with Emily Kirsch to discuss his early days in renewables and the new challenges that entrepreneurs face today.

UGWEM ENEYO · SHYFT POWER SOLUTIONS

Africa is becoming a dynamic market for clean, distributed energy. But incomplete and unreliable electricity grids are hampering the growth of clean energy across the continent. So Ugwem Eneyo built SHYFT, a platform that makes it simple to optimize distributed energy resources and integrate them with centralized power grids. In this episode, Ugwem discusses her path as a Nigerian-American, from the oil industry to Stanford to an unexpected turn to entrepreneurship.

MATT DUESTERBERG · OHMCONNECT

In December 2020, OhmConnect picked up a $100M investment to help the company build a 550 MW virtual power plant made up of hundreds of thousands of households across California. In 2013, Matt joined a Powerhouse hackathon to start working on the idea. It’s come a long way since then. So, we invited him to a live conversation to hear about the sacrifices, close calls, and conflicts that he’s dealt with while building OhmConnect.

STEPHEN LACEY · THE ENERGY GANG & THE INTERCHANGE

Stephen Lacey is the Founder and Executive Producer at Post Script Audio. A veteran cleantech journalist, Stephen has created some of the most popular podcasts in the energy and climate world and previously served as the editor-in-chief of Greentech Media.

DONNEL BAIRD · BLOCPOWER

In this episode, BlocPower Founder & CEO Donnel Baird discusses how he is electrifying and weatherizing buildings in underserved communities. BlocPower has raised capital from Goldman Sachs and Andreesen Horowitz, but that process was not easy. Donnel was turned down 200 times before any investors were willing to back his vision.

CATHY ZOI · EVgo

Cathy Zoi is the CEO of EVgo, America's largest public electric vehicle fast charging network. Previously, Cathy served in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary and Acting Under Secretary at the Department of Energy, where she oversaw more than $30 billion in energy investments.

STEPH SPEIRS · SOLSTICE

In this episode, Solstice Co-Founder & CEO Steph Speirs speaks about her time in the Obama administration and how her work abroad led to an awakening about energy injustice in the United States. Steph knows what poverty can feel like and the impact that a poor credit score can have. So she started Solstice, a community solar company with a mission to bring clean electricity to underserved communities.

DAN YATES · OPOWER

Dan Yates co-founded Opower, the leading cloud-based software platform for utilities, in 2007. As CEO until 2017, Dan led the company's $1B+ IPO in 2014 and $532M sale to Oracle in 2016. Under Dan’s tenure, Opower saved customers more than 13 terawatt-hours of energy. Currently, he is an active technology investor and serves as Executive Chairman at Dandelion, the pioneering home geothermal startup.

MICHAEL LIEBREICH · BLOOMBERG NEW ENERGY FINANCE

Michael Liebreich founded New Energy Finance in 2004, serving as Chairman & CEO until its sale to Bloomberg LP in 2009. Michael now serves as a Senior Contributor at BNEF and is a leading voice on climate and energy issues. Prior to founding New Energy Finance, Michael helped build over 25 companies as a venture capitalist, entrepreneur and executive.

GIA SCHNEIDER · NATEL ENERGY

Gia Schneider is the co-founder and CEO of Natel Energy, which she co-founded with her brother Abe in 2009. Natel develops small-scale, climate-resilient hydropower that maintains the health of watershed ecosystems and surrounding communities. Prior to founding Natel, Gia worked in Accenture’s utility practice and started the energy trading desk and carbon emissions trading desk at Credit Suisse.

MATT ROGERS · NEST

Nest is best known for its elegant learning thermostat, the first major breakout hit in the smart home space. Google later acquired the company for $3.2 billion. In this episode, we speak with Nest Co-Founder Matt Rogers, a former Apple engineer who applied design principles from the iPod and the iPad to smart thermostats — jolting an industry badly in need of change.

LYNN JURICH · SUNRUN

Sunrun was a pioneer in the early days of residential solar. Today, it’s the biggest installer of home solar systems in America—and one of the industry’s biggest success stories. In this episode, Sunrun Co-Founder & CEO Lynn Jurich shares how she built the company and took it public in the face of deep incumbent opposition.

VAN JONES · GREEN JOBS PIONEER

Van Jones may be best known as a political commentator and host on CNN. But long before his high-profile career, Van was one of the first prominent voices for bringing clean energy jobs to Black and Brown communities. In this episode, Van reveals a little-told backstory of his early life and discusses the painful time he briefly joined, and then left, the Obama Administration as the green jobs czar.

SAUL GRIFFITH · OTHERLAB

Saul Griffith is the Founder and Principal Scientist at Otherlab, where he focuses on engineering solutions for a zero-carbon world. He is founder or co-founder of numerous companies, including Otherlab, Sunfolding, Makani Power, Volute, Roam Robotics, and Instructables.com. Saul has a Ph.D. in Programmable Assembly and Self Replicating machines at MIT and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2007.

ROBYN BEAVERS · BLUEPRINT POWER

Robyn Beavers is the Co-Founder & CEO of Blueprint Power, a technology company that transforms commercial buildings into power plants and connects them to new energy markets. Previously, Robyn worked as the executive assistant to Google's co-founders and served as the SVP of Innovation at NRG.

CHRISTINE HO · IMPRINT ENERGY

Dr. Christine Ho is the Co-Founder & CEO of Imprint Energy, the energy storage company commercializing breakthrough low-cost, flexible, and rechargeable batteries. Developed by Christine while pursuing her PhD at UC Berkeley, Imprint’s technology enables scalable print-based manufacturing of ultra-thin batteries from abundant non-lithium materials.

ETOSHA CAVE · TWELVE

Dr. Etosha Cave is the Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Twelve, the groundbreaking startup recycling CO2 into cost-competitive chemicals and fuels. Using only water and electricity, Twelve's technology any source of CO2 emissions into some of the world's most critical chemical products. Etosha received her PhD from Stanford University.

MATEO JARAMILLO · FORM ENERGY

Mateo Jaramillo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Form Energy, which is developing ultra-low-cost, long-duration energy storage to store renewable energy at scale. Before founding Form Energy, Mateo was Vice President of Products and Programs at Tesla, launching their stationary energy storage program.

XAVIER HELGESEN · ZOLA ELECTRIC

Xavier Helgesen is the Co-Founder, President, and CTO of Zola Electric, the fastest growing solar leasing company in Africa. The company was founded on a vision to make solar-powered electricity affordable and accessible to the 1.3 billion people around the world who live without electricity.

LAURA SCHEWEL · STREETLIGHT DATA

Laura Schewel is Co-Founder and CEO of StreetLight Data, the leading provider of on-demand transportation analytics. Laura has worked in the advanced transportation sector for her entire career, focused on accelerating innovative solutions from the start-up, academic, governmental and non-profit vantage points.

GENE BERDICHEVSKY · SILA NANOTECHNOLOGIES

Gene is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies, the materials company that is revolutionizing energy storage. Prior to co-founding Sila, Gene was the seventh employee at Tesla Motors where he served as Principal Engineer on the Roadster battery.

KATHY HANNUN · DANDELION

Kathy is the Co-Founder and President of Dandelion, an Alphabet X spinout that provides affordable geothermal heating solutions for individual homes. Before starting Dandelion, Kathy was a product manager at X and led a team in extracting carbon dioxide from seawater to create a carbon-neutral fuel.

TERRY JESTER · SOLPAD

Terry brings decades worth of solar engineering expertise to her current role as CEO of SolPad, a leading provider of innovative solar + storage solutions. This episode was recorded at the Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE) forum in Denver, CO.

DAVID CRANE · NRG

David Crane took over as President & CEO of NRG Energy when the company faced bankruptcy in 2003. David piloted them to a Fortune 200 placement while developing a clean energy strategy that produced 5 GW of solar and wind, a strategy that ultimately led to his firing by NRG’s board.

BRYAN BIRSIC · WUNDER CAPITAL

Bryan Birsic is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wunder Capital, the largest commercial solar financing platform in the country. Before founding Wunder, Brian gained expertise in finance at Bain and as a VC in New York.

BERTRAND PICCARD · SOLAR IMPULSE

Bertrand Piccard is a Swiss-balloonist-turned-futurist who co-piloted Solar Impulse, the first solar-electric airplane to navigate the globe. The culmination of a 15 year project, the flight aimed to demonstrate the immense possibilities of renewable energy.

JOHN BERGER · SUNNOVA

John Berger is the Founder and CEO of Sunnova Energy Corporation. A serial energy entrepreneur, John founded three solar companies including Sunnova, which is now one of the top residential solar providers in the U.S.

SUSAN KENNEDY · AMS

Susan Kennedy is the Founder and former CEO of Advanced Microgrid Solutions. Susan went from the highest levels of California politics to founding AMS, which uses energy storage technology and analytics software to aggregate battery storage.

RYAN POPPLE · PROTERRA

Ryan Popple is the President and CEO of Proterra, the pioneering Silicon Valley–based electric bus manufacturer. Prior to Proterra, Ryan was a partner at Kleiner Perkins and the Senior Director of Finance at Tesla Motors.

LEILA MADRONE · SUNFOLDING

Leila Madrone is the Founder and CTO of Sunfolding, which designs and manufactures simplified solar trackers. Leila shares how she went from building robots at MIT and NASA to questioning the very nature of the machines we use for solar plants - and how that led her to found Sunfolding.

BILLY PARISH · MOSAIC

Billy Parish, Founder and CEO of Mosaic, explains how he went from creating the Energy Action Coalition, the world’s largest youth clean energy organization, to founding Mosaic, the largest residential solar-plus lender in the U.S.

JIGAR SHAH · GENERATE CAPITAL

Jigar Shah, Co-Founder and President of Generate Capital, tells his story of founding SunEdison and leading The Carbon War Room, as well as his latest musings on all things clean energy.

SARA ROSS · SUNGAGE FINANCIAL 

Sara Ross, Co-Founder and CEO of Sungage Financial, turns her struggle to go solar into a thriving proprietary online platform that enables homeowners to apply, qualify, and contract for solar financing.

NANCY PFUND · DBL PARTNERS

Nancy Pfund, Founder and Managing Partner of Double Bottom Line Partners, describes her path from policy to finance to building the premiere impact investing firm in the country. DBL Partners was an early investor in Tesla, Solar City, and more.

SCOTT CLAVENNA · GREENTECH MEDIA

Scott Clavenna, Founder and CEO of Greentech Media, tells the story of applying a successful business model in telecommunications market research to found GTM, the leading energy news and market research company that was acquired by Wood Mackenzie in 2016.

DAN SHUGAR · NEXTRACKER

Dan Shugar, Founder and CEO of NEXTracker, recounts his journey and shares lessons learned after founding and leading two successful solar companies, Powerlight and NEXTracker.

ANDREW BIRCH · SUNGEVITY

Andrew Birch shares the story of founding Sungevity, reflects on the company's recent bankruptcy, and shares how the company lives on abroad.

DICK SWANSON · SUNPOWER

Dick Swanson, Founder and former CEO of SunPower, discusses the early days of solar and how his ground-breaking solar cell research at Stanford became SunPower, one of the longest standing and most successful solar companies in the country.