Episodes
How Tidal Kites Are Unlocking Ocean Current Power
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of tidal energy, focusing on a breakthrough technology: underwater kites that harness ocean currents to generate electricity. They explore a specific project in the Faroe Islands, where a startup has deployed a 1.2-megawatt kite that can power an entire village. Lucas explains how the kite's tether and control system allow it to fly in a figure-eight pattern, capturing more energy than a stationary turbine of the…
How Mining Waste Becomes Rare Earth Treasure
In Episode 156, Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising twist in the clean energy supply chain: recycling rare earth elements from mining waste. They focus on a specific pilot project in Appalachia where a startup is extracting neodymium and dysprosium from coal ash, a byproduct of decades of coal burning. The conversation breaks down why this matters for EV motors and wind turbines, how the economics are shifting with rare earth prices up 40 percent year-over-year, and why the U.S. is pouring $35…
How Perovskite Solar Cells Are Rewriting the Efficiency Race
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution in solar photovoltaics: perovskite tandem cells. With a focus on Oxford PV's recent announcement of a 29.8 percent efficiency record for a commercial-size cell, they unpack why perovskites matter, the stability challenges they face, and how manufacturing scale-up could reshape the solar industry by the early 2030s. They also touch on the role of government funding and the incumbent silicon industry's…
How Digital Twins Are Optimizing the Power Grid
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how digital twin technology is transforming the way we manage and optimize the power grid. They dive into a specific case: a startup in Texas that has built a digital twin of a regional grid, helping operators predict failures before they happen and integrate renewable energy more smoothly. Lucas explains the concept of a digital twin—a virtual replica of a physical system—and how it uses real-time data from sensors to simulate scenarios, from storm…
How Agrivoltaics Are Making Farms More Resilient
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how pairing solar panels with crops is transforming agriculture. They dive into the data from a 2025 study by the University of Arizona, showing how shade from panels can reduce water use by 15 percent and boost yields for certain crops like cherry tomatoes and peppers. The hosts discuss the economics for farmers, the challenges of retrofitting existing farms, and how agrivoltaics could be a key tool in adapting to a hotter…
How Solar Panels Are Powering Wastewater Treatment Plants
Wastewater treatment is one of the largest energy consumers in the public sector, but a quiet revolution is underway. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how municipalities are turning their treatment plants into solar powerhouses. They discuss the case of a mid-sized city that slashed its energy bills and carbon footprint by covering its treatment ponds with floating solar panels. They also examine the technical challenges—like corrosion from the harsh environment—and the financial models…
How Startups Are Turning Captured CO2 Into Jet Fuel
In episode 151 of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of carbon-to-fuel startups, focusing on how companies are converting captured CO2 into sustainable aviation fuel. They unpack the chemistry, the economics, and the race to scale, using the example of a Texas-based startup that just secured a major offtake agreement with a European airline. With sustainable aviation fuel demand soaring and carbon capture tax credits on the line, the hosts explore whether this…
How Solar Canopies Are Turning Parking Lots Into Power Plants
In Episode 150 of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution of solar canopies over parking lots. From Walmart's massive rollout to the economics of dual-use land, they break down how this overlooked space is becoming a key player in the clean energy transition. With insights on cost trends, grid benefits, and community solar models, they make a compelling case for why parking lots are the next frontier—and why the humble shade structure might be solar's smartest move…
How Solar Grazing Blends Sheep and Solar Panels
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution of solar grazing — putting sheep to work on utility-scale solar farms instead of gas-powered mowers. They start with a striking stat: one large solar site in Texas now hosts over 3,000 sheep, a number that's growing as developers realize the dual benefits of vegetation management and soil health. Lucas breaks down the economics, from the cost per acre versus traditional mowing to the revenue streams for…
How Geothermal Startups Are Drilling Deeper Than Oil
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the new wave of geothermal energy startups that are borrowing drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry to tap into heat miles beneath the Earth's surface. They focus on the case of Fervo Energy, which has deployed horizontal drilling and fiber-optic sensing to create enhanced geothermal systems in Utah, and discuss how the company's recent partnership with Google is providing around-the-clock clean power for data centers. The conversation covers…
How Green Hydrogen Is Reshaping the Fertilizer Industry
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how green hydrogen is transforming the production of ammonia for fertilizer. They focus on a specific project in Norway that aims to replace fossil-based ammonia with renewable hydrogen, cutting emissions by hundreds of thousands of tonnes annually. Lucas breaks down the chemistry of the Haber-Bosch process, explains why fertilizer accounts for over one percent of global emissions, and discusses the economics of green ammonia versus the conventional grey…
How Regenerative Grazing Is Sequestering Carbon at Scale
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the carbon-sequestration potential of regenerative grazing on cattle ranches. They dig into the specific numbers: grazing lands could store up to 1.5 gigatons of CO2 annually, yet adoption is slow because of cost and measurement challenges. They highlight a startup called Grassroots Carbon, which pays ranchers per ton of carbon sequestered, and discuss satellite and AI verification methods. The conversation covers the controversy around whether grazing…
How Green Ammonia Is Fueling the Shipping Industry
The shipping industry emits nearly a billion tons of CO2 annually, and regulators are starting to demand change. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the rise of green ammonia as a potential zero-carbon fuel for the world's cargo ships. They break down the economics, the technology, and the race to build the first ammonia-powered vessels. With the first ammonia-ready ships hitting the water in 2026, and companies like Yara and MAN Energy Solutions leading the charge, this episode unpacks…
How Startups Turn Food Waste Into Profit
In episode 144 of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the surprising economics of food waste. Americans toss nearly 40 percent of the food they produce, and the EPA estimates that wasted food accounts for about 6 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But a new wave of startups is turning that waste stream into a revenue source. Lucas walks through the rise of anaerobic digesters, which convert food scraps into renewable natural gas, and highlights a specific facility in…
How Direct Lithium Extraction Is Changing the EV Supply Chain
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the hidden backbone of the electric vehicle revolution: direct lithium extraction, or DLE. With lithium demand set to triple by 2030, the world can't rely on evaporation ponds and open-pit mines forever. Lucas breaks down how a handful of startups are using ion-selective beads, membrane filters, and even solar-powered evaporation to pull lithium from underground brine aquifers in days instead of months. Luna brings up the…
How One Startup Is Turning Ocean Heat Into Clean Power
In episode 142 of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a fresh frontier in renewable energy: ocean thermal energy conversion, or OTEC. While solar and wind dominate the headlines, a new generation of startups is tapping the temperature difference between warm surface water and cold deep water to generate baseload electricity 24/7. The episode centers on one company, OceanCore Energy, which in early 2026 commissioned a 10-megawatt demonstration plant off the coast of Hawaii. Lucas…
How One Startup Is Turning Mine Waste Into Clean Energy
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a fresh frontier in climate tech: turning abandoned mine waste into a source of clean energy. They focus on a startup called ReMine Energy, which is using a process called 'tailings-to-energy' to recover residual metals and generate geothermal-like power from flooded mine shafts. The conversation digs into the numbers — one abandoned site in Nevada could power 15,000 homes — and the regulatory hurdles that make repurposing old mines tricky. They also…
How Startups Are Making Carbon Credits Trustworthy
The voluntary carbon market is booming but plagued by greenwashing and double-counting. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how climate tech startups like Pachama use satellite imagery and machine learning to verify carbon removal projects in real time. They discuss why trust is the carbon market's biggest bottleneck, how technology is solving it, and what it means for companies trying to reach net-zero. With specific examples from forest conservation in the Amazon and the new role of AI…
How Methane Pyrolysis Is Making Clean Hydrogen Without Emissions
Lucas and Luna dive into the world of methane pyrolysis, a technology that splits natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon instead of CO2. They explore how startups like Monolith and C-Zero are turning a climate problem into a valuable byproduct, the economics of 'turquoise' hydrogen, and why this approach could be a game-changer for heavy industry. With natural gas infrastructure already in place, this method offers a bridge to a hydrogen economy while producing carbon black for tires…
How Seaweed Startups Are Making Biodegradable Plastics
Episode 138 dives into the emerging world of seaweed-based bioplastics. We focus on Seacell, a startup that grows kelp offshore and processes it into biodegradable polymers that can replace conventional plastic in packaging and textiles. As of July 2026, Seacell just announced a 10,000-ton annual production facility in Maine, backed by $85 million in Series B funding. We explore how the company's proprietary fermentation method converts alginate into a plastic-like material that decomposes in…
How AI and Satellites Are Catching Methane Leaks
On July 29, 2026, the EPA finalized new rules requiring oil and gas operators to monitor methane leaks at least monthly using advanced detection methods. That regulatory push is fueling a surge of startups using AI and satellite imagery to spot methane plumes from space. Lucas and Luna dive into the technology behind companies like GHGSat and Kairos Aerospace, which can pinpoint leaks smaller than a car tire from hundreds of miles up. They discuss how these systems combine hyperspectral sensors…
How Startups Are Pulling Carbon From the Ocean
Most carbon removal startups focus on the air — but the ocean holds 50 times more CO2 than the atmosphere. This episode explores a new wave of companies, including Captura, Ebb Carbon, and Planetary Technologies, that are using electrochemistry to extract dissolved CO2 directly from seawater. Lucas and Luna break down how the technology works, why it could also reverse ocean acidification, and the challenge of scaling from pilot plants to megatons. They also compare costs with direct air…
How Book-and-Claim Is Making Sustainable Aviation Fuel Work
Sustainable aviation fuel is expensive and scarce, so companies are using a system called 'book-and-claim' to claim emission reductions without ever pumping the fuel into a plane. We break down how it works, why Delta, Microsoft, and the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance are betting on it, and the key controversy about double counting. This episode explains the mechanics behind corporate SAF certificates and what they mean for the airlines' net-zero promises. #SustainableAviationFuel…
How Green Steel Startups Are Decarbonizing the World's Dirtiest Industry
Steel production accounts for roughly 7% of global carbon emissions, more than all the world's cars combined. This episode digs into the startups trying to clean up steelmaking — the technology behind green hydrogen-based direct reduced iron, the molten oxide electrolysis approach from Boston Metal, and the race to scale. We look at why cost remains the biggest barrier, how regulatory pressure in Europe is creating a market, and whether 2030 targets for near-zero-emission steel are realistic.…
How Small Modular Reactors Are Bringing Nuclear Power Back
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how small modular reactors (SMRs) are reshaping the nuclear energy landscape. They dive into NuScale Power's 77-megawatt reactor design, the first to receive US regulatory approval in 2022 and now heading for its debut at Idaho National Laboratory by 2029. Lucas breaks down the passive safety features that eliminate meltdown risks and the factory-built construction that promises to cut costs and construction time. Luna…
How Enhanced Rock Weathering Startups Are Removing CO2
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the emerging climate tech of enhanced rock weathering (ERW). They focus on Lithos Carbon, a startup that just raised a $50 million Series B to spread crushed basalt on farmland, accelerating a natural process that locks away CO2 for millennia. The hosts break down how ERW works, why it's attracting investment from groups like Shopify's sustainability fund, and the tough challenge of measuring carbon removal at scale. They also discuss the benefits for…
How Battery Recycling Startups Are Closing the Loop on EVs
By 2026, the first wave of electric vehicle batteries is reaching retirement age, creating both a waste crisis and a massive resource opportunity. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how startups like Redwood Materials are turning spent EV batteries back into cathode materials with over 90% recovery rates. They break down the pyrometallurgical vs. hydrometallurgical debate, the economics of recycling vs. mining, and why battery recycling could slash lithium-ion battery costs by 20% within a…
How Waste Heat From Data Centers Is Powering Buildings
In this episode of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a surprisingly simple yet powerful climate solution: capturing the waste heat from data centers to warm homes and businesses. They start with a concrete example from Helsinki, where a new data park will eventually heat over 40,000 homes using excess heat from servers. Lucas breaks down the thermodynamics—data centers run hot, and that heat has to go somewhere—and explains how startups like Heata and Qarnot are turning cooling…
How Dairy Waste Is Becoming Renewable Jet Fuel
Episode 129 of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a surprising new source of sustainable aviation fuel: methane from dairy farms. Lucas and Luna break down the process — from cow manure to captured biogas to synthesized kerosene — and examine a specific project in the Midwest that's turning 200,000 tons of dairy waste annually into low-carbon jet fuel. They discuss the economics, the role of federal incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, and whether this model can scale beyond the dairy…
How Lithium Startups Are Tapping Direct Extraction
Episode 128 of The Climate Tech Podcast. Lucas and Luna examine the rise of direct lithium extraction, a technology that promises to pull lithium from brine without the massive evaporation ponds and environmental damage of conventional mining. They focus on a single startup, Lilac Solutions, which has raised over $500 million and is now deploying its ion-exchange beads at sites in Argentina, California, and Utah. The hosts unpack why the industry is desperate for an alternative to Australian…
How Solar Panels Are Powering Community Land Trusts
Episode 127 of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a surprising pairing: solar energy and community land trusts. Lucas and Luna examine how a model designed to preserve affordable housing is now being used to finance rooftop solar for low-income neighborhoods. They walk through a specific case in Denver, Colorado, where a land trust helped a 40-unit apartment building install a 120-kilowatt solar array, cutting residents' electric bills by 30% while generating steady returns for the trust. The…
How Virtual Power Plants Are Reshaping the Grid
Episode 126 explores the rise of virtual power plants (VPPs) — networks of distributed energy resources like home batteries, smart thermostats, and electric vehicle chargers that utilities can dispatch to balance the grid. Lucas breaks down how Tesla's Autobidder platform and Sunrun's partnership with PG&E are turning thousands of small devices into a single, controllable resource. He explains the economics: VPPs can cost 40-60% less than building a new natural gas peaker plant, and they're…
How Startups Are Making Concrete Without Emissions
Concrete production accounts for roughly 8 percent of global CO2 emissions — more than aviation and shipping combined. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a new wave of startups is rethinking the world's most-used building material. They focus on one company in particular: Sublime Systems, a Massachusetts-based startup that has developed an electrochemical process to make cement at room temperature, entirely eliminating the need for fossil-fuel-fired kilns. Lucas breaks down the…
How Big Oil Is Quietly Betting on Direct Air Capture
Episode 124 takes you inside the recent wave of major oil-and-gas companies investing in direct air capture (DAC) technology. Lucas and Luna break down why Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, and others are pouring hundreds of millions into pulling CO2 from the atmosphere — even as they continue drilling. They examine the economics: how the 45Q tax credit makes DAC viable at $180 per ton, the role of carbon removal credits in voluntary markets, and whether this is genuine decarbonization or a…
How Startups Are Cleaning Up the Global Shipping Industry
Episode 123 of The Climate Tech Podcast tackles an overlooked decarbonization challenge: international shipping, which emits nearly a billion tons of CO2 annually. Lucas and Luna explore how one startup, Norsepower, is retrofitting cargo ships with rotor sails — massive spinning cylinders that harness wind to cut fuel consumption by up to 25 percent. They discuss the economics of retrofitting versus building new vessels, the role of alternative fuels like green ammonia and methanol, and why the…
How One Startup Is Making Leather From Mushroom Roots
Leather production has a massive environmental footprint — livestock accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and traditional tanning uses heavy metals like chromium. But a new wave of biomaterials is offering an alternative. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how one startup, MycoWorks, is growing leather-like material from mycelium — the root structure of mushrooms. They break down the science: how the company controls the growth conditions to create a material that mimics…
How One Startup Is Making Jet Fuel From Captured CO2
In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of synthetic aviation fuel, focusing on a specific startup that has developed a process to convert captured carbon dioxide into drop-in jet fuel. They break down the chemistry behind the process, the economics of scaling production, and the regulatory hurdles the company faces. Lucas explains how the technology uses renewable electricity to split CO2 and water, producing a synthetic crude that can be refined into jet fuel. Luna challenges him…
The Startup Making Protein From Captured Carbon
Episode 120 of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a new frontier in decarbonization: turning captured carbon dioxide into protein for food and feed. Lucas and Luna dive into the science and business behind companies like Air Protein and Novo Nutrients, which use fermentation to convert CO2 into edible protein. They discuss the market opportunity, the energy and cost challenges, and how this approach compares to plant-based and lab-grown alternatives. Lucas breaks down the production process, the…
How A Startup Is Making Fertilizer From Thin Air
Fertilizer production is responsible for over 1 percent of global carbon emissions. But a new wave of startups is trying to make nitrogen fertilizer directly from air and water using renewable electricity — no natural gas, no huge carbon footprint. Lucas and Luna dive into the technology, the economics, and one company's ambitious plan to build a modular ammonia reactor that fits in a shipping container. They also discuss why farmers might pay a premium for 'green ammonia' and whether this…
How Green Bonds Are Funding a Carbon-Neutral Factory
Episode 118 of The Climate Tech Podcast. Lucas and Luna look at a specific case: a $400 million green bond issuance by a European building-materials company to convert its cement plant to carbon-neutral production. They explain how green bonds work, the verification standards that prevent greenwashing, and why institutional investors are buying these bonds despite a lower yield than conventional debt. The conversation also covers a surprising data point: green bond issuance hit a record $620…
How Solar Geoengineering Could Cool a Warming Planet
Episode 117 of Climate Tech Podcast explores solar geoengineering — specifically stratospheric aerosol injection. Lucas and Luna break down how it works, the science behind sulfur dioxide particles reflecting sunlight, and why this once-taboo topic is gaining serious research attention. They discuss the 'Pinatubo effect,' citing the 1991 volcanic eruption that cooled the planet by 0.5°C for two years. Lucas explains the leading proposal from Harvard's SCoPEx project and the ethical debates…
How One Startup Is Turning Methane Leaks Into Bitcoin Mining Fuel
Methane leaks from oil and gas wells are 80 times more potent than CO2 over 20 years. A small startup called Crusoe Energy is capturing that flared methane and using it to power mobile bitcoin mining containers. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the math: how a single gas flare that would have emitted 500,000 cubic feet of methane per day now powers 300 mining rigs, generating about 3.5 bitcoins per day. They explore the economics, the environmental trade-offs, and why critics argue…
How Green Hydrogen Is Rescuing the Ammonia Industry
Ammonia production accounts for nearly two percent of global carbon emissions. But a new wave of green hydrogen projects is changing that. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down one specific project in Norway that aims to produce fossil-free ammonia by 2027 — and why existing infrastructure for fertilizer transport makes this a faster decarbonization play than hydrogen for steel or aviation. They walk through the numbers: how much electricity it takes, what the price gap looks like versus…
How One Startup Is Making Ink From Captured Carbon
Episode 114 of The Climate Tech Podcast dives into a surprising use for captured CO2: turning it into ink. Lucas and Luna explore how a California startup called Air Ink is recycling industrial carbon emissions into high-quality black pigment for printers, pens, and even commercial art. They walk through the chemistry — capturing CO2 from factory flues, converting it into carbon black, and blending it into ink — and the economics: why the process costs more than conventional petroleum-based…
How One Startup Turns Mine Waste Into Green Cement
In episode 113 of The Climate Tech Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore a surprising new source of low-carbon cement: mining tailings. They dig into the numbers behind Brimstone Energy, a startup that uses calcium silicate rock—leftover from gold and copper mining—to produce cement with near-zero process emissions. Lucas breaks down why cement accounts for roughly 8% of global CO2 emissions, and how Brimstone's process avoids the limestone calcination problem that plagues traditional manufacturing.…
How One Startup Turns Food Waste Into Renewable Natural Gas
Lucas and Luna dive into the growing industry of renewable natural gas (RNG) from food waste, focusing on a specific case: a startup called WasteFuel that is building anaerobic digesters to turn organic waste from grocery stores and restaurants into pipeline-grade methane. They discuss the economics behind RNG, including the role of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits, which can make RNG worth up to $70 per MMBtu compared to $3 for fossil gas. They also explore the challenge of…
How Microgrids Are Keeping Hospitals Running in Blackouts
When Hurricane Helene knocked out power across the Southeast in September 2024, one hospital in rural North Carolina never lost power—not for a second. That hospital runs on a microgrid: a self-contained energy system that can disconnect from the main grid and generate its own electricity using solar panels and battery storage. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how microgrids are moving from military bases and college campuses into critical community infrastructure. They focus on one…
How One Startup Is Making Steel Without Coal
Steel production accounts for roughly 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, mostly because the traditional blast furnace burns coal to strip oxygen from iron ore. But a Swedish startup called Stegra (formerly H2 Green Steel) is pioneering a different route: using green hydrogen instead of coal to reduce iron ore to iron, with water vapor as the only byproduct. This episode dives into how Stegra raised over $7 billion in funding, built a gigawatt-scale electrolyzer plant in northern…
How Wave Energy Is Powering Ocean Sensors Without Batteries
Lucas and Luna dive into the emerging world of wave energy converters that power remote ocean sensors—eliminating the need for disposable batteries and costly maintenance. They focus on a specific startup, CalWave Power Technologies, which has been testing its xWave device off the coast of California since 2023. The episode explains how the device works, the economics of replacing lithium batteries in buoys used for climate monitoring, and why the Department of Energy's 2024 prize spurred…
How Data Centers Are Fueling a Geothermal Renaissance
Data centers need round-the-clock clean power, and geothermal is stepping up. Lucas explains how companies like Fervo Energy and Project Red are using fracking techniques from oil and gas to drill deep geothermal wells that can produce 24/7 baseload electricity. Luna asks whether the costs pencil out versus solar-plus-storage. We look at the DOE's Enhanced Geothermal Shot target of $45 per megawatt-hour by 2035, and why tech giants like Google and Microsoft are signing power purchase agreements…
Showing the latest 50 episodes. The full archive of 157 is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and every major podcast app — or via the RSS feed above.