Built for Earth

Latest Episodes:

Coupling Carbon Capture with Chemical Upcycling | Dr. Laura Lammers - Founder and CEO of Travertine Technologies Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

Travertine Technologies captures and permanently sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide through mineralization, while simultaneously upcycling sulfuric waste for sustainable chemical production.

Dr. Laura Lammers launched Travertine in early 2022, with a vision to scale the company to achieve gigatons of carbon removal. Previously, she dedicated a significant portion of her career to leading-edge academic environmental research, including her most recent role as a Professor at UC Berkeley, where she headed a laboratory focused on carbon mineralization. What's even more remarkable is that she juggles all of this while being a devoted mother of three.

In this episode we cover...

The origination of Travertine
Travertine's carbon mineralization process
Why sulfuric acid is the world's most used inorganic chemical
Sulfuric acid's role in extractive industries
Travertine's engagement with customers
What the next 12 months and 5 years looks like for Travertine
What Dr. Lammers has learned in the founding process
Dr. Lammers, the sourdough baker

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Episode Recorded on August 11, 2023

Methane-Eating Microbes | Dr. Josh Silverman - Founder and CEO of Windfall Bio Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

Windfall Bio is a nature-based agricultural technology company that harnesses methane-eating microbes to transform the harmful greenhouse gas into organic soil nutrients.

Dr. Josh Silverman is the Founder and CEO of Windfall. After having focused on methane for over 15 years, he founded the company in late 2022, and quickly raised $9 million to commercialize their methane-to-organic fertilizer solution. Josh Silverman holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Stanford and has founded and led numerous companies across biotechnology and sustainable agriculture over the past decade.

In this episode we cover...

What makes methane such a harmful GHG and why it's atmospheric concentration is increasing

Various sources of methane and how microbial systems can reduce concentrations
How Windfall converts methane into organic fertilizer
Why Windfall chose farmers are their first market
The biggest challenges facing Windfall and how the team will overcome them
What Dr. Silverman has learned as a serial entrepreneur
Why Dr. Silverman believes biology is the best technological tool to address climate change
A fun fact about Dr. Silverman

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Episode Recorded on July 11, 2023

Carbon-Removing Sand for Coastal Carbon Capture | Kelly Erhart - Co-Founder & President of Vesta Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

Vesta is harnessing the power of the oceans to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with olivine sand. Vesta has been featured across leading academic journals and media outlets as well as the Bill Gates-inspired documentary Solving for Zero.

Kelly Erhart is President and Co-founder of Vesta. She has focused much of her career on commercializing sustainable technologies including roles as a CEO of a waterless biofiltration toilet company, as a consultant, and as a steward of numerous projects focused on building a regenerative future.

In this episode...

How coastal carbon capture works
How olivine sand increases ocean alkalinity
What Vesta's projects look like in practice
Vesta's engagement with coastal community partners
Vesta's unique company structure
Vesta's platform for carbon removal measurement
What Vesta could achieve at scale
What inspired Vesta's name

The Global Energy Landscape | Dr. Morgan Bazilian - World-Renowned Energy + Policy Expert Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

Dr. Morgan Bazilian is a world-renowned expert in energy-related international affairs, policy, and investments. Currently, he is the Director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. Previously, he was the lead energy specialist at the World Bank, a senior diplomat at the United Nations, and the European Union’s lead negotiator on low-carbon technology at the UN climate negotiations. To date, he has published more than 120 articles in journals including Nature, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

In this episode we cover...

The intersection of policy and climate technology
Driving energy access in the global south
Dr. Bazilian's work at the UN and World Bank
How to facilitate the energy transition in the US
The importance of community engagement
Research + Projects at the Payne Institute for Public Policy
What Dr. Morgan Bazilian has learned engaging with world leaders
Dr. Morgan Bazilian, the World Mountaineer

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Episode Recorded on June 28, 2023

Invaluable Wisdom | Highlights from B4E Season 1 Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Season 1 of Built for Earth. Whether you’re a student, investor, supporter, founder, or simply an earth-lover, we hope Built for Earth has been, and will continue to be, a worthwhile listening and learning experience. This episode is an opportunity to hear from all 12 of our innovators from Season 1 in a crash-course of business, climate, and life wisdom. Enjoy and see you in July for Season 2!

Check out our episodes:

*The number in parentheses following each episode reflects the order in which the speaker is featured in this episode*

Episode 1: Cache Energy - Arpit Dwivedi (6)

Episode 2: Last Energy - Bret Kugelmass (8)

Episode 3: Dimensional Energy - Brad Brennan (12)

Episode 4: NEXT Energy Technologies - Jeff Horowitz (5)

Episode 5: Renewell - Kemp Gregory (2)

Episode 6: OnePointOne - Samuel Bertram (1)

Episode 7: Biozen Batteries - Nate Kirchhofer (9)

Episode 8: Criaterra Earth Technologies - Adital Ela (3)

Episode 9: C-Motive Technologies - Matt Maroon (11)

Episode 10: Clew - Spencer Martin (10)

Episode 11: Gradient - Vince Romanin (7)

Episode 12:Epoch Biodesign - Jacob Nathan (4)

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Plastic-Eating Enzymes | Jacob Nathan - Co-founder & CEO of Epoch BioDesign May 29, 2023

Show notes

Currently, the world makes over 460 million tons of plastic per year, a number that is set to grow as fossil fuels companies are increasingly turning to plastic production for profits. The problem is only 2% of plastics are ultimately recycled. Epoch BioDesign is looking to change that by using synthetic biology and AI to develop enzymes that eat plastic and can be turned into chemicals.

Jacob Nathan is the CEO of Epoch BioDesign. At age 18, he started the company alongside British biochemist, Professor Douglas Kell, when he discovered microbes capable of breaking down plastic waste during a senior research project. Since then, the company has grown tremendously, and in June 2022, Epoch announced an $11m seed fundraising round.

In this episode we cover...

What inspired Jacob to start Epoch
How enzymes fundamentally work
Machine learning and AI's role in Epoch's process
The chemicals that Epoch is looking to develop
The problems with our current recycling and chemical production processes
Epoch's path to monetization
Challenges facing Epoch as they scale
What Jacob has learned in the founding process
Jacob, the master scuba diver

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Episode Recorded on May 25, 2023

Good for the Planet HVAC | Vince Romanin - CEO of Gradient May 15, 2023

Show notes

Currently, over 6 billion people do not have access to air conditioning. Gradient is on a mission to change that by developing an easy-to-install hybrid residential heating and cooling system that is good for the planet. Gradient’s system removes harmful refrigerants, and when compared to traditional HVAC units, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 75%.

Vince Romanin is the CEO of Gradient. After completing his Ph.D. in heat transfer and fluid mechanics at UC Berkeley, he spent nearly 5 years as a research and development engineer at Otherlab where he began his entrepreneurial journey to decarbonize building heating and cooling. Vince launched Treau in April of 2017, which ultimately became Gradient.

In this episode we cover...

What makes our current HVAC systems so bad for the environemnt
What is a heat pump and how they work
Gradient's climate-friendly refrigerant + smart system
How policy impacts heat pump deployment
Different mechanisms for fundraising
Vince's biggest learnings leading Gradient
Vince's advice for aspiring climate entrepreneur
Vince, the Sevillanas dancer

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Episode Recorded on May 10, 2023

Upcycling Food Waste | Spencer Martin - CEO & Co-Founder of Clew May 03, 2023

Show notes

Over 100 billion pounds of food waste ends up in a United States landfill each year. To help change this, Clew is developing a countertop food waste upcycling appliance that processes nearly all of your residential food waste in under two hours. By keeping food waste out of the landfill, Clew will reduce one of the biggest contributors to methane emissions.

Spencer Martin, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Clew. He spent the early days of his career as an experiential brand producer managing million dollar projects for Target, Absolut, Peloton, Delta Air Lines, and more. Since then, he has spent much of his career learning how to operate a for profit business while also doing good in the world.

In this episode we cover...

Why food waste is such a big problem for the environment
How food decomposes in the landfill
What is compost
How Spencer went from brand marketing to climate founder
How Clew is inspiring a regenerative lifestyle
How the Clew operates and what it means to get a Clew
Spencer's journey founding Clew
Spencer's advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

Spencer also wrote these notes for more context and personal reactions to the episode! Have a look.

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Episode Recorded on April 25, 2023

Commercializing the World's First Electrostatic Motors | Matt Maroon - CEO of C-Motive Technologies Apr 14, 2023

Show notes

Motors consume over 50% of the world's power. C-Motive is revolutionizing this fundamental technology by commercializing the world's first electrostatic motor. In comparison to traditional electromagnetic motors, the technology has improved operating efficiencies and reduced embodied emissions, while using sustainable materials.

Matt Maroon, is the CEO of C-Motive Technologies. He is a veteran cleantech entrepreneur, and has held product management and leadership roles across 6 startups in the next-generation energy storage space. In 2004, Matt earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Bradley University, and since his career has focused on bridging the gap between the lab and the market, to develop and sell new technologies in the cleantech marketplace.

In this episode we cover...

How an electrostatic motor works
Main components of the motor
Ideal applications for C-Motive's technology
What makes C-Motive's motors sustainable
C-Motive's go-to-market strategy
How C-Motive can transform renewable energy
What Matt has learned leading startups
Matt's advice for soon-to-be graduates
Matt, the ultra-marathoner

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Episode Recorded on April 10, 2023

Circular, Sustainable Building Products | Adital Ela - CEO & Founder of Criaterra Earth Technologies Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

Criaterra Earth Technologies is developing construction products through a process that uses 90% less energy and emits 80% less carbon than traditional methods. The Israel-based company has developed manufacturing technologies which replace the conventional energy intensive kiln-firing processes. Criaterra’s products are as strong as concrete, have 6x the thermal insulation, and yet create a fraction of the environmental impact.

Adital Ela, an industrial designer and impact entrepreneur, is the CEO and Founder of Criaterra. Prior to founding the company, she studied the field of sustainability for over 20 years, was a senior design lecturer at the Holon Institute of Technology, and a TED fellow. She continues to serve on many expert panels in the world of sustainable development.

In this episode we cover...

What inspired Adital to found Criaterra
What makes cement so bad for the environment
Criaterra's 100% natural, recyclable, and biodegradable material
Criaterra's current operations and development
Challenges facing Criaterra as they scale
Adital's journey as a female entrepreneur
Adital's advice for the next generation of climate leaders
Adital Ela, the improvisational dancer

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Episode Recorded on March 22, 2023

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