Decarb Connect

Alex Cameron

Examining the strategies and deployments around decarbonisation in hard to abate sectors, we speak with CEOs, heads of corporate strategy, CTOs, Innovation/R&D, project directors & heads of carbon management from around the world. Hosted by Alex Cameron of the Decarbonization Leaders Network and Decarb Connect & produced by Janno Media.

  1. 6d ago

    What CCS 1.0 Taught Us, and Where the Money Should Go Now | Grant Budge, CEO, PeroCycle

    Host: Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO, Industrial Connect Group LtdGuest: Grant Budge, CEO, PeroCycleEurope spent somewhere between eight and ten billion euros on hydrogen and CCS projects over the last decade. Grant Budge's rough calculation is that the same capital, deployed into carbon capture and utilisation, could have been removing three to six million tonnes of CO2 per year by now. Instead, we have a handful of projects that never crossed the line and an industry still arguing about infrastructure that doesn't exist. Grant was there for CCS v1.0. He knows why it stalled, and he has a clear view on what we keep getting wrong, as well as what could help drive the right capital to the right tech.  PeroCycle is CEO of a team converting CO2 into carbon monoxide on site, no pipeline, no offsite infrastructure, negative cost of carbon abatement on a DRI steel plant at current European energy prices. That's the claim. In this episode, Grant walks through how they got there, what could still break it, and why the deeper problem in industrial decarbonization isn't the technology at all. Key Takeaways 1.     Why large corporate balance sheets have been part of the problem, not the solution. The assumption that big companies with big balance sheets would lead deployment shaped a decade of policy. Grant explains why that logic kept failing, and what it meant for the technologies that got backed as a result. 2.     The real reason hydrogen and CCS absorbed so much capital for so little output. It wasn't just bad technology choices. Grant traces it back to how the direction was set in the first place, and who was driving that conversation. 3.     What a global database of validated decarbonization technologies would actually change. Right now, an industrial company trying to compare options has no independent source to go to. Grant makes the case for why that gap exists, who could fill it, and what it would have meant if it had existed ten years ago. 4.     How PeroCycle moved from a cost of plus $50-60 per tonne of CO2 abated to minus $80. The engineering decisions behind that shift, and what they tell you about where most tech developers are leaving value on the table. 5.     The stage gate that will make or break the business case. Scaling to the steel sector means a first-of-kind plant costing $250-300 million for a pre-revenue startup. Grant explains the strategy for getting there without that number killing the story with investors. 6.     Why nickel and glass might matter more to PeroCycle right now than steel. The biggest market isn't always the right first market. Grant's thinking on this is worth hearing by anyone building deep tech for heavy industry. 7.     What investors actually want to see from industrial tech companies at TRL 4-5. Grant has been on both sides of this conversation. His read on what separates companies that keep the conversation alive from those that get screened out early is direct and practical. Links:  ·       Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect ·       Connect with Grant Budge, CEO, PeroCycle ·       Find out more about Perocycle and its projects ·       Join Alex and a network of hardtech investors and series B+ tech disruptors at Decarb TechInvest in Boston (September 2025) ·       Sign up for our newsletter   Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? We provide insights and introductions that derisk decision-making and support industrial leaders in deploying decarbonization and low carbon product strategy. Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support commercial decarb planning and business models around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors.    If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 200 members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to share insights, meet partners who can accelerate their plans and why it’s the most valuable network of its kind.

  2. Jul 2

    Decarbonizing at the Source: Why Raw Materials Are the Blind Spot in Europe's Climate Strategy with Rolf Kuby, DG of Euromines

    Host: Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO, Industrial Connect Group Guest: Rolf Kuby, Director General, Euromines An EV is not carbon free on the day it rolls off the line. A wind turbine has a footprint before it generates a single watt. The materials these things are built from carry emissions too, and right now, most climate policy either ignores that or assumes someone else in the value chain will sort it out. Rolf Kuby has spent 30 years doing public affairs in Brussels and five of them running Euromines, the European voice of the mining industry. He has a clear view of where the system is broken. In this episode, Rolf maps the gap between Europe's decarbonization ambitions and the raw material supply chains those ambitions depend on. From the world's first fossil-free mine already operating in Sweden, to the IEA's projection that net zero requires six times current output of critical minerals by 2050, this is a conversation about the part of the transition that doesn't make the headlines but makes everything else possible. Key Takeaways Why your clean technology has a dirtier footprint than you think. Rolf explains the life cycle accounting that most climate conversations skip, and why ignoring it means the decarbonization model Europe is building isn't one the rest of the world can copy.The scale of what we actually need to mine. The IEA numbers are stark. If you want to understand the supply-side maths behind net zero, this is the clearest five-minute version of it you'll find.Why cheap energy is the single biggest lever Europe isn't pulling. Energy costs, not policy ambition, are the binding constraint on industrial decarbonization - what would actually change if Europe got electricity prices under control?What the Critical Raw Materials Act can and can't do. The CRMA is Europe's first serious attempt at supply-side policy for critical minerals. Rolf explains where it helps, where the money still isn't following, and why the US IRA is moving faster.Why the value chain keeps passing the cost problem sideways. No single sector can absorb the cost of transformation alone, but the current system lets everyone try. What would a functioning value chain model actually require?The silo problem, and whether Brussels is close to solving it. Feed-in tariffs without grid investment. EV policy without battery supply chains. Rolf names the inconsistencies, and is honest about whether the systemic thinking is catching up.End with a slice of optimism based on emerging projects and collaborationsLinks:  ·       Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect ·       Connect with Rolf Kuby, Director General of Euromines ·       Join Alex and a network of hardtech investors and series B+ tech disruptors at Decarb TechInvest in Boston (September 2025) ·       Sign up for our newsletter   Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? We provide insights and introductions that derisk decision-making and support industrial leaders in deploying decarbonization and low carbon product strategy. Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support commercial decarb planning and business models around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors.    If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 200 members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to share insights, meet partners who can accelerate their plans and why it’s the most valuable network of its kind.

  3. Jun 18

    Insurance as the Missing Risk Layer in Climate Finance: Bilal Hussein, Co-Founder, Artio Carbon

    Host: Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO, Decarb Connect Guest: Bilal Hussain, Co-founder, Artio Carbon Carbon markets have a credibility problem, and most of the proposed fixes sit on the same side of the transaction. Bilal Hussain is building on the other side. As co-founder of Artio Carbon, he's spent years assessing carbon projects from the inside, and what he found was a market where capital was circling projects it couldn't trust, and projects couldn't scale because no one would stand behind them. Insurance, done properly, solves that. In this episode, Bilal walks through what underwriting a carbon project actually looks like, from biochar machines with 24-hour test histories to abandoned well projects where the leak has been visible for decades. He explains why execution and counterparty risk are the real questions insurers should be asking, not methodology quality, and what that distinction means for how climate finance moves from promise to delivery. Key Takeaways Why better due diligence still isn't enough - what can insurance due diligence uncover that analysts sometimes miss?  The one question that separates a financeable project from an unfundable one. It's not about credit quality or methodology - find out what insurers are actually asking, and why that question matters more than any ratings report. How to spot a project that will fail before it does. From unproven machines to developers promising 100% of expected output, Bilal walks through the specific red flags his team uses to walk away, and what good looks like by comparison. Why the projects landing on Artio's desk right now are the most investable they've ever been. If you've had a tough 12 months in the energy transition space, this perspective is worth hearing. What carbon tax regimes in Asia mean for your pipeline. CBAM is creating a downstream effect that most people haven't fully mapped yet - find out where the financing gap opens up and where insurance fits in. The deal structures where insurance changes the outcome. Not every buyer or developer needs the same product - find out who actually carries the risk in different transaction types, which changes who should be buying cover. What a mature carbon insurance market looks like, and how far away it is.  Links:    ·       Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect ·       Connect with Bilal Hussein, Co-Founder of Artio ·       Artio at London Climate Week 2026: “Bridging the Disconnect” – connecting nature to finance  and Step into the data ·       Access Artio's recently published CORSIA Market Forecast 2026 ·       Join Alex and a network of hardtech investors and series B+ tech disruptors at Decarb TechInvest in Boston (September 2025)   Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? We provide insights and introductions that derisk decision-making and support industrial leaders in deploying decarbonization and low carbon product strategy. Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support commercial decarb planning and business models around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors.    If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 200 members from the energy-intensive sectors have joined to share insights, meet partners who can accelerate their net zero plans and why it’s the fastest growing network of its kind.

  4. Jun 4

    Why Steel's Decarbonization Bet Might Be Missing a Billion-Dollar Blind Spot with Jon Stewart and Tom Brown of Binding Solutions

    Host: Alex Cameron, Founder & CEO, Decarb ConnectGuests: Jon Stewart, CEO and Tom Brown, Head of Business Development and Commercial Strategy, Binding Solutions The steel industry accounts for roughly 8% of global emissions and has made some of the loudest net zero commitments in heavy industry. But talk to the mills privately and most will tell you they are not on track. The dominant solutions, hydrogen, carbon capture, EAF transition, are either years away, eye-wateringly expensive, or both.  Meanwhile, there's a supply chain vulnerability that almost nobody is talking about publicly: pellets. Every major decarb pathway for steel needs them. Producing them at scale costs a billion dollars and most of Europe buys from a handful of suppliers with almost no leverage. Today we're talking to the team at BSL about whether the industry is solving the wrong problems first, and what a lower-cost, modular alternative on something as fundamental as pellets can do for price and targets. Find out why the gap between published net zero roadmaps and what steel mills actually believe is achievable this decade is wider than most people assume. Explore why agglomeration, the pellet-making step, may offer more near-term commercial leverage than hydrogen or CCS, despite attracting a fraction of the policy attention and capital. Learn how a billion-dollar plant cost becomes a structural barrier that shapes who controls the global pellet supply chain, and why European mills are more exposed than they publicly acknowledge. Hear how a technology that works across both blast furnace and DRI pathways makes its case in an industry where most capital decisions are implicitly picking a winner. Find out about Binding Solutions strategic and financial investors as well as their path forward- and where value sits in deep-tech industrial business like this one. Links:  ·       Follow Alex Cameron on LinkedIn and find how to get involved with the membership and work of Decarb Connect ·       Connect with Jon Stewart, CEO ·       Learn more about Tom Brown, Head of Commercial Strategy ·       Check out a video about the team ‘s work with British Steel ·       Read a paper by one of BSL’s scientists and a British Steel expert   ·        Join Alex and a network of hardtech investors and series B+ tech disruptors at Decarb TechInvest in Boston (September 2025)   Want to learn more about Decarb Connect? We provide insights and introductions that derisk decision-making and support industrial leaders in deploying decarbonization and low carbon product strategy. Our global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support commercial decarb planning and business models around the world. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors.    If you enjoyed this conversation, find out about our portfolio of matchmaking events in US, Canada, UK and Europe – or explore our Decarbonisation Leaders Network (DLN), and learn why more than 80 companies the energy-intensive ecosystem have joined to meet the right partners who can accelerate their net zero plans and why it’s the fastest growing network of its kind.      (19:38) - Marker 01 (33:52) - Marker 02

  5. May 12

    CEO of Paebbl: Getting the Whole Value Chain to Back Low-Carbon Concrete

    Marta Sjögren, Founder and CEO of Paebbl, joins Alex Cameron, Founder of Decarb Connect, to talk about one of the hardest problems in deep tech: getting a whole industry to move together.  Cement and concrete touch nearly every built asset on the planet, yet the value chain is fragmented, margin-sensitive, and deeply risk-averse. Marta breaks down how Paebbl is navigating that from the inside, with investors across the stack and a carbon-neutral bridge in the Netherlands already in the ground. This conversation goes deep on what "value chain activation" actually looks like in practice, where adoption breaks down, how to map incentives across buyers with completely different risk profiles, and what it takes to get a first-of-a-kind project from interest to commitment. If you are building in hard materials, construction, or industrial decarbonisation, this one is worth your time. What you will take away from this episode Why having investors across the value chain changes deal dynamics, not just your cap table opticsHow to map incentives when your buyers operate on completely different margins and procurement timelinesWhere low-carbon materials most commonly stall, and who in the middle is the real blockerWhat actually moved Paebbl's carbon-neutral bridge project from conversation to constructionWhy value chain activation is market-specific, and which regulatory environments structurally make it easierHow to keep stakeholders engaged at first-of-a-kind scale when every risk feels novelWhat the EU's reindustrialisation push and low-carbon procurement rules mean for companies building in this spaceAbout Marta Marta Sjögren is the Founder and CEO of Paebbl, a deep tech company turning CO2 into a construction material that can decarbonise cement and concrete at scale. She has built Paebbl from first principles, deliberately structuring the business and its investor base to unlock a notoriously slow-moving industry. Show LinksConnect with Marta Sjögren, Founder and CEO, Paebbl Connect with Alex Cameron, Founder and CEO, Decarb Connect Find out more about Decarb Connect via, Including our European Event in Hamburg (June 2-3)

  6. Apr 8

    Rethinking the Root: How GyroPlant Is Eliminating Single-Use Growing Media from Global Food Supply Chains

    Host: Tom Angus, Director of Conferences, Decarb Connect Guest: Oskar Schortz, Co-Founder & CCO, GyroPlant   In partnership with Urban Future Lab   Every hydroponic farm in the world depends on growing substrates - the rockwool, coco coir, or peat that plants grow in and almost all of it ends up in landfill after a single use. It’s a supply chain problem hiding in plain sight, embedded in one of the world’s most critical industrial sectors.    In this episode of our mini-series in collaboration with Urban Future Lab, Tom is joined by Oskar Schortz is the Co-Founder and CCO of GyroPlant. They discuss how a small UK deep tech company is engineering its way out of that problem entirely, and what it means for the carbon footprint of controlled environment agriculture at commercial scale.   GyroPlant, a materials and systems innovation company that has developed the GyroCup — a reusable, food-grade silicone growing vessel designed to last up to 10 years and replace disposable substrates across hydroponic and vertical farming operations. They're working with over 200 companies across multiple continents, including a formal Innovate UK project with Dole plc, and has participated in trade missions to Singapore and the UAE through Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme.    What you’ll take away: Understand what controlled environment agriculture actually is, and why GyroPlant is best understood as a materials and systems company rather than a farming or food businessWhy GyroPlant pivoted from designing whole growing systems to focusing specifically on the substrate problem and what they saw on farms that made that the priorityWhat substrates are, why every hydroponic farm currently depends on them, and why they represent a major sustainability liability in the food production supply chainHow the GyroCup works in practice and what the switchover from single-use growing media actually looks like for a commercial farmWhere the claimed 90% carbon saving versus the next best substrate option actually comes from - manufacturing, shipping, waste disposal, or all threeHow aware large food businesses are of the carbon footprint inside their growing media and whether they’re being asked to account for itWhether the indoor farming sector’s recent high-profile collapses create headwinds for GyroPlant or whether they actually accelerate demand as farms look to cut costsThe single most important environmental cost that large-scale growers are probably not measuring right nowShow Links: Connect with Oskar Schortz, CCO & Co-Founder of GyroPlantVisit the GyroPlant website to find out moreFollow GyroPlant on LinkedInOur strategic partner, Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon, is a non-profit innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions. Check out other episodes of the Decarb Connect podcast and suggest a future guest.Connect with Tom Angus, Director of Conferences of Decarb ConnectLearn more about Decarb ConnectOur global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support leaders driving industrial and energy innovation. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. We have summits coming up in Houston, London, Hamburg, Boston and Toronto and the opportunity to find the biggest brains in energy and carbon management – your future collaborators. For year-round introductions and meaningful insights, get in touch about your membership of the Decarbonisation Leaders Network – so many benefits, hundreds of people equally focused on decarbonisation – find out more and talk with Jack Figg, Community Director.

  7. Apr 8

    Measuring What Matters: Inside the UK's £500 Billion Retrofit Problem

    Host: Tom Angus, Director of Conferences, Decarb Connect Guest: Tom Fenton, CEO, Senze  In partnership with Urban Future Lab   The UK's housing stock is responsible for a significant share of the country's carbon emissions, and the estimated cost of retrofitting it sits at an eye-watering £500 billion. But what if a large portion of that spend is being directed at the wrong interventions, based on certificates and models that don't reflect how buildings actually perform?    In this second episode of our mini-series in collaboration with Urban Future Lab, Tom is joined by Tom Fenton, CEO and Co-Founder of Senze. They discuss how live sensor data and digital twin technology are exposing the gap between buildings 'as designed' and buildings as 'lived in', and why measuring first could transform both the economics and the impact of the UK's net zero retrofit mission.   Tom Fenton co-founded Senze alongside David Partridge of Related Argent and Joseph Daniels of Project Etopia - a lineup that brings together data science, large-scale property development, and net zero housebuilding in a single founding team. Tom previously built Veritherm, where he first encountered the persistent gap between modelled and actual building performance.   Senze deploys live sensors directly into buildings to capture real-time data on energy use and thermal behaviour, combining that with digital twin models to deliver actionable insights for building owners, landlords, and large estate managers - from housing associations in Northern Ireland to portfolios in New York.  What you’ll take away: Why the EPC system is fundamentally broken and why one Senze pilot found a home performing 59% better than its rating predictedHow Senze’s combination of live sensors and digital twin models gives building owners something neither approach can deliver aloneWhy the £500 billion retrofit cost estimate could be dramatically reduced by measuring buildings before intervening in themWhat working on portfolios in New York has revealed about the universality of the performance gap problemWhether the government’s proposed EPC C standards for landlords by 2028–2030 will drive genuine improvement or simply a compliance scrambleWhy open, shared building performance data infrastructure, as championed by the Live Data Trust may be as important as any individual technologyShow Links: Connect with Tom Fenton, CEO of SenzeVisit the Senze website to find out moreOur strategic partner, Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon, is a non-profit innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions.Check out other episodes of the Decarb Connect podcast and suggest a future guest.Connect with Tom Angus, Director of Conferences of Decarb ConnectLearn more about Decarb ConnectOur global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support leaders driving industrial and energy innovation. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. We have summits coming up in Houston, London, Hamburg, Boston and Toronto and the opportunity to find the biggest brains in energy and carbon management – your future collaborators. For year-round introductions and meaningful insights, get in touch about your membership of the Decarbonisation Leaders Network – so many benefits, hundreds of people equally focused on decarbonisation – find out more and talk with Jack Figg, Community Director.

  8. Mar 24

    Construction's Carbon Blind Spot: How Qualis Flow Is Fixing the Industry's Data Problem

    Construction's Carbon Blind Spot: How Qualis Flow Is Fixing the Industry's Data Problem Host: Tom Angus, Director of Conferences, Decarb Connect  Guest: Brittany Harris, Co-Founder & CEO, Qualis Flow (Qflow)   In partnership with Urban Future Labs   Construction accounts for roughly 40% of global carbon emissions when embodied carbon and materials are factored in, yet most project teams still can't tell you what they're actually emitting until long after the concrete has been poured. In this opening episode of our mini-series in collaboration with Urban Future Labs, we explore why real-time construction data is emerging as a critical lever for decarbonising the built environment, and how smarter measurement can change both the economics and the carbon profile of major projects.   Brittany Harris, a civil engineer turned founder, built Qualis Flow after seeing firsthand that the industry didn't have a data problem so much as a data capture problem. Qflow delivers the ground truth on construction sites, capturing real-time data on materials, waste, utilities, and carbon directly from site the moment it happens. No spreadsheets, no chasing suppliers, just fast, accurate data that helps teams ensure quality, reduce risk, minimise waste, and avoid costly rework or delays   What you'll take away: Why construction is responsible for ~40% of global emissions and why the industry still isn't truly reckoning with itHow Qflow turns a site photo into reliable, audit-ready embodied carbon data and what that means for project teams working at scaleWhy the construction materials dataset Qflow is building may be as valuable as the software itselfThe international appetite for construction sustainability data, from the UK to the US, Canada, and beyondWhy procurement and planning frameworks are struggling to keep pace with the tools that already existShow Links: Connect with Brittany Harris, Co-Founder & CEO of Qualis FlowVisit the Qualis Flow website to find out more Follow Qualis Flow on LinkedIn for big ideas on driving more sustainable construction Find out more about our podcast miniseries partner Urban Future LabConnect with Tom Angus, Director of Conferences of Decarb ConnectLearn more about Decarb ConnectOur global membership platform, events and facilitated introductions support leaders driving industrial and energy innovation. Our clients include the most energy-intensive industrials from cement, metals and mining, glass, ceramics, chemicals, O&G and many more along with technology disruptors, investors and advisors. We have summits coming up in Houston, London, Hamburg, Boston and Toronto and the opportunity to find the biggest brains in energy and carbon management - your future collaborators. For year-round introductions and meaningful insights, get in touch about your membership of the Decarbonization Leaders Network – so many benefits, hundreds of people equally focused on decarbonization – find out more and talk with Jack Figg, Community Director.

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About

Examining the strategies and deployments around decarbonisation in hard to abate sectors, we speak with CEOs, heads of corporate strategy, CTOs, Innovation/R&D, project directors & heads of carbon management from around the world. Hosted by Alex Cameron of the Decarbonization Leaders Network and Decarb Connect & produced by Janno Media.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Cameron
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    140
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Decarb Connect 2021
  • Show Website
    Decarb Connect

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