Positive Charge by GeekWire

GeekWire
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Natural Sciences
  • Updated Biweekly

Positive Charge by GeekWire explores the technology breakthroughs working to solve the planet's biggest environmental and sustainability challenges. Hosted by GeekWire's Lisa Stiffler and audio producer Laura Scott, each episode goes inside the labs, companies, and wild places of the Pacific Northwest — and beyond — to meet the creators, champions, and consumers bringing bold climate innovations to life. This is a podcast about hope. The planet faces real challenges, but there are smart, passionate people working hard to address them — whether they're chasing clean energy, treating persistent "forever chemicals," or rethinking sustainability from the ground up. We profile those people and the breakthroughs giving us reason for optimism. Brought to you by Amazon Sustainability.

Episodes

  1. Aug 5

    Rooftop confessions: 4 big climate tech insights from investors and innovators

    Most climate news these days is grim, but on a sunny rooftop in downtown Seattle during Pacific Northwest Climate Week, the mood was surprisingly upbeat. In this episode of Positive Charge, we pull eight climate tech investors and startup founders away from the happy hour cocktails to get their unfiltered real talk on where the industry is actually heading. The optimism isn't rooted in wishful thinking or environmental altruism — it’s built on solid business fundamentals. From calling out "tourist cash" chasing overhyped AI data centers and nuclear tech to doubling down on unsexy workhorses like grid upgrades, solar breakthroughs, and ag-tech, these insiders reveal where real money is flowing and why cleaner solutions are simply winning on economics. We distill their rooftop confessions down to four major themes driving clean tech forward — plus one crucial bonus takeaway on why technology alone will never be enough to save us. Tune in to hear what has climate leaders excited, what makes them worried, and why the future of sustainability is shifting from bleeding wallets to serious green. Sources and references Interviews: Jonathan Azoff, co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm SNØCAP Yi Jean Chow, investment partner with Clean Energy Ventures Mike Dieterich, author and sustainability executive for Decarb Advisory Ben Shwab Eidelson, co-founder and partner of Stepchange Ventures, co-host of the Stepchange Show podcast Karin Kidder, executive director of E8, a Pacific Northwest-based climate angel organization Duncan Logan, co-founder and CEO of 9Zero, a climate innovation hub with Seattle and San Francisco locations Darian Parrish, founder of PwrOn, a Seattle startup developing portable clean power Susan Su, partner at the venture capital firm Toba Capital and founder of the podcast and Substack Climate Money Additional sources: PNW Climate Week, organizer of the annual event It's Electric, an EV charging startup mentioned by Karin Kidder LazeraH, a nuclear startup pursuing muon-catalyzed fusion mentioned by Jonathon Azoff This episode was hosted by Lisa Stiffler and Laura Scott, and edited and produced by Laura Scott, with editorial assistance from Todd Bishop. Sponsored by Amazon Sustainability.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. Jul 22

    The greenest goodbye: Human composting and the science of becoming soil

    What if the greenest thing you ever do is die? This episode of Positive Charge digs into human composting — the process, also called natural organic reduction, that turns a body into clean soil instead of ash or embalmed remains. It's the end-of-life option Martha Stewart says she wants, and a Seattle entrepreneur is the reason it exists. Katrina Spade set out to build a climate-friendly alternative to cremation and burial while still a graduate student in architecture, drawing on a practice farmers have long used to compost livestock. Turning that idea into a business meant clearing two enormous hurdles: engineering a process that safely breaks a body down into soil in a matter of weeks, and rewriting laws that made the practice illegal in all 50 states. We go inside Recompose, her Seattle facility, where bodies rest in stainless steel vessels and naturally occurring microbes generate all the heat that does the work. Then the episode turns to the people signing up. Interest cuts across the political map, with as many customers coming from conservative Eastern Washington as from Seattle, and a surprising share of them are young. Tune in to hear why composting is catching on as death care, how the science actually works, and what it means to choose becoming soil. Sources and references Interviews: Katrina Spade, founder and CEO of Recompose Micah Truman, founder and CEO of Return Home Elyssa Tappero, customer of Recompose and tsunami program manager for the Washington Emergency Management Division Additional sources: Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Washington State University Inside Recompose, where the human composting startup is ready to grow its formula beyond Seattle (GeekWire) 50+ & Unfiltered with Shawn Killinger, Episode 124 with Martha Stewart The environmental toll of cremating the dead (National Geographic) The Potential of Our Decay: Cemeteries That Save the American Landscape (Smithsonian) This episode was hosted by Lisa Stiffler and Laura Scott, and edited and produced by Laura Scott, with editorial assistance from Todd Bishop. Sponsored by Amazon Sustainability.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  3. Jun 30

    Fusion energy: Wishing upon a star in a jar

    Fusion has long been the holy grail of clean energy — perpetually promising, perpetually out of reach. But dozens of startups are getting closer to harnessing the reactions that power the sun and stars. We go inside two Washington state fusion companies that are leading the charge — Helion Energy and Zap Energy — and breaks down their technologies in a way that doesn't require a degree in physics to understand.  Between the two, Helion has the swagger. The 13-year-old startup has a charismatic, enthusiastic CEO who signed an unprecedented agreement to sell fusion energy to Microsoft for a data center campus in Central Washington. That deadline is only two years out as Helion leverages a $1.5 billion war chest to become the first company in the world to commercially produce electricity from fusion.  Zap launched in 2017, but members of its founding team began working on their core technology decades earlier at the University of Washington. The startup has raised $330 million from investors and was selected for a competitive Department of Energy fusion program. Ambitious by the very nature of its work, Zap is also more cautious in its approach.  This episode explores Helion and Zap’s strategies and each of their recently revealed, unexpected course corrections — moves that either raise concerns or signal smart new approaches.  Sources and references Interviews: David Kirtley, Helion Energy, CEO and co-founder Manav Singh, Helion Energy, director of electrical engineering  Matthew Thompson, Zap Energy, senior vice president of fission technology and former vice president of systems engineering and pulsed power Laura Berzak Hopkins, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, associate laboratory director for Strategy and Partnerships, and deputy chief research officer GeekWire’s related coverage: Helion gives behind-the-scenes tour of secretive 60-foot fusion prototype as it races to deployment Helion makes big bet on ‘Tiny Merge’ fusion testbed to meet aggressive Microsoft timeline Inside Zap: Fusion pioneer tries to build ‘a star in a jar’ to unlock abundant clean energy Zap Energy’s nuclear double play: Fusion startup adds traditional fission to its lineup, in industry first This episode was hosted by Lisa Stiffler and Laura Scott, and edited and produced by Laura Scott, with editorial assistance from Todd Bishop. Sponsored by Amazon Sustainability. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  4. Jun 30

    Eternal no more: The quest to destroy PFAS 'forever chemicals'

    Can we actually annihilate the toxic "forever chemicals" polluting our water and soil? The debut episode of Positive Charge dives into the Herculean challenge of destroying PFAS — long-lived contaminants linked to serious health effects like cancer and immune suppression. Even the most rugged, pristine corners of Alaska are facing high levels of PFAS groundwater contamination. Fortunately, a wave of intrepid entrepreneurs are building breakthrough technologies to prove these chemicals aren't as immortal as their name suggests. The episode goes inside two innovative companies tackling the crisis from completely different angles. First, we explore a system that deploys highly portable, shipping-container-sized units to superheat and destroy highly concentrated PFAS stockpiles directly on-site. Then, the focus shifts to a technology that spun out of a sanitation project funded by Bill Gates. This system utilizes intense thermal "poop briquette" boilers to incinerate diluted PFAS from municipal wastewater while generating clean electricity. Tune in to find out how these real-world solutions might just close a massive global infrastructure gap and protect our environment. Sources and references Interviews: Brian Pinkard, Aquagga, co-founder and chief technology officer Heather Koponen, Fairbanks, Alaska, resident impacted by PFAS Stephanie Dotterer, Sedron Technologies, director of strategy Meghan Carlo, Sedron Technologies, senior permit manager  Additional sources: Bill Gates drinking water from sewage waste (Gates Notes) ‘Forever chemicals’ are eternal no more thanks to a pollution destroying device from Tacoma startup (GeekWire) Flush with cash: Washington startup lands up to $500M to deploy facilities treating sewage, dairy waste (GeekWire) Alaska Community Action on Toxics Toxic-Free Future This episode was hosted by Lisa Stiffler and Laura Scott, and edited and produced by Laura Scott, with editorial assistance from Todd Bishop. Sponsored by Amazon Sustainability.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  5. Jun 26

    Introducing 'Positive Charge' by GeekWire

    Can we annihilate the "forever chemicals" in our soil and water? What's the greenest thing you can do with your body after you die? And how do we fix Taylor Swift's jet-fuel PR problem? Positive Charge by GeekWire is a new podcast about environmental hope, and the people and companies building breakthrough technologies in climate and sustainability. Hosted by GeekWire's Lisa Stiffler and independent audio producer Laura Scott, each episode takes you inside the labs and companies working to save the planet, and out to the wild places they're trying to protect. Follow now: the first episodes are on the way. Brought to you by Amazon Sustainability. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ratings & Reviews

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out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Positive Charge by GeekWire explores the technology breakthroughs working to solve the planet's biggest environmental and sustainability challenges. Hosted by GeekWire's Lisa Stiffler and audio producer Laura Scott, each episode goes inside the labs, companies, and wild places of the Pacific Northwest — and beyond — to meet the creators, champions, and consumers bringing bold climate innovations to life. This is a podcast about hope. The planet faces real challenges, but there are smart, passionate people working hard to address them — whether they're chasing clean energy, treating persistent "forever chemicals," or rethinking sustainability from the ground up. We profile those people and the breakthroughs giving us reason for optimism. Brought to you by Amazon Sustainability.

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