The Keep Cool Podcast Nick Van Osdol

Nick is joined by Arpita Bhattacharyya, Chief Climate Officer at the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, where she helps understand common barriers that slow down deployment in the Loan Programs Office's $200+ billion portfolio of deals. Her work also entails understanding the community engagement, equity, and communication considerations necessary to develop and fund new programs and projects, like the LPO's Tribal Energy Financing Program. Specifically, Nick and Arpita discussed:
Tribal Energy Finance Program: Arpita shares insights into the Tribal Energy Finance Program, highlighting how the LPO provides specific technical assistance for tribes across the country to develop new clean energy projects like solar and storage microgrids to enhance energy resilience and sovereignty. Nick and Arpita also discuss the success of the Viejas microgrid project as a template for future tribal energy initiatives.Industrial Decarbonization: Nick and Arpita delve into the challenges and opportunities inherent to industrial decarbonization, focusing on sectors like low-carbon cement and steel. Arpita emphasizes the need for patient capital and innovative solutions. We also discuss how the federal government's investments in industrial decarbonization projects signal a shift towards a more holistic energy transition and a broader lens of sustainability.Community Engagement and Communication: Arpita highlights the foundational importance of effective community engagement for the entirety of the energy transition.
Timestamps:
00:03:23 - Arpita's Background in Climate Work
00:05:12 - Role at the Loan Programs Office
00:06:31 - Disambiguation of Government Offices and the Department of Energy's Mandate
00:10:03 - Work at the Loan Programs Office in 2024
00:12:08 - Tribal Energy Finance Program Stewardship
00:17:39 - Viejas Microgrid Project Overview
00:22:10 - Templatizing Solar and Storage Projects
00:25:07 - Addressing Program Challenges
00:30:03 - Speeding Up the Loan Programs Office Process
00:36:02 - Communicating Energy Transition Benefits
00:40:05 - Challenges in Industrial Decarbonization
Don't miss out on this podcast if you're interested in learning more about the state of climate tech, the energy transition, and the DOE's Loan Programs Office in said transition. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
Learn more about the Loan Programs Office and projects like the Viejas Tribe microgrid on their website: https://www.energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office +
https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/lpo-announces-conditional-commitment-viejas-microgrid-build-renewable-utility-scale
If you love listening to The Keep Cool Show, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/keepcool
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Plus, stay up-to-date on all things Keep Cool here: https://keepcool.co/ and follow Nick on Twitter: https://x.com/nickvanosdol and LinkedIn: a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasvanosdol/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

Nick is joined by Tom Ferguson, Founder and Managing Partner at Burnt Island Ventures, one of the first venture capital firms focused on investing in startups driving innovation in water-focused applications and industries.
Despite touching nearly everything on Earth, water is an under-discussed, under-invested in, and under-resourced category. As a result, innovation in the space often lags other areas that get more attention, whether fintech, crypto, or AI. At the same time, water is one of several categories that could see the most disruption due to climate change. Hence, Tom & team are on a mission to not just invest well in water but to grow the category as a whole. As part of their conversation, Nick & Tom also discussed:
Scope & Definition: Nick & Tom spend time breaking down and decomposing what is even meant by ‘water’ when we try to understand it as an industry. Portfolio Companies: Tom runs through seminal examples of several portfolio companies that underscore the types of companies Burnt Island Ventures invests in and the impact they’re targetingStorytelling and Intangibles: Nick & Tom stress the need for better storytelling in the water sector to attract more investment and public interest.
Timestamps:
00:01:23 - Tom's Journey into Water Investment
00:03:23 - Breaking Down the Water Investment Landscape
00:06:09 - Challenges in Water Sector Investment & Reframing the Industry
00:13:07 - Burnt Island Ventures' Mission
00:15:51 - Highlighting Portfolio Companies
00:22:03 - FundOne Portfolio Overview
00:27:00 - The Overlooked Importance of Water in Various Sectors
00:34:17 - The Importance of Storytelling + The Role of Investors in Water Sector
00:37:00 - Cross-Cutting Issues in Climate and Energy
00:39:53 - The Role of Water in Climate Adaptation
Don't miss out on this podcast if you're interested in learning more about the state of climate tech, the energy transition, and  investing in water and what the ‘water’ category as a whole even entails and represents. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
Learn more about Burnt Island Ventures on their website and LinkedIn: https://www.burntislandventures.com/
If you love listening to The Keep Cool Show, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/keepcool
Thank you so much.
Plus, stay up-to-date on all things Keep Cool here: https://keepcool.co/ and follow Nick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickvanosdol and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasvanosdol/

Description: Nick is joined by Rob Hanson, the CEO of Monolith, a company building methane pyrolysis plants to turn methane into hydrogen and carbon black, both of which are critical products for global industries and which are predominantly produced with significant emissions footprints today. Monolith’s process aims to decarbonize hydrogen and carbon black production while commercializing to scales of clean production not seen almost anywhere else in the world. Nick and Rob also discuss the duality of methane’s inherent economic value and its staggering cost to the environment, especially as a major global warming driver, as well as:
Technical ins and outs: Among other things, one of the pieces of technologies Monolith has built is one of the world’s largest plasma torches. Not sure what that means? Listen for more.What it’s like working with the DOE’s Loan Programs Office: While the Loan Programs Office's risk appetite doesn’t suit itself to every type of project, Rob breaks down under what circumstances working with the LPO can be a powerful partnership to scale critical clean technologies.Sustained will for the energy transition: Why ‘sustainability’ is about a lot more than just greenhouse gas emissions and other ‘green’ metrics.
Timestamps:
00:03:08 - Methane's role across environmental and economic impact
00:04:11 - Rob's background and journey to Monolith
00:06:10 - The Role of DOE's Loan Programs Office 
00:09:03 - Deep dive into Monolith's technology and development
00:19:08 - Carbon Black production and usage
00:26:33 - Challenges and rigor required to work with the LPO
00:30:08 - Monolith's future production capacity and impact
00:33:32 - The importance of economic viability without green premiums
00:36:07 - Sustained will and what the energy transition holistically requires
00:38:33 - Perception of the energy transition in the Midwest
00:41:47 - Calls to action 
Don't miss out on this podcast if you're interested in learning more about the state of climate tech, the energy transition, and the role of hydrogen in decarbonizing industry. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
Learn more about Monolith on their website and LinkedIn: https://monolith-corp.com/ / https://www.linkedin.com/company/monolith-corp/
If you love listening to The Keep Cool Show, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/keepcool
Thank you so much.
Plus, stay up-to-date on all things Keep Cool here: https://keepcool.co/ and follow Nick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickvanosdol and LinkedIn: a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasvanosdol/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

Description: Nick is joined by Jigar Shah, the Director of the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, and Ian Dickinson, the CEO of LongPath Technologies, to discuss the commercialization of novel methane monitoring technologies to accelerate lower-hanging fruit in methane mitigation. Specifically, Jigar, Ian, and Nick discuss the ongoing methane measurement technologies LongPath is building for oil and gas infrastructure in the Permian Basin and what climate, economic, safety, and regulatory impacts are being driven by a step-change in methane measurement and monitoring technologies. Further, Jigar, Ian, and Nick also discuss:
Bridging financing gaps: The Loan Programs Office’s role in financing climate and energy technologies to create “flywheels of irreversible momentum,” in Jigar’s words. Momentum for methane: The range of tailwinds coalescing right now for methane measurement and mitigation that are accelerating the work of companies like LongPathThe oil and gas industry’s role: What does the oil and gas industry think of trends in methane measurement and monitoring, whether from a technology perspective or with respect to new regulations coming to the fore in the U.S. to price methane emissions?
Timestamps:
00:03:31 - Loan Programs Office's Support for Climate Tech Companies
00:04:40 - Methane's Impact on Global Warming vs. Lack of Financing
00:05:16 - Economic Incentives to Address Methane Leaks
00:08:33 - Technologies for Methane Detection and Monitoring
00:10:26 - LongPath's Development and Commercialization
00:15:15 - Safety Benefits of Novel Methane Monitoring
00:18:45 - Operational and Compliance Challenges in Methane Management
00:22:40 - EPA's Methane Regulations and Industry Impact
00:27:29 - Potential Global Impact of Methane Management Technologies
00:30:12 - Broader Economic and Environmental Benefits of Methane Reduction
00:31:38 - LPO's Goals and Impact on Hard Tech Innovation
00:33:40 - Working with the Loan Programs Office
00:35:09 - Other Exciting Developments in Climate Tech and Energy
Don't miss out on this podcast if you're interested in learning more about the state of climate tech, the energy transition, and the role of DOE's Loan Programs Office in accelerating the energy transition in the U.S. and globally. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
Learn more about LongPath Technologies on their website and LinkedIn: https://www.longpathtech.com/ / https://www.linkedin.com/company/longpathtech/

Learn more about the DOE’s Loan Programs Office on their website and LinkedIn: https://www.energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office / https://www.linkedin.com/company/doe-loan-programs-office/

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Nick and Allison Wolff, CEO of Vibrant Planet, discuss the platform Allison and company are building to accelerate environmentally and economically sound outcomes in natural resource management, wildfire risk mitigation, and more. Whether your interest stems from curiosity around optimal use cases for AI and machine learning in climate action or nature-based solutions ranging from proactive land management to mitigate wildfires or the reintroduction of beavers, there’s something in this episode for everyone. Specifically, Nick and Allison discuss:
How Vibrant Planet’s platform is a perfect case study of using AI and ML for climate actionRapid outcomes Vibrant Planet has driven by digitizing natural resource management processes and uniting all required stakeholders more seamlessly Underappreciated opportunities for significant impact in nature-based solutions, as well as underappreciated careers that people interested in climate work should consider
Timestamps:
00:03:51 - The Multifaceted Impact of Vibrant Planet's Platform
00:10:44 - The Pre-Digital State of Fire Risk Management
00:14:16 - The Importance of AI in Vibrant Planet's Platform
00:19:28 - Global Expansion and Key Use Cases
00:24:03 - Business Model and Customer Base
00:25:44 - Emerging Markets and the Future of Carbon and Biodiversity Credits
00:32:20 - A Concrete Example of Vibrant Planet's Impact
00:36:07 - Challenges and Concerns for the Future
00:42:14 - Calls to Action and Keeping Up with Vibrant Planet
Don't miss out on this podcast if you're interested in learning more about the state of climate tech, the energy transition, and the future of nature-based solutions work to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
Learn more about Vibrant Planet on their website and LinkedIn: https://www.vibrantplanet.net/ / https://www.linkedin.com/company/vibrant-planet/
If you love listening to The Keep Cool Show, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/keepcool
Thank you so much.
Plus, stay up-to-date on all things Keep Cool here: https://keepcool.co/ and follow Nick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickvanosdol and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasvanosdol/

Nick and Josh Charnin-Aker, Glassdome’s co-founder and CTO, as well as TJ Yoon, Product Manager, discuss how Glassdome is building a platform and a deeply experienced team to accelerate sustainability in manufacturing, heavy industry, and more. Not only does this involve building a first-in-class digital product to help customers like SK manage things like product carbon footprint calculations, but it also entails getting their hands dirty to collect novel, primary data from manufacturing environments and supply chains. Specifically, Nick, Josh, and TJ discuss:
The new base layer for manufacturing and industrial decarbonization Glassdome is buildingThe regulatory environment and specific rules and regulations necessitate a much deeper understanding of supplier and factory-level data from manufacturersHow deeper and digital intelligence will accelerate sustainability outcomes in what are traditionally thought of as ‘hard-to-abate’ industries
Timestamps:
00:03:27 - Overview of Glassdome's Business Focus
00:06:12 - EU and SEC Regulatory Landscape
00:08:45 - EU Battery Regulations and Challenges
00:12:07 - EU Battery Regulation Impact on Manufacturers
00:14:04 - Facilitating Deeper Data Understanding in Manufacturing Supply Chains
00:20:01 - Differentiation from Other Carbon Accounting Software
00:21:37 - Acquiring Data from Outdated Manufacturing Equipment
00:23:31 - Granularity of Emissions Data in Manufacturing
00:25:46 - Macro vs. Micro-Level Emissions Analysis
00:27:03 - Opportunities for Manufacturing Decarbonization 
00:30:08 - Global Shifts in Manufacturing Sustainability
00:39:41 - The Broader Context of Sustainability Beyond Emissions
00:42:10 - Call to Action for Listeners and Job Seekers
Don't miss out on this podcast if you're interested in learning more about the state of climate tech, the energy transition, and the role of better data to accelerate industrial decarbonization. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
Learn more about Glassdome on their website and LinkedIn: https://glassdome.com/ / https://glassdome.com/
If you love listening to The Keep Cool Show, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/keepcool
Thank you so much.
Plus, stay up-to-date on all things Keep Cool here: https://keepcool.co/ and follow Nick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickvanosdol and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasvanosdol/