PODCAST · education
The Wharton Current
by The Wharton Current
Podcast by The Wharton Current
Episodes
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Accelerating deployment of advanced energy solutions - Alex Dewar, BCG
In this episode, Alex speaks about what is needed to commercialize advanced energy technologies, the impact of shifting government policy, and lessons from his tenure at BCG.
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Climate Investing in the Family Office World — Ben Huang, Builders Vision
What does non-concessionary climate investing actually look like in practice? Ben Huang of Builders Vision joins the Wharton Current to break down how the platform deploys capital from philanthropy to market-rate returns— and why he underwrites climate funds the same way he'd underwrite any…
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Harnessing Industrial Policy in the Energy Transition and Global Economic Competition – Ali Zaidi, Former White House National Climate Advisor
China just released its Five Year Plan in March 2026. How should clean energy investors, founders, and policymakers in the US respond? On April 2, we sat down with Ali Zaidi, former White House National Climate Advisor, to discuss what China’s clean energy priorities mean for the future of the...
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Scaling Direct Air Capture -- Shashank Samala, CEO of Heirloom
What does it actually take to pull carbon out of the air — and turn it into a scalable business? In this episode, we sit down with Shashank Samala, CEO & Founder of Heirloom Carbon, to unpack the reality of building one of the world’s most ambitious direct air capture companies. We dive into...
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Scaling Storage in an Era of Explosive Load Growth — Colby Hastings, Senior Director of Residential Energy, Tesla
We sat down with Colby Hastings, Senior Director of Residential Energy at Tesla, to unpack how battery storage and distributed energy resources are reshaping the grid. Drawing on nearly a decade at Tesla, Colby walks us through the evolution of Tesla Energy—from the early days of Powerwall and...
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The Power of Data Center Flexibility — Aroon Vijaykar, SVP of Strategy and Commercial, Emerald AI
In this episode, Aroon shares insights on why data center flexibility is critical to protecting energy affordability, grid reliability and the broader economy amidst the AI boom.
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Bridging the Valley of Death — Brandon Corts, Senior Director of Product, Newlab
We were thrilled to speak with Brandon Corts, Senior Director of Product at Newlab — a venture platform accelerating the commercialization of critical technologies. Between early-stage VC funding and late-stage infrastructure capital, hard technology companies face a “valley of death” where many...
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Small Scale, Big Impact: Nuclear Microreactors -- James Walker, CEO of Nano Nuclear Energy
Small Scale, Big Impact: Nuclear Microreactors -- James Walker, CEO of Nano Nuclear Energy by The Wharton Current
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Energy Geopolitics in Transition — Dr. Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy
Energy Geopolitics in Transition — Dr. Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy by The Wharton Current
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Why Advanced Geothermal is Heating Up -- Jason Peart, GM of Strategy & Development @ Sage Geosystems
Geothermal energy may be the biggest dark horse in the clean energy transition. And it's bipartisan. At Deploy24, Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm gave a strong endorsement of geothermal, calling it her "personal favorite" power source. Recently confirmed Secretary of Energy…
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The Future of Clean Energy Under Trump — Dr. Jen Wilcox, Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary @ the Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
What’s next for clean energy under a Trump administration? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Jen Wilcox. Now a Penn professor, Dr. Wilcox led the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management under the Biden Administration. Named one of the Time 100 in Climate in 2023,...
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Revitalizing Europe's Legacy Wind Assets -- Lars Meyer, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of NeXtWind
What if aging wind parks could produce 5x more green energy? Lars Meyer, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of NeXtWind, is focused on making that vision a reality. In 2023, NeXtWind raised $750M to "repower" aging wind farms across Germany, upgrading inefficient turbines and increasing power output by 4-5x.…
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Financing the Future of Climate Tech - Matt Cohen, Principal @ Clean Energy Ventures
Over the past decade, climate tech venture capital has expanded rapidly. Total funding increased by 12.5x and new venture firms like Clean Energy Ventures emerged, filling critical gaps in the capital stack and helping founders reimagine a more sustainable future. Our guest, Matt Cohen, Principal...
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Changing the Way We Charge EVs -- Apoorv Bhargava, CEO of WeaveGrid
Rising electric vehicle demand is creating new challenges for both EV owners and utilities. Concentrated charging times are driving up electricity prices, making it more expensive to charge EVs. This "peaky" electricity demand is pushing utilities to rely on fossil fuel plants, impacting the…
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Reimagining Data Centers for the Age of AI -- Nelson Abramson, CEO @ Verrus
You hear it every day -- artificial intelligence is the future. But artificial intelligence data centers require an extraordinary amount of electricity. How are utilities going to meet this growing demand all while transitioning to a greener energy mix? Nelson Abramson, CEO of Verrus, is...
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Bringing Accounting Rigor to Sustainability Reporting -- Elizabeth Seeger, Board Member @ ISSB
For investors, taking sustainability seriously requires high-quality company-level data. That, in turn, requires standards that ensure companies across industries and economies are providing this kind of investor-useful data. We need accounting standards for sustainability reporting, just like…
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What Do We Need for Net-Zero Steel? Christina Chang, Partner @ Lowercarbon Capital
What technologies can get us to net-zero steel? Dr. Christina Chang knows this space as well as anyone in venture capital. She's a PhD chemist and inventor in fields from solar PV to advanced manufacturing, a former steel startup CEO, and now a partner at Lowercarbon Capital. Join us to learn: --...
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Stabilizing the Low-Carbon Grid -- Frederico Rauter, Chief Revenue Officer @ Reactive Technologies
Adding renewables and batteries to our power grid cuts emissions and can lower costs. But it also makes grid stability a more complex affair. That's in part because these systems tend to have less "inertia" -- a byproduct of turbine rotation that helps insulate grids against fluctuations in…
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The Standard-Setter for Corporate Climate Ambition -- Luiz Amaral, CEO @ SBTi
Rising climate risk has corporates around the world announcing targets to cut their emissions. But how can investors know whether a company’s targets are ambitious enough to support our world’s climate goals -- to help mitigate global climate risk? Ned Downie & Adriel Barrett-Johnson talk in this...
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Leshika Samarasinghe - Twine Ventures Founder
Join host Ellie McDonald on this episode of The Wharton Current as she welcomes Leshika Samarasinghe, founder and solo GP of Twine Ventures! Twine Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in purpose-driven startups focused on healthcare, fintech, and climate technology. With a...
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Storing Heat to Decarbonize Industry -- Justin Briggs, Co-Founder & COO @ Antora Energy
How do you store a lot of zero-carbon energy for cheap? Justin Briggs and his co-founders at Antora Energy believe in a simple answer. Find a cheap and abundant material that can retain a lot of energy in a small volume -- and use zero-carbon electricity to get it really hot. That's the product...
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Making Energy Efficiency Easy -- Lauren Salz, Co-founder & CEO @ Sealed
Energy efficiency saves consumers money, and we need deep cuts in home energy use to reach our world’s net-zero goals. How can we get more homeowners to invest in it? That’s the question that drives Lauren Salz. She’s CEO and co-founder of Sealed, an energy and financial technology company that...
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Rethinking Flood Insurance -- Bessie Schwarz, Co-Founder and CEO @ Floodbase
In this episode, Ned Downie and Ellie McDonald chat with a founder from an area of climatetech that's only starting to get the attention it deserves -- adaptation. Guest Bessie Schwarz is co-founder and CEO of Floodbase, a company that provides near real-time data on flood mapping and flood risk...
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Decentralized Carbon Capture - Nick Martin, Co-founder @ Carbon Reform
The market for carbon capture focuses on large-scale projects -- capture retrofits in heavy industry, say, or enormous facilities to suck carbon directly out of the air. But should we also be capturing carbon inside buildings? Our guest for this week says yes. Nick Martin is COO of Carbon Reform…
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Cement's Next Stage -- Ian Riley, CEO @ World Cement Association
Concrete is the most used material in the world after water -- but an indispensable input, cement, accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions. How do we slash cement's carbon footprint? Join the Current to hear thoughts on this from Ian Riley, CEO of the World Cement Association, a global trade...
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Cleantech and State Green Banks -- Sara Harari @ Connecticut Green Bank
Join us on The Wharton Current as we sit down with Sara Harari, Associate Director of Innovation and Strategic Advisor to the President at Connecticut Green Bank. Sara discusses the future of clean technologies and how state-level green banks are driving investment in sustainable infrastructure…
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Implementing Climate Policy - Christine Harada
The Wharton Current welcomes Christine Harada, Wharton alum and Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, to discuss the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill and the IRA. Along the way we get political and even a bit philosophical, discussing her...
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Geothermal 3.0 -- Sarah Jewett @ Fervo Energy
For our final episode of 2022, we welcome Sarah Jewett, Director of Strategy at Fervo Energy, a startup working on next-generation geothermal. Fervo brings drilling innovations from oil and gas to make geothermal a real option for 24-7 zero-carbon power. Sarah walks us through the oil & gas...
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Venture for the Climate -- Alex LaPlaza, Partner @ Lowercarbon Capital
This week, the Current teams up with the Wharton Sustainable Business Club to talk with Alex LaPlaza, partner at major cleantech VC Lowercarbon Capital. He talks with hosts Ned Downie and Nehali Jain about how standing on the rim of an active volcano helped convince him to work on climate; why...
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Measuring + Cutting Emissions in Metals & Mining -- Sophie Lu, BHP
The Current welcomes Sophie Lu, Principal, Carbon Management (Scope 3) at BHP, one of the world's biggest mining companies. Sophie breaks down for us how a major company like BHP thinks about emissions management across their value chain. She shares insights on the future of steel…
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A Road to Fossil-Free Cheap Hydrogen - Derek Warnick, CFO of Electric Hydrogen
In this episode of the Wharton Current, host Ellie McDonald sits down with Derek Warnick, the co-founder and CFO of Electric Hydrogen. Join us as we talk about the booming hydrogen space in the United States, Electric Hydrogen's unique business model, and the implications of the Inflation…
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The Holy Grail of Transmission - Tim Heidel, CTO of VEIR
"High temperature superconductors have been proposed as a holy grail for transmission for at least three decades," says VEIR CTO Tim Heidel. In this episode, Edmund Downie and Adriel Barrett-Johnson sit down with Tim to discuss VEIR, a startup developing a new generation of transmission lines…
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The Energy Transition in Saudi Arabia - Adam Sieminski, KAPSARC
How to approach the energy transition when 65% of your national budget comes from oil profits? In this episode, host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Adam Sieminski, the outgoing President of KAPSARC, the advisory body to the Saudi authorities on energy and climate. Saudi authorities on…
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The Technology of Battery Recycling - Megan O'Connor, Nth Cycle
The technology of battery recycling hasn't changed in a century - until now. In this episode, host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Megan O'Connor, Founder and CEO of Nth Cycle, a battery recycling and metals processing company. They discuss the battery materials supply chain, the need for...
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The Infrastructure of Battery Recycling - Wilson Ma, Li-Cycle
Last year the IEA put out a report that said that if we actually start tracking toward net zero by 2050, we will need 42x the lithium that we currently produce annually. Battery recycling will be one of the pillars of meeting that intense demand and enabling us to sustainably and ethically source...
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Carbon Negative Materials - Rich Riley, CEO of Origin Materials
Weaning ourselves off of carbon for energy purposes is front and center in climate work. Less discussed but arguably equally important to decarbonization is the move away from petroleum-based materials to produce the goods we consume. On this episode of the Wharton Current, host Adriel...
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Decarbonizing Cement - Cody Finke, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder, Brimstone
Despite contributing approximately 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions today, little progress has been made in decarbonizing cement production. In this episode, co-hosts Ellie McDonald and Thomas Obermeier sit down with Cody Finke, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Brimstone, which is seeking to...
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The Geopolitics of the Energy Transition - Meghan O’Sullivan, Harvard Kennedy School
On this episode, co-hosts Nick Van Hollen and Thomas Obermeier sit down with Meghan O’Sullivan, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and the Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. They discuss...
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Can EV Charging Infrastructure Penetrate Urban Areas? Voltpost Thinks it Can
On this episode of The Wharton Current, host Ellie McDonald sits down with Luke Mairo, the co-founder and COO of Voltpost. Join us as we talk about trends in the electric vehicle space, Voltpost's business model, and what policy initiatives are set to catalyze EV infrastructure build out. To…
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Scaling Solar Energy in the Southeast - Reagan Farr & Matt Kisber, Silicon Ranch
In this episode, host Thomas Obermeier sits down with Silicon Ranch co-founders Reagan Farr, CEO and President, and Matt Kisber, Chairman of the Board. Since starting the company together with former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen in 2011 in Nashville, TN, they have grown the utility-scale…
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Decarbonizing Industrial Heat - John O’Donnell, CEO and Founder, Rondo Energy
According to the IEA, heat is the world’s largest energy end use, accounting for almost half of global final energy consumption in 2021, significantly more than electricity (20%) and transport (30%). Of that, industrial processes are responsible for 51% of the energy consumed. In this episode,...
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Forest Carbon Sequestration & AI - Peter McHale, Co-Founder and CEO, Gaia AI
On this episode of The Wharton Current, host Ellie McDonald sits down with Peter McHale, the Co-Founder and CEO of Gaia AI. Join us as we talk about Gaia AI's business model, trends in the carbon credit space, specifically surrounding forest carbon credits, and what climate tech startups are...
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Lithium Extraction & Battery Supply Chains - Teague Egan, Founder and CEO, EnergyX
In this episode, co-host Adriel Barrett-Johnson sits down with Teague Egan, Founder and CEO of EnergyX, a lithium extraction startup. They discuss how Teague founded the company, the role of lithium in the energy transition, and how EnergyX is working with the government of Bolivia to run pilots…
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Are Sustainability KPIs Gaining Traction? - Ed Ballard, Bureau Chief, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business
In this episode of The Wharton Current, co-hosts Ellie McDonald and Thomas Obermeier sit down with Ed Ballard, the bureau chief for Wall Street Journal Pro Sustainable Business Unit. Join us as we talk about the implications of COP26, what sustainability KPIs are gaining traction in public and...
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Climate Tech Investments & Catalytic Capital - Amy Duffuor, General Partner, Azolla Ventures
There's never been a better time to be a climate tech entrepreneur. Over the course of 2021, more than 70 new climate-dedicated investment funds were set up to deploy $35B+ to climate tech solutions. In this episode, co-hosts Thomas Obermeier and Nick Van Hollen sit down with Wharton grad Amy...
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Community Solar & Data Insights - Kiran Bhatraju, CEO and Founder, Arcadia
In this episode, co-hosts Thomas Obermeier and Nick Van Hollen sit down with Kiran Bhatraju, founder and CEO of Arcadia, a tech company whose platform enables users to access cleaner and more affordable electricity through products like community solar and offers valuable data and payment...
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Energy Models & Policy - Jesse Jenkins, Princeton University Assistant Professor
In this episode, co-hosts Thomas Obermeier and Nick Van Hollen sit down with Jesse Jenkins, assistant professor at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment, to discuss how models can...
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The State Of SPACs - PJ Deschenes, Managing Director, Nomura Greentech
In this episode, host Thomas Obermeier sits down with PJ Deschenes, Managing Director at Nomura Greentech, to discuss the current state of SPACs, provide a primer on what they actually are, and explain how the continued growth in climate tech SPACs can be tied back to a 'Green Swan' event in 2020.
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Climate Tech VC - Sophie Purdom & Kimberly Zou
In this episode, co-hosts Thomas Obermeier and Charles Lachapelle sit down with the authors of the Climate Tech VC newsletter, Sophie Purdom, early stage climate tech investor, and Kim Zou, investor at Energy Impact Partners. They discuss the state of climate tech, how it's different from…
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Environmentalism and Business - Mark Tercek
In this episode, co-hosts Thomas Obermeier and Hamza Zafar interview Mark Tercek, author of The Instigator newsletter and former Goldman Sachs partner and CEO of The Nature Conservancy to discuss his work advising private sector leaders on ambitious environmental strategies that make business…
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The Wharton Current currently has 55 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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