Climate Confident

• Inside the Solar PPA Model Driving Clean Energy Growth

  Send me a messageWhat if the real disruption in solar isn’t the technology — but the business model behind it?This week I’m joined by Scott Therien, Director of Strategic Partnerships at REC Solar, to unpack one of the most important, and least discussed, shifts in the energy transition: the move from one-off construction projects to long-term, risk-bearing power-purchase agreements. It’s a change that’s quietly reshaping who owns energy infrastructure, who carries the financial risk, and how quickly commercial sectors can decarbonise.In this episode, you’ll hear why the old “buy a solar system and hope it performs” mindset is being replaced by something far more aligned - developers putting up the capital, carrying the downside, and only winning when the customer wins. We dig into how solar-plus-storage now beats diesel on cost and resilience in many markets, why procurement processes often sabotage their own climate goals, and what separates successful projects from expensive disappointments. You might be surprised to learn how much hinges not on panels or batteries, but on load profiles, tariff structures, and whether an organisation actually knows what it wants.We also explore the future: a post-ITC world, the rise of data centres as demand engines, and unexpected benefits like agrivoltaics, including sheep producing better wool under solar arrays. It’s a vivid reminder that decarbonisation isn’t just an engineering exercise; it’s a systems shift.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Scott and REC Solar are reshaping real-world decarbonisation through smarter ownership, smarter incentives, and smarter design.Podcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers: Cecilia Skarupa Ben Gross Jerry Sweeney Andreas Werner Stephen Carroll Roger Arnold And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. CreditsMusic credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

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• The Regeneration Mindset for Climate Action

  Send me a messageWhat if cutting emissions isn’t enough, and never was?And what if the real lever we’ve been ignoring is regeneration, not reduction?This week I’m joined by Chad Frischmann, co-creator of Project Drawdown and founder of Regenerative Intelligence, for a conversation that goes right to the core of what the climate movement keeps getting wrong. We dig into why stopping global warming requires more than technology, pledges, or net-zero spreadsheets. It demands a full systems shift that places life, human and non-human, at the centre of every decision.You’ll hear how Chad went from studying the history of propaganda at Oxford to mapping the most comprehensive catalogue of climate solutions ever assembled. We uncover why today’s climate discourse has become strangely timid, how a tiny group of entrenched interests is still steering the global response, and why he believes we’re entering the “death throes” of the old extractive economy.You might be surprised to learn that regeneration isn’t just about soils or forests. Chad makes the case for regenerative energy systems, regenerative supply chains, regenerative finance, and explains how each one creates cascading benefits that ripple far beyond emissions. We explore food systems, supergrids, biodiversity, justice, and the uncomfortable truth that climate “risk” is no longer risk at all… it’s reality.If you want a fresh, hopeful, deeply practical frame for the climate transition, this episode delivers it.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Chad Frischmann is reimagining the future of climate action through regeneration, not simply reduction.Podcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers: Cecilia Skarupa Ben Gross Jerry Sweeney Andreas Werner Stephen Carroll Roger Arnold And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. CreditsMusic credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

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• Decarbonising Heat: Why Half of Industrial Energy Is Ripe for Reinvention

  Send me a messageMost people never think about industrial heat. Yet half of all manufacturing emissions come from it. My guest this week, Addison Stark, CEO and co-founder of AtmosZero, is on a mission to electrify one of the dirtiest, most overlooked pieces of infrastructure on Earth: the steam boiler.In this episode, Addison and I uncover how a technology unchanged since the 1860s can finally go clean. We talk about the hidden carbon footprint of steam, why “waste heat recovery” can actually slow progress, and how heat-pump boilers can cut industrial energy use in half while delivering zero-emission steam. You’ll hear how his team’s first installation at a Colorado brewery is already brewing beer with carbon-free heat, proof that decarbonisation doesn’t have to mean disruption.We also explore the bigger picture: how electrified heat could transform everything from food and pharma to chemicals and cosmetics, why Europe’s gas crisis is accelerating the shift, and what policy tweaks could make clean steam the default everywhere.If you’ve ever wondered how to decarbonise the “hard-to-abate” sectors, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for.🎙️ Listen now to hear how AtmosZero is re-engineering industrial heat for a zero-carbon future.Podcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers: Cecilia Skarupa Ben Gross Jerry Sweeney Andreas Werner Stephen Carroll Roger Arnold And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. CreditsMusic credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

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• Microgrids, Hydrogen, and the End of Fossil Fuels

  Send me a messageWhat if business, not politics, held the real key to ending the climate crisis?In this week’s episode, I sit down with Rinaldo Brutoco, founder and CEO of the World Business Academy, to explore a radical but beautifully simple idea: that stakeholder capitalism - where companies serve people and planet, not just shareholders, can actually outperform the old profit-only model. Rinaldo’s been proving it for decades, from helping shut down a dangerous nuclear plant in California to showing how responsible companies consistently beat the market.You’ll hear how he believes we can replace 100% of fossil fuels in California within ten years, at lower cost than maintaining the current grid. We unpack why distributed microgrids could end blackouts and wildfires, how geothermal energy is finally having its moment, and why green hydrogen, done right, could power the next industrial era. You might be surprised by Rinaldo’s blunt take on corporate inertia, his optimism about AI as a tool for truth (not hype), and his warning that business must act now or face a market collapse of its own making.This is one of those wide-ranging, perspective-shifting conversations that’ll make you rethink who’s really steering the energy transition, and why it has to be the private sector leading the charge.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Rinaldo Brutoco and the World Business Academy are redefining what profitable climate leadership looks like.Podcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers: Cecilia Skarupa Ben Gross Jerry Sweeney Andreas Werner Stephen Carroll Roger Arnold And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. CreditsMusic credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

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• The 60 Million Home Challenge: Inside Zero Homes’ Plan to Electrify America

  Send me a messageWhat if upgrading your home to be climate-friendly was as simple as scanning it with your phone?In this week’s episode of the Climate Confident Podcast, I talk with Grant Gunnison, founder and CEO of Zero Homes - a former NASA and MIT engineer who’s now tackling one of climate tech’s toughest challenges: decarbonising existing homes. His company uses smartphone scans and digital twins to design fully-scoped, permit-ready electrification plans - no site visit, no clipboard, no chaos.You’ll hear how Grant’s team is cutting out the “truck rolls” that make home upgrades expensive and slow, saving homeowners money while helping contractors stay profitable. We dig into why electrifying 60 million U.S. homes is both an engineering nightmare and a golden opportunity, and how technology, not policy alone, can finally make it scale.We also unpack the human side: what really motivates homeowners to switch to heat pumps, why induction cooking is a secret health win, and how removing the awkwardness of having strangers poke around your home can actually accelerate climate action.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Zero Homes is reshaping the future of home electrification - making sustainable living smarter, faster, and far more comfortable.Podcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers: Cecilia Skarupa Ben Gross Jerry Sweeney Andreas Werner Stephen Carroll Roger Arnold And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. CreditsMusic credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

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