We need to invest many trillions of dollars every year to build a climate-positive economy. We know what those technologies are – but they're all at very different levels of readiness.
So what would it take to scale critical climate technologies? That was the simple-but-complicated question recently posed by a group of energy, industry, and high-tech experts ... Show More
Jul 15
The ‘brutal reality’ of scaling low-carbon fertilizer
Nitrogen fertilizer is essential for global food security, yet its production is a hyper-centralized, fossil-fuel-intensive process that accounts for 5 to 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As geopolitical instability threatens traditional supply chains, the vulnerability of ... Show More
42m 42s
Jun 17
Why the climate tech ‘missing middle’ is a massive opportunity
If you’re building a consumer software startup, your investors may expect you to project hockey stick-style growth. But if you’re building the physical infrastructure of the clean energy transition, you’re likely in a very different position. Frank O’Sullivan, Managing Director a ... Show More
45m 31s
Nov 2022
Climate tech to save the planet: Techno-optimism or greenwashing?
<p>Billions of dollars are being spent by tech companies and investors on new technology to fight climate change. In the final episode of this series of Tech Tonic, Eric Toone, from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, tells FT columnist and host Pilita Clark why he bel ... Show More
24m 22s
Apr 2025
Keeping cleantech investment alive | With technological, economic and policy challenges mounting, how can we keep energy innovation on track?
These are hard times for investment in low-carbon energy. The lack of progress in international climate negotiations, threats to policy support, and an increased awareness of the challenges of decarbonization, have created some strong headwinds. Everyone agrees that more breakthr ... Show More
53m 10s
Jun 2022
Which tech is overhyped, underhyped and just right?
Within the climate tech world, technology hype is all over the map. In this episode, Lara Pierpoint, director of climate at Actuate, and Stephen Lacey, host of The Carbon Copy and executive producer of Catalyst, join Shayle for a game of “buy sell hold.” They take bets on which t ... Show More
50m 35s
Aug 2025
Direct Air Capture’s Cost Curve Conundrum
Right now, there are technologies that can pull carbon dioxide directly out of the air. That could be a critical tool in a world where climate change is rampant. Yet to fulfill this carbon removal potential, the sky-high costs of direct air capture need to fall. Today, capturing ... Show More
31m 15s
Jun 2023
We need trillions to fix the climate. Finally there’s a serious plan.
<p>Trillions of dollars are needed to shift the world to a low-carbon future, but where will all that money come from? While momentum is growing in rich countries, developing countries are still struggling for finance. Without significant increases in the amount of money spent, t ... Show More
46m 54s
Jul 2022
A framework for investing in climate technology
David Lebovitz, Global Market Strategist, and Tanya Barnes, Co-Managing Partner of Sustainable Growth Private Equity, discuss the latest trends in sustainable investing, including climate change and how institutional investors should evaluate climate technology companies and solu ... Show More
14m 57s
Oct 2024
Why climate tech startups get this one thing wrong
This might be our wonkiest topic yet: Techno-economic analysis, or TEA.
Before a startup proves its technology is commercially viable, it models how a technology would work. These TEAs include things like assumptions about inputs, prices, and market landscape. They help investor ... Show More
49m 38s