Climate Papa #21: Digging down deep for (near) free heat with Kathy Hannun of Dandelion Energy
I sit down with Kathy Hannun--the founder of Dandelion Energy, a geothermal heat pump comany that she spun out of Google X. What is a geothermal heat pump? Well, if you go outside and drill a hole a few hundred feet below ground you would get to a stable temperature--somewhere in the 50-60 degrees range. This earth is a fantastic place to transfer heat to and from. You can then cycle a fluid (like water) down there and use the transfer of heat to very efficiently heat or cool a home via a heatpump. In fact, a geothermal heatpump should be the most efficient way to heat and cool any building.
We unpack all of that, and also discuss how Kathy made major career decisions—optimizing for each step along the way. Of course, we chat about kids, Halloween costumes, and more.
After the election, I was reflecting on Kathy's timeline--she spun this business out of Google X in 2017. She raised a Seed round then--proving out the product and model until growing significantly in over the last 3 years. It's interesting to realize that the product, team, and company were really formed in the early days of a very pro-fossil fuel administration. I suspect Kathy's story will have many analogs. Many of the most impactful and successful companies will be formed in 2025 by founders just as relentless and thoughtful as her.
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Music: Slynk & Lazy Syrup Orchestra - Mellow Kinda Hype (Balkan Bump Remix)