Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups 50 Million Miles of Power Transmission Lines by 2040. Is That a Joke? [💡 5 Ideas]
Dec 4, 2025
The podcast dives into urgent climate data, revealing that a whopping 50 million miles of transmission lines are needed by 2040 to meet climate goals. It features Cam Halliday from Mantle, discussing innovative carbon capture technologies. The spotlight shines on Dave Kirkpatrick of SJF Ventures, who shares insights on impactful startup investments. AI makes waves as an efficient speechwriting tool. Lastly, a mindfulness moment highlights reframing struggles as opportunities for growth. This lively discussion covers the intersection of technology, leadership, and sustainability.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Grid Buildout Is The Next Moonshot
- Achieving climate goals requires roughly 50 million miles of new transmission lines by 2040, equal to today's global grid length.
- This creates a massive, boring investment opportunity that clashes with NIMBYism and slow permitting.
Bring Skills To Transmission Projects
- Take project development, AI, or stakeholder skills to transmission to help speed buildout and overcome NIMBYism.
- Engage social and permitting strategies to cut timelines from 10–15 years to five–seven years.
Molten Borate Lowers Capture Costs
- Mantle uses molten borate to recover heat inside boilers, kilns, and furnaces to cut carbon capture energy penalties.
- Recovering useful heat or steam can roughly halve capture costs compared with conventional systems.
