Everybody in the Pool

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re talking water — and the invisible pollutants hiding in it. Microfibers from textiles are one of the biggest sources of microplastics in our oceans, choking marine ecosystems and undermining the ocean’s role as the planet’s carbon sink.Our guest is Adam Root, founder and CEO of Matter, who shares his insane founder story, from £250 and a shed to a budding Japanese street food empire to Matter, which is helping major textile manufacturers keep millions of liters of water cleaner every day. It’s an epic founder story with big implications for clean water and healthy oceans.We cover:How washing machines and textile factories shed microfibers at massive scaleWhy current filtration is wasteful — and how Matter’s regenerative filters solve itThe founder story that went from Japanese street food stalls to the G7 stageWhat this means for oceans, sludge management (yes, really), and circular materials in the futureLinks:Matter Industries Website: https://matter.industries/Adam Root LinkedInAll episodes: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Subscribe to the Everybody in the Pool newsletter: https://www.mollywood.co/Become a member and get an ad-free version of the podcast: https://everybodyinthepool.supercast.com/What you can do to help:Please subscribe and tell your friends about Everybody in the Pool!Send feedback or become a sponsor! in@everybodyinthepool.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re geeking out on money. Because even the best climate solutions won’t scale without serious capital behind them.Our guest is Dawn Lippert, founder of Elemental (a nonprofit investor) and founding partner of Earthshot Ventures (a venture fund). She’s basically building an all-terrain vehicle for climate finance — covering philanthropic, project, and venture capital — to bridge the “valley of death” that stops too many good ideas from reaching the market.We talk about:Why “first-of-a-kind” projects are so hard to fundThe $150 billion capital gap that’s holding back climate solutionsHow philanthropic dollars can be recycled like sourdough starterThe rise of AI in climate investments (and where it’s actually useful)Dawn’s own journey from sea turtle conservation to DOE policy to climate financeLINKS:Elemental Impact: https://elementalimpact.com/Dawn Lippert LinkedInAll episodes: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Subscribe to the Everybody in the Pool newsletter: https://www.mollywood.co/Become a member and get an ad-free version of the podcast: https://everybodyinthepool.supercast.com/What You Can Do:Please subscribe and tell your friends about Everybody in the Pool!Send feedback or become a sponsor! in@everybodyinthepool.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re heading to Napa Valley... sadly not literally. This time, anyway! David Pearson, president of Joseph Phelps Vineyards, has spent his career in wine, but he’s now leading a transformation that’s as much about climate solutions as it is about Cabernet. It’s a story about farming, philosophy, and, yes, some really good wine.We dig into:What regenerative farming really means — and why it’s not just a buzzwordHow microbes, fungi, and “living soils” can make better grapes (and better wine)Why this approach is also climate adaptation in a warming worldThe surprising connection between soil health, nutrient density, and tasteHow big players like Moët Hennessy are backing the shiftLinks:Joseph Phelps Website: http://www.josephphelps.com/David Pearson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pearson-6896a82/ All episodes: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Subscribe to the Everybody in the Pool newsletter: https://www.mollywood.co/Become a member and get an ad-free version of the podcast: https://everybodyinthepool.supercast.com/What you can do to help: Please subscribe and tell your friends about Everybody in the Pool!Send feedback or become a sponsor! in@everybodyinthepool.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now for something fun — that can also be electricity generating infrastructure, if need be. My guest is Toby Kraus, co-founder and CEO of Lightship RV, the first American company to build all-electric RVs. The Lightship isn’t just a camper — it’s a battery on wheels, with solar on the roof, a pop-up design for aerodynamics, and its own motor to cancel out towing drag. That means you can take it off-grid for a week … or park it in your driveway and use it as backup power.We talk about:Why RVs are a surprisingly big climate story (one in ten American families owns one!)The range problem with towing — and how Lightship solves itTurning an RV into an ADU or a home backup systemHow to make clean tech appeal beyond the early adoptersIt’s the clean energy transition, with a side of camping.👉 Next week, we’ll step away from the grid and hit the trails — stay tuned.LINKS:Lightship RV: https://www.lightshiprv.comAll episodes: https://www.everybodyinthepool.comSubscribe to the newsletter: https://www.mollywood.coAd-free version + support the show: https://everybodyinthepool.supercast.comWhat You Can Do: Subscribe and tell your friends about Everybody in the Pool!Send feedback or become a sponsor: in@everybodyinthepool.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this conversation, Anthony Letmon, co-founder and CEO of Kardinia Energy, shares his innovative vision for lightweight, recyclable printed solar technology. He explains how this new approach can fit into unconventional spaces, like concert stages, and why it's designed for shorter lifespans to encourage upgrades. Learn how printed solar overcomes the weight limitations of traditional panels, making it a game-changer for disaster relief, industrial roofs, and more. Anthony also discusses partnerships with artists like Coldplay to test these exciting ideas.

Mike Burz, co-founder and CEO of Enzinc, brings his background as an aerospace engineer to the forefront of battery technology. He discusses a revolutionary zinc sponge anode developed with the U.S. Navy, which solves the dendrite problem in rechargeable zinc batteries. This innovative approach promises a safer and recyclable alternative to lithium, making it ideal for applications like e-bikes and data centers. Burz emphasizes that this is about providing safer options for the grid, not eliminating lithium altogether.

Ray Henger, CEO of Copia Power, and Pedro Pizarro, President & CEO of Edison International, delve into the energy landscape's future. They discuss surging energy demands driven by AI and the resulting challenges for grid reliability. The duo shares insights on permitting hurdles and siting strategies for large-scale renewables. They emphasize the need for streamlined processes and flexible planning to meet electrification goals while balancing sustainability and reliability, shedding light on what it takes to adapt to rapid changes in energy needs.

Continuing our Smart Grid Series, we zoom in on reliability — because building more solar and wind doesn’t matter if the grid itself can’t stay stable. We’ve seen what happens when it fails: blackouts in Spain and Portugal earlier this year, near misses in Texas, rolling outages in California.My guest is David Hebert, VP of Global Sales & Business Strategy at Wärtsilä Energy Storage. Wärtsilä is a 190-year-old company that now builds integrated storage systems combining hardware + software to keep grids reliable — even in moments of stress.We dive into:Why grid operators need fast, flexible tools beyond just generationSynthetic inertia: batteries mimicking the stabilizing effect of spinning turbinesHow storage can act like an “airbag” — catching a wobble before it cascades into blackoutReal-world deployments: from the UK’s Blackhillock project to island microgrids in Bonaire & GraciosaReliability + resilience: sectionalizing grids after hurricanes, blackstart capability, and non-wires alternativesEnabling more renewables by smoothing intermittency and curtailment issuesWhy batteries are the “Swiss Army knife” of the grid: frequency regulation, voltage support, time-shifting, backup powerCost, customer adoption, and how utilities are (finally) moving past reflexive resistanceLinks & resources:Wärtsilä Energy Storage— https://www.wartsila.com/energyEverybody in the Pool: all episodes & newsletter — https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Become a paid subscriber for an ad-free feed (and my eternal gratitude) — https://plus.acast.com/s/everybody-in-the-poolWhat you can do & what’s next:Send me your thoughts: in@everybodyinthepool.com — have you lived through blackouts? Tried a microgrid?Share this episode with a friend who loves geeking out about grid reliability.Smart Grid Series lineup:E101: Safe, long-duration flow batteries with XL BatteriesE102 (this episode): Grid “airbags” & synthetic inertia with WärtsiläE103 (next): A rechargeable zinc sponge anode that solves dendrites — EnzincTogether, we can get this done. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the next few episodes, we’re digging into the wild world of energy and the aging global electricity grid. This week, we start where reliability begins: utility-scale storage. The grid we have was built for one-way power plants; the grid we need has to juggle rooftop solar at noon, heat waves at 6 p.m., EVs, and data centers galore.My guest is Tom Sisto, founder & CEO of XL Batteries. His team is commercializing a pH-neutral, aqueous organic flow battery — a non-flammable, salt-water system using carbon-based molecules instead of vanadium. Think: safer, long-life storage you can scale for hours to days, without sulfuric acid or scarce metals.We get into:Why storage is the “time machine” the grid needs (match generation to demand, cut curtailment)Flow batteries 101: engine vs. tank, independent power and duration, and why that matters for utilitiesXL’s chemistry: organic charge carriers in neutral saltwater (no vanadium, no acid), designed for long lifeCost and safety vs. lithium — and why duration + cycle life drive utility economicsReal-world progress: containerized field unit, EPRI duty-cycle testing, and an industrial pilot at Stolthaven TerminalsRetrofit potential: turning existing petrochemical tanks into energy storage tanksStorage-as-transmission: placing batteries on both sides of a bottleneck to double effective flowReliability + resilience: PSPS/wildfire shutoffs, hurricane backup, and data-center load growthWhere decentralization fits, and how industrial customers can de-risk adoption on the way to utility scaleLinks & resources:XL Batteries — https://xlbatteries.com/Everybody in the Pool: all episodes & newsletter — https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Become a paid subscriber for an ad-free feed (and my eternal gratitude) — https://plus.acast.com/s/everybody-in-the-poolCall to action & what’s next:Send thoughts & voice memos: in@everybodyinthepool.com — where do you see storage unlocking reliability?If you liked this one, share it with a grid geek friend.Smart Grid Series lineup:E101 (this episode): Safe, long-duration flow batteries with XL BatteriesE102 (next): Grid “airbags” — synthetic inertia & fast frequency control with WärtsiläE103 (after that): A rechargeable zinc sponge anode that solves dendrites — Enzinc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Everybody in the Pool, we’re celebrating our 100th episode with a look at what matters most: your actions.Since this show began a little over two years ago, the goal has been simple — to spotlight innovation, ingenuity, and capital coming together to tackle the climate crisis. Hope is stronger than fear, but hope alone isn’t a plan. This milestone episode is about agency — the choices we make in our own lives, and how together, those choices add up to systemic change.Listeners wrote in and sent voice memos sharing the climate actions they’ve taken:Investing through platforms like Climatize to fund renewable energy projectsMoving retirement savings and banking into fossil fuel–free funds and community credit unionsCutting back on red meat, shifting diets, and sourcing local foodTackling food waste with apps like FlashFood and composting with Mill (our presenting sponsor for this week’s episode)Retrofitting homes with solar, heat pumps, and energy efficiency upgradesRethinking careers, transportation, and even family planning with the climate in mindAlong the way, we revisit powerful clips from past episodes and highlight the ripple effects of these solutions — from decarbonizing finance to building circular food systems.Thank you to everyone who has listened, shared, and taken action. This episode is a reminder that we are not helpless — our feedback, votes, purchases, and investments all send signals that drive change. Drops become a flood.Thanks to Mill for sponsoring this week’s episode! Get $75 off yours with my custom link! https://www.mill.com/lp/mollywood?utm_source=newsletter-sponsorship&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=everbodyinthepool &utm_content=mollywoodAll episodes: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/Subscribe to the Everybody in the Pool newsletter: https://www.mollywood.co/Become a member and get an ad-free version of the podcast: https://everybodyinthepool.supercast.com/Please subscribe and tell your friends about Everybody in the Pool! Send feedback or become a sponsor at in@everybodyinthepool.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.