MCJ Collective

How much of global philanthropic giving do you think goes towards climate-related causes? 🤔 Answer: 2% In this week's newsletter, Adam Fraser, CEO of Terraset, highlights this critical yet overlooked fact. Even in the US, this figure improves to just 3%. Why does philanthropy matter to climate solutions? 💰 The CDR market remains underfunded despite its importance 📈 Philanthropic dollars can drive development and scaling of CDR projects 🌱 Investment is needed now for early-stage climate solutions to mature With a philanthropic market nearing $1 trillion, directing more funds towards climate initiatives is not just necessary— Adam argues it's imperative.

So proud to back Hannah Sieber and Artyc's cool approach to electrifying the cold chain. Great article from TechCrunch!

Noya is reshaping the future of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, where its unique DAC modules will be as ubiquitous as solar panels. Here are just a few reasons why we're thrilled to support Josh Santos, Camille Richman, Christopher Kitching, Spencer Anderson, John Greenfield, and the entire Noya team: ⚡ Efficient Operations: Noya's process operates solely on electricity, eliminating emissions from traditional heat-intensive methods. 💧 Water Sustainability: They are net producers of clean water, utilizing intermittent renewables to support water-scarce regions and enhance local agricultural opportunities on underutilized land. 📍 Optimized Site Selection: Noya selects sites strategically near injection wells and water sources, ensuring minimal transportation and access to affordable, clean energy. 🔬 Innovative Technology: Their special sorbent material combines activated carbon with a proprietary capture agent, eliminating the need for expensive and energy-intensive heating equipment during CO2 regeneration. As global DAC capacity aims to scale significantly by 2030, Noya's scalable, low-emission solutions play a crucial role. Learn more at the video below! 

Extreme weather events all over the country are putting utilities to the test. Just this past month, we've seen headlines like "Historic Heatwaves Stress Power Grids Across the South," "Severe Storms Cause Widespread Outages in the Midwest," and "Wildfires in the West Disrupt Energy Infrastructure." ⛈️ In a recent conversation with Mishal Thadani, CEO and Co-founder of Rhizome, we delved into how utilities are tackling these challenges. Rhizome's AI-powered platform helps electric utilities identify vulnerabilities from climate threats, quantify risks, and measure the economic and social benefits of grid-enhancing investments. ⚡️ Mish shared insights with Cody on balancing preventive investments to avoid disaster-related outages with strategies to rapidly recover after incidents. How do you think utilities can best prepare for and respond to these extreme weather events? Share your thoughts in the comments! 💡

To build a world-class company, you need to master technical expertise, commercial acumen, and policy navigation. This Heirloom announcement from Louisiana showcases exactly that. LFG Shashank and the entire Heirloom team! 👏

This week's conversation is all about how the US is trying to onshore manufacturing of key clean energy supply chains. Our guest: Giulia Siccardo, Director of the US DOE Manufacturing & Energy Supply Chains Office (MESC) MESC was established in 2022 with the aim of strengthening and scaling America's clean energy supply chains through investments in manufacturing capacity, workforce development, and data analysis of America's supply chain vulnerabilities.  Cody and Giulia cover: 📦 History of offshore manufacturing 🇨🇳 U.S.-China tensions in clean energy manufacturing 👩🏭 AI as a blue-collar workforce generator ⛏️ Critical minerals and materials for energy transition ♻️ The formation of MESC Listen here: https://mcj.news/MESC

📣 MCJ job alert! We're looking for a talent associate to help engineer timely and high-signal connections to advance the speed of climate innovation. 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞: As a Talent Associate, you'll connect members looking for new climate opportunities with companies in our ecosystem. You'll identify great candidates for various roles and help build our network. 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: ✨ Passionate about talent and climate solutions 🚀 1-2 years of experience in talent sourcing or recruitment ⚙️ Proficient with tools like Airtable, Affinity, and LinkedIn recruiter features 🤖 Experience with AI-based tools is a bonus! Does this sound like you, or do you know someone who would be a perfect fit? Tag them in the comments! Check out the full job description here and share it with your network: https://lnkd.in/gZWa44dw

MCJ New Yorkers recently hit the ground running along the West Side Highway, capped off by a well-earned bagel breakfast! 🏃♀️ Our diverse group included first-time runners, new NYC residents, founders, financiers, and government officials. Huge thanks to our city host, Melissa Zhang, for organizing such a great event.

This week on the MCJ podcast, we’re learning from Dr. John Wagner, Director of the Idaho National Laboratory or INL. INL is one of 17 national labs in the U.S. and leads the nation in work on advanced #nuclear research. INL boasts a rich legacy in the nuclear #energy narrative, marked by its pivotal role in producing the inaugural usable electricity from nuclear sources on its premises. Dozens of reactors have been built at INL during its decades of operation. In our conversation, Cody and Dr. Wagner cover the history of INL, its key priorities, current projects under development, and Dr. Wagner’s vision for our nuclear future. Listen to the full episode at the link below! 

Most of you are aware of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) — the idea is to remove CO2 from our atmosphere to slow and reverse atmospheric warming. This article from K Young is about doing the same thing, but with methane... If we remove 400 MT (megatons) of methane from our atmosphere every year by 2040, we can hope to shave ~1ºC off peak global warming. ⬇ Dive deeper into the topic in this earlier edition of the MCJ newsletter and join the conversation in the comments.