Welcome to this episode of Hardware to Save a Planet. To mark our 50th episode, we decided to bring back a few of our earliest guests to talk about all things climate tech, and what has changed since our last chat. Erika Boeing of Accelerate Wind expands on bold new developments in turbine technology; Heirloom’s Noah McQueen shares the opening of Heirloom’s commercial direct air capture facility, and Peter Reinhardt from Charm Industrial discusses the development of mobile pyrolysis units for carbon removal and carbon negative steel production.
Join us as we explore innovative solutions in the renewable energy industry, with a focus on rooftop wind power and carbon removal. Discover why our guests are optimistic about the future. Listen in to find out how Erika, Noah, and Peter’s companies are making a positive impact on climate change while prioritizing social justice and environmental initiatives.
About our guests
Erika Boeing is a systems engineer and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Founder at Accelerate Wind, a company that aims to transform rooftop wind energy in the commercial and industrial sectors by dramatically cutting the cost of small wind turbine technologies. She used to work as a systems engineer at DRS Technologies, where she oversaw the design and development of cutting-edge new energy, water, and waste technologies.
Noah McQueen is Head of Research and Co-Founder at Heirloom, where he creates and scales up the next generation of direct air capture technology. Before joining Heirloom, Noah worked as a graduate research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Peter Reinhardt is the CEO and Founder of Charm Industrial, a company that converts carbon-rich biomass into a liquid that can then be pumped back underground for permanent storage. Prior to Charm Industrial, Peter was the CEO and Co-Founder of Segment, a SaaS customer data platform that was acquired by Twilio for $3.2 billion in 2020. Peter is also a member of the Arcadia board of directors.
The biggest milestone for us is opening the first commercial direct air capture facility in North America. It has the capacity to capture up to 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. We’re also committed to responsible direct air capture, partnering with local unions, and using renewable energy. And we’ve achieved something groundbreaking by storing CO2 from direct air capture into concrete for the first time.
— Noah McQueen, Co-Founder and Head of Innovation at Heirloom
The challenge
As the world continues to grapple with the effects of climate change, the need for effective carbon removal technologies has become more urgent than ever. Carbon removal refers to the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, mitigating its impact on global warming.
The solution
The future of carbon removal holds great promise in combating climate change. Technological innovations pioneered by Heirloom and Charm Industrial offer sustainable solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere, while Accelerate Wind looks at sustainability from a wind energy lens. By investing in carbon removal and alternate energy technologies, we can take a significant step towards a more sustainable and resilient future.
Want to learn more?
Check out the key takeaways of this episode or the transcript below. Better still, listen to the podcast!
Key highlights
- 01:32 – 15:29 – Turbine development at Accelerate Wind: Erika shares the progress of their prototype testing at Argon National Labs. She explains that their spoiler design, which captures wind on flat-top roofs and directs it to wind turbines, has performed well in testing and has withstood extreme weather conditions. Erika also discusses their evolving system and turbine design and their focus on working with solar installers for their go-to-market strategy.
- 16:42 – 27:59 – Meeting carbon removal goals at Heirloom: Although there’s an urgent need for countries to meet carbon removal goals, Noah stresses that not enough investment is being made. He says that “there’s been a lull” in the last 6 to 9 months which is partly due to unpredictable interest rates. Noah shares the significant milestones Heirloom has achieved, including opening the first commercial direct air capture facility in North America. He explains that the facility can capture up to 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and emphasizes their commitment to responsible direct air capture, such as partnering with local unions and using renewable energy. Noah also mentions their achievement of storing CO2 from direct air capture into concrete for the first time.
- 33:24 – 41:49 – The CO2 “Triple Whammy” at Charm Industrial: Peter says that Charm Industrial is currently building infrastructure to inject CO2 underground and permanently store it in geologic reservoirs. However, in the interim, they’ve been injecting CO2 in concrete. Peter says this has three benefits. One, it safely stores carbon dioxide. Two, it actually strengthens the concrete. Three, strengthening the concrete means less is manufactured, so less CO2 is produced in the concrete production process.
Podcast
Insight
