A Positive Climate
A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about the solutions to climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts and investors Nick Zeltzer and Alex McIntosh, two friends on a mission to keep our existential crises at bay. World Wide Web: www.apositiveclimate.com Say hi: hello@apositiveclimate.com Instagram: @apositiveclimatepodcast Twitter: @pstvclimate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate/
S5 E4 · Mon, January 27, 2025
Cheaper, Faster & Smarter EV Charging: How Kwetta Raised US$10.5M to Connect Millions of Vehicles to the Grid
Nick chats with Mike Lazelle and Dr Rob Turner, co-founders of Kwetta , to discuss their groundbreaking approach to electrifying heavy vehicles. Kwetta has just raised ~$18 million AUD in Series A funding from the likes of Blackbird and Virescent Ventures to address the “grid issue” for EV charging. And they’ve given us a podcast exclusive! Their innovative chargers connect directly to the high-voltage grid, providing up to 10 times more power, cutting installation times by up to 70%, and avoiding costly grid upgrades. We dive into: Why electrification is the key to near term emissions reduction Why the hardest part of electrification is no longer the vehicles or batteries - it’s getting power from the grid. How Kwetta’s technology solves grid bottlenecks while being a “good grid citizen.” How a small, world class team from Napier New Zealand (founded with CEO Dustin Murdock) is competing with global giants How much Canterbury Beer was consumed at Rob and Mike’s first meeting Kwetta is about to announce their first sites in Australia so it's good timing to bring them on! Find out more at: www.kwetta.com ** If you like the show, please subscribe/review/rate or comment. We really appreciate your support! You can sign up to our mailing list at www.apositiveclimate.com , say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us on https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate or www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast . ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology investors and experts Nick Zeltzer and Alex McIntosh . We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. The podcast charted in 2022, 2023 and 2024 as the top Australi
S5 E3 · Wed, December 11, 2024
A Positive Climate's Startup PITCHFEST 2024 (feat. ten startups!)
Nick and producer-turned-”shark” Mark hear pitches from ten up and coming Australian climate startups! Our third annual pitch episode with some incredible ~seed stage startups in the latest cohort from EnergyLab - Australia’s leading climate accelerator. Previous guests on the Pitchfest and podcast have gone on to raise hundreds of millions in capital (you can review these here ), so let's dive in to the latest group! You can also watch on YouTube here . The lineup: (02:16) Stralis Aircraft - Hydrogen-electric planes for emission-free flights (Bob Criner) (12:38) Enaxiom - Harnessing low-grade waste heat to decarbonize wastewater treatment (Tia Collings) (23:58) OptiGrid - Smarter energy management for batteries (Sahand Karimi) (33:31) GridStore Energy - Boosting solar panel output and profits (Garth Paton) (42:47) CLT Toolbox - Structural design software to accelerate timber building (Adam Jones) (53:51) Dewpoint Innovations - Novel coatings for passive cooling and atmospheric water collection (Dil Khosa) (01:02:23) X-Centric - Accurate soil data for agriculture (Roozbeh Ravansari) (01:11:22) Brownee - Empowering SMEs to thrive in a sustainable economy (Renate Crollini) (01:21:06) InfigoLabs - Decarbonizing industries with ultra-high-temperature heat solutions (Prashant Parulekar) (01:28:54) Planet Price - Quantifying the real costs of everything (Debbie O'Byrne) If you liked the pitch? Reach out! And if you didn't like the pitch, send feedback! *** As always if you don’t want to miss any eps, hit that follow button! We’d also love it if you gave us a review / rating on Apple or Spotify! It really helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at<
S5 E2 · Wed, November 27, 2024
Does Australia Need Nuclear Energy? (feat. Simon Holmes à Court)
Nick chats to Simon Holmes à Court about nuclear energy in Australia. “When are you covering nuclear?” is one of the most common questions we’ve received from APC listeners. So we finally went there. And it was great to have Simon on to explore it all before we go back to our startup roots next episode with our THIRD pitch fest. (00:00) Intro (03:55) What people get wrong about nuclear (05:38) Simon’s background (07:27) Global Nuclear Energy Landscape (15:03) Safety Concerns (20:23) Waste (26:10) Construction Time (32:39) Cost and Generation Profile (39:21) Flexibility (40:48) Economics (50:02) Political and Regulatory Challenges (01:00:42) Uncomfortable Questions To ultimately answer the question: does Australia need nuclear energy? There was so much to cover we didn’t have time to explore all the questions, including the role of AI and covering the next 15 of the transition in more detail. Excuses for new episodes! ** If you like the show, please subscribe/review/rate or comment. We really appreciate your support! You can sign up to our mailing list at www.apositiveclimate.com , say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us on https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate or www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast . ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology investors and experts Nick Zeltzer and Alex McIntosh . We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. The podcast rated in 2022 and 2023 as the top Australian made podcast in Apple’s Technology podcast charts. Previous guests have included innovators and technologists from JET Charge, Goterra, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AM
S5 E1 · Wed, November 13, 2024
Will Our Cars Power Our Homes?
Nick chats to Tim Washington from JET Charge about using electric vehicles as batteries for our homes. Vehicle to grid technology could transform not one but *two* trillion dollar industries in energy and transport. All while paving the way to materially reduce carbon emissions and costs. It is simple enough but does it work? When will consumers have it? What impacts will it have? And what is it like running a startup with your wife? Thanks to Ellen Liang who also hopped on the mic! You can enjoy this episode here or in full HD on Youtube . (00:00) Teaser (00:38) Introduction (05:23) Australian EV Uptake Check-in (11:00) Australian EV Charging Check-in (13:46) How does Vehicle to Grid work? (23:46) Consumer Perspectives (29:54) Economics (38:31) Challenges for Energy Retailers (54:15) When Your Co-founder Is Your Spouse (59:23) Uncomfortable Questions ** If you like the show, please subscribe/review/rate or comment. We really appreciate your support! You can sign up to our mailing list at www.apositiveclimate.com , say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us on https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate or www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast . ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology investors and experts Nick Zeltzer and Alex McIntosh . We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. The podcast rated in 2022 and 2023 as the top Australian made podcast in Apple’s Technology podcast charts. Previous guests have included innovators and technologists from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the la
S4 E10 · Mon, October 30, 2023
A Positive Climate #Wrapped 2023
That’s a wrap! It's our annual review episode, with Alex and Nick covering all the climate technology news from 2023. The hottest year on record brings a reminder that we need to be doubling down on the right solutions, so we hope you enjoy our reflections about what we think matters. Thanks again to all you listening out there! It’s been a big year for us - where we hit the Top 5 in tech podcasts ( in Malawi ) - and we’ve loved hearing from many of you throughout the season. Chapters (00:00) Intro (01:20) We announce the Pitch Fest Winner! (02:23) Our Years Reviewed (05:32) Large Scale Solar, Batteries and Global Developments (including Alex’s strange love of steel mills) (21:32) Nuclear Energy (!) (27:55) APC Season Portfolio Review (38:41) BIG PREDICTIONS Companies mentioned: Microtau, All G Foods, Samsara, Uluu, Novalith, SunDrive, Jolt Charge, Infravision, Nourish Ingredients, Goterra, Antora Energy, ahem Positive Ventures, JET Charge, Sicona, AMSL Aero, Renewable Metals, SeaForest, GridMo, Hysata, MGA Thermal, Eku Energy, Akaysha Energy, Zenobe, Raygen, Vast Solar, ThyssenKrupp, NuScale, and the EV company formerly known as “Build Your Dreams” See you next year! *** As always if you don’t want to miss any eps, hit that follow button! We’d also love it if you gave us a review / rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Previous guests have included innovators from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, All G Foods, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Social Media, Comms and PR by Alistair Perkins
S4 E9 · Mon, October 16, 2023
Startup Pitch Competition w/ TEN Australian Climate Tech Startups
Nick and Alex hear pitches from ten up and coming Australian startups working on climate solutions! *Vote HERE * We’re back with our second pitchfest episode! And again teaming up with EnergyLab’s accelerator program, but this time it’s different - there will be a winner decided by YOU ! We’ve secured some awesome prizes that will go to the People’s Choice startup. G+T Ventures , the startup arm Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin has donated a full day legal workshop to prepare a startup for their next fundraising round. Cake Equity - an Australian software platform that helps startups manage their equity and stock options in minutes - has donated free access, premium support and mentoring. And there’s more prizes! Each startup gets a 60 second free pitch then there’s some Q&A from us to better understand their unique solution and opportunity. All the startups are listed below and don’t forget to vote for the People’s Choice! Voting will close on Friday October 27. The lineup (00:00) Intro Alex and Nick (04:09) Renewable Metals - Turning Battery Waste into Battery Metals (Luan Atkinson) (10:09) Pyrochar - Biochar for Green Steelmaking (Cameron Bell) (17:06) Dovetail - Zero emission electric aviation (David Doral) (23:37) Orkestra - Energy project feasibility just got easy, accurate and fast (James Allston) (31:42) Tasmanion - Developing new aluminium-ion battery technologies (Shalini Divya) (36:21) Elecsome - Solar panel recycling, reusing and upcycling (Neeraj Das) (43:54) Savic - Australia’s premium high-performance electric motorcycle company (Dennis Savic) (53:16) Emmi - The platform to help investors assess the carbon impact of their portfolio (Michael Lebbon) (61:13) Bygen - Low cost production of activated carbon from waste (Lewis Dunnigan) (66:34) Perl Street - Enables distributed infrastructure companies to sell more, raise more and manage more (Tooraj Arvajeh) We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). You can hear last year's episode here . *** As always if you don’t want to miss any eps, hit that follow button! We’d also love it if you gave us a review / rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.co
S4 E8 · Mon, October 02, 2023
How The USA Is Changing The Game (feat. Sicona)
This week Alex is away so Nick is let loose on the podcast! Nick chats to Christiaan Jordaan , CEO and founder of Sicona . Sound familiar? We interviewed Christiaan in back November 2021 in one of our all-time listener favourite episodes: " Australia's Role in the Battery Revolution ". Since then Sicona has come a long way! Fresh off their recent $22m funding round for their battery technology we thought we'd cover the big issues since our previous chat: How the US Inflation Reduction Act has changed the game for climate startups (2:05) How Australia should respond (9:11) How the rise of Artificial Intelligence has affected climate startups like Sicona (12:29) Christiaan's HOTTEST TAKES on venture capital and funding climate solutions (15:38); and The inside scoop on Christiaan's recent funding round (21:28) In case you missed our last episode with Christiaan, here's a quick recap on Christiaan and his business (or you can have a a listen here ) Sicona aims to revolutionise the battery world by improving battery efficiency with their unique anode materials, a technology that can be used with existing lithium ion batteries. Christiaan is also the co-founder of Novalith, a company that uses carbon dioxide as a reagent in extracting lithium. We have an episode featuring Novalith where we spoke to his Co-founder Steven Vassiloudis. We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). *** As always if you don’t want to miss any eps, hit that follow button! We’d also love it if you gave us a review / rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.li
S4 E7 · Mon, September 18, 2023
Jolting Australia’s Electric Vehicle Industry (feat. Jolt Charge)
We chat to Doug Mcnamee from Jolt Charge , an Australian electric vehicle charging business that has raised $100million from Blackrock (the world's largest money manager). EV uptake in Australia is on a charge! When we recorded our first EV episode in 2021, they comprised less than 0.5% of total sales. In the first half of 2023 this number was up to 8%. So while EVs are just one part of decarbonising how we move, the signs are promising. We enjoyed chatting with Doug about the future of transportation, whether Australia is out of the EV doldrums and what makes Jolt Charge different. We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). *** As always if you don’t want to miss any eps, hit that follow button! We’d also love it if you gave us a review / rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Previous guests have included innovators from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, All G Foods, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Social Media, Comms and PR by Alistair Perkins See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S4 E6 · Mon, September 04, 2023
Made In Australia: SunDrive is Leading Our Next Solar Revolution
We chat with Vince Allen from SunDrive , a Sydney-based startup on a mission to transform Australia into a solar manufacturing powerhouse. In 2021, SunDrive made headlines by developing the world's most efficient commercial-sized solar cell. Not only that - by swapping silver with copper as the conductive material their products could be lower cost too. With over $30 million in funding from high-profile investors like Blackbird, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Main Sequence Ventures, Malcolm Turnbull, and CEFC/Virescent Ventures, they're a force to be reckoned with. We loved this chat and especially Vince's love of solar, passion for Australia's great opportunity and also his toast analogy to explain how a solar panel actually works. We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). ** Don't miss out on future episodes—hit that follow button! Your reviews and ratings on Apple and Spotify really help us reach more listeners, so we'd love your support. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . ** Chapters (00:00) Intro : Nick and Alex set the scene (Bonus: Nick's Rant) (6:17) The Unstoppable March of Solar Energy (10:34) The SunDrive Origin Story, Vince's Love Affair with Solar (14:27) The Toast Analogy: Where SunDrive Fits in the Solar Ecosystem (23:49) What's Next for SunDrive (25:49) Making the Case for Australian Solar Manufacturing (31:39) Australia's Competitive Edge in Solar (39:01) The Transformative Potential of Low-Cost Solar *** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Previous guests have included innovators from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, All G Foods, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver </p
S4 E5 · Mon, August 21, 2023
Lithium: Can We Extract It Sustainably? (feat. Novalith)
Do we have enough lithium for all the batteries we’ll need for a low carbon future? What is the impact of lithium extraction on the planet? And can we do it in a more sustainable way? Nick and Alex chat with Steven Vassiloudis of Novalith , a Sydney startup that can extract lithium in a way that not only reduces emissions but also the amount of chemicals used in the process. We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). ** As always if you don’t want to miss any episodes, hit that follow button! We’d also love it if you gave us a review / rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Previous guests have included innovators from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, All G Foods, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Social Media, Comms and PR by Alistair Perkins See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S4 E4 · Mon, August 07, 2023
Turning Seaweed Into Plastic (feat. Uluu)
Nick and Alex chat with Julia Reisser of Uluu , a startup based in Western Australia creating biodegradable plastic made from seaweed. This is episode two of our PLASTIC DOUBLE HEADER, this time tackling the plastic problem from the very source - the production! Plastic is a very real problem we need to address and unfortunately, given the way we currently live our lives it's not going anywhere fast. We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). ** If you enjoyed this episode, remember to check out the first in our plastic DOUBLE HEADER with Samsara Eco - a Canberra based startup with unique technology that can allow plastic to become infinitely recyclable. As always if you don’t want to miss any eps, hit that subscribe button! We’d also love it if you gave us a rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . We are proudly supported by Bank Australia (www.bankaust.com). ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Previous guests have included innovators from JET Charge, 5B, Samsara Eco, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, All G Foods, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Social Media, Comms and PR by Alistair Perkins See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S4 E3 · Mon, July 24, 2023
Infinite Plastic Recycling with Samsara Eco
Is Samsara Eco Australia’s most exciting climate startup? With enzymes that literally eat plastic, it’s hard to disagree! Nick and Alex chat with Paul Riley of Samsara Eco , a Canberra based company that has raised ~$60 million to tackle one of the biggest problems of all: plastic recycling. It’s a tangible, challenging and very current problem in Australia, so we loved diving into all the issues with Paul, understanding more about how the technology works and how Samsara Eco is positioned to be a global leader. ** This is our plastic DOUBLE HEADER and in two weeks time will have another hugely exciting Aussie startup tacking the problem in a very different way! So if you don’t want to miss it, subscribe away! We’d also love it if you gave us a rating on Apple or Spotify! It helps other listeners find us. You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). ** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Previous guests have included innovators from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, All G Foods, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Social Media, Comms and PR by Alistair Perkins See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S4 E2 · Mon, July 10, 2023
Dairy Without The Cow (feat. All G Foods)
Stop The Burps! Nick and Alex have a chat about using less dairy. We then interview Jan Pacas of All G Foods - a Sydney-based company which has raised A$50 million to spearhead a global revolution to create real dairy, without the cows or the emissions (8:00) The technology is called precision fermentation and it could soon enough upend the $1 trillion dairy industry. ** If you enjoy the show, we’d love it if you subscribed and/or gave us a review on Apple or Spotify! It really helps other listeners find us. Sign up to our mailing list via our website , say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn . We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. If you’re passionate about the latest sustainable technology, the environment, or are just keen to know more about what’s going on in Australia to tackle climate change, this podcast is for you. Previous guests have included legends from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori, EnergyLab, MicroTau and many more. Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Social Media, Comms and PR by Alistair Perkins See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S4 E1 · Mon, June 26, 2023
Making Aviation More Sustainable...With Shark Skin (feat. MicroTau)
We speak to Henry Bilinsky from MicroTau . The Sydney-based startup’s shark skin technology applied to planes has the potential to improve the efficiency of aviation by up to 10%, meanwhile saving airlines up to $61 billion a year on fuel. ** If you enjoy the show, subscribe and give us a rating on Apple or Spotify! You can sign up to our mailing list, say hello@apositiveclimate.com or follow us at www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast and https://au.linkedin.com/company/a-positive-climate . We are proudly supported by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). ** In Australia we love flying and given our vast and isolated land, we often NEED to fly. While there are a number of options to get to zero carbon transport, many of these solutions may take decades for mass adoption. This includes technologies like battery or hydrogen powered planes (which we covered on our episode with AMSL Aero) or even sustainable aviation fuel. But in the meantime, we have to pursue anything and everything that can increase the efficiency of aviation. This is where MicroTau’s shark-skin comes in. In this episode we cover: The challenges of decarbonising long haul transport; How Henry came up with the idea; How the US Airforce got involved with the idea; Sharks on a plane you say? How does this actually work; and How the technology could be applied to other forms of transport About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. If you’re passionate about the latest sustainable technology, the environment, or are just keen to know more about what’s going on in Australia to tackle climate change, this podcast is for you. Previous guests have included innovators and technologists from JET Charge, 5B, Amaz
Trailer · Wed, June 21, 2023
Season 4 Trailer: The Australian Startup Season!
We’re BACK with our best season yet! Launched on 27 June 2023, we'll release interviews fortnightly, speaking with Australia’s very best startups in the global climate transition. They’ve got game changing sustainable technology. They’ve raised hundreds of millions of dollars. And they’re ready to turn the world’s biggest problem into Australia’s great opportunity. Low carbon aviation. Cow free dairy. Sustainable lithium mining. Plastic recycling. Next generation solar. The future of EV charging. And much more. Join us to learn more from leaders building what could be billion dollar businesses. Press “Follow” in your podcast app of choice, share with your friends and follow along with us on LinkedIn, Instagram or via our mailing list at www.apositiveclimate.com This season is brought to you by Bank Australia ( www.bankaust.com.au ). If you're a long time fan of the show we'd love it if you spread the word About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. Previous guests have included innovators and technologists from JET Charge, 5B, Amazon, Zoomo, V2Food, Vow, Sea Forest, Great Wrap, Infravision, Zero Co, Hysata, Sicona, OneSmallStep, Tenacious Ventures, CarsGuide, AMSL Aero, Nori and many more. If you’re passionate about the latest sustainable technology, the environment, or are just keen to know more about what’s going on in Australia to tackle climate change, this podcast is for you! Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S3 E10 · Mon, October 31, 2022
A Positive Climate #Wrapped: 2022 in Review with Alex and Nick
Alex and Nick wrap up 2022 and the end of season three with a wide ranging chat including an update on the international race to decarbonise, trends in cleantech, a check-in on our BIG predictions and our plans to bring you even more great episodes in 2023. We cover a lot on this episode: How the narrative around decarbonisation has changed in the last 12 months - "The electric bus is leaving the station and you best get on it" International developments: What are other countries doing to incentive change? Trends in the Australian cleantech sector for 2022 A check-in on our BIG predictions and if we still believe in them Our pick of cleantech deal of the year 2023 season plans: Showcasing the best Aussie cleantech startups Alex also briefly talks about a startup growing mammary glands and Nick discusses why shark skin on planes is the future. It's been a huge year and we couldn’t be more proud of the growth of this little podcast in such a short space of time. A HUGE thank you to all our loyal listeners for your continued support. We look forward to bringing you even more great episodes in 2023! About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by leading Australian climate technology experts and investors Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. A Positive Climate recently charted as the #1 locally produced podcast in the Australian Technology charts for both Apple and Spotify. Look out for our prior episodes of optimistic content covering everything from: hydrogen, lithium mining, plant-based and cell-based meats, electric vehicles, drones, cryptocurrency, solar energy, seaweed, electric bikes, edible waste-eating maggots, and much more. You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us a comment at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins See <a href="https://omnystudio.
S3 E9 · Mon, October 17, 2022
A Positive Climate’s Startup PITCHFEST (feat. EnergyLab’s climate cohort)
Nick and Alex hear pitches from TEN of Australia’s up and coming climate startups! This episode brings you something a bit different. We’ve partnered with our friends at EnergyLab (Australia’s leading climate solutions accelerator) to hold a pitch speed round featuring their most recent startup cohort. The rules: A 60 second opening free pitch and 10 minutes max for each startup. That’s it! If you want to help the startups get in touch with them via the links below AND if you enjoyed the episode we’d love it if you submitted a review on Apple Podcasts . The startups (drumroll!) Conrytech (3:19) - Reinventing Airconditioning (Sam Ringwaldt) Allegro Energy (11:25) - Long Duration Redox Flow Energy Storage (Fraser Hughson) Acacia (17:43) - The Sustainable Personal Finance Platform (Anil Sagaram) Raaise (25:59) - The Platform Powering Climate Startups (Amy Carter-James) National Renewable Network (34:50)- Solar + Battery Solutions at No Upfront Cost (Alan Hunter) Farmbot (43:08) - Remote Water Management Made Easy (Andrew Coppin) Solstice AI (51:02) - Intelligent Solar Forecasting (Julian De Hoog) ValAi (59:36)- Unlocking Sustainable Buildings (Allys Todd) Ecojoule Energy (1:10:00) - Enhancing the Grid for Renewables (Mike Wishart) Economical Energy (1:15:46) - The VIPER: Gravity Based Energy Storage (Matthew Forest) About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by leading Australian climate technology experts and investors Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. A Positive Climate recently charted as the #1 locally produced podcast in the Australian Technology charts for both Apple and Spotify. Look out for our prior episodes of optimistic content covering everything from: hydrogen, lithium mining, plant-based and cell-based meats, electric vehicles, drones, cryptocurrency, solar energy, seaweed, electric bikes, edible waste-eating maggots, and much more. You can also follow us: on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/apositive
S3 E8 · Mon, October 03, 2022
Building Sustainably: Making Carbon Neutral Homes and Buildings
We chat to Liam Wallis, Founding Director of Hip v Hype a leading sustainable property developer based in Melbourne about the built environment and how we can make our homes and buildings carbon neutral. In our chat with Liam we cover: What goes into creating a sustainable building - what matters the most? How do builders or developers consider designing for sustainability not just in the construction phase but also for the entire life of the building? What innovative building materials are emerging? How much of an impact can energy efficiency measures really have? The green premium of building sustainably - Are customers willing to pay? What will our homes and workplaces look like in the future? More Links! More info on the Ferrars & York development here . How to support If you enjoyed the show we’d love your support with a rating/review on Spotify or Apple . You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us a comment at hello@apositiveclimate.com About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by leading Australian climate technology experts and investors Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Look out for our prior episodes of optimistic content covering everything from: hydrogen, lithium mining, plant-based and cell-based meats, electric vehicles, drones, cryptocurrency, solar energy, seaweed, electric bikes, edible waste-eating maggots, and much more. If you’re passionate about the environment, the latest clean technology or just want to know how to get involved in the movement, this podcast is for you! Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spen
S3 E7 · Mon, September 26, 2022
Removing Carbon from the Atmosphere to Reverse Climate Change (feat. Nori)
We chat to Paul Gambill from Nori about their carbon removal marketplace using blockchain technology. This is the second episode in our two-part series about whether crypto and blockchain can be a positive force for addressing climate change. In this one we cover: The role of (and challenges with) carbon offsets Carbon avoidance offsets vs carbon removal Nori’s carbon removal marketplace and the Nori token How Nori can help put a price on carbon The energy intensity dilemma of blockchain to date Regenerative Finance The curious world of seasteading More Links! A simple explainer of Nori via their whitepaper A fantastic overview on Youtube of “ How Offsets Work ” by Paul A collation of all the startups in the “Refi” space progressing blockchain enabled climate solutions www.Refidao.com How to support If you enjoyed the show we’d love your support with a rating/review on Spotify or Apple . You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us a comment at hello@apositiveclimate.com About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by leading Australian climate technology experts and investors Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Look out for our prior episodes of optimistic content covering everything from: hydrogen, lithium mining, plant-based and cell-based meats, electric vehicles, drones, cryptocurrency, solar energy, seaweed, electric bikes, edible waste-eating maggots, and much more. If you’re passionate about the environment, the latest clean technology or just want to know how to get involved in the movement, this podcast is for you! Music by the late, great <a href="https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/
S3 E6 · Mon, September 19, 2022
Crypto and Climate: Can Blockchain be a Force for Good?
Nick and Alex chat about the impact of crypto and blockchain on climate. Is crypto accelerating climate change or can it be a force for good? Hot off the heels of “the Ethereum Merge” we cover the following in this ep: What is cryptocurrency? What is blockchain? Why can crypto be so energy intensive? Can it be improved? Bitcoin and Ethereum (including the Ethereum Merge) Dogecoin, GarlicCoin, OnionCoin and Dentacoin Regenerative Finance Offsets, Peer to Peer Energy Trading; and Attempts at nuance This episode is intended to be a primer ahead of our next episode that dives a little deeper on how blockchain can be used to address climate change, with a company called Nori, so look out for that one! P.s. if you notice some slight whirring halfway through when Nick is speaking, it’s a big “we love Australia moment” - it’s not your headphones but CRICKETS outside Nick’s window. How to support If you enjoyed the show we’d love your support with a rating/review on Spotify or Apple . Or hey, why not share it with that crypto friend that has gone real deep into the crypto cave. We all have one. You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us a comment at hello@apositiveclimate.com About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An entertaining look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by leading Australian climate technology experts and investors Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. Look out for our prior episodes of optimistic content covering everything from: hydrogen, lithium mining, plant-based and cell-based meats, electric vehicles, drones, cryptocurrency, solar energy, seaweed, electric bikes, edible waste-eating maggots, and much more. If you’re passionate about the environment, the latest clean technology or just want to know how to get involved in the movement, this podcast is for you! Music by the late, great <a href="https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/dee
S3 E5 · Mon, September 05, 2022
Night-time Solar: can we create Electricity in the Dark?
Nick and Alex chat to Ned Ekins-Daukes from UNSW about their breakthrough to create solar energy in the dark. This is a wide ranging chat about how solar panels could generate all of Australia's electricity at night, where climate solutions come from, the role of UNSW and universities in creating them, the legend of Martin Green, how to commercialise early stage technology, and a little lesson on the correct way to pronounce “solar photovoltaic”. ** Hey! Can we ask a fave? If you are enjoying the pod, we’d love it if you subscribed and gave us a rating/review on Apple or Spotify! It really helps the show. You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us a comment at hello@apositiveclimate.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S3 E4 · Mon, August 22, 2022
Solar Panel Recycling: Big Problem or Massive Opportunity? (feat. PV Industries)
We chat to Tim Dawson, the founder of PV industries, an Australian startup on a mission to recycle solar panels (and soon, batteries too!). In Australia we have A LOT of solar! Currently over 3 million (or 1 in 3) households have solar. Australia has over 25 GW of solar capacity now installed which on a per person basis is 1kw per person, 30% greater than any other country. But what will happen to all these solar panels once they reach the end of their life? ** If you enjoy the show, we’d love it if you subscribed and gave us a rating on Apple or Spotify! You can also follow us: on www.instagram.com/apositiveclimatepodcast , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us a comment at hello@apositiveclimate.com ** Tim Dawson, co-founder and CEO of PV Industries is on a mission to ensure that solar panels can be 100% recycled. PV Industries has created a recycling line that can pull apart a solar panel into its raw components and then sell them to various industries for reuse. In the episode we cover: How Tim and his co-founders started the business What happens to solar panels at the moment once they stop working The key inputs to a solar panel and those that are the most valuable to recover The future of solar, solar recycling and what other industries might need to consider either recycling or a whole reinvention of their mode of doing business Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic If you liked the sound of Tim’s description of an “Emu Parade”, you can follow along here Solar recycling: has anyone worked out how to do it yet ? And... if the circular economy gets you going, you should speak to Cam Kaufman About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay.
S3 E3 · Mon, August 08, 2022
Hydrogen: how Aussie startup Hysata is leading the hydrogen revolution
Alex provides a primer on hydrogen's role in our future clean economy and then we interview Tom Campey from Hysata (11:21) an Australian startup with a breakthrough electrolyser technology. ** If you enjoy the show, subscribe! We'd love it if you gave us a rating on Apple or Spotify! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or send us some comments at hello@apositiveclimate.com ** Hydrogen gets a lot of hype in the media as a future technology, the “swiss army knife” for a decarbonised future. This week we chat with Tom Campey , Chief Commercial Officer from Hysata - a startup based out of Wollongong in Australia that has created the world's most efficient electrolyser technology (from the University of Wollongong). In the episode we cover: The basics of hydrogen - from our own hydrogen expert, Alex McIntosh The role of hydrogen - where will it win? How an electrolyser works How the Hysata electrolyser is a gamer changer, their journey to date and how they intend to commericalise their technology When will hydrogen become commercial? Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic Hysata’s article in Nature Michael Liebrich’s hydrogen ladder A video explainer of the Hysata technology About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. If you’re passionate about the environment, the latest clean technology or just want to know how to get involved in the mo
S3 E2 · Mon, July 25, 2022
The Australian Guide to Electric Vehicles (feat. CarsGuide)
Tom White from CarsGuide presents the state of play for electric vehicles in Australia. Tom has a very cool job! He gets to drive and review all the latest electric vehicles that are coming to Australia. He also recently released the EVGuide Report for all the latest stats, facts and figures on Electric Vehicles So what better person to chat to (after our Season 1 chat to Tim Washington) to focus on where things are at for EVs including: What are the top selling models currently? What are the coolest new releases? How and WHEN Australians can get their hands on the latest models? Answers to key questions on range, recharging, vehicle to grid, how long EVs last for, when we’ll see a second hard market and much more The FUTURE of electric passenger transport (and will it involve hydrogen?) ** If you enjoy the show, subscribe ! You can also follow us: on Instagram , LinkedIn , Twitter , or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com ** Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic CarsGuide’s EV reviews Some of the Aussie companies mentioned in the show JET Charge Chargefox JOLT Re:Start Relectrify Nick’s favourite looking EV model - the Totem Automobili About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made fro
S3 E1 · Mon, July 11, 2022
Reducing your personal carbon footprint (feat. One Small Step)
Lily Dempster from One Small Step chats to us about how to address your personal carbon footprint. Welcome to Season THREE of A Positive Climate! We’re excited to have a new season of another ten episodes, released fortnightly on Tuesdays in Australia. HIT THE FOLLOW / SUBSCRIBE button in your podcast app One Small Step is a mobile app that aims to be your personal sustainability coach. It provides you with tailored programs to help you cut your carbon footprint. It uses behavioural science to make green living simple, easy and fun. Lily has just moved over to the US to continue to scale the business. Give it a download! We wanted to bring Lily on not only to share what you can do but also how we should think about what to do. Should we feel guilty when we forget our keep cups? Should we procreate? The big questions! We cover a lot on this episode including: Tips and tricks to have less of an impact on the environment and climate Whether consumers can truly impact the needle on carbon emissions compared to big business The biggest sources of personal emissions Australia’s (unwanted) place near the top of the global carbon emitter leaderboard Carbon offsetting and donating to climate charities A speed round of submitted questions to Lily from our audience! If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic https://founderspledge.com/stories/climate-and-lifestyle-report About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and
S2 E9 · Mon, December 13, 2021
A Positive Climate #Wrapped: 2021 in Review with Alex and Nick
Alex and Nick wrap up 2021 and the end of our second season with a wide ranging chat: the current state of cleantech, some BOLD predictions about the future, the zaniest climate solutions of 2021 and what we’re excited about for 2022! We cover a lot on this episode: Australia’s opportunity to be a renewable energy superpower; the hydrogen economy; when we might get to high levels of EV uptake; what our dinner plates might look like in 2025; Our favourite moments of Season 1 and 2; Cleantech startup success stories from 2021; and the positive mood at the end of the year around Australian cleantech startups. Alex also briefly talks about cows urinating and Nick covers bees offering pollination as a service. It's been a huge year and we couldn’t be more proud of the growth of this little podcast in such a short space of time. A HUGE thank you to all our loyal listeners for your continued support. We look forward to bringing you even more great episodes in 2022! If you know any amazing companies we should profile in 2022 send us an email via hello@apositiveclimate.com . *** If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins *** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay.<
S2 E8 · Mon, December 06, 2021
E-bikes: the electric vehicle transforming our cities (feat. Zoomo)
Zoomo ’s Mina Nada chats to Nick and Alex about the role of electric bikes in the future of our cities. Electric vehicles are a key pillar of our shift to zero carbon transportation. And when we hear the words "electric vehicles" most of us think about cars. But what about e-bikes? In the US for example they outsold cars by over 2 to 1 last year! And they are growing at 16 times faster than general cycling. We wanted to feature ebikes because the reality is they’re not replacing walking or the humble push-bike - they’re replacing trips commonly made by cars and even trucks. And it’s because they’re up to 60% faster at getting you what you need . So there’s a good chance your delivered pad-thai came to you on an e-bike and a really good chance it came to you on a Zoomo bike. Zoomo is riding a number of waves: electrification, the rise of the gig economy and consumers LOVE of on-demand products. The waves are so large that they just raised a A$80m funding round to continue to expand their business globally. Their co-founders recently won the TrailBlazer Award at the 2021 Young Entrepreneur Awards so we were lucky to have their CEO Mina Nada to chat e-bikes. In this episode we cover: The role of e-bikes in addressing the zero carbon transportation challenge What is driving the explosion of e-bike usage around the world An e-bikes for dummies speed round (costs, charging times, range, theft) Why Zoomo is unique and why the bikes are flying off the shelves How Australia can go about creating a bike culture Oh and if you listen to this and think - “Geez I wish i knew more about the batteries powering transportation”- we have an episode for that too! *** If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great <a href="https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/deep-sea-arcade-co-founder-nick-weaver-dies
S2 E7 · Mon, November 22, 2021
Australia's Role in the Battery Revolution (feat. Sicona)
Christaan Jordaan of Sicona and Novalith talks to us about Australia’s great opportunity in batteries. Yes, the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. But there’s lots of technologies for those in between times - some are old, some are new but all of them are getting much much better. Pumped hydro, hydrogen, thermal storage and of course, BATTERIES. Batteries are getting cheaper, more efficient and more omnipresent. But where will all the materials come from and what role can Australia play? Nick and Alex chatted to Christiaan who is involved in not one but TWO impressive Australian startups targeting this huge economic opportunity. The first Sicona, is innovating within the battery, helping to improve the efficiency via unique anode materials. The other is Novalith, which is commercialising a technology to make the extraction of lithium - a key battery material - more efficient and more environmentally friendly. We cover a lot in this episode including: The role of batteries in addressing climate change Christiaan’s unique perspective on the industry (having worked at one stage in a graphite mine in Mozambique) The key materials in the battery supply chain and where they come from The exciting opportunity for both Sicona and Novalith Some of the inspiring international companies innovating in battery technology *** Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic A TED-talk primer on how batteries work *** If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins *** A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandracmcintosh/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.
S2 E6 · Mon, November 15, 2021
Fashion, but make it sustainable! (feat. Good on You)
Gordon Renouf from Good On You , chats to us about sustainable fashion. We all want to look good and stay up with the latest trends but how do we do this in a sustainable and ethical way? It's an area definitely worth solving as the global apparel industry accounts for an estimated 8% of emissions! That’s on par with the steel sector. It's a complex topic and one that is so confusing. Thankfully Gordon and his co-founder Sandra Capponi started Good on You, the #1 sustainability ratings platform for fashion brands. It independently rates brands and gives you an easy to understand overview of their supply chain sustainability and ethics. In this episode we cover: The challenges of the fashion industry to decarbonise Top tips for ensuring your fashion habits are more sustainable: hint - it’s just buying what you need Why Sydney’s love of linen might make it a more sustainable city than Melbourne Whether or not sustainable fashion is a class issue New types of emerging materials: like leather that’s made from mushrooms! This a topic we want to learn more about so if you know any amazing brands doing great things send us an email at hello@apositiveclimate.com *** Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic This Vogue article outlines some of the awesome companies doing work in leather alternatives. The 5 R’s of Fashion: Reduce, Rewear, Recycle, Repair and Resell Good on You "Made From" article series also touches on alternative sustainable fabrics. What to do about microfibres in your clothing. Also, you might want to check out some other great sustainable fashion podcasts including The Wardrobe Crisis with Clare Press and the Sustainable Fashion Forum . *** If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn o
S2 E5 · Mon, November 08, 2021
How will Amazon get to net zero emissions?
Charley Daitch from Amazon Web Services (AWS) joins us to talk about the work he’s doing in renewable energy and how Amazon will get to net zero emissions by 2040. Amazon is one of the world’s largest and best known brands. Their operations are both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You see the website, the streaming service, the Kindles and the packages but what you don’t see are the logistics warehouses, their share of global shipping and their hosting of the web on AWS. It is a sprawling business with as many employees as the city of Adelaide. And for a business that big it begs the question: how on earth are they going to decarbonise? We thought it was a fascinating question to ponder in the week of COP26 as many countries were committing to net zero targets. Charley Daitch leads AWS’s Energy team and we spoke to him about a number of topics: How Amazon thinks about the climate challenge as a business Their shift to being the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world Their involvement in the Climate Pledge : an initiative that has galvanised over 200 corporates (responsible for almost 6% of global emissions) to reach Net Zero by 2040 Their investment in Rivian - an extremely awesome electric vehicle business. We want one (or at least we want one of their staff on the podcast, call us!) Their efforts across aviation, transport, cardboard boxes, data centres and especially, Charley’s area of expertise, energy We think there are really positive signs of leadership but challenges ahead as there will be for all countries in reaching net zero. While Amazon’s carbon emission intensity (i.e. emissions per dollar of revenue) was down 16% last year its total emissions were still up 19% due to increased sales volume. The struggle of a booming business! You can read all about their stats and strategies here . *** Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic The Amazon Climate Fund’s recent investment in ZeroAvia , a zero emission aviation business *** If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter
S2 E4 · Mon, November 01, 2021
Sea Forest's seaweed to stop cows burping
Today’s episode with Sam Elsom from Sea Forest continues our discussion on sustainable protein - can we have our steak and eat it too? We all know that our obsession with meat is not sustainable. The livestock sector accounts for around 15% of all emissions and in Australia alone we eat 120kg of meat per person per annum (the equivalent of eating Dwayne the Rock Johnson in steaks and sausages)! So far we’ve discussed plant based meat with Nick Hazell from V2Foods and cultured meat with the co-founders of Vow but what about carbon neutral steaks? Sam Elsom from Sea Forest grows a unique type of seaweed called asparagopsis. It’s native to Australia and an Australian researcher, Professor Rocky De Nys discovered that when you feed it to ruminants (i.e. cows, sheep and even giraffes!) it eliminates the methane they emit when burping. In this episode we cover: How we discovered that seaweed can actually stop cows burping How the seaweed supplement is fed to the cows, do they like it and does it have any impacts on their health? How asparagopsis could result in a carbon neutral steak future Why Sam went from working in fashion for some leading brands to now running a seaweed business in beautiful Tasmania, Australia Sam is super passionate about this sector and rightly so - if just 10% of the world’s livestock producers adopted the technology we’ll be talking about today, that would be like taking 100 million cars off the road. If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com *** Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins *** If you’re interested in the topic If you loved this episode check out our previous episodes with plant based meat company V2Foods
S2 E3 · Mon, October 25, 2021
Great Wrap: Making Cling Wrap Great Again
Julia Kay, co-founder of Great Wrap chats to us about how we can make cling wrap GREAT again! Great Wrap has created Australia's first certified compostable cling wrap - it’s not only made from food waste but it also contains zero plastic. Great Wrap makes residential wrap (the sandwich wrapping kind), catering wrap and pallet wrap (the stuff heaps of things get wrapped in for transport). You might think cling wrap is a niche issue but we use 150,000 tonnes of cling wrap per year in Australia alone - which is crazy when you think about how light cling wrap is. Soon the technology will be expanded to replace other plastics so we can stop adding to the 9 billion tonnes of the stuff that’s been created throughout history, which is sadly all still here on earth! Julia, together with her husband Jordy Kay, have created a business that cleverly blends their respective backgrounds, a strong passion for design and an even bigger passion for creating a sustainable product. In this episode we cover: The plastic problem: how one of our most convenient creations is also one of our most harmful The Great Wrap production method and how they create cling wrap from food waste Julia and Jordy’s future plans for Great Wrap - which include expanding into the US and ultimately looking to expand into replacing other plastic items in our grocery stores Inspiring innovations happening all across the world to reduce our reliance on plastic We left this conversation feeling uplifted and positive about the future of cling wrap and we hope you do too! If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com *** Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins *** Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic You can learn more about the history of plastic via this video *** About the podcast A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technolo
S2 E2 · Mon, October 18, 2021
Drones to string together the clean energy transition (feat. Infravision)
Cameron Van Der Berg from Infravision explains how can drones help us tackle climate change. As the world transitions to 100% renewable energy we are going to need a whole lot more electricity transmission. Historically fossil fuel generators have always been located in centralised locations closer to central loads or cities. However, if our grid is 100% clean the generation mix is likely to be far more dispersed. While you’ll ideally have solar on your roof, the large solar farms will be located in the places with the best sun and the large wind farms will be in the windiest places in the country (sometimes even offshore). In this week's episode we chat to Cameron Van Der Berg from Infravision, who have developed drone technology that can help install the influx of new electricity transmission lines in a safer, greener, more efficient way. Chris Cox and Cameron, co-founders of Infravision , have been kicking goals securing contracts to assist with transmission for some of the biggest energy projects in Australia including Snowy Hydro 2.0 and the EnergyConnect interconnector. Infravision was dreamt up after Cameron was working as a transmission engineer and seeing the many inefficiencies and meanwhile Chris was working in the airforce on drone technology. The boys are down to earth, super smart and employ their “get after it” attitude to everything at Infravision. This episode covers: How Chris and Cameron met in a barrier reef dive shop and originally launched a gym software startup before deciding they had bigger fish to fry The benefit of having ex-defence force personnel in a startup How transmission lines are typically strung and why it hasn’t been innovated upon in a number of years How Infravision’s technology can string power lines faster, safer and with less environmental impact The weirdest things they’ve carried with a drone If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins *** Some more reading if you’re inte
S2 E2 · Sun, October 17, 2021
Using drones to string together the energy transition
Cameron Van Der Berg from Infravisionexplains how can drones help us tackle climate change. As the world transitions to 100% renewable energy we are going to need a whole lot more electricity transmission. Historically fossil fuel generators have always been located in centralised locations closer to central loads or cities. However, if our grid is 100% clean the generation mix is likely to be far more dispersed. While you’ll ideally have solar on your roof, the large solar farms will be located in the places with the best sun and the large wind farms will be in the windiest places in the country (sometimes even offshore). In this week's episode we chat to Cameron from Infravision, which has developed drone technology that can help install the influx of new electricity transmission lines in a safer, greener, more efficient way. Chris Cox and Cameron, co-founders of Infravision, have been kicking goals securing contracts to assist with transmission for some of the biggest energy projects in Australia including Snowy Hydro 2.0 and the EnergyConnect interconnector. Infravision was dreamt up after Cameron was working as a transmission engineer and seeing the many inefficiencies and meanwhile Chris was working in the airforce on drone technology. The boys are down to earth, super smart and employ their “get after it” attitude to everything at Infravision. This episode covers: How Chris and Cameron met in a barrier reef dive shop and originally launched a gym software startup before deciding they had bigger fish to fry The benefit of having ex-defence force personnel in a startup How transmission lines are typically strung and why it hasn’t been innovated upon in a number of years How Infravision’s technology can string power lines faster, safer and with less environmental impact The weirdest things they’ve carried with a drone If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins *** Some more reading if you’re interested in the topic The basics on transmission’s role in Australia’s clean energy future *** About the podcast Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity. The consequences are so dire that the media usually focuses on the negative and many of us have no idea where to begin. To flip the script, clean energy experts Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer host A Positive Climate, an uplifting podcast focused on ways to tackle climate change. If you want to be inspired by interviews with some of Australia’s most innovative people, if you want to learn a lot (and laugh a little) and if you want a way to leave your climate related existential crises at bay, this podcast is for you. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati
S2 E1 · Mon, October 11, 2021
Meat 3.0: is cultured meat the future? (feat. Vow Food)
Tim Noakesmith and George Peppou of Vow explain the carbon free revolution soon to come to our dinner plates - cultured meat. *** Welcome back to Season 2 of A Positive Climate! We’re thrilled to be bringing you another ten episodes EVERY TUESDAY covering everything from sustainable plastics, seaweed to stop cows burping methane and Australia’s potential mega role in the battery revolution. Today’s episode continues our investigation of alternative proteins with the absolute rock-stars Tim Noakesmith and George Peppou , the co-founders of Vow . Vow is a leading Australian company in the global race to create cultured meat (often called cell-based or lab grown meat). Cultured meat has the potential to give us the protein from the animals we’re used to and from some animals we’re not - without the carbon emissions, with minimal land use and with zero animal cruelty. This episode ties in well to our very first episode featuring plant based meat company V2Food with Nick Hazell - we also learnt that Nick was the reason Tim and George actually met! We cover a whole lot in this episode Why did humans end up consuming the five main animals we eat today? What on earth is cultured meat? Is creating cultured meat similar to a beer homebrewing operation? How critical will cultured meat be to address the climate challenge? What is the future of the dinner plate? How does Vow intend to market its products when available within the next 18 months? What is Tim and George’s common bond over slow release laxatives? Not only are Tim and George a regular entry on various 30 under 30 lists , they are also a great chat. We hope you enjoy the episode! If you enjoy the show, subscribe! You can also follow us: on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn or say hi at hello@apositiveclimate.com Music by the late, great <a href="https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/deep-sea-arcade-co-founder-nick-wea
S1 E9 · Sun, July 18, 2021
Electric Vehicles: Busting the Myths (feat. JET Charge)
Tim Washington from JET Charge answers the question: why should we care about electric vehicles? They’re a better driving experience, they’re quieter, they’re better for air quality (especially important for when kids are walking by at exhaust pipe height), they’re soon to be cheaper, they are actually MORE convenient to charge and finally, unlike petrol vehicles, they can give the world what it needs: zero carbon transport! We cover it all on this episode - why we should care about EVs, whether they are greener, some charging basics and at the end we bust a whole lot of listener submitted EV myths. Thanks to all our listeners for going on the journey for season one with us! Looking forward to coming back with some fresh topics very soon! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E8 · Sun, July 04, 2021
Zero Emission Aviation (feat. AMSL Aero)
Andrew Moore, co-founder and CEO of AMSL Aero chats to us about the future of transportation and how soon we might all be able to get around in flying taxis or eVTOLs (electric vertical take off and landing) as the industry calls them. AMSL Aero is an Australian company that's creating a flying air taxi which is powered by batteries and a hydrogen fuel cell which means it is completely emissions free. Air taxis could revolutionise the future of transport allowing us all to get to destinations faster and safer. It could also change freight and postal services allowing for those online shopping purchases to get to your door even faster! Follow us on instagram and twitter . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E7 · Sun, June 27, 2021
The future of farming with Sarah Nolet, Tenacious Ventures
Sarah Nolet is the CEO and a founding partner of Tenacious Ventures , Australia's first and only dedicated agrifood venture capital firm. Sarah chats to us about all the innovative and exciting agricultural technologies or as they say in the industry “agtech”. We cover the current sources of emissions within our food supply chain and some fantastic solutions including farming robotics, improved pest management and alternative proteins (hello, plant based nuggets). Follow us on twitter and instagram . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 Enull · Wed, June 16, 2021
POSITIVE PRESS: The Tesla of Chicken
Welcome to our new podcast series The Positive Press by A Positive Climate! We'll be bringing you 5-ish minute episodes on good climate news. Bite sized, informative and a bit tongue in cheek, tune in to hear from Alex and Nick about the most uplifting stories of the week. This week we're covering NUGGS by SIMULATE - a plant based chicken nugget company with some pretty cheeky branding. Apparently they are "The Tesla of Chicken". The founder is 21 year old Aussie Ben Pasternak - who moved to NYC at age 16 to become a entrepreneur (as you do!). He's just raised $50m from celebrity investors and what better excuse to chat about the exploding plant based meat sector, which has the chance to put a dent in carbon emissions and involve no animal suffering while also using less land and less water. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E6 · Sun, June 13, 2021
Can an Aussie company deploy solar faster and cheaper? (feat. 5B Solar)
Solar energy is changing the world and 5B Solar has created an innovative solution for large scale sites - the MAVERICK. It's prefabricated, modular, rapidly-deployable and enables projects to be delivered more safely, three times faster and using half the land vs conventional technology. Chris McGrath shares the story of how he and his mate Eden came up with the idea, didn’t sleep for three days and then hashed out their business plan over a bottle of whisky. He also shares some insights into the solar industry, we discuss the “bat shit crazy” Sun Cable project and then how 5B assisted with bushfire recovery. We also touch on the debate about the number of jobs created in the solar industry versus fossil fuels. The winner? Well its game, set, match - because Chris is hiring here ! Follow us on instagram and twitter for more info. *** Music by Nick Weaver See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E5 · Sun, June 06, 2021
A solar panel that makes clean drinking water? (feat. Source Global)
Rob Bartrop has a great story, he’s an Aussie who was part of the development of the first large scale solar farms in Australia and has now found his way over to Arizona working for a company that's created the world's first renewable drinking water system - Source Global . The system includes a solar panel that doesn’t create electricity but instead creates clean drinking water. On a global scale access to water is a real problem - Rob notes, 40% of the global population doesn’t currently have access to water! Ultimately we can’t survive without water so it's definitely a problem worth solving - we hope you enjoy this chat with Rob from Source Global. Follow us on instagram and twitter for more information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E4 · Sun, May 30, 2021
BEER and HYDROGEN to solve the climate challenge (feat. SwitcH2)
Constantine Tsounis, co-founder of SwitcH2 Engineering has created a unique process that turns beer waste-water into hydrogen which can be used to power breweries or as a fuel for trucks and forklifts to get that beer into your hot hands! In this episode we discussed how Con and his co-founders developed this innovative tech plus how some great beer brands are looking to decarbonise. We also explore the concept of hydrogen - What is it? What can you use it for and why is there so much hype? Plus there is a lot of beer banter. If you want to understand more about hydrogen - this video has a handy explainer. Follow us on instagram and twitter for more beer and hydrogen content. ** * Music by Nick Weaver See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E3 · Sun, May 16, 2021
ZeroCo: Eliminating single-use plastic one household bottle at a time
Mike Smith from ZeroCo is trying to eliminate single-use plastic, one household bottle at a time. This episode explores the sheer scale of the plastic problem, the impact of plastic on not only the environment but also carbon emissions and how ZeroCo and their innovative business model is looking to address the problem at hand. Mike spins many a good yarn about founding the business - which thankfully moved out of his sister’s bedroom a long long time ago. If you want to buy your own ZeroCo forever bottles, we’ve got a discount code - POSITIVE - running this week for our podcast listeners! We’re really interested in the plastic problem so if you’ve come across any great businesses in this space from recycled plastics to non plastic packaging, get in touch. You might also enjoy this video which presents the history of the plastics industry. *** Find us on Instagram and Twitter . Music by Nick Weaver See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E2 · Sun, May 09, 2021
GoTerra: using robotic insect farms to solve the problem of food waste
Olympia Yarger is the CEO and founder of Goterra , a startup using insects to redefine waste management. Goterra has created a unique solution which uses organic waste as feed to grow other usable products such as maggots that can be used in livestock feed and pet food. This episode explores just how Olympia became a maggot farmer, the issues surrounding waste and Goterra’s unique solution as well as some hilarious maggot stories. For more content follow us on instagram and twitter . Music by Nick Weaver See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S1 E1 · Sun, May 02, 2021
Meat 2.0: Is plant based meat the future? (feat. V2Food)
Welcome to the first episode of A Positive Climate - an uplifting podcast focussed on the cool ways to tackle climate change. We're Alex McIntosh and Nick Zeltzer , two mates in the Australian clean energy sector trying to showcase all the positives. In this episode we interview Nick Hazell, CEO and founder of V2Food . V2Food is an Australian company that has developed plant based meat that not only cooks like meat, but tastes like meat. The meat industry is responsible for 14.5% of carbon emissions but on a positive note: there’s lots of innovation going on to address this. Nick Hazell covers the impacts of the meat industry, how we can improve the food system and V2Foods’ journey from the lab to the supermarket aisle. If you enjoy this episode, we cover a whole lot more in the rest of our first season, from electric vehicles, to beer turned into hydrogen, to battery powered planes, to magical solar panels that create clean drinking water and much much more. Listen to the whole series now, wherever you get your podcasts. *** Say hi on Instagram , Twitter or on the web . Music by Nick Weaver *** See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Trailer · Mon, April 19, 2021
Trailer: A Positive Climate
Welcome to the podcast! A Positive Climate is an uplifting podcast about tackling climate change. An inspiring look at the products, people and technologies making a real difference. Hosted by Australian climate technology experts Nick Zeltzer and Alex McIntosh two friends on a mission to find the solutions to keep our existential crises at bay. We cover it all on the show while keeping things optimistic and accessible: electric planes, waste eating maggots, plant-based meats, hydrogen made from beer, the solar revolution, the coolest new sustainable products and much much more. If you’re passionate about the environment, the latest clean technology or just want to know how to get involved in the movement, this podcast is for you! Music by the late, great Nick Weaver Production by our hero Mark Spencer from Here.Media Socials by the legend Rebecca Sather Jenkins See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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