In this episode, Patrick and I have a wide-ranging conversation about topics like synthetic biology, science fiction, nature vs. nurture, and of course, how his company’s tech will both make money and make the world a better place. Already the company has raised more than $20 million in venture capital, with more still yet to come.

In this episode we’re diving deep into the fascinating world of carbon recycling with a trailblazer who’s reshaping how we think about waste and sustainability. Our guest is Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech—a company on a mission to transform our biggest environmental challenge into an economic opportunity.

We all know chocolate is sweet. The way that it’s made—not so much. From deforestation and climate change to child labor and heavy metal contamination, cocoa farming leaves a lot to be desired. But what if we could make cocoa powder without having to chop down the rainforest and engage in so many other unsavory practices?

You’ve heard of fruit leather, but what about making leather from fruit? Or more precisely, feeding fruit waste like mango pulp to bacteria which then convert those sugars into a leather-like material that can be useful for all types of purposes?

Profiled by Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes and Gardens, Garden for Wildlife has raised $5 million from investors (primarily its founder, the National Wildlife Federation) and is already bringing in an annual revenue of $1 million. The company is also crowdfunding now, meaning for an investment as low as $250, you can own shares in this startup.

Reefgen CEO Chris Oakes, a marine biologist turned venture capitalist turned entrepreneur talks about the company’s trajectory, its pilot trials in Hawaii, California, Indonesia, and Wales, and how it’s going to scale in order to turn the tides for our planet.

In this episode, we talk with Sublime Systems co-founder Leah Ellis about her effort to decarbonize cement production for which she’s already raised $50 million.

Lisa Nunez Safarian leads commercial, manufacturing, and product development at Pivot Bio. Dedicating her career to advancing agriculture and helping farmers achieve better outcomes, Lisa oversees the day-to-day operations to ensure we are meeting the nitrogen needs of our customers.

After getting a grant from the UK government, Mira’s new company Biophilica was born. Converting leaves and even agricultural byproducts into a plastic-free alt-leather, Biophilica’s material creation process uses less than 1 percent of the water needed to make cow-based leather, all while being both animal-free and petrochemical free, too.

Rotem Cahanovitc is a mycology enthusiast innovating the use of fungi, the great recyclers of the planet, to support the transition to a flourishing, sustainable circular economy.

What started with a small grant from the National Science Foundation to two twin scientist sisters is now a startup employing dozens of people that’s so far raised more than $13 million to decarbonize how we make materials.

Luke Iseman is cofounder of Make Sunsets, a startup that launches reflective clouds to fight global warming. They have deployed over 3000 ton-years worth of cooling for paying customers, and their mission is to Cool Earth by 1C before 2030.

In this conversation with TIPA’s founder and CEO, Daphna Nissenbaum, we chat about her journey from a software engineer to a plastic revolutionary, what the difference between biodegradable and compostable is, what her alt-plastic is actually made of, and more.

Aleksandra Gosiewski is the Co-Founder & COO of Keel Labs, an innovation platform expanding the potential of the ocean to accelerate the planet’s development towards a more sustainable future.

In this interview, Dr. Subbian and I talk about how she started the company, why she moved it from Silicon Valley to Bangalore, India, where they get the methane to feed their microbes, and much more.

As you’ll hear in this episode, the death of Shelly’s father led to the birth of her company, Molten Materials. Armed with her PhD in engineering, Shelly has pioneered a method of taking plastic waste and upcycling it into pavement sealers, asphalt rejuvenators, and more.

Our guest in this episode is Quaise Energy’s CFO, Kevin Bonebreak, a guy who spent most of his career in the conventional energy investment world, and is now working to bring about a cleaner, safer, and saner way to power human civilization.

Grant Canary is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DroneSeed, which reforests after wildfire using heavy lift drone swarms. It was founded to make reforestation scalable and mitigate the worst effects of climate change.

In this interview, we talk about what Living Carbon is doing and why, we discuss the controversy over whether anything “natural” is better than “human-made,” and of course, why it’s a good idea to genetically engineer trees that will help fight climate change, something that as you can imagine, elicits a number of differing views.

Kelly Erhart is Co-founder and President of Vesta. A believer in humanity's ability to become a "net-positive" to nature, Kelly has spent her career commercializing sustainable technologies and climate solutions through creative non-profit, for-profit, and hybrid organizations.