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No matter what your climate goals look like, where your project is located, or who is in office at the time, your project will not happen if the financing is not in order. Projects have to make money, and have to usually incur levels of risk through development. Whether a clean energy startup or billion dollar offshore wind developer, there is great opportunity right now, but also great risk, and fluctuations in supply chain, interest rates, and other outside forces, can directly impact your project.

For this episode, Chris was joined by Jonathan Kennedy (Chief Development Officer, Clean Energy Terminals), and John May (Managing Director, Hamilton Clark Sustainable Capital, Inc). Both are attempting to be first movers in critical aspects of decarbonization. Perhaps even more shocking than the fact that Chris didn't mess up John vs Jonathan for an hour, is potential benefit to our economy from developing these projects. John May also discusses smart steps like technology insurance, that should help derisk many projects.

Enjoy!

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One of the topics that I have been asked about most over the last few years from community members is how they can get their own community air monitoring. Many are concerned over possible contamination in their air, and want to see improvements. As we often say, their lived experiences are the ultimate screening tool. They know if there's a problem. There is a direct link between air contamination and health impacts, and objective tools like ambient air monitors can help inform policy choices which will ultimately equate to lower emissions.

My guests this episode, Eben Cross (Chief Science Office and Co-Founder, QuantAQ) and Darren Riley (Co-Founder and CEO, JustAir Solutions), are experts on this topic. I pose a role play to them where I am a concerned community member and they walk me through what's involved and why this is so important. My hope is that this sort of information may help communities in need apply for grant support to get these monitors in place. There is great potential for collaboration in this space.

Show Notes/Suggested Resources

• EPA
  • Webinar Series on Community Air Monitoring Fundamentals
• NIEHS
  • Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Webinar Series on Community Air Monitoring
• Bay Air Center
  Defining an Air Monitoring Objective by Asking the Right Questions – Worksheet
  • Designing a Community Scale Air Monitoring Project
  • Placement of Air Monitoring Devices
• There's also the Thriving Communities Grantmakers Subgrant program which will go live for most regions any day now (supposed to be Fall 2024). This program is designed to be lower-overhead, faster-turn to resources at the $75-350k/project funding level.
  
  Community Change Grant link to that unprecedented $2B program

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Anyone who has listened to past episodes likely knows that I am an offshore wind (OSW) energy advocate. I am a renewable energy advocate, and I am an advocate for smart answers to complex problems.

There is no better example than the need to urgently modernize our transmission systems. My guests for this week, are Theodore Paradise (Energy Partner at K & L Gates) and Dane Pehrman (Director of Strategy & Growth - Power and New Energy, Worley Consulting). Both men have been working on major energy and transmission projects for decades, both are leaders in the OSW industry, and both are incredibly sharp minds that understand logistical constraints and critical project processes.

Our transmission infrastructure is well past its useful life, undersized for modern needs, has not been maintained well, and is not designed to support multi-sourced renewable energies. Dane and Theodore cover an astounding amount of information in 49 minutes, taking us from Grid 101 to the intricacies and cost models for upgrading. We also focus on the need for cross state collaboration on this issue and spend some time looking forward to an upcoming RFP in New England.

Critical issue and really fun episode.