Climate tech scales rapidly when disruptive ideas become profitable. So how do start-ups and innovators sustain their industry-shaping solutions long enough to become mainstream?
In this episode of the Healthy Spaces podcast, host Oakley Roberts talks with venture capitalist Steve Westly about clean tech solutions, the next generation of innovators, and the visionaries who invest boldly in them.
Listen to the full episode to learn more about what we can learn from the electrification of vehicles and what bold ideas are on the horizon for clean tech, energy storage, and circularity in water and the built environment.
Episode Guests
Host: Dominique Silva, Regional Marketing Leader, Trane Technologies
Host: Oakley Roberts, VP Innovation, Trane Technologies
Guest: Steve Westly, Founder and Managing Partner, The Westly Group
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Dominique: It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that the idea of mass-produced electric cars was a utopian fantasy. Charging infrastructures didn’t exist, manufacturers weren’t sure about the concept, and battery technology wasn’t capable of delivering the driving ranges customers needed. That was until companies like Tesla entered the scene and began disrupting the car industry with advancements in battery technology and modern industrial design. This paved the way for other car manufacturers to follow suit, and they proved that not only was the technology suitable for modern transport challenges, but they accelerated consumer demand for it too – laying the foundation for a cleaner transport sector. So now, in a world where EVs are rapidly becoming a cleaner and viable alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles, we’re asking whether other sustainability challenges should benefit from a little more ambition and bold thinking.
[00:00:48] Steve Westly: the cost of energy is going down every year. Why is that? It’s because the cost of producing renewable energy, watts per hour, kilowatts per hour, is going down. the flip side is, the cost of water is going up every year. And so one of the questions comes about is what the heck do we do with that? Because I can parachute you into any place on the planet, I can help you produce energy very cheaply. I can’t parachute you into any place on the planet and help you with water, because that is a finite resource,
[00:01:21] Dominique: You just heard from venture capitalist Steve Westly, managing partner at The Westly Group and all-round expert in investing in and scaling climate technology. I’m Dominique Silva. And you’re listening to Healthy Spaces, the podcast exploring how technology and innovation are transforming the spaces where we live, learn, work, and play. In today’s episode Steve and VP of innovation at Trane Technologies, Oakley Roberts will be discussing the innovative solutions that are helping to build a sustainable future. We’ll learn about the significant advancements in renewable energy and the crucial role of energy storage as we transition to a new era of electricity production. And they’ll highlight how cheaper renewables and smarter technology will help as society shifts towards electric transportation and smart buildings. But first, let’s find out about Steve’s perspective on society’s steady march towards progress over the years.
[00:02:17] Steve Westly: I went to work at the Department of Energy in the Office of Conservation and Solar in 1980. And I will just tell you, as much as my heart was bleeding green, these technologies, notably solar and wind, were so far Out of being profitable or financially doable, it wasn’t funny. And I had to go back, earn an MBA, then I became an entrepreneur for the next 25 years, and wait before renewable energy made any sense. And the reality is, starting in about 2018 to 2020, renewable energy, specifically solar and wind, had both gone down in price so dramatically that virtually every utility in the world was going as renewable as they could. Last year, and here’s an important fact for you, over 80 percent of all f all new utility power added globally, was renewable. And that’s just because the cost curves have changed. Now, at the same time, and equally important, the cost of battery storage has gone down even faster. And that means Our automobiles and the transportation modes we use are becoming more and more electric and less based on internal combustion engines. And that means that this new world that I was way out in front on, way the heck too early 40 years ago, is now becoming the future today, and it’s coming faster than people think. Just two quick data points. Tesla Elon does, Still has a larger market cap than Toyota, Volkswagen, General Motors, and Ford put together. And that’s no joke, and it’s just because they’re growing faster and they’re more profitable than these other companies. So that’s the new world we live in. We’re in a world of the electrification of the entire transportation sector and that smart buildings are going to be a major part of this because every building in the world is somewhere on a journey and moving from a dumb box to a digitized smart building with power storage in it. And we believe Trane is going to be a key part in that transformation globally.
[00:04:51] Oakley: I’m glad you brought up energy storage as part of the solution, uh, and the progress that we’re seeing with innovations, uh, both in, um, storing electrical energy as electrical energy, but also thermal energy as a thermal source, which is important, uh, solution that we see as well. And energy supply and demand gets a lot of attention, Steve. Um, but we need to talk more about water. Demand for water has been rising for A long time is forecasted to accelerate, while half the world’s population experiences water scarcity during a year. I’ve enjoyed your recent article about innovation and technology in the water storage and conservation space. Can you talk to us about what you’re seeing happening inside this area of sustainability and why it’s so essential?
[00:05:34] Steve Westly: there’s so much to be said here, but I think there’s four key points. First, the cost of energy is going down every year. Why is that? It’s because the cost of producing renewable energy, watts per hour, kilowatts per hour, is going down. Now, you’re not always seeing that everywhere in your energy bill, and that’s because we’re so incredibly in our rears on rebuilding. The nation and the world’s grid, but mark my words, over our lifetime, you will see the cost of producing energy going down. the flip side is, the cost of water is going up every year. And so one of the questions comes about is what the heck do we do with that? Because again, I can parachute you into any place on the planet, whether it’s the Arctic, the Gobi Desert, the Himalayas, Death Valley, I can help you produce energy very cheaply. I can’t parachute you into any place on the planet and help you with water, because that is a finite resource, and with global warming, That means that all of the, uh, mountain, uh, ice reserves that everybody’s depended on, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s in the Alps or the Andes or the Himalayas, as we see the ice packs in the major mountain ranges of the world melting off sooner, unable to hold water longer, you’re going to see more water shortage. And that raises the question, what the heck do you do about that? Part of it’s conservation. Part of it is, um, uh, finding better ways to recycle water. Part of it may be new technologies that actually help you suck, uh, H2O molecules out of the air. And some of it will be more efficient transportation of water from point A to point B. We’ve learned a lot about, uh, oil transmission lines and gas transmission lines. Now that water’s becoming more expensive, Uh, you may be a market to, uh, do more transport of water.
[00:07:38] Dominique: As the challenges surrounding renewables and energy storage reduce, the next big problem society will need to turn its attention to is the issue of water. And one obvious solution to this global threat is recycling. But recycling doesn’t just hold the answer to our water problems.
[00:07:57] Oakley: In the Carter administration, way, way, way back when I was a kid, Jimmy Carter stood up and said, We need CAFE standards, which is standards for our cars. That would require the average U. S. fleet to have about 25 26 miles, a floating scale, but starting 25 26. And it was right after the Middle East OPEC oil crisis. And everybody said, government shouldn’t be telling industry what to do. But the reality is, General Motors and Ford were already selling cars in Europe that got 26 miles per gallon, because gas is more expensive there. It kind of made sense. Here’s the shocking thing. Thirty five years from Jimmy Carter to Obama, we never raised CAFE standards. And President Obama came out and said, well, we’re going to raise CAFE standards to thirty five. And again, sliding scale, thirty six miles per gallon. know, Congress stood up and said no. General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, they’re already selling cars that get thirty five miles an hour in Europe and other places because gas generally costs more there and you’ve got to sell to a global market. And so you’re seeing this change for the better. And then you got Elon Musk who comes out. in 2011 with the Model S. And he said, well, 25 miles per gallon to 36 miles per gallon in 35 years, that’s chump change. My new Teslas get 97 miles per gallon. That’s where technology can make a difference. But it doesn’t stop there. Uh, full disclosure, batteries aren’t the cleanest thing in the world, and you gotta mine for that, kind of like you have to drill for energy. But the big difference between batteries and EVs, other than the fact EVs, again, get an EPA miles per gallon equivalent of 97 miles per gallon for the Model S. Today, the Model 3 and the Model Y are getting about 125 miles per gallon. But with batteries, once you mine for the lithium and cobalt and manganese Batteries are 97 percent recyclable. So mining’s still a little deleterious for the environment, but once you’ve mined for it once, it becomes part of the circular economy, and that’s where we need to go with every, uh, industry.
[00:10:26] Oakley: Steve, here at Trane, we have a business called Thermo King, and it’s a leader in the refrigerated transportation industry. of food and perishable goods, and it’s critical in our food chain. And one of the innovations that we’re active in bringing to the market is electrified and hybrid transportation to help reduce emissions from transporting food. It’s much like, and it uses a technology very similar to what you just described in, in the EV industry. And it’s about offsetting burning diesel with, um, Powering the refrigeration cycle on trucks and trailers with electricity through battery or through shore power, and I know transportation and mobility are your passions, and you were one of the early investors in Tesla. as you continue to think about innovation in the transportation, transportation, transportation. Segment. What role does it play on having a positive impact on not only transporting humans, but moving beyond that to what other things should we be thinking about that the innovations that are coming out of the transportation industry are going to have on making our world a more efficient, safer and healthier place?
[00:11:29] Steve Westley: First, make no mistake. Virtually every auto and trucking company in the world is going all electric. There’s been a lot of press, notably from General Motors and Ford saying, well, EV sales are slowing down. False. Nothing could be further from the truth. You don’t hear Tesla saying that. You don’t hear BYD saying that. You don’t hear, uh, Hyundai saying that. They’re all booming. Let me give you some numbers. There were 14 million EVs and hybrids sold globally last year out of a total of uh, 75 million cars total. This year, you will see over 18 million vehicles sold, again, out of a total of about 76 million globally. That means 20 percent of all vehicles sold today, globally, are EV or hybrid. And that number is about to tick up. because the cost of batteries continues to go down about 14%. But that’s not even the punchline. The real punchline is, we’re going electric and autonomous. Within the next one to two years, mark my words, the autonomous vehicle industry is going to take off. Why do I say that? Because The technology hasn’t quite been there to date. We’re largely at what’s called, uh, Level 2, which means the car with self driving capability, or Tesla may have this now, uh, will see stop signs. It’ll see stop lights. It’s quite dramatic. But, for God’s sakes, you don’t want to take your hands off the wheel because it’s at 95 percent or 98%, not at the 99. 99 percent you need. Having said that, you can go to San Francisco and get in a Waymo full self driving taxi without a steering wheel or driver in the car. Um, so Level 5 is here. It’s been approved by the regulators. It’s already in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, coming to Austin, and it’s going to be rolling out across the country. So, it’s not going to happen overnight, but once you go from one geo fenced part of San Francisco, to all of San Francisco, to four other major cities, it’s going to start spreading more quickly. And in about two years, you’re going to start seeing autonomous cars and trucks just about everywhere.
[00:14:04] Oakley: I’m going to have to try one of those Waymo machines. The next time I’m out in San Francisco, I haven’t had enough. Uh, I’ve seen them driving around, but I haven’t had the courage yet to get inside one.
[00:14:14] Steve Westly: It’ll knock your socks off. And again, just three, three, four months ago, you’d see them around, and they were slow, and they were kind of halting, and you’re thinking, oh my god, these things clearly aren’t quite ready yet. And now, because, you know, when you get on the roads, at least in California, there are a lot of people that probably shouldn’t be driving anyway. But when they get in an accident, they don’t get any better. The thing about self driving is, it makes mistakes, it’s all recorded, it goes into the cloud, engineers fix it. In the amount of progress in the last 90 days, now when you get in them, it’s literally like a human being driving it. It’s, it’s pretty darn
[00:14:49] Steve Westley: impressive.
[00:14:49] Oakley: It is. The technology is a little bit analogous to train technologies with. With buildings is thinking through the impact that artificial intelligence and the new gen AI capabilities that are available on how do you use large language models to help control building and it’s exciting to see how some of these technologies can help augment the controls of a building to produce a more efficient outcome, but do it in a way that also maintains or increases the comfort and health of the occupants inside the building. And I think there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity ahead of us in that space.
[00:15:25] Steve Westly: Absolutely. Buildings are becoming smart. A lot of money is to be made and, Trane is as a leader and it’s exciting.
[00:15:34] Oakley: As the conversation comes to a close, we turn our sights away from present solutions and look to the next generation.
[00:15:42] Dominique: For many people, Steve included, there is an optimism for the future inspired by today’s youth and their appetite for STEM fields. Not only are they bringing a fresh perspective to tomorrow’s problems, but they have an arsenal of cutting edge tools to help address them.
[00:16:01] Steve Westly: Look, the next generation, it’s stunning what they’re going to accomplish. they have technological tools that we could barely have dreamed of. And I’ll just give you a quick example There’s this young man named Jason Lin who won the Wesley Prize as a social entrepreneur for creating next gen language translation. And this is important because in the United States today we have 60 million Latinos, we’ve got, uh, I think close to 20 million Asian Americans. And a lot of them, like my wife, were immigrants from China, came in, not always speaking perfect English. And they need a translation. Google is really, most of my life, been the leader, at IBM to an extent, but Google, Bubaida, in getting translation technology, and it’s incredible, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it, and we had this guy, Jason Lim, who stood up and said, I’ve actually leapfrogged. What Google can do, and and we’re saying, well, you’re, you’re 20 years old. You, you in your dorm room, you, you’ve leapfrog what Google’s done over 20 years And he said, yep, it wasn’t a problem. I just used artificial intelligence. Here’s the problem. Google’s great at translating English to Spanish and Spanish to English, or Chinese to English and English to Chinese. But the minute you throw a combination, what’s referred to as. Chinglish or Spanglish, which is what a lot of people’s moms and dads speak when they come as immigrants and can’t get access to health services or legal services. That Google thing doesn’t work. And this 20 year old kid, sitting in a dorm room, developed an app that went to the top 20 in the world with virtually no translation. No R& D dollars. Everybody has access to CHAT GPT these days. Doesn’t cost anything. The new developments from the next generation of people, it’s going to be stunning. I’m happy just to, uh, to be part of it and help where I can.
[00:18:05] Dominique: A big thank you to Steve Westly for joining us on today’s episode where we discussed the innovations helping to shape a sustainable future. At Trane Technologies, we believe that every job is a sustainability job and every role provides an opportunity for impact. That’s why each week on the podcast, we’ll feature how someone is building healthy spaces in their organization or community.
[00:18:31] Dominique: This week, we’re sharing a submission from Claudia Carvajal-Torres, Services Account Manager at Trane, Vancouver. Collaborating with the Services Sales team, Claudia is delivering on her commitment to help building owners and factories achieve their sustainability and decarbonization goals. Claudia also organizes and connects members of the Vancouver team with volunteering at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House – a place where young engineers can present STEM topics to the youth in Canada, and at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. By providing healthy foods to individuals and families in need, and nurturing young people’s interest in STEM fields, Claudia and the Trane Vancouver office are building a healthier and more equitable society. Claudia, thank you for all the hard work you and your team are doing and thank you for writing in.
[00:19:22] Dominique: Would you like to share how you’re building healthy spaces too? Visit us at Trane technologies.com/healthyspacespodcast to share your story.
[00:19:30] Dominique: That’s all for this week – thank you for listening to the Healthy Spaces podcast, where we explore how climate technology and innovation are transforming the spaces where we live, work, learn, and play. If you want to find out more about our conversation today, make sure you check out the show notes. And remember to rate and review us in your favorite podcast app. That’s it for today’s episode. We’ll see you next time.
