Speed & Scale

Even if we do everything we need to limit our carbon emissions—curb deforestation, switch to EVs, clean up our power grids—we’ll still need to remove gigatons of carbon from our atmosphere to meet our climate goals.🌎 Still in early stages, carbon removal companies removed roughly 35,000 tons of carbon last year. That's a fraction of what’s needed. Hosts Ryan Panchadsaram and Anjali Grover talk with Nan Ransohoff, Head of Climate at Stripe, digging into her groundbreaking work to get companies to pay for carbon removal and exploring what it’s going to take to remove it at the billion ton scale. 🎧 Listen to the episode: https://lnkd.in/dFuY_JMT

We found a boost of encouragement for the planet at a bracing talk at Stanford University by energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins, the co-founder of RMI. Speed & Scale proposes that the world can reach net zero by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy, and removing any carbon left over—in that order of importance. Lovins focuses more closely on conservation, on the demand side. He argues that the cleanest energy—not to mention the cheapest energy—is the energy we don’t use in the first place. He believes that we’ve entered a new era of scalable, “radical end-use efficiency,” where existing technology could deliver energy five times more efficiently by 2060. Here are four ways it could happen: ⭐On the power grid, advanced transmission wires can double or triple maximum current while slashing the two thirds of electricity that’s lost between generation and end use. ⭐In buildings, “integrative design” and deep retrofits for heating and cooling can yield energy savings of up to 90 percent “without costing more per unit of saved energy.”  ⭐In construction, smarter structural design—using far less steel or cement without losing strength or stiffness—can help slash demand for those high-emissions materials by half or more. In factories, low-friction pipes and ducts “could save roughly one fifth of the world’s electricity.”  ⭐In transport, the use of ultralight, ultrastrong materials, such as the carbon fiber in BMW’s i3 EVs, can quadruple a car’s efficiency while cutting costs with fewer batteries. Check out our recent newsletter for more insights in how we'll reach net zero: https://lnkd.in/e7RBRunS

Real progress and real impact. These four stories show how technology and collective action are driving climate solutions forward. Catch more in the newest edition of Zeroing In. https://lnkd.in/gS9kkkk3 

We’re seeing dramatic progress and grounds for encouragement at the state level in the U.S. California, long the nation’s climate leader, recently passed half a dozen bills that could point a pragmatic way forward. The keystone bill reauthorized California’s cap and trade program (now rebranded as “cap and invest”), the landmark 2012 policy that creates a binding, declining cap on emissions and a quarterly trading allowance mechanism. Now extended through 2045, the program will direct some revenue toward enhanced consumer affordability protections for energy bills. In another reform, companies will be limited in their use of offsets. New legislation also establishes a program to finance new transmission lines with a portion of the cap-and-invest earnings. Another bill allows California’s grid operator to work with utilities in other states to improve energy efficiency, enhance power reliability, and accelerate emissions cuts. An independent Western energy market, launched by regulators in five states, is now in the active planning stage. See what this means for the path to zero emissions and check out more insights in our most recent newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gS9kkkk3 

Our recent newsletter pays tribute to Jane Goodall and the legacy she left behind, one we can all emulate—to act, to engage, to inspire. To the very end, at age 91, Goodall was traveling 300 days a year—talking, filming, podcasting, storytelling, and writing about the critical need to restore balance between humankind and our environment. She was a tireless friend of the planet. While best known for her landmark chimpanzee studies, Goodall came to grips with climate change over her decades in Africa, where temperatures are rising even faster than in the rest of the world. Goodall was also a champion of renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, and plant-based foods. In her April message for Earth Day 2025, she shared her three reasons for climate optimism: 🌟 First, her confidence in the young. In 1991, Goodall founded Roots & Shoots, a global community action movement—now in 75 countries—to empower young people to "get over this feeling of hopelessness" in confronting the climate crisis.  🌟 Second, her faith in the resilience of nature. Ten years or more after an area is deforested, she noted, there remains "a magic life" in seeds left from lost trees: "New trees will spring up, helped with a little planting of the right trees in the right place at the right time."  🌟 Third, her belief in "amazing human intellect" and innovative technologies, notably in clean energy, "that enable us to live in greater harmony with nature." Read the full dedication to her legacy in our most recent newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gS9kkkk3 

What happens after coal? What if we could use the land around coal and natural gas plants to rapidly deploy clean energy? Join Anjali and me for 🎙️ Episode 2 of our Speed & Scale Podcast - The Last Coal Plant Shut Down in England. Now What? (25 min) This episode features the incredible work of Baroness Bryony Worthington in the UK and Amol Phadke from Berkeley Lab. Made possible by the brilliant Sarah Craig, Banban Cheng, Constanza Gallardo, Pushkin Industries, and TED Countdown. 🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/g36V9bUX

How much time do you spend commuting to and from work in your car? Do you drive alone? 🚗 In the U.S., the transportation sector emits more carbon pollution than any other sector. Back in 1991, Washington State decided to take matters into their own hands—to reduce traffic and pollution. In the latest Speed & Scale episode, hosts Ryan Panchadsaram and Anjali Grover talk to Brian Lagerberg, who helped reduce the miles Washingtonians drove at a time when almost every other state increased how many miles it logged. They unpack what made Washington an incredible success and how other cities and states can follow the same path. 🎧 Listen to the new episode here: https://lnkd.in/egDJs2-J

As the stakes rise for climate, every percentage point of climate progress counts. Catch up on major developments, breakthroughs, and momentum in the latest edition of our Zeroing In newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gP-T7m74 

💡Local progress spotlight: Chattanooga, Tennessee, is piloting a new curbside composting and glass recycling services program for residents in certain neighborhoods. Powered by local startups NewTerra Composting and Overlooked Materials, the program aims to cut landfill waste while turning food scraps into soil, and glass into landscaping gravel. The Tennessee pilot empowers communities to become part of the solution. It gives residents a way to cut emissions, support local reuse, and build a more sustainable future. Check out more insights by reading our latest newsletter now: https://lnkd.in/gP-T7m74

🎙️ We have a new Speed & Scale podcast! It’s a limited series I’m hosting with Anjali Grover and the incredible team at TED Audio Collective. Months in the making, filled with conversations with people who are truly making a difference for our planet and in our communities. What if the future of clean energy is being built in Texas? It sounds unlikely until you see the turbines stretching across West Texas, spinning out power and possibility. How did one of the world’s oil capitals become an unexpected leader in…renewables? That story is where our new Speed & Scale podcast begins. From the wind farms of West Texas to schools and nursing homes in Copenhagen, deep into Indonesian rainforests, through the industrial heart of Cancer Alley in Louisiana, and beyond. Each story shows what progress looks. In a moment when hope for climate action feels scarce, these voices reminded us that it’s still possible and it’s happening all around us. 🎧 Episode 1: How Texas Became America’s Biggest Producer of Wind Energy (26m) is out now: https://lnkd.in/gYAUNYaS This episode wouldn't be possible without the incredible Sarah Craig, Banban Cheng, Constanza Gallardo, Pushkin Industries, and TED Countdown. And of course our wonderful first guest, Pat Wood, III.