Naimish Patel

I congratulate Aepnus Technology, a deep-tech startup, for raising $8M to commercialize its National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research work to develop an electrochemical platform to improve circularity and reduce emissions in battery supply chain chemicals, enabling GHG emissions reduction by an expected 3 gigatons by 2050. I congratulate Rhonda Shrader, Executive Director of UC Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship & NSF I-Corps Bay Area. She is an inspiring instructor; I am so fortunate to be in her class during the Summer 24 #Icorps Cohort. I am an Industry Mentor (IM) to Professor Ratnesh Kumar and Professor Shawana Tabassum, PhD who are inventors of plasmonic metamaterial-based gas sensing technology, based on NSF-funded research. It offers an order-of-magnitude lower-cost alternative to techniques like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR). The technology helps with environmental compliance for GHG emissions in agriculture and manufacturing, Condition Monitoring of gases produced during process control in manufacturing plants, and monitoring of gases in Transformers (HW used in utilities - not the ones for implementing attention 😀). If you're interested in turning your NSF-funded research into a real-world product or service, consider the #Icorps program. It provides intense customer discovery training, where you'll interview 100+ potential customers in just seven weeks. This might sound grueling, but it's an invaluable experience. Remember, in startups, the founder is often the first salesperson. Understanding your customers' needs early on is crucial for success.

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To all #climatetech #founders and #funders in NYC and beyond, please join us on June 5th for an evening of #breakthrough #decarbonization #innovation at the ReGen Accelerator #DemoDay! 🎉 Get ready to be inspired by our cohort of #earlystage startups: ​ ▶ aich2 is engineering a novel #hydrogen ecosystem, built around Solid Hydrogen carriers. ​​ ▶ carbogenics produces sustainable #carbon adsorbents from difficult-to-recycle organic waste, including coffee cups and wastewater screenings ​​ ▶ TeamStack.ai is driving better performance by harnessing #AI, data, & the collective intelligence of teams. ​ ▶ Tesleon LLC uses compelling characters and #storytelling to instill compassion for communities and our planet in the next generation. ​ ▶ Tolam Earth is a trusted #marketplace for high-quality, high-impact carbon offsets. Don't miss out! Secure your spot below. Big thank you to Brown Rudnick LLP for hosting this event, our partners at ClimateHaven for their hard work and dedication during the entire program, and to our incredible network of #mentors and #facilitators, each of whom have dedicated time to working with these incredible founders this spring, including Jason Ambrose, Marina Rakhlin, Lauren Zujkowski, Stuart DeCew, Matt Puccini Andy Rooks, Nina Raab, and Bill Stephney. And of course Shai Tamary, Lars Korby and Sarah Cleveland, without whom we would not be able run such a #program. #innovation #sustainability #climateaction #accelerator

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Hot off the presses! A new paper with Nick Laws and Maggie Chen -- "Valuing Distributed Energy Resources for Non-Wires Alternatives" Main takeaway: Distributed energy resources (DER) such as batteries -- regardless of whether it's the utility or homeowner who owns the system -- can reduce system operating costs and delay system upgrades for distribution systems. For example, using DER might help reduce how often local transformers might need to be upgraded. "We show that when valuing DER the operating costs over 20 years can be reduced by over 40%." Let's deploy some batteries, y'all! #batteries #futureofenergy #distributedenergyresources #DER Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Webber Energy Group

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Great to see Google supporting innovation from Fervo Energy via an innovative clean energy purchase agreement with NV Energy. I expect to see an explosion of agreements like this as AI driven energy consumption skyrockets and companies struggle to find enough power (clean or not!). This intersection of AI, energy, grid resilience and clean power is creating huge opportunities for innovative startups to build global scale ups in thre coming years. And at Smart Society Ventures - we’re excited about the potential! https://lnkd.in/efdc3tth

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Data center efficiency is becoming top of mind for our investors and apparently we're not alone. Check out this piece from VCJ where we discuss some of the energy solutions. https://lnkd.in/ehcTVgDu.

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My friend Raj Mistry of Sunya produces straight fire in all things energy transition news. Not surprised that practically every major energy company C-suite reads the Sunya Scoop every week. Was excited to provide our quick thoughts at 8090 Industries on our latest investment in Exowatt - a company making energy for $0.01 per kWh, and available 24 hours a day for commercial and industrial customers. "At 8090 Industries, we have long been active in standing up and fortifying new, paradigm shifting forms of baseload renewable power. However, the boom in generative AI has catapulted the energy demand needed to power our data centers. In response, we are thrilled to be an investor in Exowatt led by Hannan P. as it pioneers a new reality towards energy that costs $0.01 per kWh, and is available 24 hours a day. Exowatt’s 3-in-one modular system delivers baseload renewable power, industrial-grade heat and energy storage that can be dispatched and deployed to a wide range of commercial, industrial applications and sites. The company already has a backlog of demand for over 500 MW to power data centers across the U.S. and plans to begin deployments later this year."

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Last week, I had the pleasure of moderating a discussion on navigating FOAK in climate tech at the Greentown Labs Summit in Boston (which had >600 people!!). Here’s a quick rundown of what was shared by Katherine St. James of Spring Lane Capital, Paris Smalls, PhD of Eden GeoPower, and Hannah Friedman of Planeteer Capital: 🌱 What is the definition of FOAK? We discussed how the term can be controversial - it's almost too general because it doesn't identify what kind of "First" FOAK refers to - first team project? First geography? First of a technology in a sector? First time for the integration of a system? It's also too specific because it has the word "first" in it, which can be anathema to later stage / project finance investors. 💰 Partnerships for Funding FOAK Projects We discussed how important it is to build a blended capital stack & use off-balance sheet capital for a project so you're not using the most expensive equity dollars to fund an infrastructure project with low-ish IRR. We also talked through being creative about using corporate partners to provide in-kind services or ink some agreement (at least an LOI) to attract this funding. 🏛 Role of Government We talked about how government capital is seen by investors & how it can be catalytic for FOAK. Government capital can provide validation that a startup has passed a rigorous diligence process by a third party - and incentives like grants or credits can help improve returns for the first project- but it's important to be doing this in conjunction with getting customer validation and to be able to present line of sight to competitive economics without concessionary capital. 👥 Advice for FOAK startups The panelists offered some very specific pieces of advice for startups going through FOAK: how to get creative with things like revenue sharing agreements or convertible notes, getting smart with project development early on (like with DeveloperU), being careful about using FOAK too liberally with certain investor groups, getting the right commercialization / FOAK talent in and around you early Huge thanks to the panelists and the team at Greentown Labs (Jill Kirkpatrick, Julia Travaglini, Aisling Carlson, etc you rocked it!!) for hosting this discussion on bridging the FOAK gap. Also immensely enjoyed the rest of the agenda. Check out the full recap & videos here: https://lnkd.in/d9ApYe9Y #ClimateTech #FOAK #ClimateFinance #ProjectDevelopment #GreenTech #CleanEnergy

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Congratulations to Tom N. and his grid-tech startup, Piq Energy, on their inclusion in this great writeup from Russell S. and Virta Ventures on startups involved in planning + siting data centers - an enormous industry. A standout fact or two: -Power consumption for AI data centers is projected to 7x by 2030, per Goldman Sachs -The interconnection queue is currently ~5 years for renewables projects - we need rapid progress in grid planning if we don't want new data projects to add more fossil-powered electricity to the grid, reversing recent progress Piq has the potential to be a key tool in this fight, using AI to simulate the grid and complete interconnection (and other grid) analyses in hours that previously took weeks via manual consultant processes. It's great to see emerging major players in the space, like Cloverleaf Infrastructure (which just announced $300M in funding to build out renewables-powered data center campuses), choosing Piq to help them execute. Proud to be a longtime advisor to Piq and Tom (who paddleboarded to Alcatraz with me and John McDowell back in March!), and looking forward to seeing the impact Piq makes on global power buildout. Congrats Tom! https://lnkd.in/gXqNUxJf

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Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

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NEW PODCAST - I chatted with Zane Ball former head of data centers, current head of AI for Intel Corporation about everything the energy business needs to hear from Silicon Valley about the continued growth of the Cloud and AI. Zane’s pretty thoughtful and lays out the Uber Electricty demand case AND a more moderate case for power demand. His key premise is that market forces are pretty powerful: how much AI will we be willing to pay for? Energy prices will drive innovations and there’s a lot of potential for continued developments in energy efficiency. This is a must listen for anyone in the energy business because if we aren’t courting Silicon Valley, they’ll choose nukes and not natural gas. Watch it https://lnkd.in/eFjkYskq or listen https://lnkd.in/eAUQAWxi

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Power Grid is a board game that is a great tool for learning more about energy, the grid, and the power of renewable energy. https://lnkd.in/gHvsSPiD #energy #powergrid #gridoptimization

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Google’s 24x7 Clean Energy Tariff sets the standard for data centers, utilities, and investors. Google secured a groundbreaking new clean energy tariff from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. Existing procurement structures for renewable energy, including geothermal, face several limitations. The new Clean Energy Tariff allows the Nevada utility to sign a PPA with a Fervo geothermal facility, which they otherwise could not sign due to its relative cost. This agreement underscores the role of innovative tariffs and regulatory frameworks in facilitating corporate clean energy transitions. Investors and industry stakeholders who recognize the potential of these innovations will be well-positioned to capitalize on the shift toward a carbon-free future. #Geothermal #Google #Fervo #CleanEnergy #ClimateTech #CleanTech #Utility #DataCenters

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🚀 Form Energy's Iron-Air Batteries: Pioneering Long-Duration Energy Storage ⚡🔋 Last week was the SOSV Climate Summit and one theme that stood out was the decarbonization of the grid. I was fascinated to learn about the work being done around long duration storage solutions (100+ hours) necessary to provide base load assurance given the intermittency of renewable sources like wind and solar. Whilst there are a number of different technologies in the mix from pumped hydro storage, thermal energy storage and gravity energy storage, on the battery front, Form Energy and it's iron-air solution seems to be pulling ahead. The core of the iron-air battery is its electrochemical redox cycle, utilizing iron oxidation during discharge to produce iron oxide (rust), and reversing the reaction during charge to regenerate metallic iron. This process allows the system to store energy for up to 100 to 150 hours, addressing multi-day intermittency in renewable generation. Some of the other advantages of the technology are as follows: 💰 Cost-Effective: Targets a $20 per kWh cost, significantly lower than conventional lithium-ion batteries, enabling affordable large-scale deployment. 🌍 Environmentally Friendly: Utilizes abundant, non-toxic materials (iron, water, air), reducing reliance on rare or hazardous materials, with a lower environmental impact. 🔒 Safe and Non-Flammable: Employs a water-based, non-flammable electrolyte, reducing the risks associated with thermal runaway, a common concern with lithium-ion batteries. 📈 Scalable and Modular: The modular design allows flexible deployment from small projects to large-scale, utility-grade storage solutions, making it adaptable to various grid needs. Form Energy has secured over $1.2 billion in capital since its founding, enabling rapid scaling and innovation. The company’s most recent Series F funding round in October 2024 raised a substantial $405 million, led by major investors like TPG Rise Climate, GE Vernova, Breakthrough Energy and Energy Impact Partners. This latest round will support the development of their manufacturing facility in Weirton, West Virginia, where Form Energy will repurpose a former steel mill into a production hub for its iron-air batteries. I would recommend the following podcast if you want to lean more. And Latitude Media and Canary Media Inc. for the best up-to-date reporting on transition related topics. https://lnkd.in/gmCR5prN

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Grid Reliability Impacts of EV Charging-Two Important Initiatives-Call for Engagement Several years ago, with the support of EnerTech Capital, the California Mobility Center, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), WECC and other organizations, I was fortunate to be involved in helping to form and manage a working group focused on increasing cross sector collaboration to better understand and mitigate potential adverse impacts of EV charging. In April 2022, a CMC working group published a paper including a number of grid friendly charging recommendations, as well as highlighted the need for more robust technical collaboration between the electric industry and EV OEMs and real-world data to both support and build on recommendations regarding grid friendly charging behaviors. I'm highlighting two recent initiatives and encouraging ongoing technical engagement and support from experts in utility, automotive, communications, software, consulting, and related fields. NERC is proposing to stand up an electric vehicle task force under its industry led Reliability Security Technical Committee. The task force deliverables over 2 years include reports regarding bulk power system reliability risks, a technical report on EV charging states and type tests, improvements in EV charging load modeling, and recommendations regarding interconnection requirements. For more information contact [email protected] or [email protected] In addition, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute recently made available a paper entitled “Exploratory Pilot: Analyzing Grid and EV Interactions Through Measuring Driving Behavior, Charging Behavior and Electricity.”  James Sayer and Eric Wingfield led the work for UMTRI, together with Taylor Spalt from Utilidata. The pilot monitored ten vehicles for operational data over 86 days at 8 public charging locations outfitted with Utilidata’s meter adapters. Among the observations was that during specific charging events, EVs generated increased power loss, contributed to voltage loss, and created unfriendly grid responses among other effects. Further research is recommended to support the assessment of potential broader grid impacts, as well as improve modeling. These observations are consistent with the findings contained in the CMC working group report. The paper also included observations regarding charging behaviors and impacts. Continued stakeholder supported research by UMTRI is critical and can help inform the NERC EV Task Force initiative. Please reach out to Eric Wingfiled at UMTRI for a copy of the paper. He may be reached at [email protected] Fostering electric system reliability is critical to the success and reputation of the automotive and utility industries.  Getting this type of collaboration off the ground and maintaining momentum is not easy, especially given the pressing challenges facing both industries. Please lean in. Your support is critical.

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The joining of Google Next Renew and OhmConnect signals some validation of an effort started some eight years ago. Championed by Dave Wechsler, Curtis Snyder and Jon Kaplowitz, we worked to develop a virtual power-plant by giving away XFINITY HOME connected thermostats in exchange for demand response agreements. With enough concentration this would prove to reduce consumption on demand. Unfortunately, initial success gave way to larger competing priorities. We must continue to invest in the nation's infrastructure in a way that benefits and rewards customers, improves reliability and reduces human impact on the environment. I'm eager to see how this partnership will deliver a substantial impact in energy efficiency, demand response, grid optimization, and customer engagement. It's a promising step. How do you think the merger of Google Nest Renew and OHMConnect will impact residential energy management? https://lnkd.in/ev_z2Wbz

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Increased electricity demand + lack of supply = higher electricity prices. Increased energy costs = higher costs of all goods (usually). Currently, we have an unprecedented increase in electricity demand that we simply have no current (no pun intended) means of delivering.