66: Launching sustainable mobility solutions in cities ft. Venkatesh Gopal, Movmi
How can cities enable shared electric mobility services? Are 15 minute cities a reality? Why behaviour shift is essential to make shared transit system in cities a success? All this and more is discussed in this episode where Venkatesh Gopal, Partnerships & Business Development manager at Movmi joins Girish Shivakumar for a conversation. To find out more about Venkatesh & Movmi – https://...
48m Oct 17, 2021
48m
65: Leadership in cleantech: What does it take to build a successful business? ft. David Hunt
What does it take to build a successful cleantech business? Are the new age leaders in cleantech different from the conventional business leaders? What do the investors look for when they evaluate a cleantech start-up? All this and more is discussed in this episode where Girish Shivakumar interviews David Hunt, CEO of Hyperion Executive Search and the host of ‘Leaders in cleantech’ podcast. ...
30m Sep 26, 2021
30m
64: Sustainability champions ft. Vikas Brahmavar of Trans Water System
Did you know that water that is treated well can be reused? Water treatment as a service is now available where you pay for every litre of water reused from treatment. What's more, it also meets your requirements in terms of local government compliance. The Boson White Water System involves a 11 stage treatment process where the output is pure drinking water All your questions on how to get...
26m Sep 12, 2021
26m
63: All about Mobility as a Service (MaaS) ft. Sampo Hietanen, MaaS Global
What is Mobility as a Service (MaaS) all about? How can MaaS help cities reduce car ownership? What are the emerging global trends around MaaS? Can we combine housing rents with mobility subscription? All your questions on this and more answered on this episode where Sampo Hietanen, CEO of MaaS Global is in conversation with Girish Shivakumar. To find out more about MaaS Global https://wh...
36m Aug 29, 2021
36m
62: Energy transitions, electricity deregulation and empowering consumers in the US ft. Jesson Bradshaw, Energy Ogre
How has deregulation of electricity markets given more power to the consumers? How can technology help developing countries leapfrog in the energy transition? What can we learn from the Texas electricity grid crisis of 2021? All your questions on this and more answered on this episode where Jesson Bradshaw, CEO of Energy Ogre is in conversation with Girish Shivakumar. To find out more about ...
40m Aug 15, 2021
40m
61: Refreezing the arctic and other climate actions backed by scientific research ft. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald, Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge
Is refreezing the arctic a viable climate action? What are the pathways for deep and rapid emissions reductions? What are the nature based solutions for greenhouse gas removal? All your questions on this and more answered on this episode where we discuss Climate action backed by scientific research and robust evidence with Dr Shaun Fitzgerald OBE from Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge (C...
31m Aug 01, 2021
31m
60: Enabling Climate Action ft.Tristan Foerster, ClimatePartner
How did Greta Thunberg inspire climate action around the world? How did a company that started off as a provider of carbon footprint assessments grow into a MNC that is offering businesses an end-end transparent climate action strategy? All you need to know about ClimatePartner's 5 step process for climate action is on this episode. Girish Shivakumar is joined by Tristan A. Foerster, Managing...
39m Jul 18, 2021
39m
59: Buildings as carbon sinks ft. Petri Laakso, Soletair Power
Can buildings be turned into carbon sinks? What are the best use cases of carbon capture? All this and more covered on this episode featuring Soletair power. Soletair Power turns buildings into carbon sinks, that lower the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The captured CO2 is converted into synthetic renewable fuel. Petri Laakso, CEO & Partner joins Girish Shivakumar on this conversation...
24m Jul 04, 2021
24m
58: Sustainable Plastics – ft. Gabriel Thoumi, Planet Tracker
How are companies manufacturing plastics undergoing a sustainability transformation? What do we know about the plastics industry and what should we know to be more aware of the product we use daily? What are the roles of financing options like green bonds and are they really adding value to the decarbonisation strategy of the plastic industry? All your questions on the plastics industry, the v...
34m Jun 20, 2021
34m
57: Enabling the transition to electric mobility – What’s holding us back? ft. Awadhesh Kumar Jha
What’s holding us back from adopting electric mobility in a big way? When can India see an increased uptake of EVs? How did the Nordic region get there? On this episode, Awadhesh Kumar Jha joins Girish Shivakumar to discuss this topic in detail particularly covering three points 1) What is it about the mind set of people that is required to enable the shift to personal electric mobility? 2)...
49m Jun 06, 2021
49m
56: IEA’s report on how to transition to a net zero energy system by 2050
International Energy Agency released a landmark report, ‘Net Zero by 2050: a Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector’ this past week. The net zero roadmap is aimed to be a “how to guide” for the world’s decision makers to get to their targets. So, what are the highlights from the study? | What are the recommendations? | What are the critics saying about this study? Girish Shivakumar provides a sum...
9m May 23, 2021
9m
55: Best Practices Guide: How to get started with Rainwater Harvesting
What is Rainwater Harvesting? Why is it essential for megacities and how can you get one done? All your questions answered on this episode. Bengaluru in India is a water stressed city but there are innovative projects that are coming up which aims to reduce the water stress and recharge the ground water. Ganesh Shanbhag an avid enthusiast who designed his own system joins Girish Shivakumar to ...
33m May 09, 2021
33m
54: Net-Zero Transition: The what why and how to get there
Everyone is talking about Net-Zero transitions, why is it important, why should you be involved and how can you be involved? All questions answered on this episode. Girish Shivakumar also shares the brief 2 year old journey of Mission Shunya podcast and what to expect in the future. The net zero tracker - https://eciu.net/netzerotracker Without the hot air - https://www.withouthotair.com/ ...
15m Apr 25, 2021
15m
53: Trapping emissions ft. Aker Carbon Capture
What is Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)? How does it work? Is direct air capture an efficient solution? All your questions on CCUS answered on this episode. Joining Girish Shivakumar is the CTO of Aker Carbon Capture Jim Stian Olsen, who shares the story of how Aker started developing its technical expertise around carbon capture. Also, how is it building its first CCUS plant in...
30m Apr 11, 2021
30m
52: Delivering sustainability in the materials value chain ft. Umicore
Will we run out of Lithium for EV batteries? Is Cobalt ethically sourced? How much of metals can we extract through recycling? All your questions on the sustainability of material extraction, global supply chains and circular economy answered on this episode. Tom Van Bellinghen (VP, OEM Value Chain & Marketing) and Kedar Rele (Country General Manager & Director, India) from Umicore join Giris...
42m Mar 28, 2021
42m
51: How sustainable is urban farming? ft. Shalini Patwal
Is urban farming really sustainable? Is it the same throughout the world? Why should look at it holistically? Shalini Patwal, an infrastructure development consultant passionate about climate change and sustainability, particularly in the context of water joins Girish Shivakumar on this episode to share her views on the impact of urban farming on the water infrastructure. Follow Shalini P...
50m Mar 14, 2021
50m
50: Building a career in cleantech ft. Rajesh Bhat
Do you want to know what it takes to build a career in cleantech? What should you consider if you are planning to turn an entrepreneur? On this special episode Rajesh Bhat joins Girish Shivakumar and shares his experience of witnessing the global cleantech transition and how young professionals can brace up to the challenge. Key insights on what you need to excel in this sector, what is ...
39m Feb 21, 2021
39m
49: An upcycling story ft. Help Us Green
Help Us Green has pioneered the art of converting flower waste into a useful product recreating the fragrance as it upcycles the waste or called flowercycling. In the process they have created an ecosystem helping women in rural India earn a livelihood and respect within the community. Karan Rastogi, the Co-Founder joins Girish Shivakumar to share the story. Follow Help Us Green: https://...
24m Feb 08, 2021
24m
48: UK’s 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution ft. Dr David Reiner
UK set the ball rolling for countries to commit to a transition towards a zero carbon economy. Recently UK announced the 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution, the first major piece of strategy providing a context of what it intends to achieve across sectors. On this episode, Dr David Reiner, a political scientist and a senior lecturer at the Judge Business School, University of Cam...
43m Jan 25, 2021
43m
47: How does climate change impact renewable energy generation?
How does climate change impact renewable energy generation? New evidence on how marine temperature rise and the unseasonal cyclonic events caused the variance in wind generation is here. On an average there was 5-11% across India with a few regions accounting for about 15% variance in India on a yearly basis. Asim Ahmed from REConnect Energy joins Girish Shivakumar on this episode to share ...
33m Jan 04, 2021
33m
46: Converting waste to bio CNG and fertilizer ft. Carbon Masters
Kevin Houston , co-founder of Carbon Masters joins Girish Shivakumar on this episode to share his entrepreneurial journey. The product, Carbonlites is India's very first compressed biogas brand and it is used for cooking and transportation. The output slurry is also used as an organic fertilizer. Their latest solution of getting Bio CNG through sewage treatment could be a game changer in terms ...
39m Dec 21, 2020
39m
45: Enabling businesses and individuals go carbon neutral ft. Carbonfund.org
How can you reach your net zero goals if you can’t directly invest in a project? Carbonfund.org enables businesses and individuals go carbon neutral. Brian McFarland, Senior Vice President of Carbon Offset Projects joins Girish Shivakumar on this episode to share the story of Carbonfund.org More information on Brian & CarbonFund: https://carbonfund.org/ Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcast...
25m Dec 07, 2020
25m
44: Building and scaling up an energy analytics platform to support grid integration of Renewable Energy ft. REConnect Energy
Vishal Pandya, co-founder of REConnect Energy, an entrepreneur who has built India’s leading energy analytics platform joins Girish Shivakumar to share the REConnect story. It’s a very a candid and engaging conversation on entrepreneurship in cleantech sector and the 10 year journey of REConnect Energy. Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2LFBCVw Other platforms: http://...
50m Nov 23, 2020
50m
43: Delivering sustainability projects in the developing world ft. Ecoforge
On this episode Girish Shivakumar is joined by Sagar Gubbi, Managing Partner at Ecoforge Advisors, who shares the story of Ecoforge and how they are working to enable access to technology and capital in the developing world to combat the impact of Climate Change. Ecoforge works in the developing countries with investors and aid agencies in delivering sustainability projects and ‘forging’ relati...
1hr 4m Nov 09, 2020
1hr 4m
42: Solubag – Water soluble bags as an alternative to common plastic
“We want to eliminate single-use plastic bags” reads a statement on the website of Solubag, a company based out of Chile. Roberto Astete, Co-Founder joins Girish Shivakumar on this episode to share the story of conceptualising alternative products to single use plastics. The products from Solubag are soluble in warm and cold water distinctively. Interested to know more? Subscribe and liste...
27m Oct 26, 2020
27m
41: FSC and Sustainable Forestry
What are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifications all about? Is a planned, managed forest area really sustainable? Can the status quo be changed? On this podcast episode Amar Deshpande (aka Amar Vyas), Country Manager for FSC in India joins Girish Shivakumar to discuss sustainable forestry and FSC's role in it. Amar is also a passionate storyteller and founder of Gaatha Sto...
51m Oct 12, 2020
51m
40: Decarbonisation Futures – Australia’s road to net zero emissions
Discussing the global transition to net zero emissions is one of the themes of Mission Shunya (Shunya =Zero). Recently, ClimateWorks Australia, published the Decarbonisation Futures study that outlined the trajectory for Australia to get to net zero by 2050. Climateworks Australia’s primary goal through the study is to enable Australia reach its net zero emissions by 2050. Tom Yankos who l...
30m Sep 28, 2020
30m
39: Carbon Initiative Forum – Climate Change Awareness at Grassroots Level
Carbon Initiative Forum (CIF) aims to create climate change awareness at grassroots level. Why is it important? How do they go about doing it? How can you get involved? On this episode Sandeep Roy Choudhury joins Girish Shivakumar to share his journey of building VNV advisory services and working on projects of impact and having a positive impact on communities. The action item for this epi...
34m Sep 14, 2020
34m
38: Conversation on Zero Toxicity, Corporate Climate Actions, EU Green Deal & more
In the last few years we have come across commitments from a range of global corporations committing to going 100% RE, reducing their emissions to net zero or in fact turning to net positive. What are the targets based on, how realistic are these targets from the timeline perspective. We will discuss more of this on this episode. Thaddeus Anim-Somuah who has done a lot of work in the sustaina...
30m Aug 31, 2020
30m
37: Creating environmental awareness among children using behavioural economics & play based learning
How can behavioural economics and nudge be used to create awareness on environmental issues among children? Amishi Parasrampuria from Upcycler’s lab joins Girish Shivakumar to share the story of how products and games are designed with intent to make play based learning more impactful. Link to connect with Upcycler’s Lab: https://upcyclerslab.com/ Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcas...
36m Aug 17, 2020
36m
36: The Energy Talk - Energy & Sustainability in India
Olubunmi Olajide, the host of The Energy Talk podcast joins Girish Shivakumar to share his interest and work around telling stories from the global energy transition. Olubunmi featured the work of Mission Shunya earlier on The Energy Talk podcast. Links to connect with Olubunmi: https://bit.ly/3fcHUWc | The Energy Talk Podcast: https://theenergytalk.disha.page/ Subscribe and listen on Apple...
47m Aug 03, 2020
47m
35: SDG 6: Access to clean water ft. WaterScope
1 in 10 people in the world don’t have access to clean water. The UN declared access to clean water and sanitation as a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) in 2015. WaterScope has developed an inexpensive, rapid water testing microscope capable of identifying bacterial presence in water. Alexander Patto, CEO & CO-Founder of WaterScope joins Girish Shivakumar in a conversation to share the sto...
39m Jul 20, 2020
39m
34: Renewable Energy as a Service for Industries
Renewable Energy (RE) procurement has moved on from being a corporate goal driven procurement for industries to cost-economics driven decision. How are the RE developers evolving to provide value to this category of consumers? How can Commercial & Industrial spaces avail Renewable Energy as a Service? Siddarth Krishna Kumar from Renew Power joins Girish Shivakumar to share his views on t...
28m Jul 06, 2020
28m
33: Regenerative Thinking - Going beyond Sustainability
The most common definition of Sustainability is to have low / zero impact which is simply not enough for civilization to course correct. Regenerative, on the other hand means to be of positive impact through our actions. How can you be regenerative? Jacob Cherian joins Girish Shivakumar to share the mantra of making contribution through Time, Premium & Network on this episode. Subscribe an...
33m Jun 22, 2020
33m
32: Absolute Zero: How will UK achieve net-zero emissions?
When UK announced its intent to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, it became the first major country to make the net zero commitment. On this episode, we will listen to the work done by UK Fires, a research group sponsored by the UK government to support it in its transition towards the net zero goal. Dr André Cabrera Serrenho (University of Cambridge & UK Fires) joins Girish Shivakumar to ta...
35m Jun 08, 2020
35m
31: Improved air quality in India during COVID-19 lockdown and how to sustain the clean air movement
So, during this lockdown, did you breathe some fresh air? If you live close to a river, maybe you saw a cleaner version of it. Or you may have also spotted some distant object, maybe even a mountain. India was no different. The air quality improved during the lockdown but how can India sustain this clean-air movement post COVID-19. Tanushree Ganguly a researcher from CEEW joins Girish Shivakum...
50m May 25, 2020
50m
30: Sustaining the cleantech momentum in the post-COVID-19 era
The growth story of the global cleantech movement over the last few years has been phenomenal. But, COVID-19 has definitely thrown in a lot of uncertainties. Will it push the development back by a few years? Will this outbreak make companies, cities and countries think again on their sustainability targets, Paris Climate agreements and so on? What are the other lessons companies need to take...
1hr 35m May 11, 2020
1hr 35m
29: Impact of COVID-19 on Small Scale Solar Rooftop Market
In recent months COVID-19 has definitely had an impact on the global economy. This is the first episode of the series where the discussions will be around how COVID-19 will impact the global transition to the zero carbon economy. On this episode, entrepreneurs Harsha Kuntur from EcoSoch Solar and Sishir Garemella from Sunvest Capital join Girish Shivakumar to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on ...
55m Apr 27, 2020
55m
28: Water Conservation: How technology enables us to get better at it?
The theme of this episode is water conservation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of the focus areas as we transition to a zero carbon economy & access to clean water is a key SDG. Water purification as a service is the vision of OCEO water. How does technology enable this company reach its goal? Vikram Gulecha joins Girish Shivakumar on a conversation to share the story where i...
49m Apr 13, 2020
49m
27: Creating an urban forest – the story of ‘Say Trees’
What made a software engineer get so passionate about planting trees on weekends? How did he then scale it up to create urban forests and more such projects? Listen to Kapil Sharma, founder of Say Trees share his story on this episode with Girish Shivakumar. About Say Trees SayTrees is a professionally run group of ordinary people extraordinarily determined to protect the environment not j...
29m Mar 30, 2020
29m
26: Litter-free Lalbagh - featuring Saahas
Lalbagh is a botanical garden in the Indian city of Bengaluru. The two flower shows during the year see a footfall of around 600k each. In the last year the waste generation during the event was reduced to half. How it did happen? On this episode Girish Shivakumar interviews Rajalakshmi from Saahas, the group that is behind this success story. Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts: https://...
28m Mar 16, 2020
28m
25: Energy storage thought leadership featuring Dr Rahul Walawalkar
Dr Rahul Walawalkar is an industry veteran and has been at the forefront of the energy technology transition and has a particular affinity towards energy storage. On this 25th episode of Mission Shunya podcast he joins Girish Shivakumar to share his story. Girish and Rahul collaborated to launch India’s first energy and clean-tech podcast, Emerging Tech Radio in 2017. For more information c...
34m Mar 02, 2020
34m
24: Inspirational heroes, motivational stories and how it helps us to move forward: A special tribute
Episode 24 is a tribute to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant and all the people like him, heroes who inspire us every day. On this episode Girish Shivakumar brings to you guest stories from the podcast whose work was featured in the previous episodes. Listen in as they share the reason on why they started their work or their intrinsic motivations. Liked the episode? Give it a rating an...
22m Feb 17, 2020
22m
23: Sustainable Clothing: Turning plastic into wearable fabric
Did you know manufacturing a cotton t-shirt consumes around 2700L of water in the process? On this episode, Kathir, co-founder of ecohike, a sustainable clothing company from India joins Girish Shivakumar to share his story of creating a new range of fabric that is made of recycled plastic. To know more contact about ecohike www.ecohike.in Mission Shunya covers all stories related to the ...
27m Feb 03, 2020
27m
22: Waste Management - A success story from Bengaluru
On this week's episode Padmashree Balaram joins Girish Shivakumar to share the success story of building a waste to energy plant right in the heart of Bengaluru city in India. You can contact Padmashree at wastemaya@gmail.com Follow Mission Shunya on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/mission-shunya/id1460138702 and other platforms https://audioboom.com/channel/mission-shu...
31m Jan 20, 2020
31m
21: 2010s in review and the predictions for the decade ahead
The first episode of the new year and the new decade is here! Girish Shivakumar reviews the decade gone by and predicts the stories and trends that will shape the decade ahead. The transition to a zero carbon economy (Mission Shunya) is underway and this decade will accelerate the transition. Subscribe now to Mission Shunya on podcast platforms and social media channels to keep track of this t...
15m Jan 06, 2020
15m
20: Amazon Rainforest Wildfires: How does it affect us?
On this episode Tony Juniper, a campaigner, writer, sustainability advisor and leading British environmentalist joins Girish Shivakumar to talk about the importance of tropical rainforests and the impact of amazon rainforest wildfires. To know more about Tony’s work you can check his website www.tonyjuniper.com You can also follow him on Twitter @TonyJuniper. You can send your feedback...
31m Dec 23, 2019
31m
19: The Evolution of Pay-As-You-Go Solar
Pay-As-You-Go Solar has revolutionised the way people get access to electricity in Africa. The emergence of new technology coupled with declining system costs has enabled the low income families in the developing world get access to electricity. On this episode Nikhil Nair shares his international experience in developing the business for M-Kopa with Girish Shivakumar. More info at www.missio...
30m Dec 09, 2019
30m
18: What it takes to live an eco-friendly lifestyle?
Neel Mathews shares his passionate story of building a house that is water and energy positive and also how he helps others achieve the same on this episode with Girish Shivakumar. More about Neel’s work and contact details at www.lifeislab.com Links to subscribe to Mission Shunya podcast, give a feedback etc. available at www.missionshunya.com
25m Nov 25, 2019
25m
17: Clean air as a service to control indoor air pollution
The Indian capital of Delhi and most of the regions in North India continue to choke post the monsoon season and it has peaked after Diwali. The pollutants are at dangerous levels outdoors but indoor air is also susceptible to a significant pollution. How do you combat indoor air pollution? Aayush Jha founder of Clairco, a startup that offers clean air as a service joins Girish Shivakumar to d...
27m Nov 04, 2019
27m