Missed part 1? Click here!

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Michael Leggett (@leggett) & Cris Eugster (@Cris_Eugster) are the co-founders of Ever.green, a company making investing in solar projects easier, faster, and more impactful. 

Their audience are companies and real estate developers to whom they sell RECs (renewable energy certificate), for a soon-to-be-built solar project (think of a field of solar panels in a rural area). They then work with solar developers to execute the project (remember this word: additionality). And finally, they report the impact the solar project had for the environment & communities!

These guys are wicked smart, each bringing different strengths and some legendary experience (for example, Michael was the design-lead for Gmail 😱).

We dive deep into…How is the REC market far from perfect? Why do companies buy renewable energy? Is it easy for companies to participate in renewables? Can companies who buy renewables get both impact AND profit? How about startups? And finally, What’s it like having extremely tall, twin sons 👬🏼?

This episode is particularly valuable for…renewable energy geeks who want to nerd out on how solar projects and RECs work, or entrepreneurs who want to hear from top-notch founders who know how to take something from 0 to 100 and make it fly high 🦅

These guys are the real deal!

Bon appetit! It would mean the 🌎 to us if you subscribed on Spotify or your favorite podcast app. It keeps us jazzed to make new episodes for you 🤞🏽

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Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Show Notes

• [1:29] What have you learned about the money in the space from institutional investors? Is there appetite for this.
• [5:59] Private equity vs venture capital. Have you seen a big difference around this?
• [7:24] How hard sciences and physical world is going to be critical for the climate solutions we need
• [9:22] You say we’re not moving fast enough. Why?
• [12:01] How velocity matters in the climate fight.
• [15:02] Why do companies need to buy renewable energy? Why should they care.
• [18:28] How do companies get more access to renewables through Ever.green?
• [21:53] What is the theory of RECs? How do they work
• [26:08] Rapid mayhem questions!
• [30:40] People often feel helpless in taking action. You’re a B2B play; how can the average consumer play into this?
• [36:17] Where you can find Ever.green (https://www.ever.green)
• [37:00] What about consumers? What companies should we be bugging?

Links from Episode

• Connect with Michael Leggett: Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
• Connect with Cris Eugster: Twitter | LinkedIn
• Follow Ever.green: Blog | Website
• Pioneer Square Labs
• Greg Gottesman
• What is a “first check” in venture capital
• What is private equity vs venture capital
• What is the Inflation Reduction Act
• What is soil carbon
• What is carbon capture
• What is renewable energy
• What is a VPPA (Virtual Power Purchase Agreement)
• What is a REC purchase agreement
• Renewable energy creates 5x more jobs than fossil fuels (source)
• Renewable energy sources generated 20% of global electricity in 2021 (source)
• All renewables are getting cheaper, including off-shore wind (source)
• Every hour, the sun beams enough solar energy onto Earth to keep everyone on our planet supplied with electricity for an entire year (source)
• BP
• What is a carbon offset
• Figma
• How to get a sustainability manager at your company
• Ever.green

What challenges do you think we face in the distributed solar space? Are Cris & Michael on to something here? We’d love to hear your thoughts 👇