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GreenBiz 350 Podcast

Episode 197: Shell gets back to nature, General Mills' soil savant

Plus, why urban agriculture is a fertile market for growth.

Week in Review

Commentary of some of this week's stories begins at 4:59.

  1. Vehicle-to-grid technology is revving up
  2. The vertical farming industry is growing deeper roots
  3. Sustainability-linked loans soar as green bond issues slow

Features

Meet the General Mills soil savant (18:39)

Steve Rosenzweig, soil scientist at General Mills, is instrumental in the food company's commitment to cultivate at least 1 million acres of farmland using regenerative agriculture techniques by 2030. He chats about partnering with farmers and how to measure soil health. 

Invenergy charges up turnkey energy solutions (27:58)

In early November, Chicago-based renewables developer Invenergy created a new business dedicated to deploying turnkey energy installations for large facility and fleet owners. Its focus is on managing energy costs, increasing reliability and enhancing electrification efforts. Shashank Sane, senior vice president at Invenergy, discusses the mission. 

Shell gets back to nature (39:35)

David Hone has been Shell's chief climate change adviser for more than a decade. He chats about natural-based solutions to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, especially for sectors where technological options will be slower to emerge.

"There's a very clear recognition now that not only do we have to limit the use of fossil fuels, but we also have to see large swaths of the planet reforested for all sorts of reasons, not just to manage emissions but to restore biodiversity, to restore clean air in a different sort of way, to ensure that wetlands and all of the other things that nature offers are still there in the future," he said.

*Music in this episode by Lee Rosevere: "4th Ave Walkup," "Arcade Montage," "I'm Going For a Coffee," "Thinking It Over" and "Here's the Thing"

What's new at GreenBiz?

From pilot to planet. Designing for recyclability — and the consumer — takes serious collaboration among many stakeholders. Join this webcast at 1 p.m. EST Nov. 19 to hear how Dow is working with partners to innovate and to get real solutions to market more quickly. 

Get charged up about fleet electrification. Learn more about how electric vehicles could, and should, interact with the electricity grid in this exploration about EV charging infrastructure. Join the conversation at 1 p.m. EST Dec. 4 by registering here.

How does ESG measure up? Mainstream investors are asking for more data on corporate climate risks and opportunities — and they're being forced to wade through the sea of metrics and standards used for reporting. Join this interactive webcast at 1 p.m. EST Dec. 17, about how to harmonize disclosure in a way that will speak to the investment community. 

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