# Mailbag episode! Biotech, layoffs, battery recycling and more

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2023-02-02
- Length: 48m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more

## Summary

Shayle Khan, partner at Energy Impact Partners, joins guest host Sarah Golden, VP of Energy at GreenBiz, to answer listener questions on climate tech. They discuss the role of synthetic biology in producing commodity chemicals, citing Solugen, and debate the risks of unfettered solar geoengineering by startups like Make Sunsets. Khan identifies permitting and transmission as the most intractable barriers to decarbonization, while also analyzing the limited near-term impact of battery recycling on critical mineral supply chains and the economic realities of desalination and fertilizer decarbonization.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=0) Introduction: Shayle Khan and Sarah Golden
- [5:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=315) Biology vs. Electrochemistry: Synthetic Biology and Solugen
- [9:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=544) Solar Geoengineering: Make Sunsets and Regulatory Backlash
- [12:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=746) Deep Tech and the Challenge of First-of-a-Kind Project Finance
- [19:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=1176) VC Funding Trends: Tech Layoffs and Climate Tech Resilience
- [25:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=1531) Top Barriers to Decarbonization: Permitting and Transmission
- [32:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=1954) Battery Recycling: Scaling EV Battery Recovery
- [35:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=2138) The Marginal Cost of Energy and Desalination
- [40:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more#t=2443) Fertilizer Decarbonization: Ammonia and Soil Emissions

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Energy Impact Partners (company)
- GreenBiz (company)
- Solugen (company)
- Make Sunsets (company)
- Marble Climate (company)
- EnergyHub (company)
- Bloom Energy (company)
- Antenna Group (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Advancing Battery Innovation for a Power Grid Under Pressure w/ Arwed Niestroj](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-05-19-advancing-battery-innovation-for-a-power-grid-under-pressure-w-arwed-niestroj) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [Electric Car Superiority | The Supply Chain is All Mine | Cookies for Calculus](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2020-07-10-electric-car-superiority-the-supply-chain-is-all-mine-cookies-for-calculus) (EE Times Current)
- [Re-Engineering Chemical Production for Carbon Dioxide Removal with Dr. Laura Lammers, Founder and CEO of Travertine](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2022-11-24-re-engineering-chemical-production-for-carbon-dioxide-removal-with-dr-laura-lamm) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [Good Energy Citizen](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2024-05-08-good-energy-citizen) (The Amp Hour)
- [Putting Oil Back Where It Belongs with Peter Reinhardt, CEO & Co-Founder of Charm Industrial](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2022-06-09-putting-oil-back-where-it-belongs-with-peter-reinhardt-ceo-co-founder-of-charm-i) (Hardware to Save a Planet)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2023-02-02-mailbag-episode-biotech-layoffs-battery-recycling-and-more. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.