De-Risking Climate Tech: Inside the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center with Galen Nelson
Galen Nelson, Chief Climate Officer at the Massachusetts
Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) explains how the state is helping accelerate climate innovation through early-stage grants, equity investments, and infrastructure support. Galen outlines how MassCEC targets “market failures” where private investors hesitate—such as pilot and demonstration projects—and how these public investments help attract follow-on capital, inform policy, and build economic resilience.
Galen shares examples across climate tech verticals including energy efficiency, carbon-intensive materials like cement, and urban heat resilience. He also discusses how MassCEC is responding to the shifting
federal policy landscape, its new authority to fund climate adaptation
technologies, and how the agency’s public-private model balances innovation with accountability.
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Governing Climate Action: Massachusetts’ Strategy for Decarbonization and Resilience
Jonathan Schrag, Deputy Climate Chief for the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, joins Climate Rising to discuss how the state is
tackling emissions, electrifying infrastructure, and responding to a shifting
federal policy landscape. Jonathan shares how Massachusetts’ newly created Climate Office coordinates across agencies—from housing to public health to corrections—to embed climate action into all corners of state government.
He discusses the state’s emissions targets, the role of
local municipalities in building codes and EV infrastructure, and the growing headwinds from federal rollbacks, tariffs, and canceled clean energy grants. He also reflects on market uncertainty, offshore wind, geothermal pilots, and the promise of small modular nuclear reactors.
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How Crusoe is Reducing the Carbon Intensity of AI Data Centers
Hui Wen Chan, Senior Director of Sustainability at Crusoe, describes
how the rapid rise of AI is reshaping energy demand and Crusoe’s efforts to design more sustainable data centers. She explains how Crusoe leverages stranded energy sources, repurposed electric vehicle batteries, on-site renewables, and innovative energy-efficient cooling technologies to design and build gigawatt-scale AI data center infrastructure that reduces water and carbon footprints.
She also shares why Crusoe emphasizes modularity and location-based energy sourcing, and how its customers—ranging from AI startups
to tech hyper-scalers—are integrating climate into their computing strategy. Hui reflects on her path from microfinance and Citi’s ESG team to climate tech and offers practical advice for others pursuing careers at the intersection of AI and sustainability.
This episode is a part of our HBS alumni series, which also features Eric Adamson who works on agricultural robotics at Oishii, and Danielle Colson who works at Mantel, a carbon capture technology start-up. Visit our website (climaterising.org) to explore the entire series!
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Scaling Carbon Capture for Hard-to-abate sectors: Danielle Rapson of Mantel
Danielle Rapson, HBS alum and Co-founder and COO of Mantel, joins Climate Rising to explain how her company is developing a novel molten-based carbon capture system for hard-to-abate industrial sectors. Danielle shares the story of how Mantel spun out of an MIT lab, what sets its technology apart from existing amine-based carbon capture, and why the economics of steam reuse are critical to its efficiency. She also discusses how Mantel’s early projects in pulp and paper and oil refining are shaping its path to commercialization, and what policy and regulatory incentives—like 45Q and Canada’s carbon tax—mean for scaling carbon removal solutions.
This episode is part of our alumni series, which also features Eric Adamson, Robotics Executive at Oishii and co-founder of Tortuga AgTech, and Hui Wen Chan of Crusoe, which uses stranded energy to power AI data centers. Explore the full series at climaterising.org.
Resources Mentioned
• Mantel – Developing molten material-based carbon capture for industrial emissions
• Breakthrough Energy Fellows – A program supporting early-stage climate tech innovators
• The Engine – VC firm backing tough tech startups out of MIT
• MCJ – "My Climate Journey," a podcast and investor network on climate tech
• Kruger– Canadian pulp and paper partner for Mantel’s first demonstration project
• 45Q Tax Credit (U.S. IRS) – U.S. tax credit for carbon capture and sequestration
• Canada’s Carbon Tax Policy – A national carbon pricing mechanism incentivizing low-carbon tech
Host and Guest
Host: Mike Toffel, Professor, Harvard Business School (LinkedIn)
Guest: Danielle Rapson, Co-founder & COO, Mantel (LinkedIn)
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MethaneSAT: The EDF Satellite Tracking Methane Emissions from Oil & Gas Operations
Fred Krupp, president of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), describes EDF’s work to address climate change through scientific, economic, and legal analyses, working with
governments and companies, and public and legal advocacy for stronger climate and other environmental practices and policies. Fred joined us to talk about MethaneSAT, EDF’s new satellite that was recently launched to monitor emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas operations. Fred describes why EDF entered the satellite business, how its satellite differs from others already in orbit, the many partners EDF enlisted to design and
deploy the satellite, how AI is deployed in the process, and what new opportunities this satellite will provide for EDF and the rest of us.
Climate Rising is about the impact of climate change on business. It brings business and policy leaders and Harvard Business School faculty together to share insights about what businesses are doing, can do, and should do to confront climate change. It explores the many challenges and opportunities that climate change raises for managers, such as decisions about where they choose to locate, the technologies they develop and use, their strategies with respect to products, marketing, customer engagement, and policy—in other words, the full spectrum of business concerns.
New Zealand