Request for Startups: Climate Tech • Hacker News Board

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#111

Post by ibejoeb » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:54 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #104

> Tesla for home appliances: re-inventing home appliances (water heaters, induction stoves, clothes dryers, etc) to create better consumer experiences using specific advantages of electric technology. I mean heat pump water heaters already exist [346] and they're reasonable in most everywhere (they put extra load on the furnace in cold climates in the winter but can still be a win overall). The main advance here migh…

>water heaters

Are we being serious? I have an electric water heater. I have an induction cooktop, which is electric by necessity. I have an electric clothes dryer. (Is there even a consumer-grade gas-fired clothes dryer on the market?) The consumer experience is fine. I turn on the hot water tap and hot water comes out. What am I missing?

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#112

Post by dheera » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:55 PM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #65

I've worked in "climate intelligence" for many years. The list overlooks one of the largest and most immediate opportunities around that market: the data infrastructure and analysis tools we have today are profoundly unfit for purpose. Just about everyone is essentially using cartography tools to do large-scale spatiotemporal analysis of sensor and telemetry data. The gaps for both features and practical scalability…

Would you mind elaborating on say a few specific asks for tools climate people would want to have, that are low-hanging fruit that people might be able to write in their spare time?

I'm very interested in doing something for climate change but I'd like to know what people want.

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#113

Post by CabSauce » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:56 PM UTC

Raed667 wrote: post #66

Do people really believe we can innovate our way through climate change?

The real question is did we start too late to curb climate change? We'll innovate to mitigate its damages either way.

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#114

Post by malfist » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:57 PM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #9

> Tesla for home appliances: re-inventing home appliances (water heaters, induction stoves, clothes dryers, etc) to create better consumer experiences using specific advantages of electric technology. > Tesla-like experience for home energy management: smart hub, including smart charging, load shifting, software-based load shedding for improved resiliency, and better circuit-level energy use measurement. With how Tes…

Isn't the big problem with smart appliances exactly this?

I was in the market for a new pellet grill recently and I ran into huge problems, almost everything on the market is bluetooth this or wifi that. The last thing I need is an unreliable radio to be at the center of the controls for my outdoor appliance, or for any appliance whatsoever, to have a dependency on my internet connection and the availability of some manufacturers servers.

Because who know what might happen. The manufacturer might decide it doesn't like your hardware anymore and push out a firmware update that bricks all your devices in 60 days, but don't worry, they'll give you a coupon for buying the latest and greatest from them (looking at you sonos).

Want to know how to not get me to buy your product? Make it dependent on some unreliable technology that gives no benefit to the device, but makes the device dependent on the goodwill of the parent corporation.

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#115

Post by bombcar » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:58 PM UTC

ibejoeb wrote: post #111

bombcar wrote: post #104

> Tesla for home appliances: re-inventing home appliances (water heaters, induction stoves, clothes dryers, etc) to create better consumer experiences using specific advantages of electric technology. I mean heat pump water heaters already exist [346] and they're reasonable in most everywhere (they put extra load on the furnace in cold climates in the winter but can still be a win overall). The main advance here migh…

>water heaters Are we being serious? I have an electric water heater. I have an induction cooktop, which is electric by necessity. I have an electric clothes dryer. (Is there even a consumer-grade gas-fired clothes dryer on the market?) The consumer experience is fine. I turn on the hot water tap and hot water comes out. What am I missing?

The only thing I can think of is a water heater that knows when power is cheap and preheats water hotter than it needs to be so it's available when you need it without using power ... I guess?

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#116

Post by pcl » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:58 PM UTC

kokanee wrote: post #8

quelsolaar wrote: post #3

Lately i've been thinking that right now may be a great time to start an oil company. Cost of solar is going down so capturing c02 and turning it into fuel is looking like a viable option. People would pay a premiun for carbon neutral fuel. Most climate companies, focused on carbon capture, tried to make the most efficient carbon capture possible, but what if one focused on scalability and reducing manufacturing cost…

https://www.twelve.co is doing this (with fuels as well as other carbon-derived chemicals). Trouble is, this is carbon recycling, not carbon sequestering. It's better than the status quo, but I'm more excited about ideas that either sequester GHGs permanently or replace industrial GHG-generating processes permanently.

Storing liquids (or solids) from at STP is far simpler than storing it in gaseous form. If we can cheaply extract CO2 or methane from the atmosphere and make liquid from it, we could sequester it in all sorts of trivial ways.

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#117

Post by malfist » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 8:59 PM UTC

ibejoeb wrote: post #111

bombcar wrote: post #104

> Tesla for home appliances: re-inventing home appliances (water heaters, induction stoves, clothes dryers, etc) to create better consumer experiences using specific advantages of electric technology. I mean heat pump water heaters already exist [346] and they're reasonable in most everywhere (they put extra load on the furnace in cold climates in the winter but can still be a win overall). The main advance here migh…

>water heaters Are we being serious? I have an electric water heater. I have an induction cooktop, which is electric by necessity. I have an electric clothes dryer. (Is there even a consumer-grade gas-fired clothes dryer on the market?) The consumer experience is fine. I turn on the hot water tap and hot water comes out. What am I missing?

You mean you don't want to download an app to your phone that steals your data so you can....adjust the temperature setting of your hot water heater?

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#118

Post by carabiner » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

dqpb wrote: post #86

Raed667 wrote: post #66

Do people really believe we can innovate our way through climate change?

Are you suggesting there is a solution without innovation, or that there is no solution at all?

Public policy >> tech solutions. You might get a few people to replace their water heaters if you come up with one more efficient, but that's nothing compared to federally funded nuclear plants.

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#119

Post by judge2020 » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

bmitc wrote: post #98

ghiculescu wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is objectively worse about them? They seem very popular with consumers.

Popularity does not necessarily correlate with quality. Tesla is typically rated at the bottom for quality and reliability.

Tesla is pretty high on reliability, just not quality (ie. panel gaps and build quality issues are still a thing, but based on CR they're on-par with all the other non-luxury car brands).

Re: Request for Startups: Climate Tech

#120

Post by algoatecorn » Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

The agriculture section is disheartening. What is the VCs worlds' obsession with cellular ag and mushrooms? Totally missing the forest for the trees here.

Global calorie supply is dependent on the Haber-Bosch process i.e. Nitrogen fixation.

The next big agricultural breakthrough will be some form of nitrogen fixation:

1. That is not affected by a reduction of fossil fuels

2. Is on par with Haber-Bosch in terms of elemental Nitrogen application

3. Does not require a massive shift in consumer preferences

Also, the food industry is heavily reliant on energy sources that are not easily replaced by renewables. It needs dense energy like diesel and natgas. So there's another topic that should be funded.