Rooted in Change

Hosted by Jan Christoph Bohnerth

Business Entrepreneurship EducationInterviews guests

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Jun 2026

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About the show

To tackle the climate crisis, we need radical action and bold ideas. Those advocating and delivering green solutions, lowering humanity's impact on the planet, are our champions. The podcast “Rooted in Change” interviews European cleantech protagonists about their solutions. Guests share ideas on how to accelerate change and deliver meaningful global impact.

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55 recent

June 16, 202635 min

Trygve Mongstad - Over Easy Solar

Aligning solar energy production with actual grid demand remains one of the hardest challenges in the energy transition, often resulting in peak generation when we need it the least. The industry continues to rely on traditional, tilted rooftop arrays. Over Easy Solar replaces these conventional setups by introducing vertical, double-sided solar panels. By optimizing these arrays for east-west installations to generate power from both sides of the glass, Over Easy Solar achieves an industry-leading bifaciality of 96%. This innovative design maximizes energy production precisely during the morning and evening peak hours when the grid demands it most. Trygve joins the podcast to talk about the idea behind their vertical arrays, why the product is so crucial for the energy transition and their niche in green roofs.

May 26, 202634 min

William Ramsay - Sixteen44

When we think about climate change, we most of the time think about CO2. But neutralizing methane, a gas with an even higher global warming potential, when it is too spread out to simply catch and burn remains a massive challenge for global climate efforts. The industry continues to rely on traditional methods like flaring that only work on highly concentrated leaks. Sixteen44 replaces these limited approaches by introducing a unique technology to safely break down dilute methane right at the source. Sixteen44 acts as a high-tech fire extinguisher for hotspots like landfills and mines, permanently eliminating the methane and significantly reducing its warming impact. William, Sixteen44's co-founder, joins the podcast to talk about the technology behind their breakthrough process, the importance of targeting emission hotspots and the company's ambitious roadmap.

May 5, 202636 min

Phillip Grimm - Pluvion

Managing extraneous water and optimizing sewer networks remains one of the hardest challenges in the water industry, requiring costly and labor-intensive monitoring. Utilities continue to rely on these inefficient traditional methods. Pluvion changes that by introducing intelligent, AI-driven software to the wastewater sector. By analyzing data from existing level sensors to efficiently detect and localize water infiltration, Pluvion provides a cost-effective system that enables real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. Philipp, Pluvion's CEO and co-founder, talks about the technology behind their breakthrough product, the power of real-time data and the company's vision for a sustainable water future.

April 14, 202637 min

Daniel Bloch - Iron Energy

Storing and transporting renewable hydrogen remains one of the hardest challenges of the energy transition, requiring complex and expensive high-pressure tanks. The industry continues to rely on these inefficient methods. Iron Energy replaces traditional tanks by turning hydrogen into a stable, solid energy carrier. By reacting hydrogen with iron oxide to safely lock the energy into metallic iron, Iron Energy allows for indefinite storage and releases almost 100% of the injected hydrogen on demand simply by adding steam. Daniel, Iron Energy's co-founder, joins the podcast to talk about his unusual journey from finance to deep tech, the company's scale-up journey and why their business model works so well.

March 24, 202637 min

Frank Rattey - Planeteers

Global climate goals require massive amounts of carbon removal. Therefore, we need to find scalable, permanent solutions. Many efforts continue to rely solely on land-based technologies. Planeteers unlocks the planet's largest natural carbon sink by enhancing the ocean's ability to safely absorb and store CO2. By operating at the intersection of ocean science and entrepreneurship, Planeteers provides a vital carbon removal method that permanently locks away emissions while actively combating ocean acidification. Frank, Planeteers' Founder and Managing Director, joins the podcast to talk about his decision to leave the corporate world, how the company plans to scale and what motivates him to keep going.

March 3, 202639 min

Oscar Hållén - Cemvision

The traditional cement industry relies on proven chemistry and typically looks for minor process improvements rather than fundamental change. This has contributed to the fact that, until now, the industry has produced high CO2 emissions. Cemvision reinvents the process from the ground up by replacing virgin limestone with recycled industrial residues. But creating green cement is only part of the equation - in such a logistics-heavy business, figuring out how to actually get the physical product to the customer is a critical, often overlooked challenge. Oscar, Cemvision's CEO, joins the podcast to talk about bringing true core innovation to a traditional industry, solving the massive logistics puzzle, and what it was like to meet Bill Gates a few weeks ago.

February 10, 202644 min

Tobias Sodoge - NeoCarbon

Data centers generate immense heat and require constant, energy-intensive cooling to run their servers. Those facilities typically vent that excess energy as waste, until now. NeoCarbon turns data centers into carbon capture machines by integrating Direct Air Capture technology directly into their infrastructure. By utilizing the servers' waste heat to power the process, NeoCarbon acts as a thermal buffer that drastically reduces cooling needs while actively capturing CO2. Tobias, NeoCarbon’s CEO, joins me to talk about this paradigm shift in collaboration, the holistic solution for facility operators and the company's commercial focus on the data center market. Tune in to learn what NeoCarbon's approach has to do with the German "Reinheitsgebot" for brewing beer.

January 20, 202628 min

Thomas Bräck - Meva Energy

Heavy industries need high temperatures to run their processes, making certain processes hard to electrify. Those companies continue to rely on fossil gas, until now. Meva Energy replaces fossil gas by building gasification plants directly on-site at the factory. By converting local biomass residue into clean, renewable gas, Meva provides the intense heat needed for industrial processes, cutting carbon emissions and stabilizing energy costs instantly. Thomas, Meva's Business Development Manager, joins the podcast to talk about the technology, applications and the company's future plans.

December 9, 202535 min

Hanna Ojanen - Carbo Culture

Reaching Net Zero is one of the defining challenges of our time, but reducing emissions alone won't be enough - we also need to actively remove carbon from the atmosphere. That’s exactly where Carbo Culture comes in. Their team has developed a proprietary technology that converts waste biomass into stable biochar. In this episode, I talk with Hanna about how their technology works, the critical role of biochar in the climate equation and what it takes to scale a physical solution to a gigaton level. We also dive into a crucial but often overlooked angle: the lessons she brings from her background in the Prime Minister’s Office in Finland and how navigating the complex world of policy is just as vital as the engineering when building a deep-tech market from scratch.

November 18, 202532 min

Karthik Kunjali - Stockholm Water Technology

Clean water is one of the defining challenges of our time and even its own Sustainable Development Goal. One essential piece of the puzzle is wastewater purification. That’s exactly where Stockholm Water Technology comes in. Their team has developed a chemical- and membrane-free purification technology that uses only electricity to remove contaminants and even recover valuable nutrients. In this episode, I talk with Karthik about how their technology works, why it matters and what it could mean for the future of water treatment. We also dive into an unexpected angle: the lessons he brings from his career as a professional athlete and how they shape his approach to building and scaling a deep-tech company.