The future is clean

Elon Musk hit the stage at SXSW this week to talk Mars, Tesla and Artificial Intelligence. I don't know about you, but the informative interview left me with way more questions than answers, particularity when it comes to the subject of AI. The Government commissioned an independent review into the development of AI in the UK last year. The findings were that AI shouldn't be subject to direct regulation, but an AI council should oversea the industry. Are the suggestions of Wendy Hall and BenevolentTech CEO Jérôme Pesenti enough to keep us safe? Should we not demand regulation and controls over the development of AI? As Elon says, you wouldn't let just anyone build a nuke! (Cheery stuff ay?!!!). According to Elon, it is inevitable the world will slip into a dark age... he should try being a Spurs fan, like me! Here are the recommendations following the Government review, which to me feels insufficient. What do you think? Read the original article here.

My colleague and I were invited to the WRISE event celebrating Women’s Leadership in Renewables, Energy Efficiency, and Energy Storage held in Bloomberg’s building in Manhattan and I felt it important to share my thoughts on a, perhaps incorrectly, highly politicized subject. Before I go ahead, at this stage, I think it’s important to tell you that a) I am a man and b) I am a feminist. What does being a feminist mean to me? It means equality without question. That women and men, in education and the workplace, deserve equal rights, equal opportunity and should be treated with equal amounts of respect. As a leader of Piper Maddox, a recruitment business that focuses exclusively in placing professionals in one of the most progressive industries out there – Renewable Energy & Cleantech, it was important for me to learn about equality and inequality in the workplace in our industry. Perhaps more importantly, I wanted to learn how we could help the businesses in our sector to improve their diversity and why they should be putting this at the forefront of their hiring strategies. This is why I was honored to have been invited to this event and have the opportunity to learn from impactful women such as Kristen Graf, Executive Director of WRISE. Here were some of the key takeaways I gained from Kristen Graf’s presentation: The renewable energy industry is projected to employ 24 million people globally by 2030, up from 9.8 million today – we’re going to need to mobilize a diverse workforce! According to a major MIT study, group decision-making was improved by 3 major factors, with the 3rd being the proportion of women in the group. Where there are 3 or more women on the board, they outperformed businesses with zero women on the board by 84% for ROS (return on sales), by 60% for ROIC (return on investment capital) and by 46% for ROE (return on equity) in four of five years where data was recorded. Although it did increase year on year, by 2013 the Energy industry was behind most major industries in the percentage of women on boards of businesses, with just less than 10%. In a famous study, where identical resumes were assigned 4 different names “Jamal”, “Greg”, “Jennifer” and “John” there were some interesting results: “Jamal” needed 8 additional years’ experience to be considered as qualified as “Greg”; “Jennifer” was offered $4,000 less in starting salary than “John”. There is inherent unconscious bias built into the interview process of most companies that make it more difficult for women (and minorities) to succeed. There is also bias built into most other areas of talent engagement including how adverts are written. During the networking event, we also discussed some of the solutions to increase the diversity of the workforce in Renewable Energy. What is clear is that we need to: Increase the recruitment of women into our sector and the businesses within it. We need to develop the women in our businesses, through training and mentoring programs. We need to retain the women in our businesses and in our industry. We need to promote the women in our businesses and give them tools to progress. Speaking to the different attendees, and even members of the Board of WRISE, some trends became clear that I noticed. Firstly, all of these women are passionate about Renewable Energy and they have been for a long time. So, it’s disheartening to hear how most of the people I spoke to had felt like a minority in their business and felt marginalized both socially and professionally. Some of the people went so far as to admit they considered leaving their businesses and the industry itself because of the “boys club”. It was interesting and heartening to hear about how mentoring from both men and women had played an important role in their careers, and also how this offered a support network that they otherwise wouldn’t have had. There were great stories of progression in the industry, the different female advocacy groups that have since sprung up, and the strides some businesses have made – for example; we talked about how BP has appointed their first black female CEO! Great to hear about positive change. What was really exciting was talking to the different members of WRISE and sharing how, Piper Maddox, as a recruitment partner can help educate and facilitate diversity in the workplace. We’ve experienced such positive reactions from the market and our clients about the different diversity initiatives that we can run. I have sparked an internal debate about how best to formalize these programs and aggressively take them to the market to offer the options that our clients want to see. While we’re discussing this internally, I’d greatly appreciate any input, either privately or in the comments section to hear your challenges around diversity, possible solutions or anything else regarding hiring in the Cleantech sector. I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress! Finally, I wanted to send a big thank you to WRISE – it was an honor to be invited, we had a great time and look forward to the next event!

Last year, I was finishing up my undergrad degree getting ready to graduate, having decided I didn’t want to get my Masters but instead wanted to hop right into the workforce and pursue my dreams of living and working in New York City. I was applying to a lot of jobs, therefore doing quite a few phone interviews. Back then, my idea of interview prep was simply scanning the website for 5 minutes. Fast forward a year and I have secured a job at Piper Maddox as a Renewable Energy Recruitment Consultant, and already supported many people through the interview process that ended in a new job - I now realize what a disservice I did myself when preparing for an interview. Today, interview preparation is one my favorite parts of my job as I see it as something that truly has a huge impact when trying to secure your next role. Here I’m going to walk you through what I usually discuss with people, and why it’s important: The key questions to think about before the interview. With each of these questions it’s important to remember you’ll learn much more about the company, and your fit, throughout the process, but it’s so important to make sure you are as well-armed as possible prior to the call. What do you know about the Company? Before I give any advice, I ask what they’ve done to prepare for the interview. The typical response I get is “I took a look at the website and read the job description”. This is good, but we live in a world where we’ve got access to a ton of knowledge right at our finger tips, so we should be using it to secure our dream jobs! Other sources I suggest using are Google News and LinkedIn, each of these sources pull up information that may not be easily accessible or even on the website. This is important for a few reasons, the first being that for an employer it’s a good gauge of commitment. Having someone that walks into an interview already having a good bit of knowledge on the company is appealing to an interviewer as it shows interest. For the interviewee it’s important as it’s one of the first steps in figuring out if a company matches what they want in a culture and if it would be a place they’d like to work. It's also worth noting that an interview can essentially be boiled down to two key questions: Why would you be a good fit for this role? This part of the interview prep takes a good chunk of time, as I find there are a lot of small reminders that don’t necessarily come to the forefront of people’s mind. The tips I usually recommend range from having your resume in front of you (only if it’s a phone interview), being more specific and highlighting key projects. For most people this is the self-explanatory portion of the interview - of course it's important as companies want well qualified people to work for them that can walk in and do the job, but it goes beyond this. It’s important that we’re able to articulate our workplace successes and failures as it shows capacity to learn and grow on the job. We have a habit of shying away from our failures, but by highlighting them and explaining how you learned from it can set you apart from other interviewees. Being specific is hugely important because it highlights exactly what you did in situations. Why are you interested? There is a big misconception that being a good technical fit for the role is the be all end all for an interview. This is one of the most important parts of the interview. I work with a lot of passive candidates that aren’t necessarily scouring LinkedIn for their next job, but are open to opportunities that present more growth and allow them to take the next step in their career. It’s SO important to convey why you’re interested and how this makes sense as the next step in your career. I think playing your cards too close to your chests is one of the biggest mistakes you could make, as employers want to hire people who are motivated to accept and succeed in the role. Ask questions. Perhaps the most obvious one - when going through an interview process it’s so important to ask questions throughout. For a lot of people they think an interview is a one-way street where the candidate gets peppered with questions and then the company decides if they’re a fit. This isn’t the case - it’s as much about you feeling it is a fit for you, so ask questions that will help you make a well-informed decision about whether this role and company are where you want to work. You’re often judged as much by the questions you ask as the answers you give. I recommend questions be in a few key areas as well as the ones that are important to you. I’d say it helps to categorize your questions into three areas: The Company: These questions help you understand the longevity of the business and the plans for an advancement. What are the company’s plans for growth? How does this business unit play into those plans? The Role: Questions in this area can help give more of an insight into the breadth of the role and possible career growth in the business. What do the first 6 months of this role look like versus the long term? What is the long-term growth trajectory for a person in this position? Your Interviewer: These questions serve a purpose when it comes to building rapport with your interviewer. Why did you join this business? What’s the most challenging part of your job/ what’s your favorite part of your job? Enjoy. Interviewing can be a stressful time for many people and it shouldn’t be. This is an exciting moment and a possible new journey for you, so it’s important to take a deep breath and enjoy it, as it could be the next adventure in your career!

S1 Ep1: Exploring the true scope of the clean fuels economy Welcome to the first episode of the Clean Fuels Podcast hosted by Ben Greenfield of Piper Maddox, the aim of this four-part series is to shed light on the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable and low-carbon alternative fuel sources. We’ll be exploring innovations in Hydrogen, BioFuels, Novel Nuclear technologies and other potential forms of alternative energy and storage. We’ll be speaking with in-industry experts to discuss their various applications, benefits and potential challenges in bringing these products to market. In our inaugural episode, we sit down with our guest Naomi Boness, PhD to discuss a holistic overview of the Clean Fuels & Hydrogen markets. We break down the reasons for the current push for clean fuels, the industry applications, as well as the challenges to deploy clean fuels en mass. Naomi Boness, PhD currently serves as Co-Managing Director for the Stanford Hydrogen Initiative at Stanford University and is an advisor, and board member for various Hydrogen, and Clean Fuels businesses. She has a PhD in Geophysics from Stanford University, a Masters of Science in Geological Sciences from Indiana University, and a Bachelors of Science in Geophysics and Seismology from the University of Leeds. She is passionate about clean energy, and her work at Stanford is aimed to foster new tech innovations in the clean fuels and hydrogen spaces. You can also listen to the Clean Fuels podcast on the below platforms:Apple > https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clean-fuels-podcast/id1649553222Spotify > https://open.spotify.com/show/69TS4ekYNMyYh32JmGxwPVAnchor > https://anchor.fm/piper-maddox

S1 Ep2: The ways we can use clean fuels & hydrogen to decarbonize the grid Welcome to the first episode of the Clean Fuels Podcast hosted by Ben Greenfield of Piper Maddox, the aim of this four-part series is to shed light on the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable and low-carbon alternative fuel sources. We’ll be exploring innovations in Hydrogen, BioFuels, Novel Nuclear technologies and other potential forms of alternative energy and storage. We’ll be speaking with in-industry experts to discuss their various applications, benefits and potential challenges in bringing these products to market. In Episode 2 of the Clean Fuels Podcast we sit down with our guest Mary Usovicz to discuss the applications and ways we can use clean fuels & hydrogen to decarbonize the grid. We break down the history of the hydrogen market, the reasons it has gained traction of the past few years, and the challenges we will face with fostering a cleaner, more sustainable grid. Mary Usovicz is an independent consultant with a primary focus on the hydrogen and fuels markets. She’s worked with a number of high profile clients such as Avangrid, and First Light Power- she also serves as the Director of Business Development for the UMASS Lowell Emerging Energy Institute. She formerly served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for TRC Companies, and Vice President of External Affairs for Repsol. She is passionate about clean energy, and also hosts her own Podcast with a focus on green hydrogen. You can also listen to the Clean Fuels podcast on the below platforms:Apple > https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clean-fuels-podcast/id1649553222Spotify > https://open.spotify.com/show/69TS4ekYNMyYh32JmGxwPVAnchor > https://anchor.fm/piper-maddox

S1 Ep 3: Decarbonizing heavy industry & manufacturing using clean fuels Welcome to the Clean Fuels Podcast hosted by Ben Greenfield of Piper Maddox, the aim of this four-part series is to shed light on the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable and low-carbon alternative fuel sources. We’ll be exploring innovations in Hydrogen, BioFuels, Novel Nuclear technologies and other potential forms of alternative energy and storage. We’ll be speaking with in-industry experts to discuss their various applications, benefits and potential challenges in bringing these products to market. In Episode 3 of the Clean Fuels Podcast we sit down with our guest Chris Shugart to discuss the topic of decarbonizing heavy industry & manufacturing by using green hydrogen and clean fuels. We break down the reasons hydrogen can be a major solution to decarbonizing heavy industry, collaboration and competition in the hydrogen and clean fuels market, and a holistic overview of the clean fuels & hydrogen market. Chris Shugart serves as Senior Vice President of Operations, and Interim Head of Development at Ambient Fuels. Over the years he has also worked for big industry names such as Rev Renewables and Pattern Energy where he served most recently as Senior Vice President of Operations & Construction. You can also listen to the Clean Fuels podcast on the below platforms:Apple > https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clean-fuels-podcast/id1649553222Spotify > https://open.spotify.com/show/69TS4ekYNMyYh32JmGxwPVAnchor > https://anchor.fm/piper-maddox