A single old diesel locomotive burns 40,000 gallons of fuel a year and puts out about 300 metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of roughly 100 transit buses. Ira Dorfman, Partner at Innovative Rail Technologies, converts 50 and 60 year old legacy locomotives into zero emission battery electric ones.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and show intro

00:52 Ira's background and starting Innovative Rail Technologies

02:37 The first customer: US Steel in Pittsburgh

04:19 Molten steel up a four and a half percent grade

06:54 Torque and acceleration versus diesel

07:47 Battery safety, thermal management and extreme temperatures

10:37 Range, duty cycles and mass transit projects

13:15 Catenary lines, grid strain and cogeneration

15:42 Fort Hood, resiliency and the mobile microgrid

18:24 Railroads and ports

19:53 How polluting old locomotives really are

23:25 Lessons learned for entrepreneurs

25:10 Overcoming past failures

27:49 What Ira is excited about next

You can follow Ira Dorfman here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ira-dorfman-062823b

Learn more about Innovative Rail Technologies:

Website - https://innovativerailtech.com

Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/

The US spends billions rebuilding the same communities after each disaster, and the money runs out before the risk does. Abby Ross, CEO of The Resiliency Company, walks through why that model breaks down as billion dollar disasters hit roughly every two weeks, with over $12 trillion in residential real estate exposed to severe risk. A lifelong entrepreneur who previously led the donor advised fund now called For Good, Abby explains how catalytic grants and low interest loans got Alabama to fortify close to 100,000 roofs, and how she is applying that playbook to fire risk in Los Angeles.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and introducing Abby Ross

00:52 Abby's path from ed tech to resilience

01:38 From For Good's disaster data to a new nonprofit

03:50 The scale: billion dollar disasters and $12 trillion exposed

06:05 Lessons from building The Resiliency Company

08:16 Strengthen Alabama Homes and the fortified roof model

11:08 How the Alabama grants got started

11:48 Resilient Los Angeles and the Resilient Delta Fund

13:12 Seed money, market forces, and how the programs work

16:14 Defining resilience: built environment and physical risk

17:40 Public infrastructure and the financing gap

19:49 Sustainable financing mechanisms and the Risk Reserve Tool

22:14 What a resilient future looks like

25:07 Green shoots and the ROI of resilience

27:21 Trends among developers and the commercial real estate playbook

29:31 Takeaways for individuals and homeowners

You can follow Abby Ross here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailross/

Learn more about The Resiliency Company:

Website - https://resiliency.com

Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/

Aid usually arrives from the top down, with outsiders naming the problem and the fix. Amit Varshneya, Executive Director of The Goonj Foundation, describes a model that flips that script. Goonj collects around fifteen million pounds of urban surplus each year in India, sorts it into family kits, and matches those kits to rural communities who first identify and solve their own infrastructure needs. Amit spent 26 years in marketing and startups across enterprise and the Bay Area before a one year sabbatical turned into six and a half years of this work. He connects circularity, human dignity, and climate adaptation in concrete terms.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to Green Shoots & Big Shifts

00:44 Meet Amit Varshneya

01:02 From Uttar Pradesh to a US marketing career

03:19 Startups journey

04:42 A sabbatical that became six and a half years

06:08 Meeting Goonj's founder and joining the mission

07:29 What Goonj is and how the model works

09:04 Urban waste, surplus textiles, and collection drives

11:14 Building and matching kits to rural communities

13:16 Activating community agency, never charity

15:26 Circularity and changing mindsets

17:34 Post-colonial aid and indigenous knowledge

20:20 Making alternative economic models work

21:10 The numbers: 28,000 projects, 20 million lives

22:55 The wrestling ring in Jammu and Kashmir

27:52 Climate disasters as a clear and present reality

30:33 Dignity in disaster response

33:03 Assam floods and ecological repair first

34:59 Different currencies and interconnectedness

35:36 Community and rethinking wealth

40:11 How to get involved with Goonj

42:49 A closing word: Responsibility

Learn more about The Goonj Foundation:

Website - https://goonjfoundation.org

Learn more about Goonj:

https://goonj.org/

Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/