Three Houston executives — Andrew Chang, Tim Latimer, and Cindy Taff — have been named to Time magazine’s prestigious list of the 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business for 2024.
As managing director of United Airlines Ventures, Chang is striving to reduce the airline’s emissions by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Jets contribute to about two percent of global emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.
In 2023, Chang guided the launch of the Sustainable Flight Fund, which invests in climate-enhancing innovations for the airline sector. The fund aims to boost production of SAF and make it an affordable alternative fuel, Time says.
Chang tells Time that he’d like to see passage of climate legislation that would elevate the renewable energy sector.
“One of the most crucial legislative actions we could see in the next year is a focus on faster permitting processes for renewable energy projects,” Chang says. “This, coupled with speeding up the interconnection queue for renewable assets, would significantly reduce the time it takes for clean energy to come online.”
At Fervo Energy, Latimer, who’s co-founder and CEO, is leading efforts to make geothermal power “a viable alternative to fossil fuels,” says Time.
Fervo recently received government approval for a geothermal power project in Utah that the company indicates could power two million homes. In addition, Fervo has teamed up with Google to power the tech giant’s energy-gobbling data centers.
In an interview with Time, Latimer echoes Chang in expressing a need for reforms in the clean energy industry.
“Addressing climate change is going to require us to build an unprecedented amount of infrastructure so we can replace the current fossil fuel-dominated systems with cleaner solutions,” says Latimer. “Right now, many of the solutions we need are stalled out by a convoluted permitting and regulatory system that doesn’t prioritize clean infrastructure.”
Taff, CEO of geothermal energy provider Sage Geosystems, oversees her company’s work to connect what could be the world’s first geopressured geothermal storage to the electric grid, according to Time. In August, Sage announced a deal with Facebook owner Meta to produce 150 megawatts of geothermal energy for the tech company’s data centers.
Asked which climate solution, other than geothermal, deserves more attention or funding, Taff cites pumped storage hydropower.
“While lithium-ion batteries get a lot of the spotlight, pumped storage hydropower offers long-duration energy storage that can provide stability to the grid for days, not just hours,” Taff tells Time. “By storing excess energy during times of low demand and releasing it when renewables like solar and wind are not producing, it can play a critical role in balancing the intermittent nature of renewables. Investing in pumped storage hydropower infrastructure could be a game-changer in achieving a reliable, clean energy future.”
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