From AI to CO₂: Building the Future in Climate Tech

This week, Enrich brought together three leaders working at very different edges of climate tech — deep tech, carbon markets, and consumer electrification:

• Etosha Cave, Co-founder & Chief Science Advisor, Twelve; Managing Director, Activate NY

• Sara Xi, Chief Product Officer, Rubicon Carbon; Board Member, water.org

• Tom Mercer, VP Product, Rewiring America

While headlines suggest climate tech has been overshadowed by AI, the conversation surfaced something more interesting: AI isn’t replacing climate as the urgent frontier — it’s accelerating the pressure on our energy systems, forcing new models for funding, and reshaping which climate solutions can scale in the near term.

If you’d been there, here’s what you’d still be thinking about:

AI is about to break the U.S. energy system

Tom made the case that even if energy demand forecasts are wrong, the trend is undeniable:

“Utilities have been operating with flat or modest load growth for decades. AI blows that up.”

Sudden demand from data centers is forcing utilities to modernize after years of underinvestment — a shift that could accelerate electrification, grid innovation, and efficiency in a way that climate policy alone hasn’t.

Climate funding is entering its hardest era

Federal grants are being frozen or reversed, philanthropy is stretched thin, and venture has become more conservative. Etosha described how Twelve navigated the classic deep-tech funding stack: grants → philanthropy → deep-tech VC → project finance

Today’s founders don’t have that luxury. They need customers earlier, stronger unit economics, and a value proposition that resonates beyond carbon impact.

Sara added that this pressure is most acute in carbon removal and water systems — technologies we desperately need in 5–10 years, but for which revenue is too uncertain today. That’s where blended finance (concessional debt, first-loss guarantees, impact capital) is filling the gap.

America’s deep-tech ecosystem still relies on public dollars — and we’re losing ground.

Etosha’s point was unmistakable: every major deep-tech industry in the U.S. (from semiconductors to aerospace to solar) was built on the back of government investment.

Today, China is outspending the U.S. on frontier clean energy — especially nuclear, fusion, and advanced materials.

“If we want to lead the next industrial revolution, we need an industrial strategy — not just venture capital.”

For complete event notes and the recording, apply to join Enrich.