This is the second in a series of Leif Capital blogs on ‘Electrifying Farms, Decarbonizing Agriculture’ ahead of our webinar of the same name on June 2nd at 3pm UK, 10am Eastern time.
We’re looking at venture-backed businesses that are accelerating the energy transition in agriculture, starting with our client Eocycle Technologies, a Canada-based distributed renewables business focused on the windy and sunny plains of the US Midwest (and doing plenty of work with agricultural, commercial, and industrial clients in Europe too). Eocycle is launching a breakthrough WS2 (wind + solar + storage) solution that will break grid parity. Here’s the ‘killer slide’ for my fellow renewable energy nerds, which shows how wind and solar ‘interact’ on a monthly and hourly basis, establishing the exact and reduced need for storage (and thereby lowering the cost of storage).
Eocycle is working with major US agriculture and food companies. Master leases have been signed with Smithfield and Nutrien, and agreements reached with Danone and Hormel.
The US food industry has never been keener to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across its supply chain and it needs farmers to help. As Julia Reichelstein of Piva Capital (the venturing unit of Petronas) points out in her recent article ‘How Tech Helps Farmers to Profit While Going Green’, “the larger food companies, for the first time, are starting to reward [farmers] with a piece of the elusive “green premium.” In 2020, firms like Cargill, Anheuser-Busch, General Mills, and Walmart started paying farmers to adopt greener practices.”
And because renewables can be cheaper than the grid, farmers now have every reason to go green. Of course, other technologies have a role to play. In subsequent blogs we’ll look, for example, at venture-backed soil remediation companies that offer lower emissions. But putting wind, solar and storage at the centre of the food and agriculture industry’s decarbonization and electrification clearly makes a lot of sense.
If you’re interested in learning more about WS2, please get in touch or join us at our June 2nd webinar ‘Electrifying Farms, Decarbonizing Agriculture’ where Richard Legault and his fellow speakers will explain more.
Speakers:
Richard Legault, CEO, Eocycle Technologies
Daniel Pinault, Principal, Cycle Capital
Julia Reichelstein, [climate] Investor, PIVA Capital
Tim Kay, Commercial Director, Verco
Other speakers tbd
Moderator: Tom Whitehouse, CEO, Leif Capital
Register here
Tom Whitehouse: CEO, Leif Capital
