#21 - Nick van Osdol, Founder of Keep Cool & Venture Partner at Climate Capital: The State of Climate Tech in 2025

The State of Climate Tech in 2025  With Nick van Osdol

In this episode, we’re joined by Nick van Osdol, writer, analyst, and founder of Keep Cool, the go-to newsletter for nearly 20,000 readers tracking what’s happening in climate tech. From mining and energy to early-stage startups, it's got you covered! Nick is also a Venture Partner at Climate Capital.

We dig into what “climate tech” really means (and whether the term still makes sense), how the industry is evolving post-2024 election, and what areas of innovation, like EVs, methane reduction, or grid infrastructure, might still move the needle. Heads up: if you expect a conversation only about VC-funded startups, that's not how it went down! We explore where climate tech fits in the bigger picture: policy, economics, startups, and global power plays.

🧭 Nick’s Unlikely Journey into Climate Tech – From literature and media to writing one of the most-read climate tech newsletters and investing with Climate Capital.

🌍 What Is Climate Tech, Really? – Unpacking the blurry lines between climate tech, cleantech, energy, and sustainability... and whether “climate tech” is still a useful label.

🗳️ Politics & Policy in 2025 – How Trump’s return and global political shifts are reshaping the climate tech landscape and forcing a rethink of what can thrive without "government support".

💸 Venture vs. Infrastructure – Why VC alone won’t save the planet, and how real change will depend on large-scale infrastructure, grids, and old-school industrial deployment.

🐄💨  The Methane Problem – How methane emissions can drive climate change, and solutions out there to mitigate.

🔋 EVs, Batteries & the Grid – Chatting about recent developments and notable startups in charging reliability and EV infrastructure deployment.

🇨🇳 China’s Dominance in Clean Tech – Why China, and not the US (!), may now be the most important player in global climate mitigation.

Whether you’re a founder, investor, or just climate-curious, this one’s a wide-ranging, candid reality check on what’s next for the sector.

🧊 Subscribe to Keep Cool

🧠 Follow Nick on LinkedIn: Nick van Osdol

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