Nervously accepting the Strata Solar Clean Tech AwardĪt the Strata Solar Clean Tech Award ceremony at the 2020 Clean Tech Summit, we stood in the back of the large dining room against the wall with sweaty palms. In this way, the Mother Earth Fund brings the horsepower of corporate investors and crowdsourcing to renewable energy development to ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.” The Mother Earth fund will use aggressive, ambitious investment strategies to maximize its revenue, which will be reinvested into the fund. The purpose of the Mother Earth Fund is to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency ventures that otherwise might not be executed. These donations come from a proprietary software that estimates individuals’ carbon footprints based on monthly purchases, and prompts banked adults to donate to offset their purchasing. The Mother Earth Fund is a non-profit revolving fund, financed by private, crowd-sourced donations. Further, large investments in renewable energy continue to disproportionately benefit the wealthiest individuals. Unfortunately, both the United States as a whole, and states and municipalities individually, have been unable to pass sweeping carbon tax legislation. “The growing impacts of climate change demand a resilient, decarbonized energy system. Check out the executive summary from our submission to the competition below. We worked out the details, and soon Mother Earth Ventures was born. Zach drew from an idea he learned about at a conference he recently attended (Rare’s “Climate Change Needs Behavior Change” Conference): to raise capital for investment by allowing individuals to contribute based on their unique carbon footprint. We wanted to give individuals an opportunity to reduce their impact on carbon emissions, and at the same time, creatively raise capital so that individuals could contribute to investments in carbon-reducing projects. Huddled in a Campus Y conference room, we identified the challenge we wanted to tackle: individuals don’t have an easy way to mitigate their unique carbon footprints. In early January, we learned about the Strata Solar Clean Tech Award through the Institute for the Environment’s email list, and were excited by the challenge. As RESPC Co-Chairs, we are also regular attendees of the UNC Clean Tech Summit. As such, we often find ourselves in conversation about energy markets, and brainstorming ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at scale. Olivia Corriere is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill majoring in Environmental Studies.įor the past two years, we have served as co-chairs of the Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee. By Zach Walker and Olivia Corriere Zach Walker is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill double majoring in Statistics and Analytics and Physics.
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