No Time or Energy to Waste: Powering Industry
Th hosts:
Benjamin Wochner, kopa ventures
Brigit Handl, Aurum Impact
What is this Ripple about?
Industrial heat, cold, and electricity are critical to Europe’s competitiveness, yet many solutions depend on future cost curves and infrastructure that may arrive too late. This Ripple explores what already works today across electrification, storage, and system design, and what still relies on assumptions about the future.
Why this topic timely or urgent in 2026
In 2026, the question is no longer whether industry needs cleaner and more resilient energy, but how quickly it can secure it under real-world constraints. Europe is again facing energy price volatility and geopolitical risk, with the conflict involving Iran pushing up oil prices, raising Europe’s fossil fuel import bill, and adding renewed pressure on fuel and gas markets. At the same time, many industrial decarbonization pathways still depend on assumptions about cheap power, hydrogen availability, or fast infrastructure build-out. That makes this topic urgent now: industry needs solutions for heat, cold, and flexibility that are not only low-carbon, but also affordable, reliable, and deployable even in a more fragmented and unstable world.
Key questions or challenges being explored
What actually works today? Which solutions for industrial heat, cold, and energy flexibility are already competitive on cost and reliability without relying on future assumptions?
Where are we still betting on the future? Which approaches depend on cheap power, hydrogen, or infrastructure that may arrive in the future?
What creates real resilience for industry? How can companies reduce exposure to volatile fuel prices, geopolitical risk, and grid constraints while staying competitive?
The key tension or debate at the heart of this discussion
Who would get the most value from attending this Ripple?
Investors in climate, industrial, and energy infrastructure; especially family offices and VCs that consider investing in hardware enabled solutions but also debt and mezzanine providers for asset financing
Founders and operators building in industrial heat, electrification, thermal storage, and C&I BESS, especially those navigating real customer adoption and project execution challenges
Energy and operations leaders from industrial companies (e.g. chemicals, food, metals, manufacturing) responsible for energy procurement, cost competitiveness, and decarbonization strategies - Utilities, project developers, and EPCs working on integrating electrification, storage, and on-site energy systems into industrial processes
Policymakers and operators thinking about Europe’s industrial competitiveness and resilience