Who says the fight against climate change can’t be delicious? In the latest episode of People Powered, Secretary Granholm talks to New York-based bakery owner Nels Leader and Maine-based brewery owner Dan Kleban to discuss their clean energy action.
August 2, 2022
minute read time
Who says the fight against climate change can’t be delicious? In the latest episode of People Powered, Secretary Granholm talks to New York-based bakery owner Nels Leader and Maine-based brewery owner Dan Kleban to discuss how their businesses are working to reduce their impact on the environment through sustainable energy consumption.
Watch Here
You’ll want to hear how these business owners are working to make their companies net-zero!
Nels Leader is the CEO of Bread Alone Bakery, a family-owned bakery in New York’s Hudson Valley that has signed on to the Climate Reality Project’s 100% Committed campaign, pledging to source 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. In fact, Bread Alone is already operating an 8,000 square foot commercial bakery entirely without fossil fuels, an impressive achievement!
Dan Kleban is the co-founder of Maine Beer Company, a brewery based in Freeport, Maine, which is committed to enacting change and powering their brewery and tasting room solely from clean energy sources. Maine Beer Company donates 1% of their gross annual sales to environmental nonprofits. Moreover, Maine Beer Company helps provide solar energy to its nonprofit partners, through which it plans to produce more energy than it consumes by 2030.
Watch to learn more about how these small business owners made their clean energy goals a reality, and why they believe it was so important.
Make Your Climate Contribution
Do you own a small business and want to help? Embark on your path to transition to clean energy and up your energy efficiency with some of these Department of Energy programs:
- Participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), U.S. government programs in which agencies can fund competitions between small businesses to innovate in clean energy technology. Just last year, the DOE announced $105 Million for Small Businesses to deploy clean energy technologies.
- Learn from the National Renewable Energy Lab about how your business can maximize energy savings while staying renewable.
- Take advantage of the Energy Transitions Initiative at the Department of Energy, working to bring resilient, renewable energy to communities that need it.
Stay Tuned!
Check out the other episodes of People Powered, such as a conversation between Secretary Granholm and the Mayors of Phoenix, Houston, and New Orleans, or with Black women entrepreneurs. In addition, more episodes are on the way, highlighting the way energy communities, businesses, leaders, activists, and workers are leading the way to net-zero with the Department of Energy.