We’ve spent decades talking about the shift to renewables – building more wind, more solar, more clean energy capacity. And that’s important. But it’s also only half the story.

Because once that energy is generated, what happens next is where things start to get complicated – how it's stored, how it's moved, and how much of it actually gets used. Right now, the answer to that last question is… not much. In fact, the majority of global energy still gets lost before it ever reaches an end user.

This week, we’re revisiting two past conversations – both of them centered on the part of the energy transition most people don’t see.

One looks at the massive, under-addressed problem of energy waste – and the business models turning that waste into investment-grade infrastructure. The other zooms in on large-scale battery storage and what it takes to keep a renewable-heavy grid stable.

These are two very different approaches to the same problem: not just how we generate clean energy, but how we manage it after it’s made. Because if we don’t solve that part, the rest doesn’t work.

Here are the featured guests:

Jonathan Maxwell, Founding Partner and CEO of Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL)

Jonathan Maxwell founded SDCL with a simple observation: the world isn’t just short on clean energy – it’s wasting most of the energy it already has. While the market poured trillions into new renewables, Jonathan zeroed in on the overlooked half of the story: how energy is used, moved, and lost before it ever reaches the point of need.

He started SDCL in 2007 as an advisory shop, designing environmental infrastructure funds for clients like HSBC and the World Bank. But by 2012, the firm became an investor, building and financing projects that cut waste, generate energy on-site, and make buildings, industry, and transport far more efficient.

Today, SDCL manages $2.5 billion in assets across over 50,000 properties in 10 countries. Their portfolio spans projects from industrial heat recovery to citywide biogas and low-carbon power for data centers. The common thread is delivering cheaper, cleaner, more reliable energy, without requiring customers to put up the capital themselves.

Full episode

Ben Guest, the Managing Director of Gresham House New Energy Division, Gresham House Energy Storage Fund

Ben Guest leads Gresham House’s New Energy Division, home to the UK’s largest battery storage portfolio. His team controls close to a quarter of the market – a position built on one core idea: if renewables are going to power the future, they need somewhere to live when the sun’s not shining and the wind’s not blowing.

Battery storage is that missing piece. Because wind and solar don’t produce power all the time. But the grid still has to stay balanced every second of every day. That’s what these battery projects do – they take in power when there’s too much, release it when there’s not enough, and do it over and over, many times a day.

Ben’s team is hands-on from start to finish. They find sites near key substations, secure planning and grid connections, oversee construction, run operations, and work with optimizers to trade power for the best returns.

At the time of this conversation, they were managing more than £1.4 billion, with returns well above their 10% target for two years in a row.

Full episode

—
Connect with SRI360°:
Sign up for the free weekly email update
Visit the SRI360° PODCAST
Visit the SRI360° WEBSITE
Follow SRI360° on X
Follow SRI360° on FACEBOOK