Tim De Chant

Senior Reporter, Climate, TechCrunch

Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor. De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College.

Tim De Chant

Latest from Tim De Chant

Cala Systems’ water heater pairs an advanced heat pump with an AI-powered control system to forecast hot water demand.

AI-powered water heater could banish cold showers and carbon pollution

Investors are assisting startup founders earlier than ever in an effort to help them bridge the first climate tech valley of death.

Why Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy and other investors are scouring universities for founders

The startup developed a two-material system that helps homes self-regulate their internal humidity.

Adept Materials’ dehumidifying paint was inspired by trees and semiconductors

The startup has raised $21.5 million to build more of its machines and deploy them throughout the U.S.

Applied Carbon’s farm robot turns plant waste into biochar to capture CO2

The startup is betting it can bring its fusion technology to market at a breakneck pace by leaning heavily on partners.

Bill Gates-backed Type One Energy lands massive seed extension to commercialize fusion power

The startup has developed a way to create copper and aluminum foils that are laced with tiny holes and riddled with undulating peaks and valleys.

GM-backed Addionics aims to make lithium-ion batteries cheaper with wavy foil

Farmers have got to do something about pests. But nobody really likes the idea of using more chemical pesticides. Thomas Laurent’s company, Micropep, thinks the answer might already be in…

Micropep taps tiny proteins to make pesticides safer

After hearing that a U.S. Navy submarine ran into an underwater mountain, Joe Wolfel was surprised to find out just how little both government and…

Terradepth wants to map the rest of the ocean floor

The IT outage may have an unexpected effect on the climate: clearer skies and maybe lower temperatures this evening

CrowdStrike chaos leads to grounded aircraft — and maybe an unusual weather effect

Marathon Fusion emerges from stealth with a plan to help fusion power plants extract tritium, a necessary fuel.

Without this company’s technology, future fusion power plants might never light up

Strong magnets are essential for the type of fusion power being pursued by Commonwealth Fusion Systems and a number of other startups.

WHAM! Nuclear fusion experiment hits new record for magnet strength

Fusion power may still be a few years away, but one startup is laying the groundwork for what it hopes will become a bustling sector of the economy.

Fusion pioneer Commonwealth Fusion Systems is selling core magnet tech to the University of Wisconsin

NovoNutrients has raised a $18 million Series A round from investors to build a pilot-scale facility to prove that its fermentation process works at scale.

NovoNutrients tweaks its bugs to turn CO2 into protein for people and pets

Artyc has raised $14 million to date and has a product on the market, Medstow Micro, that helps ship temperature-sensitive specimens.

Cold shipping might be the next industry that batteries disrupt

Climate tech startups especially those building hardware, face a particular challenge when trying to move beyond the prototype or pilot phase and start selling finished products to customers.

Rondo Energy funding shows a new way across the climate startup ‘valley of death’

Consumer technology is hard, but few people have mastered it as well as Matt Rogers, co-founder of Nest and now Mill, his new startup that promises to turn your table…

Matt Rogers, Nest and Mill co-founder, talks mastering consumer tech at Disrupt 2024

The e-fuels startup is working on producing fuel for aviation and maritime shipping using carbon dioxide and other waste carbon streams.

E-fuels startup Aether Fuels is raising $34.3 million, per filing

Cheap irrigation has transformed many regions around the world into breadbaskets, but it also means that there can be little left for other uses.

Kilimo helps farmers save water and get paid for it

Balto Energy hopes to speed the electrification by helping homeowners choose and finance the projects that make the most sense for them.

Dandelion co-founder is back to help you electrify your home for less

Sodium-ion isn’t quite ready for widespread use, but one startup thinks it has surmounted the battery chemistry’s key hurdles.

Unigrid wants to make batteries cheaper and safer using sodium

The specter of wastewater threatens to stall the construction of battery factories. One startup, though, says the solution is to recycle it.

Aepnus wants to create a circular economy for key battery manufacturing materials

With most residential solar panels installed by smaller companies, customer experience can be a mixed bag. To try to address the quality and consistency problem, Civic Renewables is buying small…

Civic Renewables is rolling up residential solar installers to improve quality and grow the market

“We were motivated to fundraise because we think the ’24 vintage is going to be a good one,” founder Craig Shapiro said.

After hits like Reddit and Scopely, Collaborative Fund easily raised a $125M fund to tackle climate, health and food

The company is in the process of building a gigawatt-scale factory in Kentucky to produce its nickel-hydrogen batteries.

Novel battery manufacturer EnerVenue is raising $515M, per filing

A new app called MyGlimpact is intended not only to help people understand their environmental footprint, but why they shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

How many Earths does your lifestyle require?

The startup is hoping its durable filters can make metals refining and battery recycling more efficient, too.

SiTration uses silicon wafers to reclaim critical minerals from mining waste

The startup has been pursuing a ground-up redesign of a well-understood technology.

‘Star Wars’ lasers and waterfalls of molten salt: How Xcimer plans to make fusion power happen

The design brief was simple: each grind and dry cycle had to be completed before breakfast. Here’s how Mill made it happen.

Mill’s redesigned food waste bin really is faster and quieter than before

When other firms were investing and raising eye-popping sums, Clean Energy Ventures took a different approach. It appears to be paying off.

How Clean Energy Ventures avoided the pandemic bubble and raised a $305M fund

Small operations can lose customers by not offering financing, something the Berlin-based startup wants to change.

Cloover wants to speed solar adoption by helping installers finance new sales