Akhila Kosaraju
@akhilak.bsky.social
I help climate solutions accelerate adoption with design that wins pilots, partnerships & funding | Clients across startups and unicorns backed by U.S. Dep’t of Energy, YC, Accel | Brand, Websites and UX Design.
Whatifdesign.co
Whatifdesign.co
I moved to San Francisco to go all in on climate tech
(and discovered why brilliant technologies keep failing)
Thread🧵
(and discovered why brilliant technologies keep failing)
Thread🧵
November 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I moved to San Francisco to go all in on climate tech
(and discovered why brilliant technologies keep failing)
Thread🧵
(and discovered why brilliant technologies keep failing)
Thread🧵
Client win days are the best kind!
Huge congratulations to the HYDGEN on raising $5M Pre-Series A led by Transition VC to scale their industrial AEM electrolyzer technology.
(thread)
Huge congratulations to the HYDGEN on raising $5M Pre-Series A led by Transition VC to scale their industrial AEM electrolyzer technology.
(thread)
November 6, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Client win days are the best kind!
Huge congratulations to the HYDGEN on raising $5M Pre-Series A led by Transition VC to scale their industrial AEM electrolyzer technology.
(thread)
Huge congratulations to the HYDGEN on raising $5M Pre-Series A led by Transition VC to scale their industrial AEM electrolyzer technology.
(thread)
At the start of October, I made a promise to make climate tech more accessible.
Today, I'm proud to say, it was worth it.
Today, I'm proud to say, it was worth it.
November 3, 2025 at 8:29 PM
At the start of October, I made a promise to make climate tech more accessible.
Today, I'm proud to say, it was worth it.
Today, I'm proud to say, it was worth it.
Capitalism has one fatal flaw.
And we've been ignoring it since the Industrial Revolution:
(thread)
And we've been ignoring it since the Industrial Revolution:
(thread)
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Capitalism has one fatal flaw.
And we've been ignoring it since the Industrial Revolution:
(thread)
And we've been ignoring it since the Industrial Revolution:
(thread)
The companies promising to save the planet have a secret they don't advertise.
And once you see it, you'll notice it everywhere:
(thread)
And once you see it, you'll notice it everywhere:
(thread)
October 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
The companies promising to save the planet have a secret they don't advertise.
And once you see it, you'll notice it everywhere:
(thread)
And once you see it, you'll notice it everywhere:
(thread)
Humanity's greatest strength has always been creating things from scratch.
It's also been our most destructive habit. Let me explain:
(thread)
It's also been our most destructive habit. Let me explain:
(thread)
October 29, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Humanity's greatest strength has always been creating things from scratch.
It's also been our most destructive habit. Let me explain:
(thread)
It's also been our most destructive habit. Let me explain:
(thread)
Nature built the world's biggest carbon storage system over millions of years.
But modern farming broke it in less than a century. Here’s how:
(thread)
But modern farming broke it in less than a century. Here’s how:
(thread)
October 28, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Nature built the world's biggest carbon storage system over millions of years.
But modern farming broke it in less than a century. Here’s how:
(thread)
But modern farming broke it in less than a century. Here’s how:
(thread)
Every country that wanted hydroelectric power paid the same devastating price.
And they all thought it was the only way:
(thread)
And they all thought it was the only way:
(thread)
October 27, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Every country that wanted hydroelectric power paid the same devastating price.
And they all thought it was the only way:
(thread)
And they all thought it was the only way:
(thread)
Farmers are doing everything right according to the rules they were given.
And that's precisely what's destroying them.
Let me explain. (Thread)
And that's precisely what's destroying them.
Let me explain. (Thread)
October 26, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Farmers are doing everything right according to the rules they were given.
And that's precisely what's destroying them.
Let me explain. (Thread)
And that's precisely what's destroying them.
Let me explain. (Thread)
Companies have billions of dollars specifically set aside to fight climate change.
But the people who can actually do it can't get a penny…
(thread)
But the people who can actually do it can't get a penny…
(thread)
October 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Companies have billions of dollars specifically set aside to fight climate change.
But the people who can actually do it can't get a penny…
(thread)
But the people who can actually do it can't get a penny…
(thread)
We're lying to ourselves about net zero.
Because there's a dirty secret about emissions that physics won't let us solve.
Let me explain:
(thread)
Because there's a dirty secret about emissions that physics won't let us solve.
Let me explain:
(thread)
October 24, 2025 at 6:54 PM
We're lying to ourselves about net zero.
Because there's a dirty secret about emissions that physics won't let us solve.
Let me explain:
(thread)
Because there's a dirty secret about emissions that physics won't let us solve.
Let me explain:
(thread)
Airlines just ran out of time.
They either decarbonize or get priced out of the sky.
(thread)
They either decarbonize or get priced out of the sky.
(thread)
October 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Airlines just ran out of time.
They either decarbonize or get priced out of the sky.
(thread)
They either decarbonize or get priced out of the sky.
(thread)
Your food scraps could be rebuilding the farmland that feeds us.
Instead, they're creating methane in landfills and heating the planet. Here's the crazy part:
(thread)
Instead, they're creating methane in landfills and heating the planet. Here's the crazy part:
(thread)
October 23, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Your food scraps could be rebuilding the farmland that feeds us.
Instead, they're creating methane in landfills and heating the planet. Here's the crazy part:
(thread)
Instead, they're creating methane in landfills and heating the planet. Here's the crazy part:
(thread)
The infrastructure that built American cities is now killing the people who live in them.
And the victims all have one thing in common:
And the victims all have one thing in common:
October 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The infrastructure that built American cities is now killing the people who live in them.
And the victims all have one thing in common:
And the victims all have one thing in common:
We're building billion-dollar machines to pull CO₂ from the air and hit net zero.
Meanwhile, rocks have been doing it for millions of years. For free. Let me explain.
Meanwhile, rocks have been doing it for millions of years. For free. Let me explain.
October 20, 2025 at 7:26 PM
We're building billion-dollar machines to pull CO₂ from the air and hit net zero.
Meanwhile, rocks have been doing it for millions of years. For free. Let me explain.
Meanwhile, rocks have been doing it for millions of years. For free. Let me explain.
Oil companies aren't scared of sustainable investing for one simple reason.
They're getting the money anyway.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
They're getting the money anyway.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
October 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Oil companies aren't scared of sustainable investing for one simple reason.
They're getting the money anyway.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
They're getting the money anyway.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Companies are buying their way to net-zero with a product no one can prove is real.
The worst part? It's completely legal.
The worst part? It's completely legal.
October 18, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Companies are buying their way to net-zero with a product no one can prove is real.
The worst part? It's completely legal.
The worst part? It's completely legal.
Your office building is actively burning money as you’re reading this.
AC at max. Lights on. Ventilation cranked.
Even though half the floors are empty.
Buildings use 40% of global energy and most of it vanishes heating empty rooms, cooling vacant floors, and running lights no one's using.
AC at max. Lights on. Ventilation cranked.
Even though half the floors are empty.
Buildings use 40% of global energy and most of it vanishes heating empty rooms, cooling vacant floors, and running lights no one's using.
October 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Your office building is actively burning money as you’re reading this.
AC at max. Lights on. Ventilation cranked.
Even though half the floors are empty.
Buildings use 40% of global energy and most of it vanishes heating empty rooms, cooling vacant floors, and running lights no one's using.
AC at max. Lights on. Ventilation cranked.
Even though half the floors are empty.
Buildings use 40% of global energy and most of it vanishes heating empty rooms, cooling vacant floors, and running lights no one's using.
We've been lying to ourselves about climate progress.
We electrified cars. Put solar on roofs. Replaced coal plants with wind farms.
And we act like that's enough.
It's not.
The industries that built the modern world are still burning it down.
We electrified cars. Put solar on roofs. Replaced coal plants with wind farms.
And we act like that's enough.
It's not.
The industries that built the modern world are still burning it down.
October 17, 2025 at 6:43 PM
We've been lying to ourselves about climate progress.
We electrified cars. Put solar on roofs. Replaced coal plants with wind farms.
And we act like that's enough.
It's not.
The industries that built the modern world are still burning it down.
We electrified cars. Put solar on roofs. Replaced coal plants with wind farms.
And we act like that's enough.
It's not.
The industries that built the modern world are still burning it down.
Most farmers can't survive on farming income anymore.
Decades of razor-thin margins finally broke the model.
Here's what they're doing instead:
Decades of razor-thin margins finally broke the model.
Here's what they're doing instead:
October 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Most farmers can't survive on farming income anymore.
Decades of razor-thin margins finally broke the model.
Here's what they're doing instead:
Decades of razor-thin margins finally broke the model.
Here's what they're doing instead:
The factories building your future are still burning fuel like it's 1950.
Steel mills. Cement plants. Chemical refineries. Food processing facilities.
They all need heat. Massive amounts of it.
And for years, the answer has been the same: burn fuel.
Steel mills. Cement plants. Chemical refineries. Food processing facilities.
They all need heat. Massive amounts of it.
And for years, the answer has been the same: burn fuel.
October 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
The factories building your future are still burning fuel like it's 1950.
Steel mills. Cement plants. Chemical refineries. Food processing facilities.
They all need heat. Massive amounts of it.
And for years, the answer has been the same: burn fuel.
Steel mills. Cement plants. Chemical refineries. Food processing facilities.
They all need heat. Massive amounts of it.
And for years, the answer has been the same: burn fuel.
Nearly every major company you've heard of has a net-zero pledge.
But the infrastructure to get there doesn't exist yet.
You can't replace jet fuel with batteries overnight. You can't decarbonize cement by next quarter. And you can't rewire supply chains that took decades to build.
But the infrastructure to get there doesn't exist yet.
You can't replace jet fuel with batteries overnight. You can't decarbonize cement by next quarter. And you can't rewire supply chains that took decades to build.
October 14, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Nearly every major company you've heard of has a net-zero pledge.
But the infrastructure to get there doesn't exist yet.
You can't replace jet fuel with batteries overnight. You can't decarbonize cement by next quarter. And you can't rewire supply chains that took decades to build.
But the infrastructure to get there doesn't exist yet.
You can't replace jet fuel with batteries overnight. You can't decarbonize cement by next quarter. And you can't rewire supply chains that took decades to build.
The electricity grid is more fragile than you think.
One tree falls on a transmission line. An entire block loses power.
For decades, this was acceptable. Outages were rare. Weather was predictable. Power flowed from massive plants through a web of wires to your home.
One tree falls on a transmission line. An entire block loses power.
For decades, this was acceptable. Outages were rare. Weather was predictable. Power flowed from massive plants through a web of wires to your home.
October 14, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The electricity grid is more fragile than you think.
One tree falls on a transmission line. An entire block loses power.
For decades, this was acceptable. Outages were rare. Weather was predictable. Power flowed from massive plants through a web of wires to your home.
One tree falls on a transmission line. An entire block loses power.
For decades, this was acceptable. Outages were rare. Weather was predictable. Power flowed from massive plants through a web of wires to your home.
This series is to highlight technologies that are rethinking economies for a climate-forward future, regardless of their maturity.
October 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
This series is to highlight technologies that are rethinking economies for a climate-forward future, regardless of their maturity.
And the market is responding. Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey formed Frontier with over $1 billion committed to carbon removal by 2030, giving developers the certainty to build at scale.
October 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
And the market is responding. Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta, and McKinsey formed Frontier with over $1 billion committed to carbon removal by 2030, giving developers the certainty to build at scale.