Lauren Flanagan, Sesame Solar co-founder and CEO, selected for Business Insider’s Climate Action 30 list
Sesame Solar CEO and co-founder, Lauren Flanagan, has been selected for Business Insider's first annual Climate Action 30 list. This list recognizes the top 30 global leaders for their efforts to solve the climate change crisis through innovative solutions, policies, research and more. Lauren is being recognized for supercharging the shift away from diesel-fueled generators used during weather crises and bringing Sesame Solar’s Nanogrids to life which have helped communities around the world recover from and prepare for natural disasters using fast, reliable renewable energy. To learn more about the Business Insider's Climate Action 30 list, visit: Climate Action 30: Top global leaders working toward climate solutions (businessinsider.com)
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MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES
A Silicon Valley pioneer who worked with Steve Jobs in the early days of software startups, Lauren Flanagan is no stranger to living at the cutting edge of technology.
The CEO and cofounder of Sesame Solar, a company developing renewable Nanogrids that use solar energy and green hydrogen batteries to deliver power in emergency situations, is supercharging a shift away from the diesel-fueled generators used in hurricanes, droughts, wildfires and other weather crises.
“The status quo is sending in diesel generators or fossil-fuel-powered emergency offices, medical centers, or communication centers,” Flanagan told Insider. “And that only contributes to more environmental damage and helps create the conditions of climate change that caused the extreme weather in the first place.”
Soon after launching, Sesame Solar set its sights on the Caribbean. “The island nations are the most under siege with rising water and in the path of hurricanes and extreme storms,” Flanagan said.
The company said that after hurricanes Maria and Ida devastated the island of Dominica, Sesame Solar set up Nanogrids in 15 minutes that were used in a makeshift hospital. The Nanogrids repurposed rainwater into 130 gallons of clean drinking water per day, powered 60-foot trailers of showers and toilets, and provided refrigeration for essential supplies like insulin.
In June, Sesame Solar launched Nanogrids that use green hydrogen for backup power. Flanagan told Insider she’s working to ensure that the future of emergency relief is fossil-fuel free.
Flanagan’s call to action: “Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and devastating as a result of climate change. If we want to reverse this trajectory, we need to stop relying on fossil fuels to help us recover from these events, which are causing these natural disasters in the first place.”
