Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas - the Rainforest podcast

In this inspiring LIBI episode, host Melissa Rizzuto chats with Kent Swanlund, the innovative mind behind CO2 Brew. Kent shares his journey from chemical engineering in oil and gas to solving a critical problem in the brewing industry: capturing and reusing the CO2 produced during fermentation. Discover how CO2 Brew's unique leasing model not only reduces emissions and boosts sustainability but also significantly cuts operational costs and ensures supply security for breweries. Kent delves into the challenges and triumphs of startup life, the power of a complementary team, and his ambitious vision for expanding carbon capture beyond beer to a global scale, proving that big ideas can indeed come from the most unexpected places.

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast where we showcase fascinating people who are Leaders, Innovators, and have Big Ideas!

HOST

Melissa Rizzuto
Melissa is a talent acquisition and recruitment strategy professional with 20 years of experience partnering with founders and leadership teams to build high-performing teams, improve hiring processes, and create meaningful candidate experiences. Her background spans full-cycle recruitment, recruitment technology, employer branding, and recruitment marketing. A lifelong Calgarian, Melissa holds a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of Calgary, an Executive Leadership Certificate from eCornell University, and a Mini MBA in Engineering & Technology Management from Rutgers Business School. She is also actively involved in community initiatives, including 17 years with the UNICEF Water for Life Gala and volunteer work supporting newcomers through Immigrant Services Calgary. Outside of work, Melissa enjoys dogs, sports, creative writing, and keeping up with emerging technology.

GUEST

Kent Swanlund
Kent Swanlund is the CEO & Co-Founder of CO2Brew, a Calgary-based startup that is decarbonizing the craft-brewing industry. After studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary, Kent spent 16 years working in the oil and gas industry as a Process and Sales Engineer before completing the Avatar Innovations Accelerator Program in 2022. When he’s not out enjoying the perks of working in the brewing industry, Kent loves to spend time with his wife and 2 daughters here at home and close by in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• CO2Brew
• Cold Garden
• Avatar Innovations
• Talent Incubator Partners
• Mount Royal University Library Audio Spaces

SHOW QUOTES

"You're producing more than you're consuming. So you'd be good just with a system to be self-sufficient in CO2."

"If you don't have CO2, you don't produce, and if you don't produce, you lose anywhere from, on the very small scale, tens of thousands of dollars up to millions of dollars per day in production."

"You have to be quite risk tolerant. You're gonna, there's gonna be a lot of risk in in the startup journey in different areas too. So if you're risk tolerant, it makes it a lot easier."

CREDITS

Sponsor: New Idea Machine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan