A green-energy company born as a moonshot
The head of a Google “X” unit spinoff explains potential for geothermal energy systems
Dandelion aims to save you money while helping to save the planet. The company, spun off into its own business from Google’s experimental “X” unit, sells geothermal energy systems that use the temperature of the earth to both cool and heat a home.
Led by 30-year-old CEO Kathy Hannun, a civil engineer and computer scientist, Dandelion is kicking off in the often-frigid environs of upstate New York. It’s been having systems installed there since mid-September, and has more than a million dollars’ worth of bookings.
Key to the green-energy firm’s sales pitch — beyond its earth-friendly benefits — is the system’s return on investment: Pay the whole $20,000 up front and the system will pay for itself in five to 10 years, or put no money down and pay $150 a month, with, typically, immediate savings, Hannun said.
The system is built around a heat pump, the kind of technology found in refrigerators and air conditioners. In winter, “ground loop” tubes draw heat from at least six feet below the earth’s surface where temperatures generally remain around 50 to 55 degrees
Fahrenheit. A compressor boosts the temperature to about 120 degrees, so warm air can be distributed throughout a home. In summer, heat from a home is pumped to the cooler earth below ground — and can also be used to heat water, increasing cost savings.
We sat down with Hannun at X on Google’s Mountain View campus, to discuss Dandelion’s product and her progress — and troubles — in a rising-star career.
Q What’s different about what Dandelion is doing from other geothermal energy products?
A Geothermal, because it’s such a small industry, tends to be designed specifically for each home. It tends to be very expensive. We’ve commercialized a drill that’s specifically for installing geothermal ground loops. That allows us to put those ground loops in just more efficiently from a cost perspective and a time perspective. We’ve also put a lot of attention into standardizing installation. So instead of designing every house in a very one-off custom way, we’re able to use software and engineering to just create a standard product offering that will fit many homes.
Q In California, where the weather’s not so extreme, who could benefit from this system?
A California has so many different climates within it. My parents have a house in Mt. Shasta, California. They use propane to heat, which is a very expensive fuel. Geothermal would be a great option in their house. It’s also a really good option for cities which have a problem with peak loads in the summer. Often
when everyone turns their air conditioner on on the hottest day of the summer, it creates strain on the grid. If everyone was connected to the ground for cooling, the ground’s not changing temperature on the hottest day, so the grid would be much better off.
Q What about Lake Tahoe?
A There’s another example of a place with cold winters (and) a desire to preserve the natural environment — I think it would make a lot of sense there.
Q When can you see it coming to California?
A We are going to prioritize our next markets based on customer demands, demand from towns and cities and also the availability of partners interested in working with us to do the installations. So while we’re very focused on New York right now, if an opportunity arose in California where those things were in place, we would prioritize it as a market.
Q What are the environmental benefits of having this kind of system?
A There’s so much CO2 being released into the atmosphere because people are burning natural gas, or fuel oil, or propane in their homes for heat. Putting in heat pumping, you’re completely getting rid of those emissions. You’re replacing those emissions with a system that uses electricity to harvest renewable thermal energy from the earth. It’s just more sustainable, not just from a carbon perspective but also from an air-quality perspective. Q Have you faced any obstacles or difficulties along your career path that arose because of your gender? A I think some things have been harder because of my gender and maybe I’ve gotten opportunities because of my gender as well. I’ve certainly encountered many of the issues in Silicon Valley that women talk about more and more openly, like sexual harassment or that sort of thing. Most women that you would ask that question to who have worked in technology would have experience with that. I’m not sure how life would be different as a man.
Q What kinds of harassment?
A I would say like inappropriate solicitations, mostly, with different levels of persistence. Especially when people are in a more powerful position within the organization and then try to use that to push their boundaries and see what they can get away with. It can be hard.
Q How did you respond?
A It’s tough. If it was very easy to know exactly what to do in those situations, then it wouldn’t be a problem.
Q What did you do in those kinds of situations?
A What I did as a woman in my early to mid-20s isn’t necessarily what I would advise if I had a mentee who went through a similar thing. What I did was basically just remove myself from the situation and then suffer the consequences professionally, which isn’t ideal, but it was sort of the best solution I had at the time, and ultimately it’s been fine, but I don’t know. It’s good that the issue is getting more attention because a lot of the events that we’ve seen in the past year showed women that speaking out actually can cause change, and that’s not always the case. There are a lot of stories of women speaking out and suffering the consequences much more than the perpetrator. Until that balance shifts more, it’s going to continue to be an issue.
Contact Ethan Baron at 408-920-5011.