Voices of Sustainability: Season 2, Episode #5
Hallie Cole
TRT: 14:22
Hello, and welcome to the Voices of Sustainability podcast. My name is Halle Cole, and I will be your host and reporter for season two. This season, we're looking ahead and continuing the dialogue about sustainability. These episodes feature in-depth conversations with leaders who are helping shape what sustainability will look like in the years to come. I'll be speaking with professionals across fields to highlight the various strategies and challenges faced by the government, businesses, and nonprofits who are all striving to balance economic growth with environmental and social responsibility.
In this episode, I'm speaking with Cristina Paredes, the Executive Director of SC NEXUS, which is a federally designated Tech Hub focused on energy innovation and resilience. We dive into how SC NEXUS is leveraging partnerships across sectors, the importance of infrastructure investment, and how they are preparing for shifts in energy trends while ensuring that sustainability efforts still lead to tangible economic and social impact. Let's get into it.
Hallie Cole
Cristina, would you mind just starting us off and telling the listeners about yourself, your work, and the projects that are carried out by SC NEXUS?
Cristina Paredes
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast today. I'm really excited to be here today to talk to you a little bit about SC NEXUS and greatly appreciate the partnership that the University of South Carolina has with the Department of Commerce, as well as specifically my division, SC NEXUS. So I am a recent resident of the great state of South Carolina. I moved here to take the opportunity to be the Executive Director for SC NEXUS. It has been a wonderful transition from Florida to South Carolina. I moved here from Tallahassee. And just enjoying every minute of Columbia and the state as a whole.
So I have a background in mostly all in economic development. I've done that for 15 to 20 years-ish now. I ran a regional and local organization down in Tallahassee, kind of built that up from the ground up. [I] was able to help that community see one of its largest economic growth opportunities during that time period. And then went on and did some consulting work for a couple of years where I assisted companies and communities with their economic competitiveness. And part of that job was I did some work here in South Carolina, so I was fairly familiar with the state when I moved here and just really excited to be part of this new opportunity and to lead this new division within the Department of Commerce.
Hallie Cole
I like to start off just by asking how they [the interviewee] define sustainability. And for you specifically, how does that definition shape the work that you are leading at SC NEXUS?
Cristina Paredes
Absolutely. So I think sustainability for me is kind of important to what we do every
day on that end—and not personally along those ends. And then when you look at what SC NEXUS does, it's that sustainable piece of energy. We're focused on both the national security as well as energy security on that end and having reliable, sustainable power systems. We deal mostly with energy technologies to create that grid resilience component of that. So making sure that it's consistent and reliable and secure power that is generated and transmitted to and stored here.
Hallie Cole
And kind of going off of that, you talk about, you know, sustainable energy being consistent, reliable. From your perspective, how do you envision sustainable energy innovations scaling across, say, rural communities?
Cristina Paredes
A lot of the things that we've done with the building out of our testbeds are focused on storage, so energy storage systems, microgrid capabilities, and grid emulation on that end, and then making sure that each one of those is secure from both cybersecurity standpoint and supply chain needs on that end. So that is a lot of the work that we're focused in. I think when you're asking your question, that's going to relate most closely with the microgrid development that is being done down in our Clemson facility.
So, Hallie, you mentioned earlier kind of how I define sustainability, and I wanted to make sure to go back to talk a little bit about that. I touched on the fact that energy security is national security and how important that is to highlight the solutions that are going to accelerate the production of our energy technologies and their efficiencies. Again, all going back to that reliable, sustainable grid system. And when we look ahead to how we foresee changes in sustainability and what that's defined and what we're pursuing, especially when it comes to energy and manufacturers, we don't have the ability to choose the resources that are below our feet, but we do have the ability to develop the resources that we have and choose that innovation piece.
So it's really important to take in consideration the current needs of our market. And right now, we're seeing a lot of growth in energy storage systems. There's increased interest—and we kind of touched upon it earlier—about microgrid needs. And, you know, so that's a little bit of what we're seeing on that end. When you look at the Southeast, we're really positioned kind of in the heart of the “Battery Belt” there. And we're seeing a lot of new technologies. Again, that's why I mentioned the energy storage systems. And there's a lot of key drivers that are pushing investment here in the South. And when you talk about the development of batteries, whether that's from EVs or long-term storage, we're seeing the need for that circular economy component of that.
There's a need not only to kind of push forward technology development for the batteries themselves, but then what happens next? And we have companies like Cirba Solutions, Redwood Materials, who are investing in that recycling component of that. You're seeing also a company called Princeton New Energy, also in that same realm. And we have the manufacturers and now we have the research of that. So that full circular economy that puts us really nicely in that midstream, downstream role for battery technologies. We don't do the mineral production here, which is more upstream, but we do play really nicely when it comes to innovation, manufacturing, and recycling component of that, that nice circular economy out there. And that's really important to take in consideration when we're steering companies here for innovative usage and doing their R&D, as well as supporting those manufacturers. So there is an end to life when we're talking about battery technologies. And, you know, all these changes that we're seeing here—like I just mentioned, these are all built on partnerships and the need to create new labs and market solutions.
Hallie Cole
Sounds like there's a lot that's happening and going on, so it's very exciting.
Cristina Paredes
Yeah, especially when we talk about the University of South Carolina and their role in SC NEXUS, the build out of the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation. Again, you know, all positioning in our state to kind of be that heart of the battery belt and what a great place to do some premier research and development then right there at the CB facility.
Hallie Cole
You mentioned a lot of partnerships. You know, you just mentioned the role that USC is even playing in advancing more sustainable development in South Carolina. What role do you see partnerships playing in the work that SC NEXUS is doing, especially for this circularity component that you've been talking about?
Cristina Paredes
Yeah, I think partnerships are what makes the work that I do at SC NEXUS possible. And it's also one thing that was very attractive about the position as a whole. You know, we're a federally designated Tech Hub by the U.S. government. And as part of that, one of that was having like leading a consortium of partners to help push these new technologies into the marketplace. And we have over 50 organizations from government and policy leaders, to academia, to industry leaders themselves that are part of our network, and solving solutions when it comes to energy technologies for the future, and today and tomorrow, both of those needs.
I think what makes our organization and our state unique and attractive, the ability to kind of pull everybody in and around the table, to solve a problem, to work together, to find that solution. And that's what we're doing with the three test beds that we have. It's not just the University of South Carolina leading the research, or Clemson, or Savannah River National Labs. There are actual industry partners that are sitting down at the table to solve real-world problems and develop those. So, you're looking at a network that is focused on developing, testing, and deploying those technologies, and that's really imperative, because if you don't have policymakers and local economic development organizations and academia and industry sitting down to solve these problems then they just stay stagnant in the lab. And we want to make sure we help accelerate those new developments from outside the lab into the marketplace.
And hopefully those companies, once they've utilized the research here, establish a presence and build it here since we are so well known for manufacturing. And then the reverse—those companies that are located here that are manufacturing in the energy sector, that they utilize these test beds that were created and they take advantage of these partnerships that we have developed.
Hallie Cole
That's all so great to hear because it is very important to have different perspectives from different sectors, different industries, because as you said, if we don't have these discussions, then it all does just stay pretty stagnant.
Cristina Paredes
Yeah, and each one of us come at a problem with a different perspective. And it's important to have all those perspectives in the room so we can consider holistically what we are dealing with before we move forward with a solution.
Hallie Cole
From your experience in both economic development and innovation leadership, what mindset shifts do you think are needed to best embed sustainability as more of a value-driver than, say, a cost center in energy innovation and manufacturing?
Cristina Paredes
That's a really good question. So over my career, I've seen companies come in and lead the fact that they need a mix, and of that mix of energy generation, renewables is a huge and important component of that. You know, over time, and especially given the increased demand for larger projects, that's shifted to “How can we get power?” And if that happens to include renewables, then that works just well for them. If it doesn't, then that's completely understandable. You know, I say that very simply. There's so much more that goes into play on that.
Now, when we talk about what we're doing for SC NEXUS, we're trying to help to create that sustainable reliable power source for them. You know, look at the technologies that are being developed right now, both new and upcoming. A big piece of that is how they store their energy or the new devices and components that are created. Can they keep energy within the grid system there? And is it secure from the cybersecurity standpoint there too? So that tends to be a little bit of the new conversation that I'm having on that end.
Hallie Cole
Finally, just very briefly, for the students and maybe emerging professionals that are listening, what advice would you give to those that are hoping to build a career at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, public impact, or anything to do with sustainability, really?
Cristina Paredes
The advice—it’s more of a career advice. I guess the advice that I would give is when you think about opportunities that are placed in front of you and you're weighing that, the big question is, does that match your value system? Does it match your talents? Can you see yourself moving forward with that company or organization? I think those are some big questions that need to be asked when you're pursuing a career, just in general. Does that company's value set match with my value set? Does their mindset match with mine? Does it fulfill my talents that I can bring to the organization? Those are all very important things to take into consideration when you move forward with the new opportunity. that alignment. That will make your work a lot easier and enjoyable, and same for the company that's so lucky to bring you on board.
A big thank you to Cristina for joining us on this episode. It was great to hear from her and learn how SC NEXUS is helping to drive innovation and resilience in the energy sector for our state. Her particular insights underscore that sustainability should not just be viewed through the scope of environmental impact, but rather it should include its reach on economic opportunity and external collaboration. Join us in the next episode where I speak with Allen Klump about his work at the Palmetto Nuclear Coalition. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.