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Tech Topics In This Article: Alabama startups, ClimateTech
Huntsville, Alabama is known as a hub for defense, aerospace, and DeepTech companies. But could the city position itself to be a hub for climate technology solutions?
Local entrepreneur Jim Duggan wants to see that become a reality. Following a successful career in telecommunications, Duggan is now channeling his energy into Intrinsic Methods, a Huntsville-based ClimateTech venture with a mission to accelerate global reforestation. The carbon credit platform aims to inject much-needed transparency into the certification, pricing, and distribution of carbon credits, addressing a significant gap in current marketplaces.
Intrinsic Methods’ carbon registry works exclusively with projects generated by RootMaker, another Huntsville startup that has developed technology that improves the survival rate and growth rate of newly-planted trees. RootMaker’s patented technology accelerates tree growth by two-to-three times and boosts survival rates to an impressive 95%. Intrinsic Methods’ platform further amplifies that impact by allowing users to track tree growth and ecological benefits in real time.
Partnering directly with Rootmaker makes “our carbon credits so valuable,” Duggan said. “The minute that tree goes in the ground, it grows.”
Duggan added that importantly, Intrinsic Methods brings transparency to the carbon credit system through its use of blockchain technology, a move he believes will help curb prevalent greenwashing in the industry. He contrasts this with other registries that often “put a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork in the way of small project developers.” To date, Intrinsic Methods has collaborated on government-backed reforestation projects spanning Mongolia, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada.
To date, Intrinsic Methods has worked with government-backed reforestation projects in Mongolia, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.
Building Green In Huntsville
For Duggan, building Intrinsic Methods is about reshaping and replanting our natural world.
“When you plant trees, you bring back the pollinators and insects. You bring back the animals [and different] food sources,” Duggan told Hypepotamus. “You improve soil quality and the water table. And you prove employment for people and increase the quality of life.”
In its early stages, Intrinsic Methods has three target customers: large corporations looking to fund credits, climate activists, and websites that calculate individual carbon footprints, enabling direct credit purchases.
To help attract investors and new customers, Intrinsic Methods joined the gBETA Huntsville program, an accelerator for early-stage venture-backable companies based in North Alabama. Duggan credits gBETA with helping him prepare executive summaries, investor presentations, and ultimately help land new partnerships.
Born and raised in the Southeast, Duggan has been a long-time resident of Huntsville, calling it “one of the best kept secrets in the country.”
“You have a highly trained workforce, the highest percentage of PhDs and engineers per capita,” he added. “But you have all the same charms of an old Southern town.”
As he is dedicated to building in Huntsville, Duggan would like to see the city’s technology ecosystem diversify more into the Climate and GreenTech worlds, which “could really improve the quality of life worldwide.”
