We sat down with David Meyers, the Co-Founder of GridTractor, about his background in renewable energy and how he turned that experience into a career in agriculture and cleantech.
Who is David Meyers?
David is an energy industry leader with a track record of commercializing renewable and energy management technologies. Before being named CEO, David led the expansion of the Polaris software platform to integrate agricultural irrigation with dynamic energy markets.
David learned early on to always set the parking brake on a tractor, even on what seems like level ground, when he found himself running after a 1960’s vintage Ferguson pulling a wagon with ten field hands who he was supposed to deliver to a pecan grove during harvest in Israel.
David, thank you for being here. Tell us a little bit about you and your background:
I got into ‘green’ energy after 10+ years working in and supporting ‘black’ energy, motivated by Tom Friedman’s talk on “Green is the New Red, White and Blue.” I started in Energy Management and Demand Response at EnerNOC and, after a number of stops on the Cleantech circuit, am back working on demand flexibility, with a focus on agriculture.
What is a fun fact about you?
I journeyed to the innermost part of Borneo where I got to spend time with people who had not met Westerners.
Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today?
I was a ship captain and the first thing you concern yourself with is that your vessel is afloat and safe for its passengers and crew. Only with those secured can you think about where you want to go and what you want to do with the ship. Earth is our vessel.
What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?
Electric and easy. Electric because we have transitioned fossil-fuel burning equipment to electric and easy because we have put in place simple, dynamic energy markets that don’t require armies of aggregators, consultants and evaluators to manage.
What can the average person do to make a difference?
Support politicians, parties and companies that are driving real, near-term change at scale. Individual practices, endless R&D without scale and greenwashing simply won’t cut it.
