Twelve brings together team members from many backgrounds in our shared mission of tackling the climate crisis through carbon transformation. As a part of our Employee Highlights series we asked Derek Phelps (he/his), Head of Policy and Governmental Affairs, about his experiences in government relations and what led him to build a climate-positive career at Twelve.
What is your title? What do you do at Twelve?
As the Head of Policy and Governmental Affairs at Twelve, I advocate for policies that align with Twelve’s goal to create a fossil-free future by scaling carbon transformation technology.
Twelve’s technology uses electrochemistry to convert the most common greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into a multitude of carbon-neutral products such as our E-Jet® sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). These products help reduce, and potentially replace, the need for fossil fuels across a variety of industries — including air, marine, and land travel as well as manufacturing.
I help policymakers understand and appreciate Twelve’s technology — giving them the means to implement legislation and regulatory work that supports carbon transformation as it scales to meet its full potential. My day-to-day work includes discussions with policymakers from the federal, state, and municipal levels about enacting legislation and regulations that would impact Twelve’s mission and operations.
In addition to meeting with policymakers and their staff, I spend a lot of my time focused on two pieces of legislation recently passed by Congress: the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Both of these measures dedicate significant funds to technologies that will accelerate the transition to a greener economy, including carbon transformation, next generation manufacturing, the production of green hydrogen, and more.
How do the IRA and the Infrastructure Law impact Twelve’s work?
Both laws are significant for Twelve and other cleantech companies as they create or update significant investments, tax credits, and other incentives designed to help expedite the progress towards national climate goals. We are now at the stage where the Biden administration is working to implement this legislation, which includes some important tax credits designed to stimulate the emergence of innovative technologies such as ours.
Our conversations with the administration relate to how those credits can be applied to our technologies, including details around definitions of terms and how many credits may be applied simultaneously. Ultimately, my team is working hard to ensure that effort fully aligns with Congress’ policy purpose of actively working to combat climate change.
What about Twelve’s work is meaningful to you?
I’ve always craved both intellectual stimulation and what I call being ‘on the side of the angels’: working towards a clear purpose that contributes to the quality of life for family, friends, and future generations. At Twelve, I have the opportunity to enjoy both of these things at the same time.
Working at Twelve makes me exercise my mental muscles daily. Learning about this technology is exhilarating, exciting, and certainly inspiring. Twelve’s co-founders Etosha Cave, Kentra Kuhl, and Nicholas Flanders discovered a method that can help clean up entire industries, including notoriously difficult ones like aviation and marine cargo transportation. They lit a spark that is growing at Twelve as we scale.
When that spark occurs, we need to sustain it. I’m deeply grateful to be with a company and a team so invested in technology that helps not only protect the environment, but also improve it for my daughter and those who will come after. I’m increasingly encouraged every day by Twelve’s prospects for success — and how promising and bright our future is.
What is your favorite thing about working at Twelve?
All of the Twelve team members I’ve encountered really lean into Twelve’s efforts to be welcoming, inviting, and inclusive of all different types of talents. Across the company, I’ve seen consistent respect for everybody and never encountered anything other than civility, collegiality, and people who always see the potential in the person they’re talking to.
There’s a shared excitement among everyone I work with, and a mission-driven focus on seeing and bringing out the best in each other, which is the underpinning of a company that’s poised for long-term success. It makes me eager to come to work every day.
Can you share a 1-minute version of your professional story and how you found your way to working in climate tech?
After serving in the U.S. Navy, I got my start in government relations serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Veterans Affairs in Connecticut. My interest in environmental issues developed when I entered the utility world, working in energy efficiency and demand response. I continued to further my understanding of energy policy when I was appointed by Connecticut’s Governor to serve as the Executive Director of the Connecticut Siting Council. In that position, I oversaw approval processes around critical infrastructure including power generation, electric transmission lines, and cellular towers.
After nine years, I headed Government Relations & Business Development for FuelCell Energy, a company that, like Twelve, is dedicated to clean energy solutions. In that role I worked with Congressional allies for several years to help fashion the tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
At that point, I was looking for an opportunity to take the skills I’d developed to a place that’s really on the cutting edge of the transition to a more climate-friendly economy. And that place was Twelve; carbon transformation’s potential aligned perfectly with what I was looking for.
What would you tell someone considering beginning or transitioning to a career in climate?
You just have so many opportunities. There’s no shortage of cleantech companies that are recruiting, and other companies dedicating resources to provide a sustainable service or product among their offerings. You certainly don’t have to be a scientist to enter the field — my degrees are in public administration and business! Like any business, these companies need personnel across all disciplines.
If you’re thinking of Twelve in particular — the more I learn about what our folks on our team are doing, the more I realize how unique and powerful it is. The conversion of converting carbon dioxide into carbon-neutral or even negative products disrupts our fossil fuel economy by serving the needs of our society in an environmentally responsible way. You’ll get the chance to work with some of the brightest minds in science today, and some of the most talented and passionate people that you could find anywhere. I suggest pursuing it with everything you have, because this company and this technology are on the cusp of doing big, transformative things.
Our team is growing. If you want to join us in our mission of creating a world run on air, not oil, browse our job openings.
