Meet Adam — Pyrolysis Operator

Economists project Charm can create more than 200,000 jobs by 2040, and we’re already getting started. We’re highlighting some of the people that are on the Charm team already, so we spent some time interviewing Adam to learn more about this journey to Charm and what drives him. Adam is based at Charm’s Miniforge in Fort Lupton, Colorado.

What do the outdoors of Colorado mean to you?

I spent most of my childhood in the mountains. I try to spend as much of my time outdoors as I possibly can. It's kind of my safe spot. I love the diversity of Colorado. It's just a beautiful place to be. You get the mountains, you get the prairies, you get everything in between.

Growing up in Colorado, I got to know all of these really unique spots. As a child, we used to go to this small creek that would run through the majority of the year and we would build a little dam, just big enough to make a little swimming pool. And that was where all of my friends and I used to spend our summers. We'd be out there from dusk to dawn, just having a great time.

That creek has not run in close to four years.

Many of my beloved areas have kind of disappeared or become something that they weren't. Whether it be from fires or droughts, I've lost a lot of places I love.

What has your career been like?

As a young adult, I didn't know what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do. I initially went to University of Wyoming for a double degree in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. I left there after my first year in college and I ended up going to a technical university and getting my degree in wind energy technologies.

I immediately started working in the wind industry. It was everything from mechanical experience to heavy electrical. From there I transitioned into cell phone tower work because I just couldn't get away from the heights. I loved them!

How did you find Charm?

I was just listening to podcasts one day and I stumbled on a podcast where Charm’s CEO Peter was explaining his ideas of how carbon removal could work.

Then Charm just happened to put up a job posting within my area, and it was just an opportunity that I had to jump on at the time.I'm super excited I did because it's everything I could have hoped it would be.

Tell us about an amazing experience so far at Charm?

One day we were trying to see how long we could operate one of our pyrolyzers to make bio-oil. We started running and about 12 hours in we realized this thing could just keep going, but we didn’t have enough trained operators. So our CEO Peter and our Head of Development & Testing, Grace, flew in from San Francisco to cover the overnight 8 hour shift. I mean, I got to teach our CEO how to run a pyrolyzer at 2am. It was so much fun, too! Especially coming in the next day and still seeing it running. We ended up making bio-oil for 36 hours! It just put a smile on my face.

What are you looking forward to?

We are working with a major power utility out in California to process excess biomass and reduce the risk of wildfires nearby. We’re going to be taking the biomass that they are removing, and because those plants have already done all the carbon capturing we’ll be able to sequester that carbon in the form of bio-oil.

Through all the forest thinning efforts and wildfire clearing areas, we get to be a part of the bigger picture. We get to help make the world a little bit better and safer for more people.

I truly believe that Charm Industrial is a truly limitless company with all the people that we have and are going to have. The team I work with is just a lovable group. I've really come to care about each and every one of them.

I think there's hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people with my exact same skills. I think there's a huge opportunity for those people out there to join this company and make a bigger impact.

Click here for more information on Charm's jobs and economic impact.