# Joshuah Stolaroff

> Joshuah Stolaroff is the co-founder and CEO of Mote, a Los Angeles clean energy company turning woody waste into renewable hydrogen while permanently burying the carbon. A Carnegie Mellon-trained engineer who built one of the first working prototypes for pulling CO2 straight out of the air, he spent eleven years running the carbon capture program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory before co-authoring 'Getting to Neutral,' the report that launched the Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) approach now at the heart of Mote. His aim is blunt: reduce and remove a billion tons of carbon by 2035.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Mote
- **Organizations:** Mote, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, University of California, Berkeley
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S., Environmental Engineering Science, University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D., Engineering & Public Policy and Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Postdoctoral fellowship, Carnegie Mellon University (Climate Decision Making Center)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Mote, developer of the world's first carbon removal plant converting wood waste to hydrogen, Co-authored the award-winning report 'Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California', Built one of the first working prototype systems for direct air capture of CO2 during his PhD

## Career timeline

- **2002-2006** — PhD at Carnegie Mellon under David Keith and Greg Lowry; conducted the first technical and economic assessment of direct air capture and built a prototype air contactor
- **2008** — Published 'Carbon Dioxide Capture from Atmospheric Air Using Sodium Hydroxide Spray' in Environmental Science & Technology
- **Post-PhD** — AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship at the U.S. EPA, focused on climate policy
- **~2010-2021** — Staff scientist and Carbon Capture Technology Manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (~11 years)
- **2019** — Co-authored 'Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California,' which launched the BiCRS approach
- **2021** — Co-founded Mote; announced the world's first carbon removal plant converting wood waste to hydrogen
- **2024-2025** — Became CEO of Mote; closed $7M first tranche of Series A; advanced Kern County and Sacramento (SMUD) projects under the California ARCHES H2 hub

## Achievements

- Co-founded Mote, developer of the world's first carbon removal plant converting wood waste to hydrogen
- Co-authored the award-winning report 'Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California'
- Built one of the first working prototype systems for direct air capture of CO2 during his PhD
- Led the carbon capture program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for roughly 11 years
- Published 44 papers with over 1,246 citations
- Selected for DOE ARCHES California Hydrogen Hub funding for the Kern County project
- Partnered with SMUD on a biomass-to-hydrogen facility in Sacramento
- NAE Frontiers of Engineering program alumnus

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Mote closed the first tranche (~$7M) of its Series A, led by Nella Next and Preston-Werner Ventures, to advance carbon-negative biomass-to-hydrogen technology.
- **2024** — Mote's Kern County facility selected for DOE ARCHES California Hydrogen Hub funding; partnership with SMUD announced for a Sacramento biomass-to-hydrogen facility.
- **2023** — Mote kicked off a second biomass-to-hydrogen project in Northern California.

## Links

- Website: https://motehydrogen.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuah-stolaroff/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joshuah-stolaroff
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11