CSF 2026 Day 1 Takeaways with Reg Manhas, Monika Simoes, and Will Bernholz

Recorded live at the Carbon Solutions Forum 2026 in San Diego, this conversation captures what Day One surfaced and what Day Two needs to deliver.

Will Bernholz sits down with Reg Manhas, Co-Founder and CEO of Lapis Carbon Solutions, and Monika Simoes, Founder and CEO of Energy Dialogues, to unpack the through-line of CSF 2026: permitting reform is gaining real momentum, decarbonization conversations have been recontextualized around affordability and reliability, and the end users (hyperscalers, airlines, logistics) are now squarely at the table.

Reg shares why investor perception of CCS permitting risk is the central question for the financing sessions, and previews Lapis's first CO2 injection target by end of 2026. Monika reflects on how 15 years of convening has converged on a single discipline: pragmatism, and the synergies that get real projects financed and built.

Key Themes:

- Why permitting reform is moving from talking point to action

- How affordability and reliability reframed the decarbonization conversation

- What hyperscalers and airlines need from the energy industry

- The financing question every CCS developer is wrestling with

- Predictions for CSF 2027: CCS, geothermal, EOR, and the role of AI demand

Chapters

00:00 Intro from CSF 2026 in San Diego

00:33 Meet the guests: Reg Manhas (Lapis Carbon Solutions) and Monika Simoes (Energy Dialogues)

01:20 Day One takeaways: permitting reform momentum and EPA Region 6

03:03 What hyperscalers and end users are saying: Google, Microsoft, FedEx, Delta

05:30 AI, agents, and the energy demand picture

06:38 From decarbonization rhetoric to commercial viability

07:10 What to watch on Day Two: data center economics and project finance

08:43 Year three of CSF: pragmatism, synergies, and who needs to be in the room

10:44 Predictions for CSF 2027: CCS projects injecting, geothermal, EOR, hyperscalers as enablers

12:50 Closing thoughts

Learn more about Energy Dialogues and upcoming forums at: https://www.energy-dialogues.com

Learn more about the Carbon Solutions Forum: https://energy-dialogues.com/events/carbon-solutions-forum/

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