Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Ben Nelmes, Chief Executive of New Automotive, discusses the inevitability of the EV revolution. Topics include: shaping policy debates with data, EV cost trends, political landscape in UK and Europe, EVs impact on government revenues, integrating renewable energy, challenges in transitioning to electric vehicles, and influencing EV policy in Europe.

Dr. Simon Evans from Carbon Brief discusses UK election manifestos, climate policies, and funding sources for clean energy projects. Topics include Labour's clean power goals, challenges in achieving ambitious targets, and Scotland's climate leadership. The conversation delves into differences between Conservative and Labour energy policies, government interventions, and public support for energy initiatives.

Anand Gopal, from Energy Innovation, discusses thermal batteries storing renewable energy as heat for industrial processes. Challenges include cost competitiveness with gas. Explore the transition to clean energy in industry and the potential of thermal batteries in reducing emissions and enhancing efficiency.

Grant Swartzwelder, methane science expert, discusses conflicting estimates of methane leakage in the oil and gas industry, the challenges of reducing emissions, and the importance of reliable methane data. The conversation also explores the impact of methane emissions in major producing states like Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, as well as the complexities of managing gas leaks in oil facilities and the challenges faced by companies in adhering to regulations

Bruce Friedrich, President of the Good Food Institute, discusses the future of food with plant-based and cultivated meat technologies. The podcast explores the challenges and potentials of alternative proteins in scaling and transforming our food system. Topics include policy, public opinion, and big agriculture's roles in the sustainable food movement.

Hans Eric Melin, the expert on battery recycling, challenges myths about low recycling rates, highlighting potential rates of up to 90%. He discusses the importance of data in circular energy storage and addresses challenges in battery recycling, collection rates, repurposing electric vehicle batteries, market values, and opportunities in the industry.

Leonhard Birnbaum, Chairman of E.ON, discusses accelerating transmission buildout and the impacts of digitization and AI in the power sector at the Eurelectric Power Summit 2024. Topics include renewable grid investments, asset management technologies, energy challenges for AI, post-Brexit capital markets, and fair distribution in the industry.

Guests Staffan Qvist & Dr. Yaoli Zhang discuss China's pivotal role in clean energy transition, focusing on repowering coal stations with clean heat sources. They explore challenges in decarbonization, academic backgrounds in engineering, and the shift towards nuclear power for sustainable energy solutions in China and globally.

Discussing the financial challenges hindering the transition to clean hydrogen despite ambitious global targets. Exploring production costs, importation hurdles, and adoption challenges, highlighting the need for significant subsidies to achieve clean hydrogen goals by 2030. Analyzing the discrepancies between funding commitments and the financial support required for the hydrogen energy ministerial target.

Up this week is Simon Holmes à Court, the Australian investor and philanthropist with a passion for using data to change the world. In 2022, the federal elections in Australia delivered an upset, as around a third of the electorate turned their back on the established parties and voted in seven new independent MPs taking the total to 10. Simon was responsible for a crowdfunding initiative - Climate 200 - that supported 23 candidates in all, pledging to act on climate, political integrity and gender discrimination. He remains very involved in the challenge of pivoting Australia from a fossil fuel based economy to a clean energy superpower. Simon is an energy analyst, clean-tech investor, climate philanthropist, and director of the Smart Energy Council and the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network. He was co-founder of the Australian Wind Alliance and inaugural chair of the Melbourne Energy Institute’s Advisory Board. He is a respected commentator on the economic, political and engineering aspects of Australia’s energy transition.  Links: Simon's 2022 book The Big Teal: https://publishing.monash.edu/product/the-big-teal/ Simon's ABC interview on the success of Climate 200 in the wake of the 2022 elections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Mhz6b7cg4 Simon's 2021 talk - Independents and Climate - The Hope to End the Lost Decade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN_-1eLbLL8 Simon's 2018 op-ed which triggered his expulsion from Kooyong 200: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/09/why-liddell-is-likely-to-close-in-2022-and-why-you-shouldnt-careThe Superpower Institute, working for Australian leadership in the transition: https://www.superpowerinstitute.com.au/