Net Hero Podcast – With Sumit Bose

So it's happened, a super majority for Labour. After last week's election results what is the new government going to do for accelerating net zero? In this podcast Sumit Bose gives you his take on the opportunities and challenges Labour now has, to live up to its manifesto pledges.

Net Zero will be better for our health. That's why it matters so much, says Wendy Cheeseman, who heads up sustainability at Oxfordshire University Hospitals NHS Trust. Wendy who will be speaking next week at the Big Zero Show, explained why the NHS is so concerned about its own emissions and wider carbon, as she says it is a real marker for health. We discuss the pathway for reduction for such a l...

In a future net zero podcast, Anthony Ainsworth, Chief Operating Officer for npower Business Solutions told us that sustainability will help businesses grow   We’re going to have to speed up the planning process to meet net zero targets. This is what Anthony Ainsworth, Chief Operating Officer, npower Business Solutions said in this episode of the future net zero podcast.

In this podcast I talk about starting your sustainability journey and how sometimes just wanting to start is enough... Team up. And start. That's the way to get to net zero says Fitzoy Hutchinson, who is in charge of sustainability for the famous Celtic Manor Resort. In this brief chat we discuss the issue of supply chains and the challenges of getting emissions down if budgets are tight. Fitzroy...

In this podcast, Kenny Hallet, Head of Sales Development and Nick Parr, Head of Major Business Commercial join the team at Future Net Zero to give a quick market update. They look back at the past few years to talk through the energy market and how we’ve got to where we are now! They discuss the landscape through covid, the war in Ukraine and an energy crisis to market stability and normality in 2...

You must take your supply chain with you if you want to get to net zero. That's what Matteo Deidda from Lloyds Banking Group told me as we discussed how we can take all businesses on the journey to net zero. Matteo will be speaking at our Pathway to Net Zero talks offering a synopsis of the Lloyds group's ambition to halve its supply chain emissions by the end of this decade. We discussed how it's...

The food we eat. You are what you eat. Eat well be well. So many phrases revolve around our fundamental need to shove something in our mouths but should there be a new phrase? Eat for the planet? In our Pathway to Net Zero sessions at the Big Zero Show , we will be exploring exactly that concept. I spoke to Tom Maidment from Hilton Foods, who will be speaking about the footprint of food used by yo...

In this week's briefing I chatted to Simon Manley from UNDO, who will be taking us on a journey through carbon removals when he speaks at the Big Zero Show in July. If you've not heard of carbon removal, it's a bit similar to carbon capture but often involves passive natural resources to grab the carbon out of the air, in the case of UNDO they are using rocks and natural weathering to do the job....

This week we start the first in our series of Big Zero Briefings, where I chat with one of the speakers from the Big Zero Show. In this episode I chat to leading economist Vicky Pryce as she reveals how financing and your net zero credentials are increasingly interconnected. Vicky will be guiding you through what you can do to find funding for your net zero projects, how policies will affect you a...

Can tourism ever be green? It's one of those double edged swords, tourism brings wealth and changes lives often in some of the poorest parts of the world, yet the effect of tourists can be damaging to the environment. London is a world tourism hub with more than 2.5 million international visitors last year, let alone the thousands of Brits who visit the Capital from around the UK. One of the must...

Now it's great when you the audience get in touch to tell your net hero story. That's exactly what Robert Johnson, of Arigna Fuels did and what a tale he has to tell. It's all about solid fuels especially for the rural market in Ireland, where Arigna is based. Being very open and honest, he explained how they were still selling coal but trying to clean up their solid fuel offering, by moving into...

Vertical farming, or farms in the sky, sounds well sexy doesn’t it, conjuring up images of sci-fi clean rooms growing everything from ginger to grapes. The truth is a little bit less sci-fi but maybe more net zero. Vertical farming allows, in general, salad crops (lettuce, rocket, kale etc), to be grown without soil, in vertical trays up to 6m in height. As the plants are in a controlled environme...

Now time for that great debate... is meat compatible with a net zero future? Globally we consume more meat now than at anytime in human history. In the UK alone a billion chickens a year make it onto our plates in some form. Add to that about a million pigs slaughtered monthly and you can see that there is a lot of appetite out there! In terms of net zero, we are told we need to reduce meat consum...

James Turner joins Future Net Zero on their latest PODCAST to discuss our renewable options, how green is green energy and the importance of traceability.

Ok it had to happen. For dinosaurs, substitute the Dodo and the Mammoth. For a theme park, substitute the more altruistic goal of combatting climate change. Yep, that’s right. A company called Colossal Biosciences from America is trying to bring back extinct species in a bid to rebalance the natural carbon cycle as well as fight the extinction of endangered species. Their plan is to create the fir...

The humble shroom. You can have it on your plate and it’s a delicacy. You can see it growing on your walls and it’s a pest. You can see it on trees and it’s a natural composter.   But could fungi be the thing your home of the future is made from?   They have amazing properties and can be made into materials like insulation board or blocks and new research is showing they can literally ‘eat’ hard t...

It’s that first world problem, three years on your computer needs replacing because it’s struggling and slow but what if you didn’t have to chuck it into the skip?   What if you could replace that cracked screen, or update the memory or even swap out the processor, so your laptop can go on and on?   That’s the idea behind Framework, a PC company from San Francisco led by Nirav Patel. They have bui...

Plastic… enemy no 1 for the green lobby. We’ve learned to vilify it, from straws, to bags, to the giant rubbish patch in the Pacific. No one seems to have a good word to say about it these days. Especially as it’s a direct by-product of the oil and gas sector.   But stop a minute.   Where would we have been without plastic during the pandemic? How would I be typing this story without the plastic k...

Is net zero here already? Well not quite but according Stew Horne, Head of Policy at the Energy Saving Trust and the guest on this week’s podcast, we are missing a massive trick.

Ah heat pumps - you love them or hate them. I've never really worked out why they trigger such reactions in people. Many believe they are the ultimate answer to us decarbonising heat, others say they are an expensive redundant technology even before they are widely used. What is the truth? Well I have often thought they can do a lot for the right home and office but only if the circumstances are r...

Two words from ancient history? Maybe actually two words for the green net zero future? On the podcast this week I discuss if voltage optimisation is a bit of unloved technology, which could be helping businesses right now to cut their carbon and save money. The technology has been around for decades and works by making sure the electric machinery and devices operate at the optimal voltage, which...

Money makes the world go round. But does it make it better? For centuries, the world of finance has always been at the heart of everything we have done from trade to infrastructure, from wars to disaster relief. Commerce drives all our decisions and choices, whether we like it or not. So where does it sit when it comes to net zero? Well the past three years there have been big commitments made to...

Insects are the kings of the planet. They live everywhere and are the most numerous animal on Earth. We’ve heard endless stories about how eating insects will be the key to cutting our emissions from our food chain. I’m not so sure we’d all be switching to a cockroach curry or stick insect pie. But they are nature’s ultimate waste disposal experts and one company has come up with a way to use them...

What if you could recycle your floor tiles or wall decorations time and again?   The start of Spring is almost here and it’s generally the time to throw things out and spruce stuff up. DIY shops get very busy soon as everyone looks at a home makeover. Walls and ceilings can be repainted. Furniture can be repaired and replaced but floors? We’re normally stuck with them for years. But what if changi...

The weather is all over the place right now but it's certainly been cold and I'm sure you've had your heating on. The affordability of heat is a real issue for society, politicans and the energy industry. We have people despite government subsidies, really struggling to pay to keep warm. Our homes leak heat endlessly and our businesses and industries are no better. So how can we tackle the heat qu...