The Sustainable Futures Report

Some ideas for holiday reading

This week's episode is an interview with James McKemey, Head of Customer Operations at POD Point Ltd ( pod-point.com ) How does an electric car drive? What does it cost? How far can I drive it before the battery runs out? Answers to these and many other questions. (Did you know that some electric cars will see off a Maclaren F1? And they don't make all that noise about it either!)

We'll cover the US with solar panels says Hillary Clinton! Rubbish, say the Republicans. Not good enough, say the climate experts. It seems that President Jimmy Carter was years ahead of them all.

Top story this week was going to be the announcement from DECC about changing subsidies for solar power, but that has been pushed off the front page by a major speech from Minister Amber Rudd. Are you ready for ESOS - the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme? Get advice from the Carbon Trust, and advice from The Energyst magazine on Financing Energy Efficiency. Meanwhile, Sustainable Brands offer 46...

Business energy tax reform - I bet you didn’t see that in the budget! The National Grid have published their winter outlook report - already. There’s a Task Force on Shale Gas - hear what they have to say. Is DECC running out of money? Is climate change making long-haul flights longer? There’s a company that will power your car on coffee and would you like to live in a carbon positive house? And m...

This week, two reports. One from the Royal Institute for International Affairs, one from the Carbon Trust. Also, the latest update of Jeremy Leggett's the winning of the carbon war is out. You can download that free of charge from his website which is jeremyleggett.net .    Making the headlines this week has been the Greek economic situation. We won't say anything at all about that. And the UK cha...

Fracking is once more in the news, there’s a report that soil erosion in East Anglia could seriously affect our food production, electricity could be cheaper but dirtier, Formula E in Battersea Park, it’s getting hot in the Tube and I talk to Daniel White from Global Energy Systems on why you need a heat pump. Well, perhaps not today, but the word is that this weather won’t last, in spite of globa...

I’m talking about fracking - of course, about wind - again, about suing the government and about waiting for trains. You can also listen to the whole of my recent presentation to the Professional Speaking Association. But first of all - it’s official. Medical opinion states that climate change is bad for you!  

This week I’m talking about the great and the good and what they have to say about climate change. I joined the mass lobby of Parliament on Wednesday to find out what my MP had to say about it. There’s a changing environmental policy in the wind, although we didn’t know that for sure until Thursday. On Thursday I was at the Energy Exchange in London talking about community energy. Last Saturday I...

G7 to eliminate fossil fuels - you can stop wund farms but you can't stop fracking - BP publishes latest statistical review - visit energyex.co.uk - lobbying parliament - they do it differently in Scotland - thinkdif.co in England (in November) - is it a bird? is it a plane? is it electric?

Australia criticised for not taking Climate Change seriously - HSBC warns investors of fossil fuel risk - how to manage energy risk after electricity market reform - come to Energy Exchange http://www.energyex.co.uk 

The Queen's Speech and the new government's programme of legislation - low carbon air travel - decarbonising the Middle East - decarbonising your pension - the multi-trillion subsidy to fossil fuels.

Time for action on CO2 and Climate Change. This week's Business and Climate Summit in Paris starts to set the scene for COP21 in December. Unsurprisingly there are sharp differences between businesses already suffering the effects of climate change and businesses which exist to supply fossil fuels. Apple is protecting forests - find out why. In Asia they agree that communicating the sustainability...

Harriet Ennis from Bootham School in York introduces the BEAST - Bootham Environmental and Sustainability Team. She explains how the school joined the Eco-schools project and is now a Green Flag holder with Ambassador status. More information from eco-schools.org.uk or ennish@boothamschool.com  Solutions for the Planet helps school students find solutions to ecological, environmental or sustainabl...

I was sent a review copy of this film and here's my verdict. You can see the trailer here:  http://ykr.be/hn62dkp6v A good film, but not a great film. Yes, there's an awful lot wrong with our planet and plenty to protest about, but what should we be doing about it?

A brief view of the main parties' manifestos. What do the Conservatives, Labour, LibDems, UKIP, the Greens and the SNP have to say? A summary of their ideas on energy, climate change, sustainability and the F-word. (No, not that F-word.)

At Sustainability Live last week I met a number of exhibitors who explained how they could help me be more sustainable here and now. An end to sodium lighting! An end to steamy kitchens! It was all there. Also a panel of experts who told us what the next government should do to ensure a sustainable future. Questions or comments to me, Anthony Day, at mail@anthony-day.com

When British prime minister Harold Macmillan was asked by a journalist what was  most likely to blow governments off course, he responded "Events, dear boy, events." He wasn't talking exactly about the shows, exhibitions and conferences that we class as events, but there's still no doubt that a bad event - an event which is not as sustainable as it should be, for example - can blow its sponsoring...

In some parts of the US and in some parts of the UK government, "Sustainability" is a dirty word. But not at Sustainability Live at the NEC next week, and not at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. Tim Balcon, CEO of iema, spoke to me about how the institute is developing and how it's facing up to the challenges of the future and the expectations of individual and corporate m...

Maggie Smallwood of Biovale tells us about this world-class cluster of scientists, researchers and producers, and how they are replacing petrochemicals with natural products as the source of feedstocks for the future. Based in Yorkshire and open for business to the world. Go to www.biovale.org to learn more and find links to the partnering organisations. Also this week: 100 billion barrels of oil...

At the Merchant Taylors' Scientific Lecture Dr Roddy Vann explained how nuclear fusion could provide safe, clean and cheap energy. Lord Redesdale spoke at the North West Sustainable Business Quarterly meeting last month and told us why an energy crisis is just round the corner. Read "Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air" by David Mackay. You can download it from the internet free of charge.

The School as a Sustainable Business - Sustainability and the Student - Sustainable Careers. Find links to resources at anthony-day.com/edshow 

False information about GM foods - water source heat pumps for heating our homes - National Trust warns of risks from climate change - homes and businesses at risk from flooding, and not doing much about it - what I told my local beekeepers' association.

A few words on EXPO North West, on the North West Sustainable Business Quarterly and then I introduce Gareth Kane, author and sustainability expert. He tells us why he started in sustainability and goes on to explain Green Jujitsu and the importance of the 80/20 rule. Find out more at terrainfirma.co.uk 

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation continues to promote understanding of the circular economy - Can we win the Carbon War? - Words you shouldn't us in Florida - Around the world in 5 months.