The Sustainable Futures Report

  How much time do you spend on line? Can we surf the net indefinitely, or are we reaching the point where browsing time must be capped?. Is that a fridge over there? No, it's a 60kWh storage unit - but not a battery. Before you knock that building down think of all the embedded carbon! But first, some thoughts about population. bwEFIwiefiEFH;isbcfswBCF;wibdf;wIB

It's another week of odds and ends. It's Bees' Needs Week - there's an apology from a campaigner for the climate hoax (buy his book and learn more) - it's the sun, stupid, not CO2 - alternatives to plastic, to food and to economic growth - green recovery or environmental endgame? - and finally, why the horrible, hated fossil fuel industry could be crucial to a clean energy transition. But first, t...

This week I'm talking about the energy industry with James Spencer, Managing Director of Portland Fuel. Is this the oil industry's endgame? When and why can we expect an oil price spike? Is an electric transport fleet an impossible dream, and does the future lie with hydrogen? Insights from inside the industry. And in other news…McKinsey on carbon capture, usage and storage, California legislates...

Last week I told you about a paper in the journal nature communications entitled "Scientists' Warning on Affluence", which explained how affluence leads to overconsumption which in turn leads to environmental damage. I've been fortunate to set up an interview with Professor Julia Steinberger, one of the authors, and you'll hear from her in a moment. In other news, last week's report from the U.K.'...

Remembering last week's warning from the IEA that we have but 6 months to head off the worst of the climate crisis, there's worrying news of unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic and there's serious river pollution in the UK. Whatever the need for urgent action we need continuous research and innovation, steadily building an infrastructure for a low-carbon future.   I bring you news of solar farms...

I've read so many articles recently saying that there is no going back to business as usual and more are pouring in every day. "Green Recovery" and "Build Back Better" are rapidly becoming clichés as people want to use the exit from lockdown as an opportunity for change. There are calls to do things differently from charities, pension funds, scientists, political parties, the Ecologist, XR and The...

  There's a lot of news coming out of Australia - coal, coral and controversy.  There's news as well from Brazil, and news from the energy industry. More ideas for building back better as we get the COVID-19 pandemic under control. And given that governments are crucial to successfully challenging the climate emergency, I ask whether we can trust a government which rejects its own manifesto commit...

It's Friday 5th June - World Environment Day. I'm Anthony Day and in this episode of the Sustainable Futures Report I   look at new transport initiatives and ask if they are just flights of fancy, I investigate whether a proposed recycling initiative is merely greenwash and I look again at possible directions for post-COVID recovery. I'm British, so I'll be talking about the weather and finally, k...

How do we talk to the other side about the climate emergency? How do we find common ground? How do we get everyone working together?   I spoke to Kevin Wilhelm CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting in Seattle.

Making the headlines, some politicians, activists and commentators are calling for a green recovery. A changed world as we come out of COVID lockdown. There are endless arguments over what that actually means, how we do it, when we do it and whether we can do it. Meanwhile, some fossil fuel companies are accused of failing to meet targets, some are agitating for targets to be dropped and some poli...

A designer solution providing an environmentally responsible outlet for your industry's waste. Peter Ettinger of Bioenergy DevCo explains how an anaerobic digester plant tailored to specific waste streams can produce biogas and soil improvers - and pay for itself.

Recently a group of academics wrote to The Guardian and said, "It is game over for preventing dangerous climate change..." One of the signatories to the letter was Dr James Dyke of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter. I tracked him down, and this is what he told me. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know.

This week I interview Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE Technologies ( TAE.com ) about his research into nuclear fusion - the great hope for clean and (relatively) cheap energy. It's been predicted for 20 years hence for the last 50 years or so, but Michl believes that the breakthrough could now be reached within 10. And beyond that we could see direct transformation of heat into electricity, meaning...

I look at the outlook for oil from the International Energy Agency and report on how Canada is betting its green future on oil. Fine words from the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. Now let's see some actions. During lockout down no-one's travelling, but CO2 emissions are still increasing. Why? And what has made environmental scientists so angry about Michael Moore's latest film? Finally, would you tru...

Yes, the threat, challenge and tragedy that is COVID19 remains everyone's first concern. Coronavirus affects us all, but in this episode my aim is to talk briefly of other things. This week I bring you a miscellany of stories that you may have missed.  

Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Professor, Author and Authority on Reimagining Capitalism talks to the Sustainable Futures Report.  

There are no good jokes about climate change, so instead I'm going to talk about COP26, the way out of this pandemic and its effect on actions against climate change; coal mining, geo-engineering and global dimming.

Right then. This week I'm going to talk about denial and whether climate change could lead to more pandemics in future. How will COVID19 affect developing nations and what are the implications of that for the rest of us? How is climate change affecting Africa and developing nations? And in other news, fantasies in Venice, cars in the sky, carbon reporting, fiddling investors, and why the British g...

I'm setting up a webinar for patrons to discuss where the Sustainable Futures Report should go from here. There's also an overview of my approach to looking at the consequences of climate change outside the wealthy west.

This time the topics I'm covering include good news and positive climate messages from the mining industry, from the EU, from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority - maybe even from Boris Johnson! There's good news, too, about geothermal energy, cutting pollution and a possible end to the throwaway culture. But the list of bad news is ever longer: Commuters committed to their cars, why trees are no...

  Are we telling the right story about climate change? Are we getting the message across? In this interview Captain Sandy Anderson explains how we're getting things wrong and how the Earth Ship fleet could put it right. "If the people will lead, the leaders will follow."  

COVID-19, the coronavirus, has got to be at the top of any agenda, but there's also news about COP26, JP Morgan, Barclays Bank, wind power, climate denial and the coming of the Anti-Greta, a bar of soap and how's your business coping with risk?

Should we be vegetarian? Should we be vegan? Is it wrong, or even unsustainable to eat meat? Students at the London School of Economics seem to think so. Will we see, as some say, the end of farming? Will we return to mixed, organic agriculture or will the whole industry be revolutionised by technology? Are we condemning parts of the world to poverty and hunger while the rest of us over-eat our wa...

This week Extinction Rebellion has been digging up a lawn and calling up a storm. In other news Microsoft is committing to going carbon negative, carbon labelling seems to be back and Drax claims that the UK is getting cleaner because they are burning wood, while the government is making plans to shut down your stove -you know, the one that burns wood.   Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon is throwing money...

It's time to accentuate the positive - to explain to people what's good about tackling climate change rather than frightening and depressing them with speculation about what could go wrong. This week I'm also talking about COP26, about HS2 and about nuclear options suggested by Bill Gates and Rolls-Royce. But first, last time I introduced Victoria, our latest patron, whose objective this year is t...