Net Hero Podcast – With Sumit Bose

A wonderfuel way to clean up things...

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 something called biochar - a biomass based brickquette which burns almost as well.
In rural Ireland, they have thousands of customers using solid fuels who have no other option and cannot afford to replace their burners with solar panels or heat pumps. But Robert is leading work to try and offer a cleaner fuel with a much lower carbon footprint and fewer emissions.
So is this a waste of energy and resources as we all know we shouldn't be burning stuff? Or is it the right approach to help those who cannot afford to change infrastructure, clean up their emissions?
I admire what they are doing and think it's based on pragmatism and reality, what's your view? Listen in, comment and follow us on social media. And like Robert if you want to feature on the podcast drop me a line.
 

Sky high farming ?

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 environment there is no need for fertilisers or pesticides and they can be grown all year round.
In this episode I spoke to Jack Farmer from LettUs Grow, who have been using aeroponic (soil free) warehouses to grow crops with on average a 70% increase in yield.
He explained how vertical farming could help developed nations reduce emissions from agriculture and if some of this science can be used in hotter more arid environments.
Listen in an subscribe and don’t forget to share on social media.

Cooking without the chops!

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 consumption due to the amount of emissions associated with the sector, from cow burps, pig poop, water, land use, let alone slaughtering and packaging.
Then of course there is the moral argument. Suffering and welfare and of course the environmental effects, have seen vegetarian and vegan options become commonplace on menus.
But is there something that could satisfy our desire for meat but cause less emissions and suffering? That's the topic I discuss with Che Connon, an academic and managing director of BSF Enterprise. They have created lab grown pork from cells, with the same taste and texture and properties of real meat.
They are also experimenting on tissue engineering to create a lab grown leather and other bio products, with the aim of reducing the emissions and suffering of animals.
I really enjoyed this chat, let me know what you think and do subscribe and share the podcast.
 

How green is green energy?

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.

Bring back the mammoth for a net zero future?!

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 first Woolly Mammoth since the Ice Age, as co-founder Ben Lamm explained, as he believes the giant elephants reintroduced to the arctic could help stablise the climate.
Sounds like something right out of a sci-fi novel or movie but they are doing the science and believe the first mammoth calf could be born within the next two years.
So is this a vanity science project or real conservation work to help combat our effects on the environment. Listen in and make up your mind, don't forget to subscribe!

Will your net zero home be made of mushrooms?

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 to recycle plastics or other toxic materials.
 
In fact, their abilities are unknown but Ehab Sayed, founder of a company called BIOHM, thinks they are our greatest natural allies in the fight against climate change.
 
Listen to our chat, where Ehab outlines the possible uses of fungi, from making sustainable leather to cleaning up our oceans, let alone changing the face of construction.
 
Let me know your thoughts and do subscribe to the podcast and our net hero newsletter.

the PC that goes on and on!

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 built a pc you can update as time goes on and replace things like keyboards or screens, the premise being the more we can service ourselves, the less e-waste as computers can go on much longer.
 
Sounds like a dream for computer nerds! But will it work for people like me who just about can turn a computer on? Listen to our podcast and see if this really is way to cut the amount of waste and reduce emissions as Nirav believes it could work for lots more electronic products…
 
Please subscribe to the newsletter and the podcast. Also let me know if you have a story to tell, just email nethero@futurenetzero.com

Plastic that’s coming around again!

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 keys of my keyboard? Let me know how you’d get by without it? You can’t. From cars, to phones, to toys, to TVs. Medical equipment to windows. Plastic is vital.
 
The issue isn’t that all plastic is bad, the issue is a lot of it is very difficult to recycle and often there is no economic case to do so, until now.
 
This week I spoke to Adela Putinelu from Plastic Energy, a company that has found a way to do both things. They can take things like plastic film or the shiny foil plastic that your crisps come in and turn that back into the base chemicals that make plastic. This then goes back to the manufacturers or the petrochemical sector, negating the need to use fresh sources of oil to make plastics.
 
So, plastic gets recycled all the way back to its component material and we save on new emissions as there’s no need to dig up more fossil fuels for the feedstock.
 
I loved it! Listen in for the full story and remember to subscribe to our net hero newsletter and follow us on social media.
 
If you have a tale to tell contact us on nethero@futurenetzero.com.

Energy Saving the easiest shortcut to net zero?

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.

Heat pumps: facts v fiction

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 right, eg a new build development. I have been less convinced if they can be a retrofit option for our buildings especially in terraced housing or compact commercial properties.
So this week Alistair Murray from Rendesco talks me through what they are, how they work and if they really are marmite or not! We discuss their use, cost and deployment and the truth behind some of the headlines, good or bad.