Net Hero Podcast – With Sumit Bose

End of the office AC wars?

Energy efficiency shouldn't cost you thousands in retrofits, said Tom Ascough, Managing Director of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) company, Symphony Energy.
In this week's Episode of the Net Hero Podcast, Tom told us: 'There is a significant performance gap in HVAC. Practically every building suffers from it, where you think you're going to get a lot better energy performance based on design and you don't.
'We need to match theoretical energy efficiency to actual efficiency.'
Tom told us that the challenge of decarbonising heating and cooling is massive.
He said: 'The challenge with cooling is that as you tackle heat, you actually worsen the cooling challenge because your buildings are better insulated and retain heat.
'In terms of global statistics, buildings account for 40 percent of total global emissions, 27 percent is just the operation of buildings and half of that is just HVAC.'
Symphony Energy helps buildings improve on their existing HVAC infrastructure without excessive costs.
He said: 'One of our technologies dubbed performance algorithms takes your existing HVAC infrastructure and forensically examines it and identifies the environmental signature of the building.
'Demand for heating and ventilation changes every day in every part of a building and we identify that pattern. And then we look to match that pattern with output, put those together and automate them.
'In terms of the retrofitting – two of our technologies, including the performance algorithms, doesn't change anything physically in the buildings, just the programming. And the last of our technologies is a small device that needs to be retrofitted but it is just tiny stuff.
‘So it costs very little and doesn’t cause much of a disturbance.’
Symphony Energy’s technologies can significantly increase energy efficiency.
'With the combination of our technologies, we can typically reduce energy consumption in a building by 60-80 percent.
'We had a client who wanted to test us and they gave us one of their best performing buildings, in the top 5 percent, to improve.
'Initially we thought, what can we really do? But when we deployed our three technologies, we ended up reducing the HVAC electricity by 75 percent and the HVAC gas by 76 percent. We brought that energy use intensity of that building from 121 down to 44.'
Watch the full episode below and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.

Greener shipping, cleaner goods

In this week’s Net Hero Podcast, Sumit spoke to Roger Holm, Executive Vice President at marine solutions company, Wärtsilä on how they’re trying to clean up the world’s shipping lanes
We need to future-proof the shipping industry, said Roger Holm President Marine & Executive Vice President of Wärtsilä.
Speaking on the podcast, he said: ‘Global trade is dominated by shipping.
‘More that 80 percent of global trade is handled through ships. We have around 100,000 ships around the world that transport everything from cargo to passenger travel.
‘So it really is the lifeline of global trade and it impacts all businesses around the world.
‘But this also makes it one of hardest industries to decarbonise. The reason why you can’t electrify shipping like you can do with so many other industries, is because of the weight of the batteries and the space you would need.’
The shipping industry is concerned about its footprint and The International Maritime Organization (IMO) decided last July to commit the global shipping sector to net zero by 2050.
‘We currently use both diesel and liquified natural gas (LNG). LNG is gaining a lot of traction and it can help us decarbonise.
‘Recently, we have also gone from a single-fuel environment to a multi-fuel environment. Green methanol, for example, which is a carbon neutral fuel has been taken up quite a lot in the last year.
‘The engine technology that we use is actually very good because it gives us flexibility. You can invest in a ship now that runs on LNG today and then when green fuels become widely available, you can convert the engine to run on green methanol or green ammonia, for example.
‘So it gives you the flexibility to change the ship during the lifetime of the vessel, which is necessary for us to get to net zero by 2050.’
Watch the full episode below and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
 

Construction with less Carbon?

Globally the construction industry, the built environment if you like, is responsible for 1% of global emissions, that sounds small but it's actually huge. That's just what it takes to build something, let's not forget all the embodied carbon it takes to make a concrete slab, a steel bar or clay brick.
So how can we cut down that footprint?
In this episode I chat to Mats Skoldberg, Head of Technology from Volvo Construction Equipment, they make a huge chunk of all the diggers and excavators, lorries and dump trucks used around the world.

Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement: Set to revolutionise electricity and accelerate the pathway to net zero

In recent years, Great Britain has felt the impact of the unpredictable and at times, volatile energy market. As a response, the government has introduced various policies and strategies to enhance energy security while progressing towards achieving net zero by 2050.Kunal Sofat, Head of Programme Delivery here at TotalEnergies, explores MHHS, why it's been introduced and how these changes are set to impact consumers and what role there is to play in achieving net zero.

Put away your ideological prejudices!

Put your prejudices away and help a common goal.
That's the advice from Bob Ward, Policy Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. He was my guest this week as we worked through the challenges facing the new Labour government.
 
 

My take on Labour in power

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.

Big Zero Briefing: Emissions are admissions

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 large and vital organisation and how to balance what is needed by frontline medicine. Despite what you may think, medical staff who are obviously busy saving lives are also very conscious of the environment says Wendy, so how do you get the balance right?
Find out next week, grab the last few tickets remaining here.

‘Businesses want certainty from their energy providers’

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.

Big Zero Show Briefing: Start somewhere!

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 has worked in the NHS and now in hospitality, where there are huge challenges and also expectations from their consumers be that patients, or tourists.
He told me how he is trying not to punish his suppliers, rather encourage them to join the Celtic Manor pathway to net zero. We also discuss how to cut back without costing the earth for your organisation.
When I ask Fitzroy his top tip for those trying to cut emissions, he responds adeptly: "What can you do? Do the best you can!"
Come and hear more from Fitzroy when he speaks at the Big Zero Show on July 2nd.

A look back at the energy industry with Kenny and nick

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 2024, touching on how as a business we managed daily spikes, changing consumer appetite for energy procurement and how we’ve diversified our product offering to strike a balance between risk and budget certainty.
What happened with demand destruction as working from home became the norm, is the market evolving so that automation, better data, and flexible consumption become common place and is Kenny about to be replaced by AI!? Listen to find out…
 
Podcast highlights:
Kenny has been in the energy industry for 20 years! We couldn’t have anticipated or prepared for the shocks of the last few years. The energy crisis took the market by surprise, it’s been a long recovery buts it’s raised the profile of energy.
Nick states customers and suppliers have had to understand what the risks are and how to get through these. We saw markets spike on a daily basis, which created a challenging environment for everyone.
Demand destruction has been significant, and we’ve learnt how to reduce our demand. With a milder winter, we’ve an abundance of storage!
Current landscape has been stable, so some customers have planned ahead and reforecast in line with usage.
Talking to your supplier is more important now than ever. We want to take the time to focus and understand people’s needs, some products are complicated, but we can offer reassurance and guidance.
 
Get in touch:
For further information on anything discussed in the podcast, or if you want to explore our products and get some guidance and support on which one is best for your business, get in touch with our team today.
We’ve a comprehensive product line up to meet your procurement needs and a variety of renewable options to get you stared on the road to net zero.