Net Hero Podcast – With Sumit Bose

“We are seeing less of an uptake of green energy from businesses”

We Spoke to Oliver Kruc, Sales Channel Manager at British Gas Business about the cost of the pandemic on net zero 
The energy crisis is preventing businesses from going green. 
This is what Oliver Kruc, Sales Channel Manager at British Gas told us.  
He said: ‘When their energy bills go from one year to the next – doubling, tripling, quadrupling in some cases. All of a sudden, the presence and pressure of incorporating sustainability becomes a bit more challenging when your costs increase by that much overnight. 
‘Across the board, we are seeing less of an uptake of green energy products from businesses purely because cost is still largely above what it has been pre-pandemic or even pre-energy crisis a couple of years ago.’ 
Oliver told us that recent legislation pushing net zero further into the future shows that the government is mindful of the costs that businesses have to bear. 
He said: ‘I think that what it does do is show that the government is starting to recognise that some of these costs aren’t really affordable today for lots of businesses. 
‘None of these [sustainable technologies] are cheap for people to invest in and install and it gives the community a little bit more breathing space to think. Hopefully, we’ve got more time for some of these technologies to reduce in cost, to become cheaper.’ 
But businesses are being pushed by stakeholders to think more about sustainability. 
Oliver said: ‘Over the summer, we surveyed 300 business leaders and one-third of them told us that they’re under increasing pressure to take environmental action from stakeholders.  
‘We’re starting to see customers inquire more about sustainability.  
‘And businesses are starting to recognise their customers are now expecting or requiring their supply chain to be operating with a certain level of sustainability consciousness.  
‘So the ability of a business to deliver their sustainability goals has a direct impact on their profitability.’ 

Light up your life the lighter way!

It’s the most abundant element in the universe, lighter than air and firey too! But is Hydrogen really going to play a big role in our net zero future?
Whenever the topic of Hydrogen pops up there’s lots of furore, its detractors say it’s too expensive to make, unsustainable, impractical and limited. Its champions say Hydrogen can give us a ready made substitute for natural gas and is the key to an equitable transition.
So what’s the truth? I discuss that this week, with Danielle Stewart who works for National Gas and is heading up a pilot scheme looking at the large scale deployment and transportation of H2 around the country. We delve into the myths around its safety, its green credentials and the practicalities of what it will mean to you the consumer.
Agree or disagree, get listening and remember to drop us a line on social media with your comments. If you want to be featured on the net hero podcast, get in touch and please subscribe to our youtube and podcast channels.
 

“Climate change isn’t stopping and it isn’t going to wait”

We’re not moving fast enough to combat climate change.
This is what Laura Plimbey, head of partnerships and propositions for British Gas Business, told us.
But businesses are making changes. Laura told us that ‘20% of businesses have switched to renewable energy contracts and a further 68% say that they plan to switch in the near future, which is promising.’
She added: ‘We’ve seen that 73% of businesses are planning to invest in their CO2 monitoring and reporting.’
She noted that businesses can use simple techniques to reach net zero.
‘To get to net zero, there’s two things. One is your monitoring and reporting, understanding where you use energy, where you waste it.
‘Are your appliances running efficiently? Are they old? Is any equipment needing a service? Have your windows got all the seals?
‘All the basics, all the things that you can tick off to say I'm not using any energy above what I need to run my business?
‘And when you've got a handle on that, so the energy you are being supplied, that you are paying for and you are using is what you absolutely need.
‘The second part then is to have that supplied by a zero carbon or better still, renewable supply. And that makes you net zero because you're using only what you need and what you need is being supplied from a non CO2 admitting source.’
Laura noted that business can focus on cutting emissions if they cannot afford to switch to renewable energy.
She said: ‘There is [something you can do] – your CO2 monitoring, your reporting, understanding your business usage, understanding how your colleagues and the people you employ are using energy within your business and creating that energy culture, to basically change everyone’s attitude and understanding and not just pinning it all on the supply type.’
Listen to the full podcast to know more about how British Gas Business can help businesses reach net zero.

Houses that tell you how to save energy

You wake up one winter's day and your house tells you to install insulation, pop a solar panel on the roof and points out the best place to stick a heat pump!
Aaagh an AI house! Well not yet but a new start up is looking at building something along these lines.
SuSy.house is an app that's going to let homeowners find out just what they can do to cut emissions for their home, by explaining the potential for solar, heatpumps and other energy saving technologies.
I spoke to Bryan Charter, one of the founders, about how it works and the way this might help homeowners and landlords find a bespoke solution for energy saving measures. Will it be a gamechanger? Will it encourage us to think about our places differently? Listen in and find out more.

Is Wall-E about to clean up?

A little robot gets a personality, falls in love and saves the polluted world by repopulating plant life, cheered on by obese human blobs.
If you've never seen it do so, Wall-E is a pixar classic and a film I have loved watching with my kids (and without them) again and again. The premise is clear we need robots to show us the folly of treating the planet as a waste bin. Great fiction or is it?
This week on the net hero podcast I spoke to Carling Spelhaug from AMP Robotics. They are using AI powered droids to improve the efficiency of recycling centres by teaching robot grabbers how to collect a range of reusable products. It's a way of working faster and more accurately, so is their robot Wall-E's grandad and the start of what's to come to help clean up our world?
Listen in or watch on our youtube channel and please follow the net hero podcast on social media.

District heating much more than hot air?

Hot air! As we get towards autumn we need lots of it to keep our homes and workplaces warm. But could the real gamechanger be under our feet?
District Heating is a concept that goes back to the Romans and ancient Chinese, yet its main use has been the last century or so in America. We’ve all seen movies with steam coming out of street vents, in fact most apartments in US cities use communal heating.
But it’s never really caught on here and even in Europe, it’s confined to the nordics in the main. But now it’s being lauded again as a ‘new way to net zero’, so can it work to help us decarbonise heat? I speak to Rob Thornton who heads up the International District Heating Association, to talk hot air, pipes and community heat.
Listen in or watch the video below and keep subscribing to our channels and follow us on social media. If you want to be featured on the podcast get in touch.

Green business isn’t new!

Sumit Bose speaks with Julia Hailes who advocated working with business for environmental change back in the 80s. 
She co-published the Green Consumer Guide in 1988, which kick started environmental consumerism and she made the bold step to say working with business was important if we are to really protect the planet.
Is Julia happy or disappointed with our progress four decades on? Does environmentalism need government to regulate to kick business into action and did she ever think net zero would become a mainstream issue? We talk through all this and more.
Please remember you can now watch the podcast too and please follow the #netheropodcast on social and subscribe to our channels.

Our girl goes green!

Join us in this special episode as we sit down with our former colleague and eco-warrior, Mahin Khan, for an inspiring conversation about her incredible journey towards a net-zero future in Pakistan! 🇵🇰
Mahin Khan, a true trailblazer, has taken her passion for sustainability to new heights. From our office discussions to founding her own net zero-related company, she's making waves in the environmental sector. Don't miss out on this thought-provoking conversation that will leave you motivated to take action for a sustainable future!
Subscribe to stay updated with our inspiring content. Share this with your friends and family to spread the word about Mahin Khan's incredible work and inspire others to join the net zero movement.
Together, we can make a difference!
📢 Connect with Mahin Khan:
Carbon Wise: https://www.instagram.com/carbonwise.pk/
Mahin Khan: https://www.instagram.com/ecomindedmahin/
#NetZero #Sustainability #Pakistan #Inspiration #Entrepreneurship #EnvironmentalChange #GreenFuture #Podcast #Interview #EcoWarrior

Finally a pint that’s good for the planet!

Beer, ah. Homer Simpson doesn't get much right but when it comes to a nice cold or as we prefer here in the UK, warm, beer, he's spot on.
But did you know your pint isn't as good for the planet as you might think? I was surprised as, after all beer is water and some kind of cereal, with a dash of yeast, all natural stuff, so I didn't consider it's carbon footprint apart from the packaging it comes in.
Well that's all changed after this podcast with Dr Roland Pahl-Dobrick who works for the Pall Corporation and is in charge of brewing, his quest to make the cleanest pint we can. Listen in to find out how.

The truth about emissions?

Now this is a tricky one, ask most people and you think that a diesel car is the most polluting thing on the road. And an EV has no emissions at all.
But is that the whole truth? Nick Molden runs Emissions Analytics an independent testing body, that measures not just tailpipe emissions but all the emissions coming from a car.
That includes the particles from tyres to the embodied carbon needed to make both an ICE car and an EV.
What I discover during our chat really changed my mind about how we see ‘clean transport’ and what we must do to get to the ultimate aim of net zero transport but at an affordable equitable level.
Maybe, the cult of the EV isn’t right and there are other answers too?
What do you think? Do listen in and let me know and let’s try to have a sensible debate, as I fear there are some very stubborn voices out there who  see the EV as the only panacea for clean transport! Keep subscribing!