Cleaning Up. Leadership in an Age of Climate Change
Cleaning Up. Leadership in an Age of Climate Change
Once a week, Michael Liebreich and Baroness Bryony Worthington sit down with a leader in clean energy, mobility, climate finance or sustain…
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Cleaning Up

Once a week, Michael Liebreich and Baroness Bryony Worthington sit down with a leader in clean energy, mobility, climate finance or sustainable development.

These in-depth interviews are illuminating and inspiring, and with a catalogue of more than 170 episodes, there are few better guides to the net-zero transition.

Recent Episodes

Nov. 20, 2024

Is It Ever OK to Promote Fossil Fuels? Ep186: Rory Sutherland

How can behavioural science and psychology be leveraged to drive meaningful change around climate action? What unintended consequences might arise from heavy-handed government mandates versus more subtle interventions? And i…
Nov. 13, 2024

Is Trump's Victory A Win For China? Ep185: Professor Qi Ye

Is China's lead in clean technologies insurmountable? How will the Trump presidency shape relations with China? And when will China's emissions peak? Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, has said that 'almos…
Nov. 11, 2024

How Trump & Musk Will Reshape US Climate Action — Michael Liebreich & Bryony Worthington

How will the Trump administration's policies impact the clean energy transition in the United States? What will be Elon Musk's role in shaping climate policy? And what are the geopolitical implications of the US withdrawing …
Nov. 6, 2024

The Biggest, Dirtiest Secret of the Energy Industry — Ep184: Jonathan Maxwell

Could we save billions by simply reducing energy waste? How can we power the vast, energy-hungry growth of AI without sacrificing climate goals? And is Europe doomed to high energy costs and deindustrialisation? This week on…
Oct. 30, 2024

Who Will Be the Tesla of the Waves? Ep183: Ben Sorkin

How difficult is it to power a boat just with electricity? Is an electric outboard as reliable as a fossil-fuel one when taken out to sea? And just how much better is an electric engine for reducing pollution and noise? Arou…
Oct. 23, 2024

Is There Really an EV Slowdown? Ep182: Colin McKerracher

Is the shift to electric vehicles really slowing down? Are people losing interest in EVs, or is there more to the story? How will changes in the global automotive industry impact the net-zero transition? And If no one wants …
Oct. 16, 2024

Can Half a Trillion Dollars Help the US Catch China? Ep181: Ethan Zindler

China has taken a commanding lead in manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and batteries, and is central to the green energy transition. Now, the US is hoping to catch up, and has spent almost $500 bil…
Oct. 9, 2024

What Have the Oceans Ever Done For Us? Ep180: Helen Czerski

Ocean's absorb one third of the CO2 we are recklessly pumping into the atmosphere, as well as 90% of the heat. What would happen if that were to stop? The oceans define every aspect of our planet's physical systems, its ecos…
Oct. 2, 2024

Geothermal is Having a Moment, Can it Deliver? Ep179: Cindy Taff

Is the key to clean energy the heat beneath our feet? Could advances in the fossil-fuel extraction industry hold the key to providing 24/7 clean power? And can a Texan CEO and former oil exec bring geothermal to the masses? …
Sept. 25, 2024

Slowdown, what Slowdown? The EV Revolution is Just Getting Started | Ep178: Dr Andy Palmer

What will it take for electric vehicles to truly dominate the transportation landscape? Can traditional automakers adapt quickly enough to the EV revolution, or will new players seize the opportunity? And how close are we to…
Sept. 18, 2024

Is it Time for Climate Interventions? | Ep177: Kelly Wanser

As climate impacts mount, pressure is building on policymakers to find ways to alleviate the crisis. One controversial option being explored is geoengineering - direct human interventions to cool the planet. But can we safel…
Sept. 11, 2024

The Great Hydrogen Reset — Is It Germany's Turn? Ep176: Eva Schmid

Germany is one of the most bullish countries in the world on clean/green hydrogen. The home of the Energiewende is not just one of the most committed countries in the world to reaching net zero, it is of course a highly indu…
Sept. 4, 2024

⁠The Kraken Wakes: Creating the Utility of the Future | Ep175: Greg Jackson

How does a startup become the largest provider of electricity in the UK in less than a decade? What is locational pricing and how could it encourage more renewables? And is it possible to achieve a zero-carbon electricity sy…
Aug. 7, 2024

The Future of Chinese Solar, Battery Myths & Climate Politics | Ep174: Michael Liebreich & Bryony Worthington

In the final episode of Season 12, hosts Michael Liebreich and Bryony Worthington reflect on the key conversations and developments in the net-zero transition over the past three months.
July 31, 2024

The Solar Revolution - Past, Present and Future | Ep173: Jenny Chase

The solar industry has experienced a meteoric rise over the past two decades, growing from a small cottage industry to one of the leading technologies in the energy transition. It’s not been a smooth ride, and there’ve been …
July 24, 2024

'This Is A Narrative War' - How To Win The Climate Argument | Ep172: John Marshall

Who are the merchants of doubt and how can their narrative be countered? How much money does it cost to get someone to take action on climate change? This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington is joined by John Marshall, t…
July 17, 2024

The Climate Challenge is an Engineering Challenge - Ep171: Dr. Rosemary Barnes

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich sits down with mechanical engineer and YouTube creator Dr Rosemary "Rosie" Barnes to discuss the critical role of engineering in addressing climate change. Rosie shares insights fr…
July 10, 2024

⁠Is the Electric Vehicle Revolution Unstoppable? ep170: Ben Nelmes

Electric vehicles are finally becoming more mainstream, but this hasn’t stopped a flood of negative stories and political attempts to scare people away from making the switch to better, more cost efficient vehicles. So is th…
July 3, 2024

Sunak vs Starmer: What the UK Election Means for Climate and Energy - Ep169: Dr Simon Evans

With the UK general election tomorrow, the Cleaning Up team sits down with Dr Simon Evans of Carbon Brief to run through each party's manifesto, and what they say about UK climate and energy policy. With Labour widely predic…
June 26, 2024

Hot Rocks in a Box: The Rise of Thermal Batteries - ep168: Anand Gopal

As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, one of the biggest challenges is decarbonizing industrial processes that require consistent, reliable sources of energy to produce high-temperatures. Typically these processes…
June 19, 2024

Texas Hold'em: Playing Poker With Methane - Ep167: Grant Swartzwelder

Depending on who you ask, methane is either a useful transition fuel to a low-carbon future, or a super polluter. The science of methane says that for natural gas to have a lower climate footprint than other fossil fuels, pa…
June 12, 2024

Fake Meat, What’s The Beef? Ep166: Bruce Friedrich

Has science cracked the code on mass producing realistic meat substitutes? Or are lab-gown alternative proteins an impossible dream? In this week's episode of Cleaning Up, Baroness Bryony Worthington sits down with president…
June 5, 2024

Battery Recycling Is Here - But Where Are The Batteries? - Ep165: Hans Eric Melin

As everyone knows, battery prices are plummeting and manufacturing volumes are soaring, whether for EVs or for grid-connected storage. And everyone knows there's a problem: only 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled. The …
May 29, 2024

#LightsOn - Live from the Eurelectric Power Summit 2024 in Athens - Ep164: Leonhard Birnbaum

Last week the leading lights of Europe's electricity industry gathered for the annual Eurelectric Power Summit at the Lagonissi Beach Resort just outside Athens. The conference - under the hashtag this year of #lights on - l…
May 22, 2024

Can Nuclear Repower China's Coal Fleet? - Ep163: Staffan Qvist & Dr. Yaoli Zhang

China's policies that direct capital towards cleaner industries have been game changing, and this week we're continuing the China theme, sharing two conversations Bryony had earlier this month at a conference at Xiamen Unive…
May 15, 2024

Audioblog 13: Clean Hydrogen's Missing Trillions

In this week's episode of Cleaning Up, we find how much and how much more governments would have to spend for hydrogen to live up to its hype. This audio blog is adapted from a piece Michael wrote at the end of last year for…
May 8, 2024

Australia's Political Trim Tab - Ep162: Simon Holmes à Court

Up this week is Simon Holmes à Court, the Australian investor and philanthropist with a passion for using data to change the world. In 2022, the federal elections in Australia delivered an upset, as around a third of the…
May 1, 2024

How to Model Climate Solutions - Ep161: Lily Cole

How can we build a more united climate movement? What should be the role of geoengineering? And how can indigenous voices be brought into the climate conversation? Bryony puts these questions to model, actor, director, ambas…
April 24, 2024

How China Became a Green Finance Superpower - Ep160: Dr. Ma Jun

Welcome to Season 12 of Cleaning Up! If you want a sense of the trajectory of climate action, you have to understand China, and you have to understand finance. There is no one better to share insights on both than Dr Ma Jun,…
April 3, 2024

Rounding Up Season 11 - Ep159: Michael Liebreich & Bryony Worthington

Bryony and Michael round up the eleventh season of Cleaning Up this week. They explore the themes running through the episodes, from theories of change to innovation, and discuss the things that surprised them, the moments t…
March 27, 2024

Absolutely Electrifying - Ep158: Saul Griffith

Michael chats with Saul Griffith, Australian-born engineer, inventor, advisor, author and 2007 MacArthur "Genius". He specialises in clean and renewable energy technologies, and has founded a dozen technology companies acros…
March 20, 2024

The Methane Hunters - Ep157: Dr. Sebastien Biraud & Sharon Wilson

Bryony speaks to two fascinating guests, both specialising in methane emissions, their causes and impacts: Dr. Sebastien Biraud and Sharon Wilson. Dr. Biraud is a biogeochemist, leading the Climate Sciences Department. Se…
March 13, 2024

Audioblog 12: The Five Superheroes of the Transition

This week, Michael presents the second part of his two-parter for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, exploring the bear and bull cases for the net zero transition. This week is the bull case: the "5 superheroes" of the transition…
March 6, 2024

Audioblog 11: The Five Horsemen of the Transition

Michael is solo this week on Cleaning Up, outlining the "5 horsemen" of the net-zero transition - the five greatest obstacles to the net zero transition. These 5 horsemen are: the economics of energy solutions, the electrica…
Feb. 28, 2024

A Magnificent Woman And Her Flying Machines - Ep156: Bonny Simi

Bryony returns with Bonny Simi, President of Operations at Joby Aviation, where she's working on bringing to market a new civilian electric VTOL (eVTOL) aircraft. Prior to joining the team at Joby, Bonny held several operati…
Feb. 21, 2024

Extreme Electrochemistry for a Sustainable Future - Ep155: Prof Donald Sadoway

Michael returns to talk with legendary educator and inventor, Donald Sadoway, Professor Emeritus of Materials Chemistry at MIT. After earning his PhD in chemical metallurgy in 1977 at the University of Toronto, he joined the…
Feb. 14, 2024

Green Heat (And Cooling) Under Our Feet - Ep154: Tamsin Lishman

Tamsin Lishman joins Bryony this week to talk heat pumps. Tamsin is CEO of Kensa Group, a Cornwall-based manufacturer and installer of ground source heat pumps. Kensa is the UK's only manufacturer of ground source heat pumps…
Feb. 7, 2024

Shedding Light on Energy's Dirty Secrets - Ep153: Lauri Myllyvirta

Michael sits down this week with Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder and lead analyst at CREA - the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. After working as a campaigner and then as an analyst at Greenpeace, Lauri helped set u…
Jan. 31, 2024

Can We Have a Habitable Planet? - Ep152: David Wallace-Wells

This week, Bryony is back, this time to talk to David Wallace-Wells. David is an American journalist and author who often writes about climate change. His 2017 article "The Uninhabitable Earth" for New York Magazine was the …
Jan. 24, 2024

Redesigning Mining - Ep151: Mark Cutifani

This week, Michael's guest is Mark Cutifani, chairman of Vale Base Metals and formerly CEO of South African gold mining company, Ashanti, and British mining company, Anglo American. He was born and grew up in Wollongong,…
Jan. 17, 2024

Selling Sustainability - Ep150: Solitaire Townsend

Bryony returns in Season 11 this week, sitting down with her longtime friend Solitaire Townsend. Solitaire is Co-founder & Chief Solutionist at Futerra, and Trustee of the Solutions Union. She is a renowned sustainability ex…
Jan. 10, 2024

Material World - Ep149: Ed Conway

Kicking-off 2024 and Season 11 is Ed Conway. Ed is the Economics editor at Sky News, covering major UK and international economics, business and political stories. He is also economics columnist for The Times, and has been o…
Dec. 20, 2023

The Second Coming of the Lord Turner - Ep148: Lord Adair Turner

For a second consecutive year-closer, Michael welcomes Lord Adair Turner of Ecchinswell back to Cleaning Up. Lord Turner has combined careers in business, public policy and academia. He chairs the Energy Transitions Commissi…
Dec. 13, 2023

Not the End of the World - Ep147: Dr Hannah Ritchie

Dr Hannah Ritchie is a data scientist and science communicator. Her focus is on the largest problems that shape our world, and how to solve them. Most of her work focuses on environmental sustainability, including climate ch…
Dec. 6, 2023

Tackling Super Pollutants - Ep146: Jason Anderson

This week, Bryony speaks with Jason Anderson, Senior Program Director at ClimateWorks, who oversees the Governance & Diplomacy and Super Pollutant programs. His work spans efforts ranging from implementing the Paris Agreemen…
Nov. 29, 2023

The Bridgetown Initiator - Ep145: Prof Avinash Persaud

Professor Avinash Persaud is special envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley and emeritus professor at Gresham College in the UK. He, along with PM Mottley, helped design the Bridgetown Initiative in 2022 which l…
Nov. 22, 2023

Iron-Air Man - Ep144: Mateo Jaramillo

Mateo Jaramillo is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Form Energy, a company developing, commercializing, and manufacturing breakthrough low-cost, multi-day energy storage solutions that will enable the electric syste…
Nov. 15, 2023

Is Shipping the Easiest "Hard-to-Abate" Sector? - Ep143: Johannah Christensen

This week, Bryony’s guest is Johannah Christensen, CEO of the Global Maritime Forum. The GMF is an international not-for-profit organization, committed to shaping the future of global seaborne trade to increase sustainable l…
Nov. 8, 2023

Metals Refining - From Mining to Brining: Ep 142 - Alex Grant

This week, Michael is back in the host seat to talk to Alex Grant all about the groundbreaking work going on at Magrathea Metals. Alex is co-founder and CEO at Magrathea, developing a new generation of electrolytic technolog…
Oct. 25, 2023

Lifting the Curtain on Climate Change Denial - Ep 141: Prof Naomi Oreskes

This week, Michael has invited his good friend Baroness Bryony Worthington to guest-host Cleaning Up! Bryony was the lead author of the UK’s ground-breaking 2008 Climate Change Act, and is now on sabbatical from her role in …
Oct. 18, 2023

Power of Data, Data of Power - Ep 140: Quentin Draper Scrimshire

This week, Michael’s guest is Quentin Draper-Scrimshire, co-founder and CEO of Modo Energy. Modo, founded in 2019, are accelerating the energy transition by enabling companies to make better, data-backed decisions hyper-focu…
Oct. 4, 2023

The Dane who Harnessed the Wind - Ep139: Henrik Stiesdal

This week, Michael’s guest is Henrik Stiesdal, former CTO of Siemens Gamesa and a pioneer of wind turbine technology. Nicknamed "the godfather of wind power", this Danish inventor is behind many of the sector's most importan…
Sept. 20, 2023

Inside the World's Biggest Investor - Ep138: Carine Smith Ihenacho

This week, Michael’s guest is Carine Smith Ihenacho, Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Group. Norges operate the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, created to ensure responsible and long-t…
Sept. 6, 2023

Bags of Sustainability - Ep137: Anya Hindmarch

Cleaning Up is back for its 10th season, and to start proceedings in style, Michael's first guest is Anya Hindmarch. Anya is one of Britain’s most celebrated fashion designers and a leading voice in the industry on sustainab…
July 26, 2023

From Moore's Law to Moo's Law - Ep136: Jim Mellon

This week's guest on Cleaning Up is entrepreneur, author and philanthropist Jim Mellon. Jim is Executive Director at Agronomics, one of the world’s leading investors in cellular agriculture, or lab-grown meat. Bypassing trad…
July 19, 2023

The Climate Venture Adventure - Ep135: Kim Zou

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Kim Zou, CEO and co-founder of CTVC (Climate Tech VC). Launched in 2020, CTVC is a leading climate innovation resource and newsletter with 50,000 weekly readers, providing data-driv…
July 12, 2023

Zaporizhzhia: Nuclear on the Front Lines - Ep134: Chris Gadomski

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Chris Gadomski, Lead Nuclear Analyst at BloombergNEF and adjunct assistant professor at NYU’s Centre for Global Affairs. Chris joined Michael to discuss the unfolding situation at Zaporizh…
July 5, 2023

The World's Preeminent Energy Economist - Ep133: Fatih Birol

This week’s guest is Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency and one of the world’s foremost energy economists. Fatih has been in-post since 2015, and is a returning guest to Cleaning Up, having ap…
June 28, 2023

Sustainable Street Fighter - Ep132: Jon Burke

This week's guest on Cleaning Up is Jon Burke. For six years, Jon was Councillor for the London Borough of Hackney, ending up as Cabinet Member for Energy, Sustainability, Transport and Public Realm. In the role, he oversaw …
June 21, 2023

Canada's Controversial Queen of Green - Ep131: Tzeporah Berman

This week's guest on Cleaning Up is Tzeporah Berman. Tzeporah has been leading environmental campaigns in her native Canada and beyond for over thirty years. Today, she is Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a…
June 14, 2023

The Usain Bolt of Solar Power - Ep130: Paddy Padmanathan

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Paddy Padmanathan, the person who may have done more than any other to usher in the age of low-cost renewables. As CEO of ACWA Power, Paddy was instrumental in reducing the cost of clean e…
May 31, 2023

Cleaning Up vs Still TBD - Ep129: Matt Ferrell

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Matt Ferrell. Matt is host of the hugely popular Undecided YouTube channel and the podcast Still to be Determined, both of which explore the impact of smart and sustainable technologies on…
May 24, 2023

How Big Things (Should) Get Done - Ep128: Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Bent Flyvbjerg. Bent is Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford and is the most cited scholar in the world on the subject of megaprojects. Bent’s latest book, released this year, is…
May 17, 2023

The Clean Tech Network Effect - Ep127: Emily Kirsch

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Emily Kirsch, Founder and CEO of Powerhouse and Managing Partner of Powerhouse Ventures. Powerhouse, based out of Oakland, California, is an innovation firm that pairs startups in clean en…
May 10, 2023

Ep126: Marco Alverà "Subsidies Everywhere All at Once"

Today’s guest on Cleaning Up is Marco Alverà, CEO of TES. TES are hoping to accelerate the clean energy transition by supplying green hydrogen at scale to clients in the mobility, industry and power sectors. TES’ first major…
May 3, 2023

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 10: The Next Half-Trillion-Dollar Market – Electrification of Heat

This week's episode is a recording of Michael's latest blog post for BloombergNEF: The Next Half-Trillion-Dollar Market – Electrification of Heat Our thanks to BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it and share it with o…
April 26, 2023

Ep125: Kirsty Gogan "Annual Update: All Things Nuclear"

This time on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Kirsty Gogan back to the show to update us on developments across the world of nuclear energy. Kirsty is co-CEO and founder of TerraPraxis, an NGO and climate solution accelerator, …
April 19, 2023

Ep124: Damilola Ogunbiyi "Annual Update: Sustainable Energy for All"

Today’s guest on Cleaning Up is Damilola Ogunbiyi. Damilola is CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, the UN partner organization dedicated to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sus…
April 12, 2023

Ep123: H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco "The Prince and the Planet"

Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change has the great privilege of welcoming H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco to launch our ninth season. For our 123rd episode, Michael and Prince Albert have a wide-ranging a…
March 22, 2023

Ep122: Sir Chris Llewellyn-Smith "Solving for Storage"

This time on Cleaning Up, Michael hosts Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, one of the UK's greatest living physicists, for a fascinating and detailed dive into the UK's energy storage requirements as it moves towards a ful…
March 15, 2023

Ep121: Prof. Rob Miller "Jet-Zero Hero"

Michael’s guest for Episode 121 of Cleaning Up is Rob Miller, Professor of Aerothermal Engineering at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Whittle Laboratory. The Whittle Laboratory is conducting world-leading res…
March 8, 2023

Ep120: Ana Hajduka "Enabling Africa's Green Energy Revolution"

Today on Cleaning Up, Michael's guest is CEO and Founder of Africa GreenCo, Ana Hajduka. Africa GreenCo are a trading operation and guarantee scheme for power producers in Sub-Saharan Africa to enable and sustain renewable e…
March 1, 2023

Ep 119: Dr Aneeqa Khan "Fusion Energy: The Materials Challenge"

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Dr Aneeqa Khan, Manchester-ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Research Fellow in Nuclear Fusion. Aneeqa had insights to offer on the significance of the recent fusion breakthrough at …
Feb. 22, 2023

Ep118: Achim Steiner "Sustaining Development"

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomed Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and co-chair of UN Energy. Michael had questions for Achim on UNDP’s roster of initiatives, balancing climat…
Feb. 15, 2023

Ep117: Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany "From Oil to Clean Energy - Bridging the Gulf"

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, UAE’s Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), for a wide-ranging discussion on IRENA’s work promoting an equitable transi…
Feb. 8, 2023

Ep116: Tom Samson "Small Modular Reactors: Nuclear's Next Act?"

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Tom Samson, CEO of Rolls-Royce SMR. Rolls-Royce SMR are among a raft of new companies innovating in the field of Small Modular Reactors, hoping to provide nuclear energy in smaller,…
Feb. 1, 2023

Ep115: Jorgo Chatzimarkakis "Europe's Hydrogen Pusher"

This week, Michael invites Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, to debate the importance of hydrogen in powering Europe and the world towards a decarbonized economy. Hydrogen Europe is an industry association of m…
Jan. 25, 2023

Ep114: James DeMuth "Disrupting Manufacturing with Laser Printing"

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael is joined by James DeMuth. James is co-founder and CEO of Seurat Technologies, a specialist in 3D metal printing, or Additive Manufacturing. With their own licensed laser technology, their a…
Jan. 18, 2023

Ep113 Jonathan Maxwell 'Checkpoint 2023: Energy Efficiency Investment'

This week’s episode of Cleaning Up sees the return of Jonathan Maxwell, Founder and CEO of Sustainable Development Capital Limited (SDCL), one of the world’s biggest investors in energy efficiency. Jonathan is back for t…
Jan. 11, 2023

Ep112: Bob Litterman 'Climate Risk, Financial Returns'

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael hosts Bob Litterman, founding partner at Kepos Capital and Chairman of the Kepos Capital Risk Committee. Litterman spent 23 years at Goldman Sachs, during which time he became a partner and …
Jan. 4, 2023

Ep111: Daniel Yergin "The World's Most Influential Energy Analyst"

Cleaning Up begins the new year and its eighth season in conversation with Daniel Yergin. Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and one of the world’s leading authorities on energy. A…
Dec. 30, 2022

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 9: "It's a New Year - Time to Face Reality"

This week, it's a special, bonus episode of Cleaning Up. Michael has some essential messages to keep in mind at the dawn of the new year: 1. Climate action is neither doomed nor a sure thing. 2. People who disagree with …
Dec. 21, 2022

Ep110: Adair Turner "Lord of the Net Zero Transition"

Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell, is Chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, a global coalition of major companies, investors and experts identifying pathways to limit global warming to well below 2˚C. From 2…
Dec. 14, 2022

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 8: "The Unbearable Lightness of Hydrogen"

This week's episode is a recording of Michael's latest blog post for BloombergNEF: CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL POST Our thanks to BloombergNEF for allowing us to record and share it with our Cleaning Up audience.
Dec. 7, 2022

Ep109: Ion Yadigaroglu and Dipender Saluja 'Technology Investment and the US Inflation Reduction Act'

Dipender Saluja and Ion Yadigaroglu are Partners at Capricorn Investment Group. Capricorn is a sustainable investment group, one of the largest mission-aligned investment firms in the world, and our sponsor on Cleaning Up. …
Nov. 30, 2022

Ep108: Meredith Adler "The Power Generation"

Meredith Adler is Executive Director of Student Energy, a global youth-led organization empowering young people to accelerate the sustainable energy transition. Adler has served as Executive Director of Student Energy si…
Nov. 23, 2022

Ep107: Prof. David Cebon "Thinking in Systems"

David Cebon is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, and a founding member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition. Prof. Cebon leads Cambridge Uni…
Nov. 16, 2022

Ep106: László Varró "Managing Uncertainty: The Scenario Shell Game"

László Varró is Vice-President, Global Business Environment at Shell, where he leads their Scenarios Team, and was formerly Chief Economist at the International Energy Agency. Varró joined Shell in 2021, after ten years a…
Nov. 9, 2022

Ep105: Nobuo Tanaka "The Race for Clean Energy Dominance"

Nobuo Tanaka is one of the world’s foremost experts on energy, technology and trade policy. He’s had a near 50-year career in energy, including four years as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency between 2007…
Oct. 26, 2022

Ep104: Yanis Varoufakis "Power, Markets & Power Markets"

Yanis Varoufakis is an academic economist and politician. He’s a member of Greek Parliament, Founder and Secretary-General of MeRA25, a left-wing political party, and famously served as Minister for Finance in Greece in 201…
Oct. 19, 2022

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 7: After Ukraine - The Great Clean Energy Acceleration

This week's episode is a recording of Michael's latest blog post for BloombergNEF: https://about.bnef.com/blog/after-ukraine-the-great-clean-energy-acceleration/ Our thanks to BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it and sh…
Oct. 12, 2022

Ep103: Dr. Silvia Madeddu "Industrial Heat is Electrifying!"

Dr Silvia Madeddu is a scientist and expert in decarbonisation strategies for energy-intensive industries. Dr Madeddu has a particular area of expertise in industrial heat, and is at the cutting edge of research hoping to tr…
Oct. 5, 2022

Ep102: Prof. Chris Rapley "Climate Science, Caveman Brain"

Professor Chris Rapley CBE is Professor of Climate Science at University College London’s Department of Earth Sciences. He served previously as Director of the British Antarctic Survey and of the Science Museum, and is a pas…
Sept. 28, 2022

Ep101: Jonathon Porritt "Britain's Green Grandee"

Jonathon Porritt has been on the front line of environmental campaigning for more than 45 years. He has worked tirelessly to promote the solutions to today’s converging environmental crises – including as Director of Friends…
Sept. 21, 2022

Ep100: Dr Jennifer Holmgren "Brewing up a clean fuel miracle"

Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is CEO of carbon recycling company, LanzaTech. Prior to joining LanzaTech, Dr. Holmgren was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. …
Sept. 14, 2022

Ep99: Dev Sanyal "In the Engine Room of the Transition"

Dev Sanyal is Chief Executive Officer of VARO Energy Group AG, based in Zug, Switzerland. He was appointed to this role effective 1 January 2022. Prior to this, Dev had a 32-year career with BP plc including over a decad…
Sept. 7, 2022

Ep98: Bill McKibben "Writer, Activist & Constructive Disruptor"

Bill McKibben is founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, a…
July 27, 2022

Ep97: Julio Friedmann "The Carbon Wrangler"

Dr. Julio Friedmann is Chief Scientist and Chief Carbon Wrangler at Carbon Direct. He recently served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fossil Energy at the Department of Energy where he was respo…
July 20, 2022

Ep96: Aksel Lund Svindal "From Skier to Investor - Prepared for Impact"

Aksel is one of the most successful alpine skiers in history – winning 2 Olympic golds, 5 World Championships, 36 World Cup races and two overall World Cup titles. He began his career as a serial entrepreneur and investor wh…
July 13, 2022

Ep95: Mindy Lubber "The Voice of Sustainable Capitalism"

Mindy Lubber is the CEO and President of the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres. She leads an all-women executive leadership team and more than 160 employees working to mobilize the most influential investors and co…