Episodes
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 fully carbon-free grid. Sir …
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 research in pursuit of making net-zero aviation a …
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 energy investment and development in …
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 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, some of …
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 climate priorities with development goals, and how to …
Ep117: Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany "From Oil to Clean Energy - Bridging the G…
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 transition, the UAE’s emergence as a renewables superpower, and the …
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, more repeatable modules …
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 more than 400 members that promotes the …
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 aim is to decarbonize traditional, …
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 the first in a series of …
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 established himself as …
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. Alongside discussing the latest edition …
Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 9: "It's a New Year - Time to Face Real…
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 …
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 2008-2013, Lord Turner chaired the UK’s Financial …
Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 8: "The Unbearable Lightness of Hydroge…
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.
Ep109: Ion Yadigaroglu and Dipender Saluja 'Technology Investment and…
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. Dipender Saluja is a Partner of Capricorn …
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 since 2015, during which time the organization’s network has expanded …
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 University Engineering Department’s Transport Research Group and …
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 at the International Energy Agency, firstly as …
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 and 2011. Since 2011, …
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 2015. He subsequently wrote a book about …
Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 7: After Ukraine - The Great Clean Ener…
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 sha...
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 transform the energy transition in …
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 passionate and plain-speaking advocate for …