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What if AI’s biggest climate impact isn’t chatbots, but cutting real energy waste in buildings, grids, and factories?

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Philippe Rambach, Chief AI Officer at Schneider Electric, to unpack one of the sharpest tensions in climate tech today: AI is increasing electricity demand, but used well, it may also be one of the tools we need for decarbonisation, emissions reduction, and a faster energy transition.

You’ll hear why Philippe argues that the real opportunity is not in chasing every shiny new model, but in applying AI to physical systems: reducing peak demand, optimising building energy use, supporting grid operators, and helping companies move from pilots to production. We dig into Schneider Electric’s work on using AI to cut energy waste, including the striking claim that in some energy-saving applications, the carbon emitted to run the model can be dwarfed by the energy saved.

We also get into the hard bits people love to ignore because apparently spreadsheets and wishful thinking are still considered strategy in some quarters. Why do so many AI pilots fail to scale? Why does domain knowledge matter as much as technical skill? How should businesses think about responsible AI, privacy, policy, net zero, and the operational realities of electrification?

This is a practical conversation about AI for energy, not AI theatre.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Philippe Rambach and Schneider Electric are applying AI to real-world decarbonisation and climate action.

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And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

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What if one of the biggest climate risks in your portfolio is hiding in plain sight — in food, land, methane, and animal-dependent industries?

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Claire Smith, founder and CEO of Beyond Investing, to unpack why climate finance cannot stop at fossil fuels. Claire has spent years building investment products that screen for animal use, climate impact, weapons, defence, human rights issues, and risks mainstream ESG too often waves through with a clean conscience and a spreadsheet.

You’ll hear why Claire believes animal agriculture is a broken business model, propped up by subsidies and exposed to stranded asset risk in ways that echo the fossil fuel sector. We dig into how food systems connect to methane, water use, land use, biodiversity loss, emissions reduction, and supply chain fragility — and why treating food as a side issue in the energy transition is a mistake.

You might be shocked to learn that animal agriculture uses around 75% of agricultural land while producing only 18% of calories. We also explore where climate tech, policy, and capital could help scale animal-free alternatives and resilient food systems that support decarbonisation, net zero, and real-world climate action.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Claire Smith and Beyond Investing are challenging lazy ESG thinking and redirecting finance toward a cleaner economy.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

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And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

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No one wants to ship water around the world. That one line says a lot about the next phase of energy storage.

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Min Tang, Director of International Business at Rongke Power, one of the world’s leading vanadium flow battery companies. We get into why long-duration storage is moving from climate tech side-story to core grid infrastructure, and why that matters for decarbonisation, energy transition planning, net zero delivery, emissions reduction, and policy.

You’ll hear why vanadium flow batteries are not trying to replace lithium-ion batteries, and why that matters. Different problem. Different tool. Min explains how flow batteries can run for more than 20,000 cycles, retain capacity over decades, and support grid-scale black start, the kind of resilience that becomes rather important when grids are asked to absorb more renewables, power more electrification, and stay upright while demand from industry and AI data centres grows.

We dig into the economics too: why storage duration changes cost, how electrolyte leasing can cut upfront CapEx, and why local supply chains could become a major strategic advantage. You might be shocked to learn that localisation is baked into this technology because the electrolyte is mostly water. Glamorous? No. Important? Absolutely.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Min Tang and Rongke Power are helping turn long-duration storage into practical climate action.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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What if the biggest greenwashing risk isn’t bad intent, but business-as-usual marketing?

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Helen Neal, founder of HN Communications, to dig into one of the most under-discussed risks in decarbonisation: how companies talk about sustainability when regulation is tightening, public trust is fragile, and every net zero claim is being scrutinised. This matters because the energy transition will not be carried by technology alone. Climate tech, policy, capital, supply chains, and public confidence all depend on credible communication.

You’ll hear why traditional corporate messaging can push companies into unintentional greenwashing, why greenhushing is not a safe escape route, and why sustainability claims increasingly need the discipline of financial reporting: clear evidence, third-party verification, and language that can survive scrutiny.

We dig into how AI can help check sustainability language, but also why human judgement still has to own the beginning and end of the process. Helen also explains why supply chain data, board accountability, regulation, and executive incentives are becoming central to credible climate leadership. A vague 2050 net zero pledge without a roadmap? That is not strategy. That is a red flag wearing a nice suit.

If you care about emissions reduction, business resilience, decarbonisation, and the real-world mechanics of the energy transition, this one is worth your time.

🎙️ Listen now to hear Helen Neal explain how companies can communicate sustainability with confidence, evidence, and impact.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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Fake people. Fake comments. Real clean energy projects killed.
This is what climate delay looks like in the AI era.

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Leah Qusba, CEO of GoodPower, an organisation working at the intersection of climate tech, culture, policy, and decarbonisation. We explore a hard truth about the energy transition: solar, wind, batteries, and electrification may be ready, but public trust, local permission, and disinformation are now decisive barriers to getting projects built.

You’ll hear why Leah believes fossil fuel dependence is becoming harder to defend as “secure energy”, especially when oil and gas volatility keeps spilling into bills, food prices, business costs, and household budgets. We dig into why clean energy should be framed less as sacrifice and more as protection: protection from price shocks, geopolitical risk, climate impacts, and the charming little habit fossil fuels have of making everything more expensive.

We also get into GoodPower’s research on what actually changes minds. Their storytelling work has reached tens of millions of people and, in tested campaigns, shifted audiences from NIMBY to YIMBY by 11%. Leah explains why the right messenger can matter more than the perfect message, why rural voices can unlock rural support, and why creators in food, fashion, gaming, cars, comedy, and culture may be more effective climate communicators than traditional climate voices.

And yes, we talk about AI-generated disinformation in permitting decisions, fake public pressure, and why pre-bunking false claims before they spread may become essential for emissions reduction, net zero delivery, and climate policy that survives contact with reality.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Leah Qusba and GoodPower are helping accelerate real-world climate action.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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Carbon data is no longer just something companies report. Increasingly, it may decide whether products can be sold at all.

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Stephen Jamieson, Chief Marketing Officer for SAP Sustainability, to explore why sustainability is moving from the ESG report into the systems businesses use to run supply chains, finance, product compliance, and AI-enabled decisions. We get into what this means for climate tech, decarbonisation, policy, emissions reduction, net zero, and the wider energy transition.

You’ll hear why product carbon footprints, digital product passports, CBAM, ESPR, and Scope 3 reporting are pushing companies towards far more granular, decision-grade climate data. Stephen explains why relying on averages will not be enough when carbon insights start shaping market access, investor confidence, supply chain resilience, and commercial competitiveness.

We also dig into AI’s double edge. AI agents could change the economics of sustainability by scaling product-level analysis across thousands of items, but only if carbon, water, recycled content, and other sustainability factors are embedded in core business decisions. Otherwise, AI may simply optimise the wrong things faster. 

Listen now to hear how Stephen Jamieson and SAP Sustainability are helping move climate data from reporting theatre into real-world business action.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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Streetlights sound boring. Until the grid fails and they’re the only lights left on.

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Liam Ryan, CEO of Streetleaf, a climate tech company rethinking one of the most overlooked pieces of public infrastructure: the streetlight. And yes, I know. Streetlights. Hardly the sexiest corner of the energy transition. But this conversation quickly becomes about something much bigger: resilience, decarbonisation, public safety, emissions reduction, and how we build communities that keep functioning as extreme weather puts more pressure on the grid.

You’ll hear why the real cost of streetlighting often isn’t the electricity at all. It’s trenching, wiring, maintenance, utility control, copper theft, repair delays, and infrastructure that can take far too long to fix. Liam explains how solar-plus-battery streetlights can avoid much of that mess while helping cities, developers, and communities move closer to net zero.

We dig into how Streetleaf’s lights performed during hurricanes, why three to five days of battery backup matters, how monitoring changes maintenance, and why policy can help but won’t replace cost and performance. You might be shocked to learn that in some cases, utilities can delay streetlight repairs for months while the customer keeps paying. Delightful system design, if your goal is public frustration.

This is a practical episode about climate tech that works in the real world: faster installs, fewer wires, lower emissions, better uptime, and infrastructure that earns its keep when conditions get ugly.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Liam Ryan and Streetleaf are helping turn streetlights into part of the climate resilience toolkit.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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What if better buildings are one of the most practical climate resilience tools we already have?

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Darren Macri, Co-CEO of Wythe Windows and rising president of the Passive House Network. We talk about why passive house is not just a building standard, but a practical climate tech pathway for decarbonisation, emissions reduction, energy security, healthier homes, and a more resilient built environment.

You’ll hear why buildings can cut heating loads by up to 90% through airtightness, better insulation, mechanical ventilation, thermal bridge-free design, and high-performance windows. We dig into how this shifts passive house from a niche green design idea into something far more urgent: infrastructure that helps people stay safe during outages, heatwaves, storms, and fires.

You might be interested to learn how leaky buildings can make wildfire damage worse, how poor windows contribute to mould, noise, asthma, and energy poverty, and why retrofitting existing building stock may matter even more than making new builds cleaner. Darren also explains why adoption is often blocked less by technology than by training, policy, codes, business habits, and fragmented construction practices. Imagine that: the physics works, but humans still need meetings.

We also cover affordability, net zero, the energy transition, local manufacturing, and why better buildings can reduce bills while improving comfort and health.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Darren Macri and Wythe Windows are helping turn passive house into real-world climate action.

Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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Jet fuel isn’t just dirty. It is astonishingly good at its job. That is what makes aviation decarbonisation so hard.

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Dan Sutton, co-founder and CEO of Syntholene Energy, a climate tech company working on clean, drop-in synthetic aviation fuel, or eSAF. We talk about one of the thorniest challenges in the energy transition: how to cut emissions from aviation without pretending long-haul flight can simply be electrified into submission.

You’ll hear why synthetic fuel has struggled to scale, why hydrogen cost is often the defining economic bottleneck, and how Syntholene is betting that geothermal heat, solid oxide electrolysis, and captured carbon can shift the maths. We also dig into why cheap, baseload clean energy matters far more than glossy net zero pledges. Funny how physics remains stubbornly unimpressed by marketing decks.

Dan also makes the case that fossil fuels carry a supply chain risk we still underprice: political volatility, fragile routes, and exposure to regions that can quickly turn energy security into an economic headache. We explore mandates, project finance, policy, the role of Iceland’s geothermal resources, and whether synthetic aviation fuel can become cost-competitive without relying forever on subsidies.

This is a practical, challenging conversation about climate tech, emissions reduction, aviation, infrastructure, and what it will really take to make clean fuels commercially credible.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Dan Sutton and Syntholene Energy are tackling one of the hardest problems in decarbonisation.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident

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Concrete alone accounts for around 7-8% of global emissions. So what happens when the real climate problem in buildings is no longer just energy, but the materials themselves?

In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Alexander Sexsmith, architect and founder of Sexsmith Architects, to unpack what regenerative architecture means when stripped of the fluff. We look at the climate challenge hiding in plain sight across the built environment: embodied carbon, toxic materials, weak resilience, and the fact that standard construction often performs badly when fire, water, and heat hit. If we’re serious about decarbonisation, net zero, and the energy transition, this matters now.

You’ll hear why cleaner grids are changing the climate maths for buildings, and why materials like concrete, petrochemical foams, and conventional drywall deserve a lot more scrutiny. We dig into how fast-grown bio-based materials such as hemp, straw, and cork could cut emissions reduction timelines, improve indoor air quality, and strengthen resilience. And you might be shocked to learn that some of the materials people still dismiss as fringe are already proving themselves on fire performance and commercial-scale construction.

We also get into the harder bit: scale. Cost, code, skills, supply, consumer awareness, and policy all matter. Because climate tech alone won’t fix construction unless markets, standards, and incentives move with it.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Alexander Sexsmith and Sexsmith Architects are rethinking climate tech, decarbonisation, policy, and resilient design in the race to cut emissions from the built environment.

Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day.

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Podcast subscribers
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:

• Anita Krajnc
• Cecilia Skarupa
• Ben Gross
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Stephen Carroll
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.

🎤 Looking for a keynote speaker on climate, energy, AI, or sustainability?

I help executive audiences understand the technologies, trends, and decisions shaping the low-carbon transition. 

Download my Speaker Pack: https://tinyurl.com/spkrpck

And a quick note before you go: I’ve started a new Reddit community for serious, evidence-led discussion on climate solutions, clean energy, decarbonisation, policy, technology, and what actually works in practice. 

If you’d like to suggest future guests, challenge ideas from the show, or share climate reports and solutions worth discussing, join us at r/ClimateConfident