The Better Business Show

The Better Business Show

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The Better Business Show episodes

  • #64 The AI-powered wildfire detector that will save economies billions

    We are back, back, back.

    Yes, welcome back to the Better Business Show. Episode 64 has been a long time coming. 

    A lot has changed since we first launched back in 2016, almost nine years ago.

    But lots hasn’t changed either. Solving the climate crisis remains the most urgent challenge of our times. And storytelling is more important than ever. 

    The premise of this podcast remains the same as it’s always been. This is the place to come for insight, inspiration, and practical examples of the organizations that are proving there is another way, that there is an alternative, low-carbon future, that there is a better, zero waste model for business, that they can be resilient in the face of the climate crisis, that they can be successful without destroying the planet or letting people down.

    We restart the show this time with an awesome story from Carsten Brinkschulte. He is the CEO of Dryad Networks, a business that wants to make it really easy to detect wildfires. Forget satellites and GPS trackers, he wants to install millions of sensors on the ground that can sniff out a fire in much the same way humans can – and he’s well on his way of making it happen too.

    2024 has been another year of rampant wildfires all over the planet. Every year, 370 million hectares of land burns, releasing 1.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – that’s around 20% of all GHGs.

    The conversation is wide-ranging, as Tom chats to Carsten about his innovative solutions for early wildfire detection using AI and gas sensor technology, the challenges of deploying these systems in remote areas, and the potential for expanding applications of this technology. Carsten also shares valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in the climate tech space, emphasising the importance of viable business models and quantifying impact.

    43 min
  • #63 The time is now for lab-grown meat
    About 30% of the word’s total land is used not to grow grains, fruits and vegetables that we directly eat as human beings, but to support the chickens, pigs and cattle that we eventually eat.
    And the environmental impact of all this large-scale meat production is having serious implications for the world’s climate. Animal waste releases methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouse gases that are 25 and 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, respectively.
    Step forward Illtud Dunsford, CEO of Cellular Agriculture, our guest on this week’s show. He says: There is a better way. And it involves tissue engineering technology, producing the exact same meat but in a laboratory. Enjoy our chat.
    34 min
  • #62 Meet the company refusing to accept when a lithium ion battery is ‘dead’
    So, this week we get to meet the company refusing to accept when a lithium ion battery is ‘dead’.
    Lithium-ion batteries continue to be the technology of choice for all the major consumer gadget players; it's no wonder that the market is set to explode in the next few years. But what happens to these lithium-ion batteries when they reach the end of their life?
    This time, we catch up with Amrit Chandan, co-founder of Aceleron, a business that hopes to revolutionise the way people use and think about low-cost energy storage. A business dreamt up by Amrit and his partner and co-founder Carlton Cummins during their lunch breaks working for a management consultancy, it is on a mission to repackage lithium-ion batteries in a way that is safe, cost effective and useful again.
    24 min
  • #61 With a little help from friends: How Nestlé plans to solve the global food crisis
    This week, we report from inside the HQ of the world's biggest food business, Nestlé to explore a wealth of solutions designed to solve the global nutrition crisis – including contact lenses that can monitor your glucose levels and smart watches that use your doctors' notes to prescribe exactly the right diet.
    Around 795 million people go to bed hungry every night, while 2.1 billion people are overweight or obese; something's got to give. Hearing from businesses, NGOs, academics and consumer-bahaviour experts, this special edition of the show delves into the challenges of the food system – and why it is time to act now if we are to sustain 10 billion healthy people on this planet by 2050.
    48 min
  • #60 The company making mayo without an egg, butter without a cow
    This week, you get the chance to step inside the most talked about business on the planet right now.
    Hampton Creek’s CEO Josh Tetrick gives us a flavour of what makes his company tick – from attracting investment to staying true to your mission. Learn how this San Francisco unicorn plans to change the way we eat forever by not appealing to hearts and minds, just making great food.
    42 min
  • #59 Responding to human rights: Where to start and how to protect your business
    Human rights: It is the one issue that no company wants to be embroiled in – yet a subject that every business is almost certainly exposed to and at risk of. That’s why we’ve dedicated this episode to the subject and we’re super excited to have grabbed Richard Boele, KPMG's head of specialist human rights and social impact group, to appear on the show.
    35 min
  • Friday Five - 14 April 2017
    Friday Five - 14 April 2017
    This is the Better Business Show Friday Five, released at the end of every week and digesting the very best stories from across the world of sustainable business in the last 7 days.
    This week, we’re talking about:
    - Christina Figueres latest assessment of peak emissions (http://bit.ly/2o9z40T_
    - London’s ambitious coffee cup recycling programme (http://bit.ly/2jsrC1I)
    - Riversimple's fundraising target being smashed (http://bit.ly/2p031W9)
    - H&M wants to become ‘climate positive’ (http://bit.ly/2pwG1Kw)
    - How mushrooms might replace sugar in our sweets (http://bit.ly/2oC4S2u)
    Don't miss our two Better Business Show episodes a week by signing up to our weekly newsletter: www.betterbusiness.show
    14 min
  • #58 What does a 'net positive' printer look like, anyway?
    Meet Gareth Dinnage, the man at the helm of Seacourt, an Oxford-based printer that has spent the last 20 years slowly turning the entire dirty business of commercial printing on its head. We’ve all got print jobs we need doing – whether its for corporate reports, or marketing literature. But imagine if your printing activity had a positive impact on the planet rather than a negative one. Gareth gives the hows, whys and wherefores.
    34 min
  • #57 ’I learned everything I needed to know about running my business from YouTube’
    This time, we’re with Matt Simpson, the man behind Green Banana Paper, a company developed purely as a way to give local employment to a demographic of island dwellers in Micronesia who would most likely have left for jobs in the city. Making wallets from banana trees, learn how this unique company’s process has been a labour of love for Matt, and a great example of alternative materials playing their role in building products of the future.
    28 min
  • Friday Five - 31 March 2017
    This is the Better Business Show Friday Five, released at the end of every week and digesting the very best stories from across the world of sustainable business in the last 7 days.
    This week, we’re talking about:
    - Toyota dabbles in plant based materials for car interiors (http://bit.ly/2ofIdZJ)
    - The waste firm using nappies to fuel power plants (http://bit.ly/2nSgyOf)
    - The new energy regulation which is more important than you might think (http://bit.ly/2nlskg8)
    - Marks & Spencers’ in-store mental health drop-ins (http://bit.ly/2nptSa3)
    - AB InBev and Bafta go big on clean energy (http://bit.ly/2ojSm4V)
    Don't miss our two Better Business Show episodes a week by signing up to our weekly newsletter: www.betterbusiness.show
    13 min

About The Better Business Show

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For organisations that want to change the world, The Better Business Show offers insight, inspiration and hope by exploring the people and companies proving that sustainable business models do work.