Episodes

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 and insightful discussion, on the work of the Prince Albert II Foundation to safeguard the planet and its oceans; the Prince's lineage and its deep connections to oceanography; the Prince's adventures and the awakening on climate they prompted; and the joys of success - and the perils of failure - in winter sports. The episode was recorded at the Palais Princier de Monaco. Cleaning Up would like to thank the Royal Household and all those inside and outside of the Palace who supported production of this special episode. As always, please like, share, and if you haven't already, subscribe to Cleaning Up.

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 Chris is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, and a former Director-General of CERN. At CERN he steered the funding and commissioning of its Large Hadron Collider, and as a theoretical particle physicist, Sir Chris predicted the existence of the very particle - the Higgs Boson - that the Large Hadron Collider went on to help discover. Sir Chris is likely the only person ever to have been knighted for "services to particle physics." In the last few years Sir Chris has been busy leading a forthcoming Royal Society study on large-scale energy storage as part of the net-zero transition. He and Michael discuss the significance of storage to a newly configured, renewable grid, the likely cost of stored electricity, an…

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 reality. With the aviation sector looking set to be one of the hardest to abate in the net-zero transition, Michael wanted to know whether electrification or hydrogen represents the best chance to keep the world flying in sustainable fashion. Also on the agenda were the complexities of producing - and defining - sustainable airline fuel, and the scale of the risk posed by aircraft contrails. Like and subscribe to Cleaning Up for more insights and in-depth interviews from the front-line of the net-zero transition.

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 the region. This episode coincided with International Women's Day, so as well as outlining Africa GreenCo's ambitions to promote renewable energy supply in Africa, Ana ended with some truly fascinating insights into what it takes to be a successful woman in the climate space.

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 the challenges facing nuclear scientists and engineers, and the race to bring a raft of fusion technologies to commercialisation and grid integration.

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 clear a path to financing billions of dollars of clean infrastructure in the midst of a global energy crisis. Like, share and subscribe to Cleaning Up for more essential conversations around the net zero transition.

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 significance of COP28 coming to the region later this year.

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 at a lower price point than traditional gigawatt-scale reactors. Michael had questions for Samson on nuclear’s “desperately poor track record” for price control, the practicalities of factory-building a nuclear reactor, and the feasibility of nuclear finding a role in an energy landscape full of increasingly cheap renewables. Like, subscribe and share for more insights and in-depth interviews from the front-line of the net-zero transition.

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 role of hydrogen in reaching carbon neutrality in Europe. Chatzimarkakis holds hydrogen to be the miracle molecule of the transition, while Michael’s Hydrogen Ladder has a far narrower view of its likely uses on the path to net zero. What follows is a comprehensive, robust – and at moments, fierce - discussion of hydrogen in the transition, covering electrolyzers, fertilizers, freight, transportation and heating, as well as following the “pots of money” behind hydrogen infrastructure and lobbying in Europe. Spark more healthy debate around net zero pathways by liking and sharing the episode, and don’t forget to subscribe. Guest Bio Chatzimarkakis was a Member of European Parliament from 2004 until 2014 for Germany’s Free …

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, emissions-intensive manufacturing processes by competing with them, and ultimately, displacing them. James is evangelical about the potential of Seurat’s technology to transform the manufacturing industry for the better: “Our goal is to make hardware production as simple to do and as cheap to produce as it is to write code and software... I don't think we have any concept, at all, for the explosion in applications that we would see when that happens.” Guest Bio: Since co-founding Seurat in 2015, DeMuth has served as the company’s CTO, and as of 2020, their CEO. DeMuth spent six years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as a Research Associate, then as a Mechanical Engineer working in Advanced Manufacturing an…

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 'checkpoints' on Cleaning Up, as we invite guests back to the show to give an update on their sector or specialism on the path to net zero. Guest Bio: Jonathan Maxwell is the CEO of Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL), an investment firm that set up the UK’s first listed investment trust investing exclusively in energy efficiency - Sustainable Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT). Jonathan chairs the Trust’s Investment Committee. Jonathan has over two decades of experience in the financial sector – he spent early days of his career at HSBC Infrastructure and led the IPO process of HICL Infrastructure Company (formerly HSBC Infrastructure Company) – one of the biggest infrastructure funds listed on the London Stock Exchange. …

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 an outstanding authority on financial risk. Since co-founding Kepos and joining the boards of the World Wildlife Fund, Ceres and the Climate Leadership Council, among others, he has become a leading voice on climate policy and risk as it relates to climate change and the transition. From this unique vantage, Litterman is acutely aware of the time-sensitivity of climate risk: “We have to create incentives globally to reduce emissions, and we have to do it very quickly. When you're managing risk, time is a scarce resource. If we have enough time, we can solve almost anything. When you're managing risk and you run out of time, a risk management problem becomes a catastrophe.” Prior to founding Kepos Capital, Litterman had a 23-year …

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 of his best-selling book, The New Map, Yergin also provided some fascinating predictions for the future of global energy supply and demand, its international nuances, and its historical echoes. Daniel Yergin is the author of a trilogy of books on energy and is seen by many as America’s foremost energy expert. He was co-founder of Cambridge Energy Research Associates and currently serves as Vice Chairman of S&P Global, one of the world’s largest research and information companies. Yergin is the author of several bestselling works of history, most notably The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil Money and Power (1990), which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into 20 languages. His latest book is The New Map…

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 you may share your goals, but put facts and priorities in a different order. 3. We will never get to declare victory over climate change.

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 Services Authority. He was Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (1995-2000); Chairman of the UK Pensions Commission (2003-2006); and was the first Chairman of the UK Climate Change Committee (2008-2012). From 1982-1995 Lord Turner worked at McKinsey, and was Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe from 2000-2006. Lord Turner authored Between Debt and the Devil (Princeton: 2015), and Economics after the Crisis (MIT: 2012). He became a cross-bench member of the House of Lords in 2006, and holds a degree in History and Economics from the University of Cambridge.

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.

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 Investment Group, and a Managing Director of Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund. Prior to Capricorn, Saluja was Chief of Staff at Cadence, a global market leader in electronic design. Prior to Cadence, he worked at Data General (EMC), Honeywell, ROLM (IBM), and the GF Energy Research Center. Saluja is an electrical engineer by training, and attended UND, University of Minnesota and Stanford University. Ion Yadigaroglu has been Managing Partner at Capricorn Investment Group since 2004. Prior to Capricorn, Yadigaroglu was Director of Business Development with Koch Industries, and a Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Bivio, a software startup in Colorado. Yadigaroglu was a research fellow at Columbia University and …

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 to comprise 50,000 young people in 120 countries. Adler was Global Community Manager at Student Energy before commencing her directorship. Prior to joining Student Energy, Adler was Communications Coordinator at Clean Energy Canada, and has held positions at Great Basin Water Network and the Student Conservation Association. Adler holds a degree in Geography from the University of British Columbia, and is a keen climber.

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 the Department's research theme 'Energy, Transport and Urban Infrastructure'. Prof. Cebon’s research covers the mechanical, civil, and materials aspects of road transport engineering. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers on the dynamics, safety, and environmental performance of heavy-goods vehicles. He has a strong current focus on vehicle energy consumption and decarbonisation. Prof. Cebon is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

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 Head of Gas, Coal and Electricity Markets (2011-2015), then as their Chief Economist (2016-2021). In his native Hungary, he spent six years at MOL (2005-2011), an integrated oil and gas company, and held posts at the Hungarian Energy Office (2000-2005) and at the National Bank of Hungary (1997-2000). Varró studied Economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest and completed graduate studies at the University of Cambridge.

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, Tanaka has served as a Global Associate for Energy Security and Sustainability at the Institute for Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ). In addition, Tanaka is professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy; Fellow at the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University; and is the former President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. From 2007 to 2011, Tanaka served as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). He was Minister for Industry, Trade and Energy at the Embassy of Japan, Washington DC from 1998-2000. Tanaka was appointed Director for Science, Technology and Industry at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1991. Tanaka began his career at Japan’s Ministry o…

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 the experience called Adults in the Room (2017), about how the EU stymied his attempts to renegotiate Greece’s debts in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Varoufakis was elected to Greek parliament and appointed Finance Minister in January 2015 by Alexis Tsipras, in the midst of the Greek government-debt crisis. Varoufakis led negotiations over Greece’s bailout conditions with the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, but failed to agree terms. Varoufakis resigned from government and parliament in August 2015, despite a referendum indicating popular support for his stance. Varoufakis founded MeRA25 in 2018, under whose banner he returned to parliament in 2018. Varoufakis h…

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 share it with our Cleaning Up audience.

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 Europe and beyond. Dr Madeddu is Senior Sustainability Consultant at Schneider Electric as of August this year. In her previous role, Dr Madeddu was part of the Global Energy Systems modelling group and was Senior Scientist on Industry Decarbonisation at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (2018-2022). At PIK, she helmed research into the potential of direct electrification of heat supply for reducing industrial CO2 emissions. Prior to joining PIK, Dr Madeddu served as Chief Scientist at Cambridge Carbon Capture, developing new Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technologies. Dr Madeddu holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield in Materials Science and Engineering, and a master’s in Science and Technology …