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 from the University of Padua. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abbd02/meta https://www.cleaningup.live/ep49-johan-rockstrom-pushing-planetary-boundaries/ https://energy-nest.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhY-aBhCUARIsALNIC05b1bO9rqQnHHS4SZrSiHDL3Xrmanh0OTZ1bUG5HWn6dIff_EnA_BQaAr3-EALw_wcB https://rondo.com/how-it-works?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhY-aBhCUARIsALNIC07G3jH4EuvDh8k1WrW98KNGf_Zobyhz81isIsSkv_yQkHtjrxOkfZwaAhGcEALw_wcB

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 Climate Science. Professor Rapley is a Fellow of UCL and of St Edmund's College, Cambridge, a member of the Academia Europaea, Chair of the European Science Foundation’s European Space Sciences Committee, Member of the Advisory Board of the UK government’s Clean Growth Fund, Patron of the Surrey Climate Commission, a member of the Science Advisory board of Scientists’ Warning, and a member of the UK Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. His previous posts include Directorships of the Science Museum and British Antarctic Survey, Chair of the London Climate Change Partnership, President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, and founder and Head of UCL's Earth Remote Sensing Group. He was Instrument Scientist on astrophysical and solar sounding rocket payloads, of the Bent Crystal Spectrometer on NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission, assisted JPL with the Cassini RADAR instrument, and led numerous ESA studies on the use of radar altimeters to study the Earth. He was Chair of the International Planning Group for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 and Chair of the ESA Director General’s High-Level Science Policy Advisory Committee. In 2014 Prof Rapley and the playwright Duncan Macmillan wrote the acclaimed play ‘2071’ which Prof Rapley performed at the Royal Court theatre and in Hamburg and Brussels. More recently Prof Rapley was the Science Consultant on BBC1’s ‘Climate Change – The Facts’ presented by Sir David Attenborough, and the three-part BBC1/PBS series on Greta Thunberg. In 2003 Prof Rapley was appointed CBE by Her Majesty the Queen. In 2008 he was awarded the Edinburgh Science Medal for having made 'a significant contribution to the understanding and wellbeing of humanity'. Prof Rapley holds a PhD. from UCL in X-ray astronomy, an M.Sc from the University of Manchester in Radio Astronomy, and an MA from Jesus College, Oxford in Physics.

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 of the Earth (1980s), co-chair of the Green Party (1980-83), of which he is still a member, Trustee of WWF-UK (1991-2005), Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission (2000-2009), and Chancellor of Keele University (2012-2022). Jonathon is Co-Founder of Forum for the Future – the UK’s leading sustainable development charity – and President of Population Matters and The Conservation Volunteers. His work as author, broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development has had a huge impact over the years, and he is involved in the work of many NGOs, charities and campaigning organizations as Patron, Chair or Special Advisor. His latest book, ‘Hope in Hell’, a powerful call to action on climate change, was published in June 2020. His other recent books include ‘The World We Made’ (2013), ‘Capitalism As If The World Matters’ (Earthscan, revised 2007), ‘Globalism & Regionalism’ (Black Dog 2008) and ‘Living Within Our Means’ (Forum for the Future 2009).Jonathon received a CBE in January 2000 for services to environmental protection.http://www.jonathonporritt.com/https://www.forumforthefuture.org/

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. Dr. Holmgren is the author or co-author of 50 US patents and more than 30 scientific publications. In 2003, she was the first woman awarded the Malcolm E. Pruitt Award from the Council for Chemical Research (CCR). In 2010, she was the recipient of the Leadership Award from the Civil Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) for her work in establishing the technical and commercial viability of sustainable aviation biofuels. In 2015 Dr. Holmgren and her team at LanzaTech were awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Award and she was awarded the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology. Sustainability magazine, Salt, named Dr. Holmgren as the world’s most compassionate business woman in 2015. In October 2015, Dr. Holmgren was awarded the Outstanding Leader Award in Corporate Social Innovation from the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. Dr. Holmgren was named as #1 of the most 100 influential leaders in the Bioeconomy by Biofuels Digest for 2016-2017.She currently serves on the board of The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Biofuels Advisory Committee. Dr. Holmgren is also on the Governing Council for the Bio Energy Research Institute in India. The institute has been set up by the DBT (Department of Biotechnology, Indian Government) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation).Dr. Holmgren holds a B.Sc. degree from Harvey Mudd College, a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

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. In July 2022, the company announced the ONE VARO Transformation Strategy accelerated by “Engine 1” focussed on Conventional Energies and “Engine 2” focussed on Sustainable Energies, with a commitment to investing two-thirds of capital in Engine 2 businesses and a trebling of earnings for the Group in the next 5 years. VARO will also be Net Zero in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2040.Prior to this, Dev had a 32-year career with BP plc including over a decade as a member of the group executive committee and headed gas and low carbon energy globally. Prior to this, he was chief executive, alternative energy and also accountable for BP’s Europe and Asia regions. During his tenure, he built world scale businesses  in  sustainable energy – solar, offshore wind, onshore wind, hydrogen and gas and power - and led the pivot in the company’s energy transition strategy.  Dev joined BP in 1989 and held a variety of international roles in London, Athens, Istanbul, Vienna and Dubai. Prior to joining the Group Executive Committee, he held the roles of group treasurer and chairman of BP Investment Management and Arco Aluminium, chief executive, Air BP International and chief executive, BP Eastern Mediterranean.  Dev is an independent non-executive director on the board of M&G plc; a member of the energy advisory board of the Government of India; the advisory board of the Centre for European Reform; and the board of overseers of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where he obtained a master’s degree in economics and politics. He is a Fellow of the Energy Institute.  Dev was an independent non-executive director on the board of Man Group plc (2013-2022); a member of the Accenture Global Energy Board (2012-2018); Vice Chairman, Centre for China in the World Economy, Tsinghua University (2014-2019); The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation Business Leaders Group (2012-2015); and Trustee of the Career Academy Foundation (2007-2013).

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, and has appeared in 24 languages. He’s gone on to write 20 books, and his work appears regularly in periodicals from the New Yorker to Rolling Stone. He serves as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he has won the Gandhi Peace Prize as well as honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the alternative Nobel, in the Swedish Parliament. Foreign Policy named him to its inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers. McKibben helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, which has organized protests on every continent, including Antarctica, for climate action. He played a leading role in launching the opposition to big oil pipeline projects like Keystone XL, and the fossil fuel divestment campaign, which has become the biggest anti-corporate campaign in history, with endowments worth more than $40 trillion stepping back from oil, gas and coal. He stepped down as board chair of 350 in 2015, and left the board and stepped down from his volunteer role as senior adviser in 2020, accepting emeritus status. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, where he spends as much time as possible outdoors. In 2014, biologists credited his career by naming a new species of woodland gnat—Megophthalmidia mckibbeni–in his honor.

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 responsible for DOE’s R&D program in advanced fossil energy systems, carbon capture, and storage (CCS), CO2 utilisation, and clean coal deployment.  More recently, he was a Senior Research Scholar and now a Non--Resident Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, where he led the Carbon Management Research Initiative. He has held positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, including Chief Energy Technologist, where he worked for 15 years.Dr. Friedmann is one of the most widely known and authoritative experts in the U.S. on carbon removal (CO2 drawdown from the air and oceans), CO2 conversion and use (carbon-to-value), hydrogen, industrial decarbonisation, and carbon capture and sequestration. In addition to close partnerships with many private companies, NGOs, Julio has worked with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and government agencies foreign and domestic. His expertise also includes oil and gas production, international clean energy engagements, and earth science.Dr. Friedmann received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), followed by a Ph.D. in Geology at the University of Southern California. He worked for five years as a senior research scientist at ExxonMobil, then as a research scientist at the University of Maryland.

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 companies to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. She has been at the helm since 2003, and under her leadership, the organization and its powerful networks and global collaborations have grown significantly in size and influence. Prior to Ceres, Lubber served as a Regional Administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under former President Bill Clinton. She also founded Green Century Capital Management and served as the director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG). She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her leadership. In 2020, Lubber was awarded the United Nations ’Champions of the Earth’ Entrepreneurial Vision award. In the same year, Lubber made Barron’s Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential women in U.S. finance, and then again in 2021. She has also received the Climate Visionary Award from the Earth Day Network, William K. Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership from American University, and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship from the Skoll Foundation. She has been recognized by the United Nations and the Foundation for Social Change as one of the World’s Top Leaders of Change. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Ceres was named a top 100 women-led businesses in Massachusetts by the Globe Magazine and Commonwealth Institute.