This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Matt Ferrell. Matt is host of the hugely popular Undecided YouTube channel and the podcast Still to be Determined, both of which explore the impact of smart and sustainable technologies on our daily lives.Matt and Michael discuss how they came to focus on the net-zero transition from different starting points, why hydrogen is so divisive, the joys and perils of going net-zero at home, and share their predictions for the coming years in the energy sector.Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup Links and Related Episodes Explore Undecided on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@UndecidedMF/videos Listen to Still To Be Determined here: https://stilltbd.fm/ During the conversation, Michael cites his piece from 2018, Two Business Cycles to Prepare for A Low-Carbon World: https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-two-business-cycles-prepare-low-carbon-world/ Guest Bio Matt is UI/UX designer and Creative Director with over 15 years of management experience. Matt started Undecided with Matt Ferrell in 2018 and has since amassed over a million subscribers for his videos on EVs, solar panels, renewable energy and smart home technology, and the ways in which they are set to impact the lives of consumers. Matt was Senior Creative Director at GSN from 2015-2018, where he was creative lead on one of the world’s top skill-gaming web and mobile platforms, WorldWinner. Matt holds a BA in English – Communication and Information Design from Nazareth College and an MA in Media Arts from Emerson College.  

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Bent Flyvbjerg. Bent is Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford and is the most cited scholar in the world on the subject of megaprojects. Bent’s latest book, released this year, is How Big Things Get Done, on the science of successful project delivery. Michael and Bent discussed the many, substantial implications of Bent’s research for the net-zero transition, including the stark fact that solar and wind projects sit at the top of the tree when it comes to arriving on time and on budget, with nuclear languishing at the very bottom. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup  Links and Related Episodes Bent’s latest book is How Big Things Get Done: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/672118/how-big-things-get-done-by-bent-flyvbjerg-and-dan-gardner/Watch Episode 58 with John Redfern, CEO of Eavor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU8TDupVvjMWatch Episode 92 with Simon Morrish, CEO of Xlinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6KIMswZkWAWatch Episode 116 with Tom Samson, former CEO of Rolls Royce SMR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjThq8c3tT4Watch Episode 122 with Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_gL_XXaQQ Guest Bio Bent is among the most cited scholars in the world on Project Management, Planning, Infrastructure and Cities. He has 30 years of experience as an adviser to government and business, including the US, UK, and Chinese governments and Fortune 500 companies. He has consulted on some of the largest projects in the world, from High-Speed 2 in the UK and the California High-Speed Rail project, each the largest civil construction project ever in their respective countries. Bent is the author or editor of 10 books and more than 200 papers, translated into 20 languages, including Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition (2014) and this year’s How Big Things Get Done. He has received numerous honours and awards, among them a knighthood and two Fulbright scholarships. Bent is chairman of Oxford Global Projects, and was formerly the Academic Director of Oxford's MSc in Major Programme Management. 

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Emily Kirsch, Founder and CEO of Powerhouse and Managing Partner of Powerhouse Ventures. Powerhouse, based out of Oakland, California, is an innovation firm that pairs startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate with some of the world’s largest corporations and investors. Emily is also managing partner of Powerhouse Ventures, directly backing seed-stage start-ups innovating on decarbonization. Michael and Emily spoke about building Powerhouse and adding value to its huge startup database, some of the hits from Powerhouse Ventures' first funding round, and ended with a wider discussion about the role of VCs - and pioneering women - on the path to net-zero. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup Links and Related Episodes Learn more about Powerhouse here: https://www.powerhouse.fund/ Michael appeared on Emily’s podcast, Watt It Takes, back in 2021: https://www.powerhouse.fund/liebreich Watch Episode 9 with Jigar Shah here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJhhinSeh9I Watch Episode 18 with Nancy Pfund here: https://www.cleaningup.live/episode-18-nancy-pfund/ Watch Episode 47 with Gina Domanig here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlZvy2c92SsGuest Bio Emily is Founder & Managing Partner of Powerhouse Ventures, and Founder & CEO of Powerhouse. Prior to launching Powerhouse in 2013, Kirsch worked with Van Jones to launch the Green Jobs Corps, Oakland’s first ‘green jobs’ training program. She is the founding convener of the Oakland Climate Action Coalition, which drafted and secured passage of what was at the time the most ambitious climate action plan of any U.S. city. Emily is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader Fellow, served on the Executive Committee for Clean Energy for President Biden, and appeared on the San Francisco Business Times’ 2020 list of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.” Emily hosts the podcast Watt It Takes, which has over 1 million downloads and has featured founders of some of the energy and automotive industries’ most iconic companies like Nest, Sunrun, and Tesla. Emily studied Sustainable Urban Development at San Francisco State University.

Today’s guest on Cleaning Up is Marco Alverà, CEO of TES. TES are hoping to accelerate the clean energy transition by supplying green hydrogen at scale to clients in the mobility, industry and power sectors. TES’ first major project is Wilhelmshaven Green Energy Hub, which hopes to supply 250 TWh per year of carbon-neutral energy to Germany by 2045. By 2030, TES hope to have produced one million tonnes of what they call ENG, or electric natural gas, as a like-for-like replacement for LNG. Michael had plenty of questions about ENG, TES’ ambitious plans, and the generous subsidies they’re set to take advantage of through the US’ Inflation Reduction Act.Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup  Further Reading and Related EpisodesLearn more about TES here: https://tes-h2.com/TES plan to produce 5.5 million tonnes of hydrogen each year at Wilhelmshaven: https://tes-h2.com/wilhelmshaven-green-energy-hub/The Financial Times reported on TES’ latest funding round: https://www.ft.com/content/e0b366d6-5dbe-41eb-96f7-e49c24f9a2c4The New York Times wrote a profile on Marco late last year: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/11/business/green-natural-gas.htmlWatch Cleaning Up Episode 115 with Jorgo Chatzimarkakis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NCiEhprSOcWatch Cleaning Up Episode 107 with David Cebon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K61ZXd_F6QoWatch our whole Hydrogen playlist on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaC57hgJGekXX0m1zegQelkeWatch all of our Audioblogs on YouTube here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaAGobfBqd5eRQfeb5l9vPLG Guest BioMarco has more than 20 years’ experience in the energy sector. He began his career working at Goldman Sachs before starting and selling a telecom company, and joining Enel, one of the world’s largest green electricity companies. He subsequently worked for Eni, the oil and gas major, for over 10 years in senior positions, and from 2016 to 2022 was CEO of Snam, where he positioned the company as an international leader in green gas and green gas infrastructure. Since 2017, Marco has been non-executive director of S&P Global, where he is also chair of the Finance Committee. Macro is also Co-Founder of Zhero, a company focused on developing new energy projects. Marco holds a degree in Philosophy and Economics from the London School of Economics, and is the author of The Hydrogen Revolution, one of the FT’s books of the year in 2021.

This week's episode is a recording of Michael's latest blog post for BloombergNEF:The Next Half-Trillion-Dollar Market – Electrification of HeatOur thanks to BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it and share it with our Cleaning Up audience.Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup 

This time on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Kirsty Gogan back to the show to update us on developments across the world of nuclear energy. Kirsty is co-CEO and founder of TerraPraxis, an NGO and climate solution accelerator, and a leading expert on nuclear power. It’s been three years since Kirsty’s last appearance on the show in August 2020, during which we’ve seen new reactors come online across the globe, as well as supply dropouts and wholesale nuclear phase-outs. Kirsty walked Michael through the headlines, as well the rise of SMR (Small Modular Reactor) technology and its potential applications. Michael and Kirsty end discussing whether nuclear is offering too little, too late on the path to net-zero in the coming decades, as renewables continue to rise to meet global energy demand. As a one-stop update on all things nuclear, today's Cleaning Up is not to be missed. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup  Relevant Guest & Topic Links Read the European Commission JRC’s Technical assessment of nuclear energy: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC125953 Watch Kirsty’s first appearance on Cleaning Up Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83oUuo9Af_c&list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaBcbo3W_zva0ChNZ9R9rL-U&index=16 Watch Julia Pyke, Financing Director of Sizewell C on Episode 94 of Cleaning Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fUcx9RT6hQ&list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaBcbo3W_zva0ChNZ9R9rL-U&index=4&pp=gAQBiAQB Watch Tom Samson, former CEO of Rolls-Royce SMR on Episode 116 of Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/sjThq8c3tT4 Learn more about the work of TerraPraxis: https://www.terrapraxis.org/ Learn more about the work of LucidCatalyst: https://www.lucidcatalyst.com/  Guest Bio Kirsty has more than 15 years’ experience as a senior advisor to Government on climate and energy policy, including 10 Downing St and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Kirsty is managing partner of LucidCatalyst, a highly specialized international consultancy focused on large-scale, affordable, market-based decarbonization of the global economy. LucidCatalyst was recently commissioned to produce the widely cited  Energy Technologies Institute Nuclear Cost Drivers Study, and by ARPA-E to conduct a study on Cost and Performance Requirements for Flexible Advanced Nuclear Plants in Future U.S. Power Markets. 
Kirsty sits on the UK’s Nuclear Innovation Research and Advisory Board and the board of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance. In addition to being an authority on nuclear, Kirsty is an award-winning expert on science communication, climate change, and competitiveness. Kirsty is also co-founder and Global Director of Energy for Humanity (EFH), an environmental NGO focused on large-scale deep decarbonisation and energy access.

Today’s guest on Cleaning Up is Damilola Ogunbiyi. Damilola is CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, the UN partner organization dedicated to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. Damilola is a returning guest on Cleaning Up after first joining us for Episode 62 in 2021. She’s back to tell us how SEforAll is progressing in its mission to bring electricity to the whole world. After talking Michael through a raft of SEforAll’s new initiatives – across everything from clean cooking to carbon markets - Damilola ends with a passionate plea to change the conversation around the energy needs of the developing world:“What is happening is you're using a conversation of no fossil / fossil to fund nothing… The crux of it is, if you look at the money that's going in to Africa, 1.5% of all renewable investment? It's absurd, it is embarrassing.”Make sure you like, subscribe, follow and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningupRelevant Guest & Topic LinksLearn more about SEforAll’s mission: https://www.seforall.org/Find out more about the parameters of SDG7: https://www.seforall.org/sustainable-development-goal-7-sdg7Read and explore last year’s Energy Progress Report 2022: https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/Damilola first featured on Episode 62 of Cleaning Up in 2021: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep62-damilola-ogunbiyi-energy-the-red-thread-through-the-sdgs/Edited Highlights from Episode 62 are available here: https://www.cleaningup.live/p/ep62-eh/Episode 118 of Cleaning Up featured Achim Steiner, Administrator of of UNDP and Co-chair of UN Energy alongside Damilola: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep118-achim-steiner-sustaining-development/Our episodes featuring Alain Ebobisse, Elizabeth Wathuti and Bill McKibben can all be found in our  Development playlist on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaDSF7Z5EpAvtWOs8HPUEdC3Guest BioDamilola Ogunbiyi is the CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. Before joining SEforAll, Damilola was the first female Managing Director of the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency, where she initiated the Nigerian Electrification Project, a programme that to date has provided energy access to over 5 million people across NigeriaBefore joining the Federal Government of Nigeria, Damilola was the first female General Manager of the Lagos State Electricity Board. Under her leadership, five independent power projects were completed to deliver over 55 megawatts of power to Lagos State hospitals, schools, and government facilities.  Damilola is a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, an Advisory Board member of the Centre on Global Energy Policy, a member of the Development Advisory Council of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a member of the Clean Cooking Alliance Advisory Board, a member of the Advisory Board of University of Oxford’s Future of Cooling Programme, and Co-Chair of UN–Energy.Damilola holds a bachelor’s degree in Project Management with Construction and a Master’s degree in Construction Management with Public Private Partnership from the University of Brighton. 

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. Relevant Guest & Topic LinksLearn more about the work of the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco: https://www.fpa2.org/en/index Watch Cleaning Up Episode 7 with Bertrand Piccard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MeGpW2HOek Watch Cleaning Up Episode 96 with Aksel Lund Svindal here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRc1VCBnVgI Guest BioH.S.H. Prince Albert, Alexandre, Louis, Pierre, Sovereign Prince of Monaco,  was born on 14 March 1958. His Highness is the son of Prince Rainier III, Louis Henri-Maxence-Bertrand and Princess Grace, née Kelly. H.S.H. Prince Albert II succeeded his father, Prince Rainier III who died on 6h April 2005. On 12th July 2005, at the end of the period of official mourning, the Prince's accession to the throne was celebrated.In April 2006, H.S.H. Prince Albert II visited the North Pole by dog sled from the Russian base of Barneo 120 kilometres away. This journey was the opportunity for him to pay tribute to his great-great grandfather, Prince Albert I of Monaco, a pioneer of modern oceanography, who, in 1906, set out to Spitzberg, in the archipelago of Svalbard, the most successful of his four Arctic exploration campaigns. In January 2009, Prince Albert II of Monaco undertook a three-week scientific journey in the Antarctic. He visited a large number of scientific stations and visited the South Pole in the company of the explorer Mike Horn. In June 2006, H.S.H. the Prince set up the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation dedicated to protecting the environment. It encourages sustainable and fair management of natural resources and places man at the centre of its projects. It supports the implementation of innovative and ethical solutions in three broad areas: climate change, water and biodiversity.HSH the Prince participated in five Olympic Games, from Calgary in 1988 to Salt Lake City in 2002, as a member of the national bobsleigh team. A member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985, He is President of the Monegasque Olympic Committee.The Prince's complete biography can be found here: https://www.palais.mc/en/princely-family/h-s-h-prince-albert-ii/biography-1-5.html

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, and the role of salt caverns in hosting hydrogen stores. Relevant Guest & Topic Links Sir Chris discussed the energy storage requirements of a net-zero UK at a virtual conference in March 2020. His slides are available here: https://www.era.ac.uk/write/MediaUploads/Other%20documents/Need_for_Storage_in_a_Net_0_World_Chris_Ll_S_23_3_20.pdf Discover more about Chris’ storied career here: https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/llewellyn-smith Watch Episode 104 with Yanis Varoufakis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLbm8fg08hcWatch Episode 115 with Jorgo Chatzimarkakis here: https://youtu.be/_NCiEhprSOcWatched Episode 116 with Tom Samson here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjThq8c3tT4Guest Bio Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith FRS is a quantum field theorist and Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. Chris was Director of Energy Research at Oxford from 2011 to 2017, Director of the UK's fusion programme (2003-2009), Provost and President of University College London (1998-2001), Director General of CERN (1994-1998) when the Large Hadron Collider was approved and construction started, and was the first Chairman of Oxford Physics (1987-1992).  Chris holds a BA in Physics with First Class Honours from the University of Oxford, as well as a D.Phil in Theoretical Physics. He holds honorary doctorates from universities in the UK, Spain, Canada and China. He was knighted in 2001 for “services to particle physics.” He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded their Royal Medal in 2015. Chris captained Oxford’s cross-country running team as an undergraduate in 1963. After completing his doctorate in 1967, Chris worked briefly in the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

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. Relevant Guest & Topic Links The Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) is helping map pathways to net zero aviation: https://whittle.eng.cam.ac.uk/aviation-impact-accelerator/ Explore the AIA’s Resource to Climate Comparison Evaluator (RECCE): https://recce.aiatools.org/ Read about the plans for the new Whittle Laboratory: https://whittle.eng.cam.ac.uk/new-whittle-laboratory/ King Charles toured the Whittle Laboratory in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjoY4y_qZAkGuest BioRob Miller is professor of aerothermal technology and director of the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. He is also director of the Rolls-Royce Whittle University Technology Centre in Cambridge. Rob is a member of the UK Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council, the FlyZero Design Advisory Group, and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2014 he set up and led the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics. He led the team that pioneered rapid technology development, the process of reducing research and development times in aerospace from years to months or weeks. In 2020 he set up the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), an international expert group aiming to build an interactive whole-system simulator to accelerate the journey to climate-neutral aviation.Rob’s honours include the Royal Academy of Engineering President's Special Awards for Pandemic Service, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Thomas Hawksley Gold Medal, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Air Breathing Propulsion Award, the American Society of Engineers IGTI Best Paper Award (2019, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2005) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers highest honour in the field, The Gas Turbine Award, four times (2019. 2015, 2014, 2010).