Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Hosted by Tom Raftery

Business Technology ScienceInterviews guests

Language

EN-IE

About the show

Climate Confident is for business leaders, climate professionals and policymakers who need to understand what is actually cutting emissions—and what it takes to make those solutions work at scale. Each Wednesday, I speak with the executives, engineers, scientists, founders and policymakers turning climate ambition into measurable progress. Together, we examine the technologies, business models, policies and implementation strategies reshaping energy, transport, industry, supply chains, food and finance. These are not conversations about distant targets, vague pledges or greenwash. They are candid discussions about what is working, what is failing, where the real bottlenecks lie, and how leaders can make better decisions about decarbonisation, resilience, investment and risk. You will hear: Proven approaches to reducing emissions Hard-earned lessons from real-world implementation Analysis of the markets, technologies and policies driving the transition Honest examination of costs, trade-offs, setbacks and unintended consequences Practical ideas for turning climate commitments into action New episodes are published every Wednesday at 7am CET. Subscribers also receive bonus episodes featuring highlights, analysis and emerging themes from across the series. Follow Climate Confident for practical climate solutions, informed debate and the insights you need to turn ambition into measurable progress. Guest suggestions and feedback are welcome at Tom@tomraftery.com . Verification code: socialdb-verify-407bbf5c40

Listen to episodes

60 recent

September 30, 2026Episode 29625 min

The 15-Litre Engine Opens Heavy-Duty Trucking to RNG—Economics Decide What Scales

Get in touch - leave me a message For years, renewable natural gas had a basic problem in heavy-duty trucking: it lacked a 15-litre engine capable of doing the work fleets expect from diesel. That barrier is disappearing. The harder question now is whether the economics and infrastructure stack up. My guest is Scott Brinner , Executive Vice President of RNG Solutions at NoPetro Energy , who works across RNG production, fuelling and fleet deployment. We look at the real decision facing operators: can fuel savings overcome a $70,000–$90,000 truck premium without creating new operational risk? We examine why high-mileage, return-to-base fleets may be the strongest early fit, what fuelling and maintenance infrastructure can quietly derail adoption, and why the climate case depends on feedstock, methane leakage and lifecycle accounting—not the label on the pump. We also test where RNG belongs alongside battery-electric trucking rather than treating every route as the same problem. Listen now to understand where renewable natural gas can genuinely work in heavy-duty trucking—and what fleets need to prove before scaling it. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

September 23, 2026Episode 29535 min

Carbon Removal’s Real Bottleneck Isn’t Technology. It’s Demand.

Get in touch - leave me a message Carbon removal is often framed as a technology problem. But what if the harder constraint is demand, and what if waiting decades to remove a tonne of CO₂ carries a climate cost of its own? My guest is Barclay Rogers , founder and CEO of Graphyte , a durable carbon removal company using agricultural and timber residues in a process it calls Carbon Casting. He brings a practical operator’s view of what it takes to move carbon removal from credible tonnes to meaningful scale. We examine the “time value of carbon”, challenge the assumption that removals should wait until every possible emissions cut has been exhausted, and look at what really constrains scale once the underlying process works. We also get into measurement and verification, project finance, community acceptance, wildfire mitigation, and the uncomfortable question of where biomass carbon removal stops making sense. Listen now to understand what could turn durable carbon removal from an emerging market into infrastructure — and what still stands in the way. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

September 16, 2026Episode 29429 min

Generation Is Not Delivery: The Grid Problem Behind Decarbonisation

Get in touch - leave me a message Building more renewable generation is not enough if the grid cannot carry the electricity to where it is needed. Curtailment, connection queues and delayed infrastructure are turning grid capacity into a climate and competitiveness constraint. My guest today is Niklas Persson , CEO of Grid Integration at Hitachi Energy , with nearly three decades in electrification. We look at what happens as industry, transport and data centres demand more clean power while transmission infrastructure, permitting and grid connections struggle to keep pace. We examine why the grid may need to arrive before demand is certain, how interconnectors can reduce the cost of resilience, and whether energy independence could actually require greater cross-border interdependence. We also explore HVDC, the 600 MW ELMED link between Tunisia and Italy, and a harder policy question: when grid capacity is scarce, who should get connected first? Listen now to understand why electricity generation is only half the decarbonisation challenge, and what has to change if clean power is actually going to reach the businesses, vehicles and communities that need it. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

September 9, 2026Episode 29331 min

Solar, Batteries and EVs Are Turning Delay Into an Investment Risk

Get in touch - leave me a message Solar, batteries and EVs are moving fast enough to change the risk calculus for energy investment. The bigger mistake may now be assuming today’s system, and its customers, will still be there tomorrow. I speak with Professor Ray Wills , Managing Director of Future Smart Strategies, who has been modelling technology adoption curves for years. We examine what accelerating clean-energy deployment means for capital allocation, electricity prices, new gas infrastructure and industrial competitiveness. We look at how batteries can reshape power-market economics before they dominate annual generation, why conventional forecasts may struggle with nonlinear adoption, and what China’s scale in solar, batteries and EVs tells Western leaders about where competitive advantage is moving. The harder question is no longer simply how fast these technologies can grow, but how costly it becomes to plan as though they won’t. Listen now to understand how rapidly changing energy economics could alter the investment decisions businesses and policymakers are making today. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

September 2, 2026Episode 29232 min

Long-Duration Energy Storage Is Ready. The Energy Markets Aren’t

Get in touch - leave me a message Long-duration energy storage is increasingly ready to deploy. The harder problem is that electricity markets still struggle to value what duration actually provides - flexibility, reliability and power when the sun sets, the wind drops and demand peaks. My guest is Julia Souder , CEO of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council . She works across the policy, finance and deployment questions shaping this market, and brings a useful view of what is already happening in places such as China, Australia, the UK, Ireland and the US. We look at why storage is becoming an infrastructure and investment question rather than simply a technology question; what changes when markets pay for four hours of capacity but the grid increasingly needs eight, 12 or 24; and why revenue certainty may now matter more than another technical breakthrough. We also examine what China appears to be getting right about deployment, and why long-duration storage matters for data centres, industrial heat and renewable-heavy grids. Listen now to understand what is really holding back long-duration energy storage at scale, and what could shift the economics, policy and investment case. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

August 26, 2026Episode 29137 min

Buyer Pressure Helped Avoid 2 Million Hectares of Deforestation

Get in touch - leave me a message Two million hectares of avoided deforestation is not a theoretical climate benefit. It is what Priscillia Moulin says can happen when companies stop treating supply-chain risk as somebody else’s problem. ClimateEpisode291.srtSRT Priscillia is Director of Strategy at MosaiX, working on deforestation-free commodity supply chains across palm oil and other high-risk materials. Her work sits at the intersection of traceability, satellite monitoring, supplier engagement and EUDR — where corporate commitments have to survive contact with real plantations, real contracts and real communities. What struck me most was how much leverage buyers can have once they know where products actually come from. We look at why satellite data still needs human verification, how a confirmed deforestation case can sometimes be stopped within days, and why simply dropping a non-compliant supplier may protect a brand while doing very little for the forest. We also challenge the habit of reducing forests to carbon alone. Listen now to understand how traceability and commercial pressure can turn deforestation policy into measurable change on the ground. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

August 19, 2026Episode 29037 min

98% of a Construction Firm’s Emissions Sit in Its Supply Chain

Get in touch - leave me a message At John Sisk & Son, up to 98% of company emissions sit in the supply chain. That changes the decarbonisation problem completely: the biggest levers are often not on the construction site, but in what gets bought. I speak with Keith O’Flynn, Group Supply Chain Sustainability Manager at Sisk, about what that means in practice for one of Ireland’s largest contractors. When concrete and steel dominate purchased-goods emissions, procurement decisions become climate decisions — but thin margins, imperfect carbon data and established standards can slow change. We examine why low-carbon concrete can deliver major embodied-carbon reductions yet still struggle to scale, what makes cleaner steel harder to source, and why spend-based Scope 3 accounting can give companies a dangerously fuzzy picture of their footprint. We also look at the tension between commercial reality and the growing demand from clients for demonstrably lower-carbon projects. Listen now to understand where construction’s Scope 3 emissions really sit — and what has to change if companies are serious about cutting them. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

August 12, 2026Episode 28939 min

Soil Is Becoming Infrastructure, and Finance Is Starting to Notice

Get in touch - leave me a message Soil health is starting to look less like an environmental side issue and more like infrastructure. The real question is whether regenerative agriculture can improve resilience and economics without asking farmers to absorb years of financial pain. My guest is Tim Weaver of Holganix , working at the intersection of soil health, regenerative agriculture and measurable environmental outcomes. We look at the pressures farmers and companies already recognise: volatile fertiliser costs, water scarcity, supply-chain risk, and the growing demand for credible soil carbon claims rather than estimates and greenwash. We examine what changes when soil outcomes can be measured using cores, probes, farm equipment data and satellite imagery; why AI still depends on having enough reliable data underneath it; and whether water may ultimately matter more than carbon. We also challenge the assumption that regenerative agriculture necessarily means lower profitability before the benefits arrive. Listen now to understand why soil is moving from the sustainability conversation into the risk, finance and infrastructure conversation, and what that could mean for farmers, companies and investors. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

August 5, 2026Episode 28844 min

Cheap Solar, Batteries and EVs Are Breaking Fossil Fuel Economics

Get in touch - leave me a message Cheap solar, batteries and EVs are no longer merely cleaner alternatives. Their falling costs are undermining fossil-fuel economics, and leaders may be misjudging the speed of that shift. My guest is Peter Newman , Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and a long-time IPCC contributor whose work has focused on cities, transport a nd automobile dependence. We examine how China’s manufacturing scale is turning clean technology from a policy ambition into mass-market competition, while tariffs and legacy planning risk slowing adoption elsewhere. We look at why cities are the decisive arena: where renewable power, transit, density and affordable housing either reinforce one another or remain disconnected. We also challenge the assumption that EV charging will remain the infrastructure problem, and ask when petrol and diesel networks themselves become the constraint. Listen now to understand how clean-technology economics is changing fossil-fuel risk, and what cities, businesses and policymakers need to get right before the shift accelerates. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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

July 29, 2026Episode 28755 min

Measure First: Stop Spending on the Wrong Carbon Fixes

Get in touch - leave me a message Carbon accounting can send companies straight at the wrong problem. A visible sustainability initiative may feel productive while the real emissions hotspot sits in raw materials, product design or the supply chain. My guest is John Beath, CEO and Chief Technical Director of John Beath Environmental, whose work in lifecycle assessment helps companies test assumptions before they commit money, engineering effort or supplier changes. The stakes are practical: get the system boundary wrong, and a product carbon footprint can misdirect investment rather than improve it. We examine why Scope 3 emissions so often dwarf what happens inside the factory, why bio-based or recycled materials are not automatically the lower-carbon choice, and what leaders miss when durability, reverse logistics or avoided emissions are left out. We also unpack the solar-panel case where the presumed hotspot was silicon—but the decisive intervention was elsewhere. Listen now to understand how better lifecycle assessment can expose the carbon decisions that matter most—and stop your organisation spending heavily on fixes that barely move the needle. Sign up to Climate Confident+ for deep dive analysis of the major climate and energy stories of the day. Support the show 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