‘Plastic has long been the fossil fuel industry’s ‘plan B’’ says Luke Haverhals, co-founder of NFW, a start-up dedicated to creating materials with plants, not oil. Plastic has a stranglehold over our lives, but it’s not good for us, and it also keeps the fossil fuel industry in business. Luke is proposing a solution to this - creating four different materials that can be used to make anything from clothes to shoes to furniture, that can return to the earth at the end of their life. Is this the solution to the plastic crisis?

Guest

Dr Luke Haverhals, CEO of Natural Fiber Welding

Co-hosts

Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher, Our World In Data @_HannahRitchie

Rob Stewart, Co-founder and Director of Sustainability, Koba

Subscribe to Hannah's Substack 'Sustainability by numbers'

Want to get in touch? Email solvingforclimate@gmail.com

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Data centres are not the most glamorous topic of discussion but they are everywhere, powering our modern, digital economy. But they can also power swimming pools, breweries and laundries, as Mark Bjornsgaard tells Hannah and Rob on this episode. 97% of the electricity that goes into a computer comes out as heat. It’s an incredibly inefficient process, and more often than not this heat isn’t used. So, rather than building these data centres in the middle of nowhere, Mark’s company Deep Green is taking computing power to where heat is needed, offering a precious resource to communities across the UK. Could this be scaled up for use across the world?

Guest

Mark Bjornsgaard, Founder of Deep Green

Co-hosts

Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher, Our World In Data @_HannahRitchie

Rob Stewart, Co-founder and Director of Sustainability, Koba

Subscribe to Hannah's Substack 'Sustainability by numbers'

Want to get in touch? Email solvingforclimate@gmail.com

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Despite the inexorable growth of Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Midjourney in the past couple of years, painfully little is known - or at least publicised - about their carbon impact. However, Dr Sasha Luccioni is on a mission to change that. Hannah and Rob talk to her about how she’s trying to maximise the benefits of AI, while minimising its hidden climate costs. Why is AI development such a black box? And could AI be part of the solution to the climate crisis?

Guest

Sasha Luccioni, AI and Climate Lead, Hugging Face

Co-hosts

Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor and Lead Researcher, Our World In Data @_HannahRitchie

Rob Stewart, Co-founder and Director of Sustainability, Koba

Visit Sasha's website and subscribe to Hannah's Substack 'Sustainability by numbers'

Want to get in touch? Email solvingforclimate@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.