Welcome to Part 2 of my interview with Michael Barnard, global energy expert and consultant to the biggest investors on the planet. In this episode we discuss biofuels, long-range shipping, carbon pricing, nuclear reactors, geothermal, grid-scale energy storage and more, and we wrap up with Michael's Short List of Climate Actions That Will Work. There's a ton of insight and wisdom to help you target the real energy opportunities. We also had a ton of fun. Wait until you hear some of Michael's one-liners as he eviscerates projects that fail on both science and economics -- priceless!

Michael lives and breathes energy tech. He is utterly pragmatic, laser-focused on cutting through the nonsense, and backs all his assertions with science and comprehensive, quantified, costed analysis. He is also passionate at debunking the myths and spreading the word about where the real opportunities lie. He shares these messages via his Redefining Energy – Tech podcast, and publishes prolifically in Clean Technica and Forbes Magazine. All of which explains why he's the perfect person to discuss what the future of energy generation will look.

For further reading, you'll find a list of Michael's go-to articles on the FutureBites page, where you can also learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.

See you in the future!

What will the global mix of energy generation look like in 2060? Which technologies are dead ends and which should we be paying more attention to? What will power long range ships and aircraft? What about nuclear?

Who better to answer these questions than Michael Barnard, global energy expert and consultant to the biggest investors on the planet.

Michael lives and breathes energy tech. He is utterly pragmatic, laser-focused on cutting through the nonsense, and backs all his assertions with science and comprehensive, quantified, costed analysis. He is also passionate at debunking the myths and spreading the word about where the real opportunities lie. He shares these messages via his Redefining Energy – Tech podcast, and publishes prolifically in Clean Technica and Forbes Magazine.

All of which explains why I like him so much. Honestly, he's a standout. I endorse him fully and unequivocally: the more organizations and investors who consult Michael the better -- for their balance sheets and for our future.

For further reading, you'll find a list of Michael's go-to articles on the FutureBites page, where you can also learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.

See you in the future!

What does the future of medicine look like when microchips and nervous systems speak the same language?

I asked Dr Elisa Donati, a Senior Scientist working at the cutting edge of neuroscience and engineering at the Institute of Neuroinformatics at University of Zürich and ETH Zürich.

It starts with mimicking the way neurons work in nature. Real neurons are analog, not digital. They process information event-by-event, not in lock-step with computer clocks. They transmit and process large volumes of information in parallel, and dispatch complex tasks using astonishingly little energy.

By re-thinking medical computer chips, Elisa and her colleagues are designing prosthetic hands that let wearers to feel pressure and texture and temperature through their fingertips. They are making cochlear implants with more fidelity, and pacemakers that take cues from our respiratory system as the heart does in nature. They are creating implants that bridge severed spinal chords.

And that’s only the beginning. By improving communications with the autonomic system, they aim to create new ways to manage type 2 diabetes and other hormonal imbalances, obesity, erectile dysfunction, depression and more. Elisa hopes to one day unlock new treatment pathways for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The future of healthcare is an amazing place!

We recorded our conversation outdoors, at a beautiful seaside location at the 2023 NeuroEng Workshop hosted by the International Centre of Neurmorphic Systems, so you may hear the occasional walker or vehicle passing us by :-)

Don't forget to check out all the other interviews and insights on the FutureBites page on my website, where you can also learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.

See you in the future!