When you hear about half-billion-pound heat network projects, you probably think: carbon savings, right?

But what if I told you these massive energy infrastructure schemes are also creating apprenticeships, building local supply chains, and bringing serious inward investment to cities?

Kit Gillibrand from Hermetica Black has spent over a decade turning complex energy projects into reality – from Madagascar to Manchester. And he's got a powerful message: the best energy infrastructure projects don't just decarbonize cities, they transform them.

In this conversation, Kit explains how places like Greater Manchester are using long-term energy contracts to develop local skills, why removing government grants might actually force better decisions, and how energy infrastructure is becoming the foundation for development rather than a cost on top of it.

If you've ever wondered how these enormous projects actually get financed, built, and delivered – or why they're about so much more than just saving carbon – this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen to Carbon Clarity – wherever you get your podcasts.

Things mentioned in the show:

Find Kit on LinkedIn, here.

Find Hermetica Black, here.

The Spark Gap - the difference in cost / kWh of gas and electricity. Useful article from the EcoExperts here.

The HMT Green Book - guidance for evaluating project from .Gov. Explanation provided by Thornton & Lowe here.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) - info from the Government here.

Website: https://www.hut22.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-couling/

Music credits:
March of the Bold by Balloon Planet (via Artlist.io)
Check out their stuff here: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-planet

We talk about sustainability strategies all day long... but why do so few of them actually work on the ground?

I sat down with Mark Hingston from Cushman & Wakefield to explore one of the industry's biggest challenges: the gap between what we say we'll do and what actually happens in asset management.

We dive into:

• ✓ Why corporate sustainability plans fail at the operational level
• ✓ The criticality of data driving institutional investment decisions
• ✓ How embodied carbon is reshaping property portfolios
• ✓ Whether apprenticeships could solve our engineering skills crisis
• ✓ The surprising lessons sustainability can learn from health & safety

If you've ever wondered why your organisation's net zero commitments aren't translating into real change, this conversation will resonate.

The Strategy-Reality Gap: Mark Hingston on What's Really Happening in Asset Management is out now.

🎧 Listen to Carbon Clarity - wherever you get your podcasts.

#Sustainability #AssetManagement #RealEstate #NetZero #CarbonClarity

Things mentioned in the show:

GRESB - International framework used by investors to evaluate and benchmark real estate assets. Find out more here.

UKGBC Whole Life Net Zero Carbon Roadmap - valuable study looking at what needs to happen to meet our Net Zero goals. Find it here.

NABERS UK - Energy rating scheme that was hugely successful in Australia where it was developed, now being used in the UK. Administered by the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). Here.

TCFDs - Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Now replaced by the ISSB's IFRS1 & 2, the TCFDs remain important for UK -based companies. Find out about future plans in the UK here and the replacement requirements, here.

Website: https://www.hut22.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-couling/

Music credits:
March of the Bold by Balloon Planet (via Artlist.io)
Check out their stuff here: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-planet

Following a busy summer and various happenings at the Hut22 HQ, I'm flying solo in this episode of Carbon Clarity!

Instead of a guest, I'm bringing you three book recommendations, all of which made me think differently about climate change.

If you want to know which books to read to make you think differently too, check out the episode!

Things mentioned in the show:

• There is no planet B, by Mike Berners-Lee
• Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake
• Regenesis, by George Monbiot

Website: https://www.hut22.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-couling/

Music credits:
March of the Bold by Balloon Planet (via Artlist.io)
Check out their stuff here: https://soundcloud.com/balloon-planet