How To Decarbonize Our Energy Systems – Mario Paolone (EPFL)

Guests: Carlos Cordon, Professor of Strategy and Supply Chain Management at IMD; Thomas Hohne Sparborth, Head of Sustainability Research at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.   In this final episode of our series on the circular economy, we explore the role of businesses in driving the shift from linear to circular models. Carlos Cordon discusses how companies can navigate the complex challenges of circularity.    In the second part, Thomas Hohne Sparborth sheds light on the financial sector's view of the circular economy. He addresses the investment opportunities and challenges in circular companies and examines whether this economic model can be profitable for investors.    If you want to learn more about this topic, we invite you to read: -       Reuse or recycle? Designing a business model for the circular economy, by Carlos Cordon and Edwin Wellian, 2021. -       The Circular Business Revolution, by Julia Binder and Manuel Braun, FT Publishing, 2024. 

Guests: Tiffany Abitbol, Assistant Professor at EPFL and Head of the Sustainable Materials Laboratory; Andrea Vezzini, Expert in Industrial Electronics at Bern University of Applied Sciences.   In this episode, we explore two Swiss initiatives paving the way for the circular economy.    Dr. Tiffany Abitbol shares her work on sustainable materials, including mycelium-based packaging, which leverages nature’s designs for environmental benefits.    We also hear from Professor Andrea Vezzini about the CircuBAT initiative, a project dedicated to creating a closed-loop system for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.    If you want to learn more about this topic, we invite you to read: -       “I am continually floored by the versatility of cellulose”, interview with Tiffany Abitbol.  -       CircuBat Project: https://circubat.ch

Guests: Edoardo Chiarotti, Scientific Collaborator at the Enterprise for Society Centre (E4S) and the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne (HEC-UNIL); Dunia Brunner, Project Manager at the Competence Centre in Sustainability (CCD) of the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we explore the concept of the circular economy and why it’s essential in today's political and economic landscape.  Edoardo Chiarotti helps us demystify three myths about the cirucular economy, and offers insights into the state of the circular economy in the European Union.  We then dive into Switzerland's journey towards the circular economy with Dunia Brunner, who provides an overview of Switzerland's status in the effort to shift from the traditional take-make-waste model to a more sustainable, circular approach.  If you want to learn more about this topic, we invite you to read: -       Present and Future of the Circular Economy in Europe, by Edoardo Chiarotti, Thomas Hohne-Sparborth, Felix Philipp, Shuyue Qiao, Boris Thurm, 2024. -       L’économie circulaire. Agir pour une Suisse plus durable, by Dunia Brunner and Nils Moussu, Savoir Suisse, 2023. 

Garen Markarian is a Professor of Accounting at the University of Lausanne. While he believes in the importance of sustainability, Professor Markarian is much more critical of the ESG framework. He argues for a bold stance: the end of ESG, as he sees it causing more harm than good.

Gaia Melloni is an Assistant Professor of Sustainability Accounting at the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we'll discuss greenwashing within ESG reports, and common techniques companies use to influence our perceptions. Professor Melloni will then break down what needs to be done to make ESG more than just a communication tool, and what the future holds for sustainability accounting.

Julia Binder is a Professor of Sustainable Innovation & Business Transformation at IMD. She specializes in the intersection between sustainability and innovation, and was featured on the 2022 Thinkers50 Radar list of management thinkers to keep an eye on. In this episode, we ask her about the current backlash in the US against ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) scores. Professor Binder points out that this political debate is mainly due to a widespread misconception of what ESG really is. She explains what ESG is in practice, the crucial difference between single and double materiality, and discusses future prospects in the world of corporate sustainability. To suggest topics and guests for future episode, to support the podcast or to share your feedback, ⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠.

Glòria Serra-Coch is an Architect and PhD Candidate at EPFL. In this episode, she will explain the key factors in getting people to buy solar panels and other key technologies. Because developing renewable technologies is great. Deploying them at scale is even better. But getting people to embrace them is vital. Most importantly: we'll discuss what needs to be done to drive mass adoption of these great innovations. In the middle of the episode, we'll be joined by Julia Bory, Co-Lead of Innovation at E4S. Julia is presently engaged in Servetia, a project that plays a role in driving mass adoption of renewable technologies in Switzerland (https://servetia-initiative.ch/). She will promptly provide us with an introduction to how it works in practice. To suggest topics and guests for future episode, to support the podcast or to share your feedback, ⁠⁠click here⁠⁠.

Sébastien Houde is an Associate Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we’ll address solutions to 3 main bottlenecks to the energy transition. First, we struggle to attract the amount of capital required for long-term investments in infrastructure. Second, the availability of some crucial materials to build this infrastructure is already under serious threat. And third, companies have trouble recruiting the huge workforce needed to install solar panels and other technologies. Professor Houde will walk us through the concept of carbon pricing, how it could be implemented, and we'll discuss the social aspect of the energy transition in a context of inflation. At the end of the episode, we'll look at the future of the energy sector, which could well go in completely unexpected directions. To suggest topics and guests for future episode, to support the podcast or to share your feedback, ⁠⁠click here⁠⁠.

Mario Paolone is a Professor and Director of the Energy Center at EPFL. In today’s episode, we’ll ask him what's standing on the way to decarbonized energy systems, and what solutions should we prioritize. If we're serious about decoupling economic activity from carbon emissions, then energy conversion, as the main source of CO2 emissions globally, is the most important sector to look into. To suggest topics and guests for future episode, to support the podcast or to share your feedback, ⁠⁠click here⁠⁠.

Sarah Koller is a Researcher and Project Coordinator at the Competence Centre in Sustainability at the University of Lausanne. She studies the psychological aspects of our dependence on the current economic growth paradigm, and explores alternative paradigms. In this episode, she explains why, before we look at economic policy, we must first address people's relationship to the most fundamental existential questions, like the fear of death, and provides a new paradigm to deal with them. To suggest topics and guests for future episode, to support the podcast or to share your feedback, ⁠click here⁠.