You Can’t Photograph CO₂: The Visual Bias Distorting the Energy Transition Artwork

Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

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, technology and sustainability analyst, keynote speaker and former SAP Global VP Tom Raftery speaks with the executives, engineers, scientists, founders and policymakers turning climate ambition into measurable progress. Together, they 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.

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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

You Can’t Photograph CO₂: The Visual Bias Distorting the Energy Transition

February 25, 2026 • Tom Raftery • Season 1 • Episode 261

0:00 | 44:40

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Coal produces 4,000–8,000x more waste per MWh than wind.
But you can’t take a photo of CO₂, so we ignore it.

In this episode, I’m joined by climate futurist and long-term decarbonisation modeller Michael Barnard. We cut through headlines to examine where the energy transition is actually heading - from electrification and maritime shipping to mass timber, industrial relocation, and grid efficiency. The stakes? Whether we build a cheaper, cleaner energy system, or cling to fossil-era assumptions.

You’ll hear why electrifying everything could cut primary energy demand by up to half.
We dig into how 40% of global shipping may simply disappear as fossil fuel trade declines.
And you might be shocked to learn why solar panels and wind turbines create thousands of times less waste per MWh than coal, yet attract far more outrage.

We also explore how cheap renewables are reshaping industrial geography, why Spain’s sunshine could outcompete former gas hubs, and how making electricity cheaper than fossil fuels changes everything.

Interestingly, Seville’s iconic wooden “Setas” isn’t just architecture, it’s proof that mass timber can replace steel and concrete at scale, locking carbon into buildings instead of the atmosphere.

This is climate tech grounded in physics, economics, and human behaviour, not hype.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Michael Barnard reframes decarbonisation, net zero, and the real trajectory of the energy transition.

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