On Air with Zephyr

Episode 13: Farming for the future - working towards net zero emissions from agriculture

August 6th, 2024  |  45 mins 12 secs

Agriculture contributes a significant amount to world-wide emissions and agriculture directly contributes to 14% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. A particular pollutant of concern within agriculture is methane. For this month's episode, we were joined by Richard Heath, the CEO of Zero Net Emissions Agriculture CRC (Cooperative Research Centres) to talk to us about emissions from agriculture and how to achieve net zero emissions from agriculture.

Episode 12: MethaneSAT - is THIS the methane moment

June 19th, 2024  |  29 mins 11 secs

This month we were joined by Dr Mark Lunt from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to talk all about MethaneSAT.

Episode 11: Climate change - time to move past fear and towards action

May 2nd, 2024  |  54 mins 52 secs

This month's episode delved into communicating climate action with the University College London Climate Action Unit.
We talk about actions, beliefs, the brain insights of climate action and moving past fear.

Episode 10: Is Sustainable Aviation Fuel ready for take-off in Australia?

March 27th, 2024  |  33 mins 48 secs

The hiatus is over and we're back for Season 2! In this episode we talk to Ed Mason at Jet Zero Australia about Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

Season 2 Trailer

March 21st, 2024  |  1 min 39 secs

We are BACK for Season 2 for more conversations with leading experts in emissions, air quality and climate change.
New episodes are back from next week!

Episode 9: COP28: Climate Action or COP out? (Part 2)

December 21st, 2023  |  42 mins 45 secs

COP28 was held in the UAE in November and December 2023.
Professor Ben Newell returned to give us an exclusive run-down of what happened at COP28.

Episode 8: COP28: Climate Action or COP out? (Part 1)

December 1st, 2023  |  47 mins 26 secs

The Conference of the Parties (or COP) are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties to assess progress in dealing with climate change.

COP28 will convene in the United Arab Emirates in November and December of this year. The conference serves as a possible (and crucial) chance to bring the world together to tackle the climate crisis.

Episode 7: Connecting to Country to combat the climate crisis

November 8th, 2023  |  33 mins 1 sec

Indigenous cultures and traditions are built upon sharing natural resources. Australia’s First Nations peoples have cared for Country for sixty-five thousand years with both innovative and traditional land management practices and play a crucial role in the ecosystems we all inhabit.

The impact of climate change can endanger the survival of indigenous communities both in Australia and worldwide. Indigenous people are and will be uniquely impacted by climate change and with unrivalled knowledge of the land, this must be included in the challenge of combatting climate change.

Episode 6: Going Nuclear: the future of small-scale nuclear power

October 4th, 2023  |  56 mins 39 secs

The idea of nuclear power in Australia has been hotly debated for decades. Today we’re going to talk about whether the new breed of nuclear power plants are part of the solution to the climate crisis and how air quality links into the nuclear energy discussion.

Episode 5: Hunting for Methane Monsters: measurement, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions

September 5th, 2023  |  50 mins 40 secs

Methane is a greenhouse gas emitted from coal mines, oil and gas wells, landfills, wetlands and the agriculture sector. Methane emissions are the second largest contributor to climate change and it is more potent in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2). This means there are potential “quick wins” in targeting methane reductions early in the decarbonisation process.

Satellite data of total-column methane concentration is being used to estimate methane emissions on a global scale. Recent media headlines suggest that methane emissions from the oil & gas and coal mining sectors could be underestimated.

Our pod today is going to explore satellites, methane measurement methods and the future of methane emissions.

Episode 4: London's Killer Smog 70 years on - what have we learnt?

August 1st, 2023  |  54 mins 25 secs

December 2022 marked 70 years since the Great Smog of London which claimed 12,000 lives. This event lead to a significant change in air quality management and control and the emergence of the Clean Air Act of 1956. This month's guest, Dr Gary Fuller, talks about the Great Smog of 1952, amongst other things in his book 'The Invisible Killer: The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution- and How We Can Fight Back'. This podcast revisits the Great Smog of London and the air quality progress that we've made since.

Episode 3: The Australian Direct Air Capture Machine

July 5th, 2023  |  28 mins 11 secs

We are all aware that global emissions will need to be reduced to limit global warming below 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.
Another part of the ‘climate change arsenal’ involves the capture and/or extraction of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
And that’s where this month’s podcast takes us – to direct air capture.

Episode 2: Are we heading for a super El Nino?

June 2nd, 2023  |  27 mins 38 secs

From late 2020 to the middle of 2022, the world experienced a triple La Nina which brought a record amount of rainfall to south-east Australia.
The latest reports suggest that we could now be heading for not only an El Nino but a super El Nino. So what is this? And is this likely to happen?
In this episode we talk to associate professor Dr Andrea Taschetto about all things La Nina and El Nino and whether a super El Nino may happen.

Episode 1: Can science save the planet?

May 5th, 2023  |  40 mins 23 secs

We are all aware of the impact that climate change is having across the world. The facts are there to see.
Sometimes we can get lost in the 'doom and gloom' of these statistics and we spend less time and attention on how the world could effectively tackle the climate crisis. And that's where science comes in.
In this episode we talk to climate scientist Dr Helen Cleugh about how science can save the planet.