and taking the battle for a cleaner climate into outer space, can the final frontier to help us breathe easier down here on earth? wherever you'rejoining me from around the world can from around the world once again a big hello and a warm welcome to the show. you know, the climate emergency, it's not new. but as globe world leaders gather for this year's united nations climate change conference known as known as copp 28, it's in dubai. we wanted to see how business and innovators are tackling the climate emergency. so we've sent out crews and reporters around the world to find the cutting edge technology that could literally save the planet. we begin on a set of islands off the far north of scotland, where theo leggett is exploring under the sea. bleak but beautiful, this is that pentland firth, the channel that runs between the north coast of scotland and the oak in the islands.

that runs between the north coast of scotland and the oakney islands. it's an area well—known for vicious winds and ripping tides. and that makes it the perfect location for developing new forms of clean energy. this narrow strip of water experiences tremendous title forces every single day, in fact they are some of the fastest tides in the world, and that means that there a tremendous reserve of energy if you can tap into it. and that's what's going on just over there, off the island of stroma. beneath the surface, are for gigantic turbines are four gigantic turbines which are generating electricity, right here. the power generated in the murky waters of the first by the power generated in the murky waters of the firth by these vast turbines is already being sold to the national grid. the past five years has been spent testing the technology, and the company behind them says it's ready for a major expansion. so fraser, tell me what we've got here. we have a 150 tonne, 1.5 mw title turbine.

about seven or eight metres long. it's been out in the sea because it's absolutely festooned with barnacles. we it's absolutely festooned with barnacles-_ it's absolutely festooned with barnacles. ~ . , ~ ., ~ barnacles. we really like her work environment _ barnacles. we really like her work environment unfortunately - barnacles. we really like her work environment unfortunately we - barnacles. we really like her work l environment unfortunately we bring them out they are covered in marine growth, we scrape all the marine growth, we scrape all the marine growth often we get to work. for these past _ growth often we get to work. for these past few years, you're going to the next stage of the project, tell me about it. to the next stage of the pro'ect, tell me about itfi to the next stage of the pro'ect, tell me about it. four mw turbines, we are moving _ tell me about it. four mw turbines, we are moving to _ tell me about it. four mw turbines, we are moving to the _ tell me about it. four mw turbines, we are moving to the next - tell me about it. four mw turbines, we are moving to the next stage . we are moving to the next stage which is a 50 mw array, three mw turbines 2a metre rotor instead of the 18 and it's running on the energy cost and moving onto the next stage of technology. he is energy cost and moving onto the next stage of technology.— stage of technology. he is driving down the cost, _ stage of technology. he is driving down the cost, but _ stage of technology. he is driving down the cost, but at _ stage of technology. he is driving down the cost, but at the - stage of technology. he is driving | down the cost, but at the moment stage of technology. he is driving - down the cost, but at the moment you are feeding energy into the grid of are feeding energy into the grid of a guaranteed price for that? but it's about double what we paid for the next generation of nuclear power for example, that the problem isn't a? it for example, that the problem isn't a? , ., , ., , for example, that the problem isn't a? , ., a? it is a problem. so we come at the moment— a? it is a problem. so we come at the moment we've _ a? it is a problem. so we come at the moment we've got _ a? it is a problem. so we come at the moment we've got 50 - a? it is a problem. so we come at the moment we've got 50 mw - a? it is a problem. so we come at the moment we've got 50 mw in l a? it is a problem. so we come at. the moment we've got 50 mw in the uk which have been consented those arrays are coming online over the

next four or five years. it's really increasing the scale, increasing the number of units to drive down the cost. we need to move down that cost curve, we need to make the power cheaper, make the installations cheaper, make the installations cheaper and get the whole sale price down to the consumer.— down to the consumer. looking on the surface a few — down to the consumer. looking on the surface a few miles _ down to the consumer. looking on the surface a few miles to _ down to the consumer. looking on the surface a few miles to the _ down to the consumer. looking on the surface a few miles to the each - down to the consumer. looking on the surface a few miles to the each of- surface a few miles to the each of orkney, a giant machine is trying to exploit a different kind of sea power, wave energy. energy firm motion is hoping it can can succeed where others have failed.— where others have failed. people have been trying _ where others have failed. people have been trying to _ where others have failed. people have been trying to develop - where others have failed. people | have been trying to develop wave energy machines for a long time now, but what they haven't been able to do is do it economically. what we're doing is a company's were starting small in markets where we can be cost competitive straightaway. so these are offshore industries where we can provide off grid equipment. what can we see in the long—term

future? what can we see in the long-term future? �* , ., ., , future? and we see a of these thins? future? and we see a of these things? that's _ future? and we see a of these things? that's the _ future? and we see a of these things? that's the dream, - future? and we see a of these things? that's the dream, we | future? and we see a of these i things? that's the dream, we are deploying our machines and farms, 10 megabytes, 100 will megawatts. these can be combined with offshore wind, we can intersperse within the offshore wind farm, maximising the utility of that space. the motion project impressive as it undoubtedly is is just one of a whole series of wave and tidal power projects that have been carried out at orkney over the past several years. it have been carried out at orkney over the past several years.— the past several years. it has been set u- as the past several years. it has been set up as a — the past several years. it has been set up as a giant — the past several years. it has been set up as a giant search _ the past several years. it has been | set up as a giant search labouratory for this kind of thing. provides facilities for offshore energy products. facilities for offshore energy roducts. ~ . facilities for offshore energy products-— facilities for offshore energy roducts. ~ . , ., facilities for offshore energy roducts. . , ., ., products. we have cables that fan out across the _ products. we have cables that fan out across the sea _ products. we have cables that fan out across the sea bed _ products. we have cables that fan out across the sea bed and - out across the sea bed and technology company would bring one of their_ technology company would bring one of their machines, plug it into the end of— of their machines, plug it into the end of our— of their machines, plug it into the end of our cable, and then we use the substation behind us to gather data on— the substation behind us to gather data on how that's performing and we

can also— data on how that's performing and we can also monitor the performance in terms _ can also monitor the performance in terms of— can also monitor the performance in terms of electrical output and all the control systems. by demonstrating something here you're reducing _ demonstrating something here you're reducing the risk for investors further— reducing the risk for investors further down the line. we're very good _ further down the line. we're very good at _ further down the line. we're very good at coming up with inventions but we _ good at coming up with inventions but we also have to think about how you make that invention a real part of the _ you make that invention a real part of the energy system. ?5% you make that invention a real part of the energy system.— of the energy system. 7596 of the earth is covered _ of the energy system. 7596 of the earth is covered by _ of the energy system. 7596 of the earth is covered by the _ of the energy system. 7596 of the earth is covered by the sea, - of the energy system. 7596 of the earth is covered by the sea, and| earth is covered by the sea, and energy from waves and tides is reliable. it could play a major role in the voyage to net zero. so from the shores of scotland's beautiful orkney islands to the farmlands of india. farmers have been traditionally been burning the remaining crops which has led to terrible pollution.

air pollution is choking the whole of northern india, it's the same story every winter. what suffocates primarily is the smoke, the farmlands of the region. thanks the fields for the next harvest. but instead of coming poisonous smoke, straw and husks can be processed to make the raw material for paper mills. these fully compostable sheets, and then packaging for goods or cutlery, all of these can be turned into your everyday. in central india's marina district, this company come across, is doing

that. what is the story behind this? what is left on the barley plant is the barley struck, so this straw has been used to create this packaging, and it also benefits the environment because it's not no plastic has been used. , , because it's not no plastic has been used. , . ., ., , used. they say their technology has heled cut used. they say their technology has helped cut water _ used. they say their technology has helped cut water usage _ used. they say their technology has helped cut water usage and - used. they say their technology has helped cut water usage and heating| helped cut water usage and heating in the pumping machines. the boards can be crafted without chemical binders. the government has been quite keen to promote companies that “p quite keen to promote companies that up cycle these agricultural, millions of tonnes of agricultural waste. the problem is, creating additional value forfarmers. they are addressing this by paying more to farmers, collecting the leftovers takes time. a burden especially for small farmers. this was one of the

first few in the area to stop burning his fields. translation: $5 burning his fields. translation: m , ., ., , translation: as small farmers we don't have the _ translation: as small farmers we don't have the resources _ translation: as small farmers we don't have the resources and - translation: as small farmers we j don't have the resources and money to transport the waste, so we burn it. but if someone picks up the waist and pays us a good amount, it is good for everyone. he waist and pays us a good amount, it is good for everyone.— is good for everyone. he has an ambitious _ is good for everyone. he has an ambitious target _ is good for everyone. he has an ambitious target of _ is good for everyone. he has an ambitious target of up - is good for everyone. he has an ambitious target of up cycling, l is good for everyone. he has an i ambitious target of up cycling, not just about creating products but also a market to sell them. entrepreneurs should not build this industry just because just on the emotional value of creating a sustainable world. the big challenge, of course, is of the market itself. they have to compete with the existing market. for example, they have to compete with the plastic industry, single use plastic products.

for instance, these products are cheaper. they have all, they are already in for crop waste. high transportation and storage costs pose a major hurdle in scaling up the business, grass says. a decentralised model could be the answer to startup micro factories, which can be set up in the village areas itself so that the cost of transportation is almost nothing. farmers can simply take it from theirfarms, put we it into this decentralised factory where we can make these products, government has been rolling out subsidies to set up similar factories, but for india to find a solution for its massive crop burning problem, a lot more ambition would be needed. archana shukla, bbc news, modena, madhya pradesh. archa na shukla there. so changing farming practices can help tackle global warming as well as pollution. did you know that food production, it's responsible for around one

quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. so bringing down those emissions from farming, it's an important step towards achieving net zero. ai artificial intelligence. it's been lauded as one way to help achieve this by helping agriculture become more sustainable. asjoshua thorp now reports. on a farm in kent in southern england, an army of robots are picking the last of the season's strawberries, making sure only the ripest and best shaped berries get plucked. once picked, the fruit is packaged and sent to supermarkets across the country. the robot has two robotic arms and each arm has two cameras that see in colour on its end. and those cameras find ripe berries and they allow the robot very dexterously to pick those berries. when we picked each berry, we transfer it to this inspection system, which allows us to check quality and therefore place it into a punnet or if it's

defective in some way to discard it. the robots are the brainchild of duncan robinson, the ceo of cambridge based robotics firm dogtooth technologies. the harvesting process is almost entirely automated, with humans only intervening if there are any safety issues or to take the robots back to storage. the fruit picking industry in the uk currently relies heavily on migrant workers who are becoming harder and harder to recruit. we can reduce food waste by eliminating recruitment risk and also help to mitigate the environmental footprint of large numbers of migrant seasonal agricultural workers travelling increasingly long distances to our farms. robotic automation also provides some other environmental benefits. one of the most interesting is the possibility of using the data gathered by our robots to help predict future yields. and that makes a very big difference to supply chain efficiency. it helps supermarket time

promotions, for example, to coincide with gluts in production, and that can help to reduce food food waste. food waste. these robot fruit pickers help farms like this one in southern england, reduce wastage and cut emissions that arise from fruit production. and these robots are getting more and more sophisticated. they're able to detectjust the right level of ripeness in the fruit and any small defects. and this is just one example of how artificial intelligence is helping farming and agriculture become more efficient and more sustainable. over in california's central valley, a favourable climate helps grow plenty of tomatoes. but in recent years, unpredictable weather patterns, such as heat waves and wildfires, have posed massive challenges. to help address this, the largest tomato processor in the world, the morning star company, has been trialling new crop monitoring technology provided by the us based firm eos data analytics. the platform uses satellite imagery

and artificial intelligence to help solve problems like wastage and over irrigation. we provide everything, let's say, from vegetation indices to weather patterns. weather parameters that tells you, all right, this is where you have the problem. this is what the problem is all about, and this is what you need to do about it in order to either save the crop or increase your yield down the line. by using ai powered crop monitoring. the morningstar company say they have managed to cut irrigation costs on their tomato farms by up to 15%. these types of ai platforms are being used increasingly across the agricultural industry, and they have the potential to become an increasingly powerful tool in the fight against climate change. all the companies, even governments, ministries, ngos, when they reach out to us, they're always looking for solutions to that revolt, let's say around the word sustainability, how we can go about introducing ai, how we can go about

green practices, right? less, lets say, providing more insightful analytics, more data driven decisions without going out there in the fields. we have just, i think touched upon a small piece of what i can do. piece of what ai can do. the challenge that remains with the use of artificial intelligence in agriculture is one of scaling up data is still relatively scarce and robots are costly to produce. but with the growing need to reduce the environmental footprint of farming, ai innovation is rapidly gathering pace and it's surely just a matter of time into it starts to bear fruit on a much wider scale. joshua thorp, bbc news in kent, southern england. so as we've seen so far, some of the biggest innovations are around reducing how much carbon dioxide we release. but there's also a wave of technology which aims to actually take the carbon dioxide already there out of the atmosphere. adrian murray has been

to iceland to find out more. trillions of tonnes of greenhouse gases have already been pumped into the atmosphere. but what if we could put some of that carbon back where it came from? this otherworldly landscape is 30 kilometres from iceland's capital, reykjavik. it's home to a project capturing co2 from the air and turning it into stone. we're getting a little closer now. and that steam just ahead is coming from the nearby geothermal power plant. and it's this that's supplying clean energy for those carbon sucking machines that we're about to see called orcutt. machines that we're about to see. called orcutt, the plant is owned by swiss firm clime works and consists of eight container sized modules. this is the world's first direct air

capture and storage plant in existence, so it's the only one that's operating on a commercial level. it is a plant that captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. fans draw air across a special filter which separates the c02. it's then heated to 100 degrees and sent to a processing hall before it's piped across. department card fix for storage. direct air capture is expensive technology. these machines need round the clock power to remove 4000 tonnes of co2 a year. that's similar to the emissions of 900 petrol cars, so not an awful lot. this is the first of its kind, but it is here to prove a point that this is commercially viable. now our plan is to scale up because we need to be capturing at gigaton levels by 2050. and in order to do so, we need to start now. close by, a new

installation is being built called mammoth. it's almost ten times bigger. big tech firms are among the clients and individuals who sign up online. the climeworks insists this is no silver bullet. we're not here to replace the reduction of emissions. we need to be active also in cleaning up all the mess that we've been making since the industrial revolution. all these pipes zigzagging around and silver domes. it really looks like something from a different planet. so what makes this place well suited for carbon storage? well, the answer lies in its geology. iceland sits on the boundary at the north american and eurasian tectonic plates. that means it's prone to lots of geothermal and volcanic activity. we're heading inside an ancient lava tunnel formed when magma cooled. all of this rock they surround us here is so called basalt.

you can see here the basalt has so many tiny pores with volcanic eruptions. there comes a lot of gases up with it and they become bubbles. and if the lava cools down before that can happen, they get stuck in it. iceland has an abundance of basalt bedrock, and that's what makes this area a good store for gases and liquids deep underground. and that brings us back to that captured c02. it's piped across to these space age domes where another firm carb fix it's piped across to these space age domes where another firm, carbfix, pumps it two kilometres underground. so here is one of our injection well. - this captured gas dissolved in water goes into this injection well. - so basically, it's sparkling water with sort of geothermal flavor, i if you will. when the fizzy water meets the basalt, it reacts to form solid calcium carbonate, locking away the carbon for thousands, if not

millions of years. we're fighting climate change by taking co2 that's been captured from the emissions or from the atmosphere injected into basalt formations where it turns to stone in two years and is out of the picture forever. so here we've got sort of samples showing the basalt before and after. so it's a piece of basalt, lots of pores, i can see. and then this one looks pretty solid. it looks like it's all filled in. yes, exactly. cofix has ambitious plans. it wants to take co2 off the hands of industries in europe. ship it here to iceland and store it there. we will be taking the technology to the megaton scale. we have the one joint atmosphere, so cross—border collaboration is vital. is there any danger that countries that are bigger emitters will shirk their responsibility and just ship their co2 to iceland? i don't look at it that way.

it's rather the hard to abate sector like cement steel where the emissions are not coming from the energy supply itself, but from the production process. capping our emissions won't be enough alone to slow global warming. un climate experts warn that will also need to remove billions of tonnes of carbon every year. dozens of new technologies are trying to do that, but so far these efforts are tiny. we both need to mitigate as much as we can and then we need these removal techniques. we both need to mitigate as much as we can and then we need these removal techniques. but they're definitely not at that scale yet. there are many limitations. they're mostly about land use, scalability, price, resource use as well. carbon removal may seem like a moonshot, but if it can be scaled up, it could yet prove to be a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change.

adrian murray reporting there from iceland. so from capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to, well, going beyond, could space be the final frontier in the fight against global warming? well, my next guest is at the cutting edge of what's going on above the planet to save it. he's the director general of the norwegian space agency. christian houghley hansen, a real pleasure having you on the show. and kristian, let's just start with this. the basics, i mean, how is spacex facilitating and helping the fight against climate change? first of all, the space industry, we're supplying the sensor, the satellites, and they orbit the earth. so they have a great view from up there and they are able to get a more holistic overview. they actually take pictures of the earth. they can take pictures of agriculture. they can use what we call spectral cameras in order to look at what is actually in the ground. they can monitor the moisture and drought. so there are a lot of different data

and service that you can provide from those satellites. and christian, do you think the space sector is doing enough to collaborate with other industries for a for an integrated approach towards tackling climate change? i think there's a lot to gain. i think it's safe to say that the space industry tends to be kind of introvert. we're very happy about providing the technology and looking at all the nice imagery and so forth, but we really have a gap to close and that goes towards the the industry in order how to monitor their contribution and their impact on climate. let's talk about political engagement because again, christian, i'm just wondering here, do you think governments are ignoring the the untapped potential of the the space industry when they're executing policies for a sustainable future? i don't think they're ignoring it, but i think they may be ignorant towards it. when i talk to other heads of agencies in europe or the united states or other places, the awareness from from the politicians

is not always there. we really need to make sure that they look at space as something that gives them added value in order for them to achieve their goals. the current trajectory. it doesn't bode well. i mean, bbc analysis has found that on about a third of the days in 2023, the average global temperature was at least one and a half degrees celsius higher than pre—industrial levels. and i'm just wondering, christian, what's the space industry learnt by observing the change in the globe's temperature? i think space has been a significant and and really essential contributor to to acknowledging the facts that you are pointing to, the fact that we can monitor the entire globe, realising that as the changes to the climate is not only at the equatorial and around the mediterranean, the hot places on earth, but is really happening at the poles as well. we see in norway, at svalbard and our say ocean areas in the high

north that this is happening at an even faster rate. at svalbard, we have monitored up to four and five degrees above average temperature, which is very, very substantial. well, on that point, christian holy hansen, the big boss christian houghley hansen, the big boss of the norwegian space agency, thanks for your time. really appreciate it. and i'll check in with you soon. all right. well, that's it for this week's show. i hope you enjoyed it. don't forget, you can keep up with the latest on our global economy on the bbc website or the smartphone app. of course you can also follow me on. you can get me at bbc aaron. thanks for watching. i'll see you soon. bye bye.

hello there. well, it's been a freezing start to the weekend, hasn't it? saturday morning we had temperatures down at minus eight in cumbria. meanwhile, in adam, also in cumbria, temperatures only reached one degree celsius during the afternoon. now at the moment we've got clear skies with scotland and the bulk of england and that's allowing a widespread frost to develop. those temperatures continuing to drop away. and so it's a very cold one. the temperatures probably in the countryside getting down to about minus six, minus seven again, this time northeast scotland having some much colder weather. you'll notice the frost melting away, though, across northern ireland, wales and south west england as we head into the first part of sunday. the reason for that is we've got cloud moving in to the west associated with this next area of low pressure and it's that cloud that really will lift the temperatures as it moves in off the atlantic. and so some damp weather moves into northern ireland. eventually we get some damp weather pushing into wales and south west england. the rain quite persistent, but probably not all that heavy. however, i think it really will be very cold. ok, towards the end of the day. you might see temperatures climb

to about nine or ten in the west, but that's at the end of the day, a very slow rise in temperatures. and for most of the day, we're a lot lower than that. i think scotland and a good part of central and eastern england should hang on to some bright or hazy sunny spells for most of the day. now through sunday night, it's a bit more rains come for northern ireland, england and wales. our area of low pressure moves into the continent. we then get some cold air coming back in to the north of the uk. showers turning increasingly to snow across modest hills in northern scotland and still a lot of cloud further south. and for most, monday will be another cold day. temperatures quite widely again, around six or seven degrees below average for the time of year. and this cold weather looks like it's going to last to me a long time. at least a week, could be two weeks. why do i say that? well, even into next weekend, the weather pattern is very blocked with high pressure dominating across the arctic and the greenland area. and we continue to see these cold north to north—easterly winds. could there be some snow? well, we'll certainly see some snow in the showers affecting parts of scotland. but there are scenarios

where weather systems could burn into the cold air and we see rain turned to snow elsewhere. problem is, the detailsjust aren't there at the moment. so it's a difficult week ahead for us forecasters. what i do know is it is going to stay cold throughout with some sharp frosts around and temperatures really struggling well below average. watch out for a mix of rain and maybe a bit of snow at times, too.

live from washington. this is bbc news. the faces of israeli women and children on their way home — after the second round of hostage releases. celebrations in the west bank, as palestinians prisoners, held in israeli jails, are freed and, for those hostages released on friday — the reunions, they'd been waiting for. hello i'm carl nasman. after 50 days in captivity,

a second group of hostages have been released from gaza. the israeli government says — six adult women and seven children were released and are now making their way home. among them is 9—year—old irish—israeli emily hand. emily, was initially thought to have been among those killed in the attack on kibbutz be eri on october 7. she was at a sleepover at a friend s house on the kibbutz when she was abducted without any family. 12—year—old hila rotem, she was taken captive with her mother raya rotem, who remains a hostage in gaza. an accountant shiri weiss, aged 53 and her 18—year—old daughter, noga weiss, were released. along with 21 year old maya regev. adi shoham aged 38, who was kidnapped from kibbutz be eri during a visit with five other members of the family. this is her son — 8—year—old nave. and her 3—year—old daughter gani yahel. the hostages were released

in exchange for a group of palestinian prisoners.