Living Planet Folgen

We head to the Canary Islands, where scientists are devising novel ways to squeeze every last drop of moisture out of the air to revive forests destroyed by wildfires. From Morocco, we hear about the potential for building batteries with 'green cobalt'. And, in India, we learn how to turn a flood of flower waste into something useful.

Is burning wood to generate energy sustainable? It is according to the EU's renewable energy strategy — a policy that was meant to help the block reduce fossil fuel usage and lower greenhouse gas emissions. But in order to profit from EU subsidies, more and more coal-fired power plants have switched to burning firewood instead, which is having devastating consequences for Europe's forests.

This week on Living Planet, we hear from climate scientists whose work has been disrupted by the war in Ukraine. We visit an ambitious project in the Netherlands, which shows us that living things really are all around us. And we look into the exploitative practice of biopiracy.