a murder investigation is under way after a human torso was discovered wrapped in plastic in woodland near manchester. more than 150 people have been rescued from flood waters in and around sydney — as more people prepare to leave their homes. the area's main dam supplying most of the city's drinking water has started overflowing. now on bbc news, talking business. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly with me, aaron heslehurst. let's go and take a look at what's on the show. the renewables race is on. after more than a decade of massive investment in green energy, china, it's way ahead of the pack. so, can europe and america catch up? as renewables become the single largest source of energy in the world, we're going to be asking a top panel of global guests how the green industries in the global north are faring in the chase

to draw even with china. plus, later in the show, it's meat, but it's grown from animal cells in a laboratory. more than a decade after unveiling the first lab—grown hamburger, i'm going to be asking its inventor how business is going and if lab—grown meat can become the new norm. wherever you'rejoining me from around the world, once again, a big hello and a warm welcome to the show. you know, the global energy supply, it's going green at a powerful rate. in fact, by next year, the iea, the international energy agency, predicts that renewables will overtake coal to become the largest source of power in the world. for most of recent history, the world economy, it's been shaped by which countries control the supply of oil, gas and coal. so, will china's massive lead in renewables reshape the power dynamics of global energy? let me just put this

into some context. in the early 20005, europe was the leading solar panel—maker in the world, but then the chinese state pumped billions into that industry. according to the latest report from the iea, china, it'll account for 60% of all of the world's new renewable energy that will come online by 2028. that's four times more than the european union and five times more than the united states. in solar, the largest generator of renewable power. china, it's going to continue counting for 80 to 95% of the global supply chain. that's according to the iea. that's despite concerns over forced labour in that supply chain. at one point, america was blocking imports of some solar panels from china, though that seems to have stopped more recently. the ambition for america and europe to catch up, oh, boy, it is there. in 2022, america's president biden, he announced his inflation reduction act, which burntjust over

$282 billion of investment in renewables in the first year. and europe, it's recently committed to raising the amount of energy that comes from renewable sources to just over 40% by 2030. meanwhile, china's lead is giving its own economy a big bounce, contributing $1.6 trillion more than any other sector to the country's economic growth. so the clean energy sector is now the largest driver of economic growth in china. last year, it made up 40% of the expansion of gdp for china. so developing clean energy is no longer a business for china just to realise climate goals, it also solidifies china's role at the heart of global supply chains. but while china enjoys growth from the industry, in europe and america, there are growing concerns about oversupply and subsidies. europe, it's just starting to open

investigations into some contracts given to chinese companies because of those subsidies involved. and over the pond, well, here's what the american treasury secretary, janet yellen, recently had to say. china's overcapacity distorts global prices and production patterns, and hurts american firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world. challenges for individual firms can lead to concentrated supply chains, negatively impacting global economic resilience. and these are concerns i increasingly hearfrom government counterparts in industrialised countries and emerging markets, as well as from the business community globally. so, that's the view from inside the american government. but what about the renewables industries themselves? well, i caught up with the president and the chief executive of the american council

on renewable energy to find out. ray long, good to have you with us. and ray, let me start with this, because janet yellen raised concerns about china flooding the market with subsidised solar panels. so i've got to ask you, do you agree with that? what do you say to that? aaron, thanks for that important question. the bottom line here in the united states is you're seeing major shift in supply chain right now. you're seeing manufacturing ramp up in the united states, at the same time that we need to continue to import panels in order to meet the demand that we have here in the united states for the projects that we have to be built across all 50 states. so there's a balance to be struck here between imports and ramping up manufacturing. is it too little too late, ray? if you look at what has been proposed now in the united states, we have over 2,000 gigawatts of projects that are just waiting for approval across all 50 states right now. most people don't know

what a gigawatt is. it's an incredible amount of power. 2,000 is a huge number overall. if you wanted to break that down, if all those projects get built, that would be enough power to electrify a third of the households in the united states overall. and ijust wanted to put that out there to say that the demand that we have here and just the projects that have been proposed in the united states is enormous. as those continue to get built, the manufacturing that's taking place in here, here in the united states, will help to meet that demand overall. so when you ask if we can catch up, the answer is we're doing it now and you're going to see that more play out over the next couple of years. ray, as we know, it is a big election year. and donald trump, i mean, let's be frank, he's traditionally been a bit of a sceptic about renewables, like saying things like, "wind energy kills birds".

ray, i've got to ask you, what happens to the renewables industry in the united states if he returns to the white house? i think the thing that we're seeing that has bipartisan support overall are things like job creation, manufacturing, investments in communities and all that. in the last two years, you know, $91 billion have been invested in just manufacturing alone, and most of that's in renewable energy projects overall. i don't suspect that republicans, as a group, are going to embrace renewables overall, but certainly the impact that these are having in red and rural districts overall can't be ignored. my hope is that, you know, over time, as these things continue to deliver on affordable, reliable and clean for customers across the united states, that it becomes something that's supported in a bipartisan fashion across the board. ray, the statistics show that china, it is way ahead of the game than anyone else. in fact, it's likely that china is in a different

league all together. so, are you worried that we might become overreliant on chinese energy? we're seeing right now, for a whole variety of reasons, including in the united states, with the major increase in demand that we're experiencing from al, from data centres, from electrification of buildings, to adoption of electric vehicles and all those different things, just an incredible and unprecedented opportunity for investment here, for manufacturing here, for all those different things. and, yes, we have an international market right now and an international supply chain overall, butjust remember, when things have been hard in the united states and elsewhere in the past, the united states people, for the most part, have rallied across the board. back in the depression, you know, you saw the empire state building built in just over a year. that was a remarkable thing. in the �*60s, you sanfk announce the moon shot programme overall,

and just eight years later, the united states beat the rest of the world and put the first person on the moon with apollo 11. and there are countless other examples like that, overall. the united states�* people are in the process of pulling together now at an unprecedented time, at least in my lifetime, to do these things, do onshore manufacturing, to invest in new technologies, to dominate the technology industry with things like ai worldwide, and i think you'll see that same american spirit playing out in this regard as well. well, on that point, ray long, the big boss of the american council on renewable energy, thanks for your time and we'll talk to you soon. thank you, aaron. it's notjust in the united states. europe, it was once way ahead of the rest of the world in renewables. so, what now that china has pulled ahead? i decided to speak with the director of the european renewable energies federation. doerte fouquet, a real pleasure having you back on the show. and doerte, let me start with this, what kind of support does

the industry need to compete, and certainly to compete with the likes of china? that's at the moment the question of the day for the european solar industry, especially concerning manufacturing. we do have now more than 80%, i think, coming of all panels coming to europe. the situation has deteriorated even further since the americans have put into action the ira act. so we do have an overwhelming problem. doerte, i'm wondering, do you think there should be some the subsidies continue on china, and subsidies on various levels. what we really need in europe is the willingness to want an industry, a manufacturing industry. that is number one. we do have signals of that. we have learned our lesson in during the war, which is continuing

in a way, what that means we come back to that, but we need roll—out targets for manufacturing in europe. we need a swift application of what we in europe called a net zero industry act, we need facilitating eight application for new products, which would be under this industry act, possible. we also need what the council says, a swift agreement on the so—called sustainability due diligence directive, about human and labour issues and environmental issues, which have a problem in china especially in some regions. in my view, we need to together, at least for some time, with the introduction of new countervailing measures.

doerte, i'm wondering, do you think there should be some form of protection against these imports of solar panels coming in from china, at least while the european manufacturers try to play catch—up? unfortunately, i have to say the situation is so, in a way, dramatic. it's even dramatic for china, because there is a constant overproduction in china. also, due to the fact that one of the big markets, united states, there is a problematic entrance. so that is not good for the... there is no stable industry, economy in china either. in retrospective, we've had the countervailing measures over many years, from 2018, and that is still on going further, but we need that but not alone. we had it in the past as a single measure, is ridiculous. in this context of further measures we have, we have this temporary crisis framework for state aid,

first solar technologies. as i said, we get the net zero industry act, we do have roll—out plans. we might think about buying, the quantity existing of still living domestic producers, but in that context, we cannot be blamed, —— we cannot be blind. doerte, are you concerned about these reports of alleged forced labour in china's solar panel supply chain? yes, iam. and it's fairly broadly established. i can only...only what makes myself a little bit bitter, if they have overproduction, i could well imagine that the temporary close in that specific region with the indigenous people, the production which they have too much anyhow, and then pretend that the value chain and our moral and human rights issues are no longer, they would deny them. but anyhow, they would

say, "it's closed. "it's a closed issue." that's what makes me bitter. and let me end on this. doerte, can europe catch up with china? i would say we can at least have a third of our capacity produced by ourselves by 2030 if you make it right. and i do not think we need to reach an attack situation of 100% made in europe. that would be the end of any trade. it's not about that, but we could then start... we had very good, we had a much better situation of negotiating real climate issues with china in the years around the 2008, 2010, and then it became a confrontational issue. and if we have more power in saying we are capable and we can leapfrog again in having the best technology, why not? we have good engineers in europe, as well. then we can start renegotiating and helping china also to... ..also to ease their subsidy

situation, in a way, and find their own market in china, further. they do a lot. well, on that point, doerte fouquet, the boss of the european renewable energies federation, great to see you again and thanks for your time. thank you so much. bye— bye. well, my next guest runs europe's leading solar marketplace, 0tovo. so, they're one of the biggest users of solar panels in europe and the uk. i caught up with its big boss. andreas thorsheim, a real pleasure having you on the show. and let me start with this because, andreas, wejust heard from the director of the european renewable energy federation who says that chinese subsidies are creating a real issue for the european industry. do you agree with her? certainly there are enormous amounts of panels already in storage in europe, and there's more coming in on ships every single day. we're looking at oversupply that is enormous. the prices of panels dropped between 35% and 50% in all european countries last year.

so, obviously, this is a challenge for everyone who is manufacturing or owning panels in warehouses. but for the consumer, it's excellent news. no—one has ever gotten as cheap solar energy as european consumers are getting this year. andreas, i've got to ask you, how many of the solar panels that you sell and install, how many of them come from china? i estimate that about 9096 _ are manufactured by chinese-owned companies and 75% are produced in mainland china. andreas, we've certainly seen just what happens when europe becomes dependent on energy sources from potentially hostile foreign powers. do you think this all needs to be de—risked? i think you want the ability to make your own panels, you want the ability to make your own batteries. i think that makes sense from a security perspective, both energy security and national security. now, the difference between solar panels and gas is that if your exporter, the chinese in this regard, become your enemy,

the panels will last, they'll keep making energy for 30 years, whereas if your gas exporter becomes your enemy, they turn off the gas immediately and you get cold immediately. so we have more response time with renewables than we do with fossil fuels. but that doesn't mean that we can go to zero. we absolutely need a local manufacturing value chain in europe. how much of a spike did you see in interest in business after the russian invasion of ukraine? the demand for solar panels tripled from 2021 to 2022, almost exactly pinpointed to the point, the time where the energy prices responded. so, first in scandinavia, then in northern europe, and then southern europe last. but pretty much everywhere uniformly demand 3x, and we saw a bumper year in �*22. a lot of that followed on to 2023 and hopefully we can keep it up in 202a. andreas, when we talk about china being in the lead in terms of renewables,

i mean, if we use the analogy of a horse race, china's notjust a couple of horses in front, it does feel like that china's on a completely different racetrack. can europe catch them? the chinese have lapped us several times. there are single companies that in 2023 expanded their production capacity by as much as europe consumes. a single company. they are... they are miles and miles ahead. it's just incredible, the advantage they have in size, in competence, in technology. and it's feeding into lower prices and, to be honest, pretty decent equipment. i mean, they are the leading edge of this industry. and there's a long stretch to cover before we're anywhere close to the chinese in modules. 0n batteries, it's still early in the game. and batteries, we can have an honest fight with the chinese companies, i think, here in europe.

well, on that point, andreas thorsheim, the big boss of 0tovo, really appreciate your time and thanks forjoining me. thank you. you know, there was a time in the last few decades when solar energy or wind energy were largely seen as power supplies that would, well, that they'd be on the fringe, that our energy was inevitably going to still come from coal, oil or gas. but as we've discussed, next year, renewables, they will be the number one source of energy in the world. meanwhile, 11 years ago, a new green idea was also being unveiled. in 2013, dr mark post revealed the mosa meat burger made from cells grown in a lab rather than from a slaughtered animal. the product promised to be kind to animals and kinder to the planet, as meat production is one of the world's largest causes of carbon dioxide emissions. so, nearly 11 years later, how's it going? dr mark post, really great to have you with us. and, mark, let me start with this, because on the show we've been

talking about renewables and we have seen renewable energies move from the fringes to the mainstream of energy supply. so i want to start with this, do you think your lab—cultured meat could do the same thing with food, go mainstream? the two major impacts on environment are energy and livestock agriculture. so if we want to reach those paris agreement goals, we need to work on both. and i'm very happy to see that this has been very successful at the energy front and i think this will be the same for meat. mark, paint us a picture here. what kind of environmental impact does normal meat production have on our planet? it's unimaginable. the fao has determined, back in 2011, that 15% of all greenhouse gas emission comes from livestock agriculture. and in addition to that, there's a lot of water usage. 0ne kilo of beef requires up

to 15,000 litres of fresh water. and there's a lot of land use obviously, as well. 80% of all our agricultural land is used to feed animals instead of human beings. well, indirectly human beings, but with the intermediate of feeding animals. so if you can save a lot of that, it has a tremendous impact. everyone sitting here with bated breath is dying to see what's underneath the cloche. so can you do the honours and lift the lid on your creation? it's been 11 years, so i've got to ask you, are you selling the burgers today? no, we are not, unfortunately. so, it's taking longer than we had hoped. and the reason for that is that... well, there are two, actually. one is regulatory approval that now kind of is shaping up, but it's still not at the level where we need it to be. so a couple of products now have been approved, mostly chicken, by the way. and the other is scaling up.

scaling up is still quite expensive. and that's because of some of the ingredients that are from pharmaceutical grade. they come from the medical technology, and they are still just expensive. how are you surviving financially? fortunately, we are backed up by investors who have a long horizon, so they don't. .. they know that this is going to take long, that there are setbacks, and they knew that from the very beginning. and we also made it clear to them this is not going to give you a return of investment within the next five or ten years. this is going to take longer. so, fortunately, we have a lot of those people with vision and also with the patience to wait for return of their investment. also because they think it'sjust a good idea for environment and for humanity. you know, i've got to ask you, when do you think your product

will come to market? well, depends on where you are in the world. so, in europe, the first two years, it's not going to happen. europe takes a year and a half for it to get through the full approval mode. uk might be a little bit quicker. singapore, for sure, is quicker. so we are hoping within the next one to two years have something on the market at least that people can taste and try. mark, have you had any pushback, any pushback at all from mark, iam mark, i am kind mark, iam kind of mark, i am kind of wondering, are some parts of the world more willing to have alternative forms of meat? yes. singapore is the prime example. they want in 2030 produced 30% of their own food, whereas currently it is less than 0.5%. they are really incentivised to make these happen. they are at the forefront of getting

the regulation. mark, have you had any pushback, any pushback at all from the traditional meat industry? we are seeing that now. actually, for the first time this year or maybe mid last year, we start to see pushback, especially in the us where a couple of states want to ban this from the market and italyjust has banned it from the market, which is doubtful whether this is legal or not, because, you know, it has not even been assessed by the eu yet. but there is gradually some pushback from, you know, the meat lobby — and the agricultural lobby, as we have experienced in the last couple of months, is extremely strong and they are trying to protect that. and, you know, that's theirfull right in a democracy. however, we need to realise that they don't really have a solution for the problem. and mark, let me end on this,

five to seven years�* time, how widespread do you see your meat products? for all of us, we need to hope that this is very, very widespread. we cannot continue with livestock agriculture as we have done over the last 50 years. it's not sustainable and it will not provide enough food for nine billion people. so we all have to hope that this is a desirable and useful alternative so that we can all keep eating meat without the consequence for the environment. well, on that point, dr mark post, a real pleasure having you with us. good luck with everything and we'll check in with you soon. thank you, and have a great day. 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 the global economy on the bbc website or the smartphone app. of course, you can also follow me on x. x me, i'll x you back. you can get me @bbcaaron. thanks for watching. i'll see you soon. bye— bye. hello there.

a very blustery weekend of weather right across the uk, with gusts of wind widely of a0 to 50mph. gales towards western coasts, perhaps locally severe gales. it's all because our next named storm is with us today, storm kathleen. that area of low pressure has been deepening over the last 2a hours or so. you can see this beautiful swirl on the satellite picture here, that lovely curl of cloud, a very strong jet stream. that low is gradually pushing northwards as we head through the next day or so. a real tight squeeze on the isobars, particularly for these irish sea coasts, but because it's a southerly to south—westerly wind, we're also dragging up some very warm air, so quite a dramaticjump in temperatures across parts of scotland and we could even see 22 degrees celsius across parts of east anglia later on this afternoon, making it the warmest day of the year so far again. we've seen that rain clear away from scotland through the morning. there will be some blustery showers here. another line of showers gradually pushing eastwards and gradually easing. a lot of sunshine and plenty of dry weather out towards

eastern areas of england. a very windy day towards these irish sea coasts. there could be some gusts of wind of up to 70mph. it's enough to cause some transport disruption and, of course, some very large waves, as well. but some very warm air — temperatures well above the seasonal average. 0vernight tonight, there will still be some blustery showers around. in fact, there could even be a rumble or two of thunder. it does stay very windy too, but because the cold front will have cleared its way eastwards, we will also see some slightly fresher conditions into tomorrow morning. but temperatures still mild for this point in april, still double figures towards the south. tomorrow, another day of sunshine and some showers. again, some of those showers could be heavy and thundery, they could even start to form in lines at times. all of this is pushing further southwards and eastwards. lots of dry weather too, but staying very windy. gusts of wind strongest out towards western areas of scotland. these will be the day's temperatures. as you can see, they are lower than today's, but still mild for the time of year — generally 12 to 17 degrees. it's not quite it either for the unsettled conditions.

another deep area of low pressure will be spinning its way northwards and eastwards as we head through monday and tuesday. i think monday could be dry for many eastern areas, but we'll see some wet weather out towards the west. lighter winds, but it does stay very unsettled as we head through next week. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news the israel military confirms it's recovered the body of hostage elad katzirfrom khan younis — nearly 6 months after being abducted by hamas. president biden faces growing pressure from within his own party to pause arms sales to israel, following an israeli air strike that killed seven aid workers. two uk police forces investigate reports that a string of mps were sent explicit messages in a parliamentary honeytrap. and — more than 150 people are rescued from floods

in and around sydney — as others prepare to leave their homes. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme. we start this hour with the war in the middle east. the israeli army says it's recovered the body of a hostage, who was abducted by hamas during the october 7th attacks. in a post on x, the israel defense forces said security forces recovered the body of elad katzir from khan yunis and returned him to israeli territory. the post said mr katzir was abducted from kibbutz nir oz, and that his mother hanna, was also abducted but released in november. his father, avraham was murdered in the kibbutz. the idf says mr katzir was murdered in captivity. in other developments, us presidentjoe biden is facing growing pressure

from within his own party to pause arms sales to israel.