Here is today’s sustainable IT services news, research and analysis -- written for technology partners, green IT service providers, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Partnership - AI and Sustainability: Sustain360 and NeuralFabric partnered to develop Generative AI Micro-Models focused on Sustainability. The result: Enterprises can run "generative AI models at a significantly lower cost because they require smaller data sets and minimize the use of computing resources," Sustain360 asserted.
2. Software - Energy Transition: ZeroAvia has developed smart microgrid optimization software that "promises to minimize the cost of hydrogen production for clean aviation and other applications," the company said.
3. Goodbye Carbon Credits: Google has stopped buying cheap carbon offsets that previously supported its carbon neutrality claim, CarbonCredits.com reported. The cloud services and search engine provider, facing increased emissions due to artificial intelligence and data centers’ massive power use, now aims for net zero carbon by 2030, the report said.
4. AWS Partner: Smart water solutions provider Aquasight has acquired the AWS Smart City and Public Sector Competencies. Aquasight is the first U.S.-based digital water technology company dedicated exclusively to the water and wastewater sector to earn these distinctions.
5. IT Consulting: KPMG has launched Clear on Climate Reporting -- an information hub that provides "insights and guidance to help organisations and their stakeholders understand how to be clear on climate in corporate reporting," the company said.
6. Partnership - Cloud Storage Carbon Footprint Estimator: Zero Circle and Wasabi Technologies have partnered to develop a "suite of sustainability-focused solutions for cloud storage that give businesses the data they need to make decisions that reduce their environmental impact," the two companies said. The result: Customers can upload their Wasabi cloud storage invoice to Zero Circle’s carbon calculator to "determine their estimated CO2 footprint based on actual data stored in a Wasabi storage region, increasing the accuracy of their ESG benchmarking with their peers and helping them make more sustainable business decisions," the two companies said.
7. Partnership - Grid Scale Batteries: Clean energy company Iberdrola and quantum computing specialist Multiverse Computing have delivered a pilot project in northern Spain to "optimize the installation of grid-scale batteries, which will become increasingly important as the energy transition progresses," the two companies said.
8. Executive Leadership - EV Charging: ChargePoint has promoted Mansi Khetani to CFO, and hired Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) veteran Ash Chowdappa as chief development officer for software. Also, former RingCentral CFO Mitesh Dhruv has joined the EV charger network company's board. ChargePoint is striving to achieve positive non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2024. The business journey since 2023 has involved a CEO change and layoffs.
9. Energy Transition: Motivational Speaker Tony Robbins has invested $200 million in Omnis Global Technologies -- a “quantum reformer” technology startup. The goals: First, transform coal into clean-burning hydrogen —without emitting any greenhouse gases, The Wall Street Journal reported. Second, allow that hydrogen to run old coal-fired power plants, the report added. Amid skepticism from some scientists, Omnis plans to demonstrate the technology next week, the Journal said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. The Sound of Silence: We didn't hear about any M&A deals today...
2. Complete M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - California Climate Regulations: When will businesses need to comply with Senate Bill 253 (SB 253), the Climate Corporate Accountability Act? The answer may involve various two-year delays, according to proposed amendments from California Governor Gavin Newsom.
2. United States - Virginia Nuclear Power: Dominion Energy Virginia has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to determine the feasibility of small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology. Proponents believe SMR technology can deliver nuclear power in a cost-effective, carbon-free way -- though critics continue to worry about the long-term storage and disposal of nuclear waste.
3. European Union - ESG Fund Challenges: Barclays says asset managers offering ESG funds in Europe may need to offload close to $30 billion in stocks and bonds if they intend to hold onto the label under new rules, Bloomberg reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sun Valley Forum 2024 (July 15-18, Ketchum Idaho)
- CSR and Sustainability Summit MOZ 2024 (July 17-18, Mozambique)
- Siemens Transform 2024 (July 17-18, United Kingdom)
- ITAD 2024 (July 23-24, Miami Beach, Florida)
- XeroCon Nashville 2024 (August 14-15, Nashville, Tennessee)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
- Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
- Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
