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. Consultancy Closes: Sustainability consultancy Eco-Age is shutting down, Business of Fashion reported, after suffering financial losses caused by criminal activity, founder Livia Firth said in a social media post.
2. SBTi - Carbon Credits and Mixed Messages: In a research report, the SBTi described possible uses of carbon credits -- despite little evidence that such credits work to offset climate change.
3. Earnings - EV Charging Systems: EVgo revenue was $66.6 million in Q2 of 2024, up 32% from Q2 of 2023. Net loss was $29.6 million, compared to $21.5 million in Q2 of 2023. The company's stock (NASDAQ:EVGO) rose about 5% when the earnings were announced, though shares are down about 17% over the past year. Ahead of the earnings, EVgo hired Tesla veterans Martin Sukup and Jeff Inhofer, respectively. And in August 2024, GM veteran Alex Keros will join as senior VP of product.
4. Earnings - Compliance Software: Workiva revenue was $178 million in Q2 of 2024, up 15% from Q2 of 2023. GAAP net loss was $18 million -- smaller than a $21 million net loss in Q2 of 2023. Shares were essentially flat on the news.
5. Data Centers: Existing data centers in Southern Co.’s territory used 17% more electricity in Q2 of 2024 compared to Q2 of 2023, Bloomberg reported.
6. Data Centers - New Power Plants?: The immense energy demands of data centers will likely require building natural gas-burning power plants, solar and wind farms and perhaps small nuclear reactors, said new American Electric Power CEO Bill Fehrman, according to Bloomberg.
7. Manufacturing - Asset Lifecycle Management: Aucto has launched ARS, an asset lifecycle management platform for the manufacturing sector. ARS helps asset managers to "recover fair market value from surplus and obsolete industrial equipment, machinery and parts," Aucto said.
8. AI Lawsuit - Scope Narrowed: A U.S. District Judge dismissed a claim accusing OpenAI of unfair business practices by utilizing the works of authors — including Sarah Silverman, Paul Tremblay and Ta-Nehisi Coates — without consent or compensation to power its AI system, The Hollywood Reporter said. However, the authors' primary claim for direct copyright infringement remains in the case, the report added.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Funding - Renewable Energy: Goldman Sachs is investing $440 million in renewable power company BrightNight.
2. Funding - IT Hardware and E-Waste Reduction: Private equity firm Nuveen has invested $20 million into Onepak Inc., a sustainable IT services firm that allows firms to return, recycle, resell, or relocate IT devices.
3. M&A - Special Purpose Acquisitions Company (SPAC): Infintium Fuel Cells, a hydrogen power cell maker, has merged with Goldenstone Acquisition.
4. M&A - Engineering Services: Accenture has acquired BOSLAN, an engineering and consulting firm that assists customers with on- and offshore wind farms, solar power plants, smart grids, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and hydrogen plants. Boslan also data center and critical infrastructure construction projects. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. M&A - Consultancy: ERM has completed the acquisition of Energetics, a climate risk and energy transition consultancy in Australia. Energetics assists large businesses, investors, and governments with net zero emissions strategies, clean energy transitions and more. Energetics will tuck into ERM’s climate change and corporate sustainability practice. ERM, backed by private equity firm KKR, announced the acquisition in May 2024.
6. 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. Australia - Greenwashing Fine: Australia's federal court has fined Mercer Superannuation A$11.3 million ($7.4 million) for wrongful claims of the pension fund's environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments, Reuters reported.
2. China - Emissions Math: China is planning a shift in the way it aims to control greenhouse gases, favoring hard targets for total carbon emissions over its current method of measuring them against economic growth, Bloomberg reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- XeroCon Nashville 2024Â (August 14-15, Nashville, Tennessee)
- World ESG Summit Dubai (August 20-21, Dubai, UAE)
- Tennessee Sustainability Conference 2024Â (Gatlinburg, Tennessee, August 20-23)
- VMware Explore 2024Â (August 26-29, Las Vegas, Nevada)
- 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.
