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. The Main Event: This week's Climate Week NYC expects more than 100,000 attendees, with more than 900 events on topics such as financial opportunities, carbon markets and new technologies, The Wall Street Journal reports. If you have news to share at the conference then please email me the details.
2. Free Electricity?: A big increase in wind and solar power has pushed wholesale electricity prices to zero or below for many hours of the year, spurring a sea change in the way people use power—based on whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, The Wall Street Journal reports.
3. Honor - IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) Services: Vyta of Mallusk, United Kingdom has earned the King’s Award for sustainability. The company was honored during various receptions in July 20424 and September 2024, National World Publishing reported.
4. Carbon Credits: Google plans to purchase nature-based carbon removal credits from Mombak -- a Brazilian startup, Reuters reported. This is Google's first engagement with carbon projects in the South American country, the report said.
5. Portal - Carbon Credit Options: ERM, the global sustainability consultancy, has launched an end-to-end carbon credit sourcing portal to "provide ERM clients with access to carbon credits that complement their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction strategies and sustainability goals," the company said.
6. Partnership - Refurbished Smart Phones: Back Market and Visible (Verizon’s app-based wireless service) are partnering to bundle refurbished mobile devices with low-cost wireless service in the United States.
7. Partnership - Legal Services and IT Services: Taylor Wessing, a legal firm, is partnering with Techies Go Green, a not-for-profit community of technology businesses committed to reducing their carbon footprint, Irish Tech News reported. As legal partner, Taylor Wessing will "provide pro bono legal advice to Techies Go Green members to support them to identify and manage climate action opportunities and risks, facilitate sustainable investments, enhance internal governance arrangements, nurture stakeholder relationships, and ensure alignment with national and global standards," the report said.
8. Partnership - AI Solutions: G42 and Nvidia are partnering to "develop AI solutions aimed at boosting weather forecasting accuracy globally and will set up an operational base and climate tech lab in Abu Dhabi," Reuters reported.
9. Executive Leadership - Real Estate: Lincoln Property Company, a global real estate firm, shared two executive updates. Executive VP Anna Honeycutt, gains senior leadership responsibilities for Sustainability, while Lindsey Pierson is now sustainability strategist.
10. Microsoft - Data Centers and Gas Power Debate: Microsoft is being urged to ditch plans to power its new Wisconsin data center with gas amid fears that work on the facility could lock the US state into “30 more years of fossil fuels," Data Center Dynamics reported.
11. Partnership - Data Centers and Nuclear Energy: Caddis Cloud Solutions and IP3 Corporation are partnering to advance small modular reactors (SMRs) to power data centers.
12. Partnership - Microsoft and Nuclear Energy: Constellation Energy and Microsoft have signed a power deal to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in what would be the first-ever restart of its kind, Reuters reported. Microsoft, rivals and tech investors are exploring various nuclear energy options to power AI data centers.
13. Amazon Seeks Nuclear Power Help: Cloud and e-commerce giant Amazon is seeking to hire a principal nuclear engineer who can has experience in "end-to-end nuclear power project development process from design, regulatory licensing, site permitting, constructability and operations," the company said. The Amazon Web Services hire will be expected to "influence key external partners such as OEMs and developers to design operationally efficient and safe modular nuclear plants" that can deliver "carbon free capacity" to AWS data centers.
14. Nuclear Energy and Financial Services: Fourteen of the world's biggest banks and financial institutions will pledge increased support for nuclear energy in a bid to unlock financing for the nuclear power sector, the Financial Times reported and a SeekingAlpha recapped.
15. Wireless Networks - Sustainability Calculator: Nokia has introduced a Private Wireless Sustainability Calculator to "help Enterprises reduce environmental footprint and improve worker safety," the company said. Nokia hired PwC UK to help develop the calculator.Â
16. Real Estate - ESG Technology: Measurabl has launched ESGx Benchmarks, a cloud-based tool that "provides real estate owners, operators, investors, and lenders unrivaled insight into sustainability performance," the company said.
17. Fleet Management: Fuse Fleet, an Australian insurance provider, has introduced an ESG reporting tool tailored for fleets. The tool leverages data analytics from Greater Than.
18. AI Lawsuits: A federal judge on September 19, 2024, brutally dressed down the lawyers for a group of high-profile authors who are suing Meta over the use of their work to train Meta's AI technology, Politico reported.
19. Talent & Leadership: Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) has named David Kay the critical issue lead for extension programming in the areas of climate change and sustainable energy, effective September 1, 2024. The appointment, positioned as a two-year commitment, reflects CCE’s "dedication to addressing pressing climate change challenges and sustainable energy education," the university said.
20. Layoffs - Offshore Wind Technology: GE Vernova layoffs will impact roughly 900 employees worldwide, the renewable energy technology provider said. Although GE Verona's overall business is performing well, the offshore wind operation has suffered from certain project delays and turbine blade failures.
21. Enterprise Applications: SAP is "doubling down" on its net-zero strategy in 2024 by "expanding its commitment to nature conservation and making financial contributions to climate projects," the enterprise software company said.
22. Solar Energy - NFL Sponsorship: Freedom Forever is the Official Residential Solar Provider for the Los Angeles Rams football franchise.
B. Sustainability M&A, Climate Tech Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Funding - ESG Software: Datamaran has raised $33 million in Series C financing from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital. The funding "will be used to accelerate growth in the U.S. and Europe, as well as advance initiatives in generative AI," the ESG software provider said. Datamaran is based in London, United Kingdom and New York.
2. Potential M&A: Masdar is nearing an acquisition of Spanish renewable energy firm Saeta Yield SA from Brookfield Asset Management, Bloomberg reported. The deal's potential valuation is $1.68 billion, the report said.
3. 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 Nations - Climate Finance Debate: Countries could use this week's U.N. meetings in New York to resolve big differences over boosting the world's annual goal for climate finance, Reuters reported, but uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election could jeopardize progress ahead of the next U.N. climate summit in November.
2. United Nations - Climate Loss Fund: The board of The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage to help countries ravaged by climate-driven disasters named Senegalese finance specialist Ibrahima Cheikh Diong as its first director, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change announced, as reported by Reuters.
3. United States - Minnesota Energy Policy: Minnesota wants carbon-free power by 2040 but energy provider Xcel wants at least one new gas plant, the Minnesota Star Tribune Tribune reported.
4. United States - Florida City Plan: Gainesville Chief Climate Officer Dan Zhu has unveiled the first draft of the city’s climate action plan, The Independent Florida Alligator reported. The plan, which has the potential to be tweaked following community guidance, seeks to achieve Zero Waste by 2040 and net-zero emissions by 2045.
5. Italy - Cost of Energy: Electricity prices in Italy are the highest among major European economies, Reuters reported, due to an enduring reliance on fossil fuels for power generation despite growth in renewable energy output, energy think tank Ember found.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Climate Week New York City 2024 (September 22-27, New York, New York)
- IATA World Sustainability Symposium 2024 (September 24-25, Miami, Florida)
- ISPA 2024 Sustainability Conference 2024 (September 25-26, Charlotte, North Carolina)
- Transportation and Climate Change Conference 2024 (September 26, Abu Dhabi, UAE)
- Petrochemical Sustainability Conference (PSC) 2024 (September 26-27, Malaysia)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
. Nuclear Energy and Financial Services: Fourteen of the world's biggest banks and financial institutions will pledge increased support for nuclear energy in a bid to unlock financing for the nuclear power sector, the Financial Times reported and a SeekingAlpha recapped.
