Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners; renewable energy and green IT service providers; management consultants; CIOs; chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Consulting Startup: Canopy Edge of Denver, Colorado, has launched as a consulting company that helps customers "navigate and excel in the Net Zero corporate sustainability journey." The founding partners include e Daniel Cardamone, Jonathan Keller and Clint Wheelock.
2. Amazon: With more than 500 solar and wind projects globally, Amazon's portfolio is now big enough to power 7.2 million U.S. homes each year, the e-commerce and cloud giant said.
3. Smart Phones: Deutsche Bahn employees can now choose the Fairphone 4 as their company cell phone. This collaboration with the eco-conscious transportation giant is a significant step toward sustainability, Fairphone said in a statement.
4. Partnership - IT Services: Heineken has selected Siemens as a partner for its global Net Zero Production roadmap. Heinekin is seeking to reach net zero in Scopes 1 and 2 across all production sites by 2030.
5. Partnership - AI and IoT: Vodafone and Microsoft signed 10-year strategic partnership to bring generative AI, digital services and the cloud to more than 300 million businesses and consumers, the two companies said. The effort focuses heavily on IoT assets addressing the sustainability needs of hard-to-reach customers in remote locations, Reuters reported.
6. Partnership - Eco-Friendly Hotels: BeCause, a sustainability start-up focused on the global hospitality, travel and tourism industries, has inked a partnership with hubli, an online marketplace and booking platform for corporate meetings, events and group hotel lodging. This partnership will allow hubli to add a list of over 25,000 eco-labelled hotels on its platform.
7. YouTube Controversy: Content creators are using YouTube to promote climate denial, and YouTube is making millions of dollars annually from advertising that runs with the misleading climate content, Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)Â alleges.
8. Power Management: Fluence Energy has launched Fluence Mosaic -- which allows customers to optimize bidding of hybrid renewables and storage assets in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) wholesale power market.
9. EV Charging - Exiting Australia: ChargePoint plans to officially exit from the Australia market, Electrive reported. The news surfaced a few days after ChargePoint announced layoffs.
10. Talent - Solar Power Layoffs: It sounds like SunPower is planning layoffs as part of a restructuring plan to save the solar company money.
11. Talent - CFO: Johnson Controls has named Marc Vandiepenbeeck to succeed Olivier Leonett as EVP and CFO. Leonetti is departing Johnson Controls for a role outside of the company.
B. Sustainability Research and Green Technology Market Forecasts
1. Green Talent Shortage: Businesses are failing to tackle a shortage of green skills among workers, risking delays in the transition to a lower carbon economy, a report prepared with the participation of Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola shows, Reuters reported.
2. Refurbished IT Equipment Market Growth Forecast: The market for refurbished laptops and computers will reach $24.4 billion in 2030, up from $12 billion in 2023, according to Persistence Market Research. That's a 10.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the firm said.
3. Refurbished Mobile Phone Market Growth Forecast: The global market for refurbished and used mobile phones will reach $125.2 billion by 2032, up from $64 billion in 2023, according to IMARC Group. That's a 7.74% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the firm said.
4. IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) Market Growth Forecast: The IT asset disposition (ITAD) market will reach $28.43 billion in 2030, up from $15.06 billion in 2022, according to SNS Insider. That's an 8.27% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the firm said.
5. Green Data Center Market Growth Forecast: The global green data center market will reach $423.7 billion ny 2032, up from $88 billion in 2023, IMARC Group forecast. That's an 18.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the firm noted.
6. Latin America Green Data Centers Market Forecast: The Latin America green data center market will reach $1.64 billion by 2028, up from $890 million in 2022, according to Research and Markets. That's a 10.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the firm noted.
C. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Accelerator: Blackbaud announced the newest cohort of participants in its Social Good Startup Program. The program is a tech accelerator designed to support early-stage software companies focused on solving problems that matter to the social impact community.
2. Funding - Mobility: Hexagon Purus has raised $96 million to fund its zero emission mobility and hydrogen infrastructure efforts.
3. Funding - Bio-Manufacturing: ZymoChem, creator of a carbon-efficient bio-manufacturing platform, has raised $21 million in Series A funding. Breakout Ventures led the round.
4. Funding - Quantum Computing: Quantinuum, a quantum computing owned by Honeywell, has raised $300 million, at a pre-money valuation of $5 billion.
5. M&A - Environmental Consulting: Verdantas, backed by private equity form RTC Partners, has acquired Flatwoods Consulting Group. Flatwoods offers ecology and environmental regulation expertise to utility companies, water management districts, mining clients, and waste management entities across the Southeastern United States. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. M&A - Media: Thomson Reuters has acquired World Business Media, which includes the ESG Insurer brand.
7. Complete M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving sustainability, green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
D. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. Davos 2024 News: Track all of the Davos 2024 sustainability news here.
2. United States - EV Charging Question Marks: Federal red tape and bureaucracy have undermined The Biden Administration's effort to drive an EV charger revolution, The Wall Street Journal alleges in an editorial.
3. US Power: Wind and solar are set to lead U.S. power generation growth for the next two years following new renewable energy instillations, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, according to Reuters.
E. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Davos 2024 - World Economic Forum 2024 Annual Meeting (January 15-19, Davos, Switzerland)
- Enage
- Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America 2024 (January 17-19, San Diego, California)
- CleanTech Forum 2024 North America (January 22-24, San Diego, California)
- Recycling, Circular Design & Sustainable Sourcing for EV Batteries and Carbon Neutral Vehicles USA Conference 2024 (January 23-25, Detroit, Michigan)
- Sustainable Foods Summit 2024 (January 24-25, San Francisco, California)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
F. 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.
