Cloud Services and Renewable Energy: Duke Energy is partnering with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor to explore carbon-free energy generation opportunities in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Startup Funding: New York-based EcoRatings, which has developed an AI-based sustainability ranking system, has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round from Google and India-based investors, CityBiz reported. EvolveX, a startup accelerator program run by We Founder Circle, first invested in the startup in December 2023, the report noted.
AI and Chromebooks: Google rolled out an array of new artificial intelligence and gaming features to its Chromebook Plus models, SeekingAlpha reported.
Partnership - AI and Low Carbon Data Center Designs: Purdue University and Google announced a sustainability partnership that involves leveraging AI to develop low-carbon industrial building designs -- such as data centers.
Up for Sale - Energy Management Software Business: mCloud, an energy management technology provider and Google Cloud partner, is seeking a buyer.
Carbon Removal Credits: Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce have launched the Symbiosis Coalition, an "advance market commitment for nature-based removal credits in the voluntary carbon market."
Data Centers: A Google data center in Hamina -- located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland -- in 2025 will begin to provide sustainable heat to the local area. The effort, in partnership with city-owned energy provider Haminan Energia, is an "offsite heat recovery project to reduce" that will reduce Google's environmental footprint, as well as help warm homes and businesses in this historic port city," the company said.
Leadership - Software:Google veteran Tim Collier has joined Scope3, a sustainability platform that seeks to decarbonize media and advertising, BusinessCloud reported. Collier will lead Scope3 business operations across the UK and Northern Europe, the report said.
Partnership - Cloud Software:RS Metrics and Cognizant are building various climate risk solutions atop Google Cloud. The software tools will "incorporate AI-driven methods for quantifying and analyzing climate risk, leveraging Google Cloud’s Gemini models as a foundation," the companies said.
M&A - Home Energy Management: Google's Nest Renew Service and OhmConnect have completed a merger. The resulting company, Renew Home, develops a home energy management platform to help consumers optimize their energy consumption. Majority owner Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners invested $100 million into Renew Home, which focuses on so-called virtual power plants (VPPs).
April 2024: Sustainability Strategy and Partnerships
Multiple updates...
Software Updates:Google Maps and Google Search updates will allow users to "find convenient public transit and walking routes, see alternatives to air travel and better understand the estimated emissions of flights," according to James Byers, group product manager for Google Search.
AI, Energy Efficiency and Axion Processors: Amid growing concerns about generative AI's energy needs, Google Cloud plans to roll out energy efficient Axion processors sometime in 2024, according to Amin Vahdat, VP and GM for machine learning, systems and Cloud AI at Google.
Satellites and Methane Emissions: MethaneSAT -- a new satellite backed by Google and the Environmental Defense Fund group -- launched from California with a mission to pinpoint oil and gas industry methane emissions from space, Reuters reported. SpaceX managed the launch.
February 2024: Sustainability Strategy and Partnerships
Financial Services and Cloud Software:HSBC has partnered with Google to finance fast-growing climate technology firms behind some of the world's most promising solutions to global climate change, Rueters reported. Under terms of the partnership, HSBC will look to provide financing to companies cherry-picked by the U.S. technology giant to join its Google Cloud Ready-Sustainability program, Reuters said.
Power Purchase Agreement: Google has signed its largest ever power purchase agreement (PPA) with offshore wind projects off the coast of the Netherlands as part of efforts to green its power supply and hit climate targets, Reuters said.
January 2024: Sustainability Strategy and Partnerships
Multiple Updates...
IT Consulting, Cloud Services and Generative AI: Global IT consulting firm Deloitte has launched the Geospatial and AI Platform for Scenario Planning and Monitoring. The solution is powered by Google Earth integrations, Google Earth Engine (GEE) and Generative AI technology from Vertex AI. The solution can help customers to "leverage AI and geospatial data to take action on sustainability and climate as they work toward positive economic, social and environmental outcomes," Deloitte said.
United Kingdom - Google Data Center: Google will invest $1 billion to build a data center in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. The new facility will be ready for off-site heat recovery, and will deploy an air-based cooling solution, Google said.
Partnership - Clean Electricity Management:Flexidao and Google are collaborating to scale clean electricity portfolio management and 24/7 carbon-free energy matching processes, the companies said.
FTC Investigates Generative AI Partnerships: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has ordered OpenAI, Microsoft, Google's Alphabet, Amazon and Anthropic to provide information on recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and cloud service providers, Reuters reported.
Partnership - Clean Electricity Management:Flexidao and Google are collaborating to scale clean electricity portfolio management and 24/7 carbon-free energy matching processes, the companies said.
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