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. New Chief Sustainability Officers: The key names to know include Autodesk's Joe Speicher, Wells Fargo's Andrew Bowley and Viridi's Evan van Hook (known for his previous work at Honeywell). Related: Search our global database of chief sustainability officers here.
2. Google Cloud: Google continues to press forward with its T-EACs -- which enables clean energy generation and trading to be tracked on an hourly basis.
3. AWS - Supply Chain Software: AWS Supply Chain Sustainability, coming in 2024, will "creates a more secure and efficient way for sustainability professionals to obtain documents and datasets from their supplier network," the company said.
4. AWS - Sustainability Partner of the Year: Mesh-AI has been named AWS Sustainability Partner of the Year.
5. AWS - Analytics Partner: Qlik, working with AWS, described its mission to "help businesses actualize sustainability goals by fundamentally integrating sustainability into the realm of data analytics," the software company said.
6. Partnership - HP: Iron Bow Technologies, an IT solutions provider has achieved the HP Amplify Impact Catalyst 3-Star Partner designation. The designation means "Iron Bow has demonstrated meaningful progress toward sustainability and social responsibility and has implemented programs that help reduce the company’s environmental impact and promote social equity," the companies said.
7. Partnership - HVACs: TCCI Manufacturing and TekModo are partnering to "revolutionize climate control systems across a range of applications, closing a longstanding gap in the marketplace." Key efforts include a unique electric EVAC unit that's expected to "hit various markets in early 2024," the companies said.
8. Partnership - Generative AI and Fuel Cells: IBM and FuelCell Energy will leverage Foundational Models, a form of generative AI, to boost the performance of FuelCell Energy’s technology. The overall goal is to "support both companies’ efforts to lead a global transition to renewable energy sources that emit little to no carbon," IBM and FuelCell Energy said.
9. Jinko Solar Business Concerns: GLJ Research analyst Gordon Johnson reiterated a sell rating on JinkoSolar stock, noting the company is said to be taking down Q4 numbers in China, Street Insider reported.
10. Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Network: Meijer, a regional grocery retailer, plans to install new EVgo fast charging stations in the Midwest. The deal is part of an expanded relationship between the two companies. Meijer has offered EV charging at select stores and on its corporate campus since 2010.
11. Heat Pumps: Johnson Controls has earned a $33 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. The goal: Increase domestic production of electric heat pumps by expanding three U.S.-based manufacturing sites. Combined, the facilities will be able to "produce approximately 200,000 electric heat pumps per year, representing a nearly 200% production increase," Johnson Controls said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Investment: Schneider Electric has pledged $1 million to the NAED Education & Research Foundation (NERF) to support their Next Level Now campaign. The goal is to support the digital transformation and modernization of the distribution channel.Â
2. M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving sustainability, green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. COP28 and Open Source: Numerous open source experts are set to present at the conference. The speaker lineup includes experts representing Linux Foundation Research, Linux Foundation Europe, OS-Climate, Hyperledger Foundation, AgStack Foundation, Fintech in Open Source Foundation (FINOS), Sustainable & Scalable Infrastructure Alliance, and the ELISA and Zephyr projects. The content will include an Open Source for Sustainability research recap.
2. COP28 Research: Only one-third of survey respondents have confidence that renewable energy will surpass fossil fuels as the primary fuel source by 2050, KPMG reported.
3. European Energy Grid: Intel's technology is helping power the Edge for Smart Secondary Substations (E4S) Alliance’s new solution to modernize the energy grid, the chip giant said.
4. United Kingdom - Greenwashing Policies: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) further clarified its Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) policy -- which aims to address greenwashing from asset managers.
5. Sri Lanka Net Zero Costs: Sri Lanka needs $100 billion to become a net zero emitter by 2040, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said, as the island also attempts to build climate change resilience while navigating its worst financial crisis in decades, Reuters reported.
6. California - Partnership: Arcadis is partnering with the California Data Collaborative (CaDC) to address water management and sustainability challenges across the state. The collaboration will "incorporate integrated, data-centric solutions to decision making on the state's most pressing water and climate impact issues, while tailoring the technology of HydroNET to meet the unique needs of California," the organizations said.
