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. COP29 Leader: Azerbaijan chose Ecology Minister Mukhtar Babayev, who worked for over two decades at the state oil and and gas company before entering government, to oversee COP29, Bloomberg reported.
2. Financial Services: The Net Zero Banking Alliance now spans 140 banks across 45 countries. More than 40 banks joined the alliance from the start of 2022 through the start of 2024, the organization said. Still, some members have threatened to leave the Net Zero Banking Alliance from time to time because of various target-setting concerns.
3. Data Centers - Arizona: EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure will leverage $1.9 billion in debt financing to expand a data center campus in Mesa, Arizona. At full build-out, EdgeCore's LEED-designed, water-neutral campus in Mesa will support a minimum of 450 MW of critical load and will be engineered to meet current and future customer requirements across 3.1+ million square feet of space, the companhy said. The campus currently has one operational data center and two additional data centers under construction totaling 206 MW of critical load capacity, EdgeCore noted.
4. Data Centers - Texas Wind Power: Digital Power Optimization (DPO) will leverage wind energy from Texas to power green data centers. Funding for the first phase buildout at the initial project site has been secured and data center operations are expected to begin in 2024, with the remaining sites coming online over the following 12-18 months, DPO said. The energy supplier's name was not disclosed.
5. Smart Home Appliances: Arçelik Hitachi Home Appliances will leverage AI to design more sustainable smart home appliances, ZDnet reported.
6. Electric Vehicles - Fisker Sales Shortfall: Fisker remains far from meeting CEO and founder Henrik Fisker’s publicly stated goal of delivering 300 electric SUVs per day globally, TechCrunch reported.
7. Supply Chain Carbon Calculator: The South Korean shipping company HMM has launched a carbon calculation tool that can measure the amount of emissions produced by a company throughout the entirety of the freight transportation process, Supply Chain Brain reported.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. ESG SPAC Cancels IPO: Inkstone Feibo Acquisition Corp. has canceled plans for a $60 million IPO. The SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) formed in May 2022 to potentially acquire biotechnology, green technology and ESG companies in the United States and Taiwan. Specific areas of interest included sustainable manufacturing, carbon capture, green transportation, pollution control and waste management, and green agriculture.
2. Investment - Energy Transition: Blackstone Infrastructure Partners has completed a 19.9% acquisition of Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) for $2.16 billion. NIPSCO, owned by NiSource, will use the money to accelerate its renewable energy transition while also strengthening its balance sheet, the companies said. The investment plan was first announced in 2023.
3. Funding: Only 7% of US climate tech venture capital funding in 2023 involved businesses with female founders, GreenBiz reported based on Pitchbook stats.
4. M&A - Recycling: Südpack has acquired a majority stake in Carboliq -- a chemical recycling specialist. Südpack, based in Germany, owned a minority stake in Carboliq ahead of this latest investment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. M&A - Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Software: Badger Meter Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has acquired remote water monitoring hardware and software from Trimble. Badger Meter gains real-time monitoring hardware and software targeted at distributed data collection for applications in water, wastewater, stormwater and environmental water monitoring, the buyer said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. 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. Germany - Carbon Emissions Decline: Germany's carbon emissions have dropped to their lowest level in 70 years, but Europe’s largest economy and biggest polluter is still not on track to meet its climate goals, Bloomberg reported.
2. South Africa - Energy Infrastructure: South Africa’s updated energy blueprint envisions more than 100 gigawatts of new generation capacity being built by 2050, and proposes that a variety of technologies and fuels be considered to produce that power -- including solar, wind, nuclear and coal, Bloomberg reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sustainability Forum Middle East (SFME) 2024 (January 8-9, Bahrain)
- CES 2024 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
- European Chief Sustainability Awards (January 15, Davos)
- 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)
- 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.
