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. Refurbished Hardware: Epson has launched the Epson Certified ReNew program for projectors, printers and scanners. As part of the program, "every product goes through a unique, multi-stage process to ensure the same quality standards as new products and features the same limited warranty as the corresponding new product," Epson said.
2. IT Consulting and Cloud Services: EY has launched the EY Climate Stress Testing and Scenario Analysis solution, which aims to help safeguard Canada's financial sector against the impacts of climate change. The EY solution runs on Microsoft Azure.
3. IT Consulting: Consulting and advisory firm PwC Cyprus now leverages 100% renewable electricity for its operations in Nicosia and Limassol, the company announced.
4. Distribution: Remtron is now a Certified Industrial Automation Distributor (IAD) for Schneider Electric in Australia.
5. Energy Management Software and Microsoft Cloud: Itron Enterprise Edition Meter Data Management is now available in the Microsoft Azure marketplace. Itron's software allows utilities nd cities to manage energy and water.
6. Partnership - IT Consulting and Microsoft Cloud: Atos and Microsoft are "providing strategic decarbonization advice and services to hundreds of enterprises around the world to help them address their sustainability challenges," according to the Atos website. The effort leverages Microsoft Cloud Sustainability Manager.
7. Partnership - IoT Decarbonization: SEALSQ and CarbonMinus are partnering to offset CO2 emissions and drive the decarbonization of the IoT industry, the two companies said.
8. Partnership - Carbon Removal: Neustark, a Switzerland-based carbon removal developer, has entered into a multi-year offtake agreement to provide Microsoft with "27,600 tons of high-quality, durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) over the course of six years," the two companies said. The announcement expands on a partnership first announced in March 2022.
9. Partnership - Carbon Capture Agreement: Rockwell Automation will purchase carbon dioxide removal (CDR)credits from 1PointFive from its Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility under construction in Texas. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
10. Partnership - Satellite Data and Google Cloud: The Environmental Defense Fund will leverage Google AI to map and trace methane sources. The effort involves the Environmental Defense Fund's MethaneSAT -- which will soon orbit the Earth to collect satellite data, according to Google.
11. Talent and Executive Leadership - Energy Company: PPL of Allentown, Pennsylvania, has hired Dean A. Del Vecchio as executive VP and chief technology and innovation officer. The new position "reflects PPL's strong focus on creating technology-enabled utilities of the future. Del Vecchio reports to PPL President and CEO Vincent Sorgi. Del Vecchio previously was chief information and operations officer at The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.
12. Talent and Executive Leadership - Investing: Buoyant Ventures has promoted Laura Dyer to principal. Buoyant Ventures, based in Chicago, Illinois, is an early-stage venture capital fund investing in digital solutions to climate risk.
13. Research - ESG Software Market Growth Forecast: The global ESG reporting software market will reach $2.55 billion in 2028, up from $980 million in 2023, according to The Business Research Company. That's a 21% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the market research firm said.
14. Financial Services: JPMorgan will exit the Climate Action 100+ investor group after "significant investment" in its stewardship team over the last couple of years, Reuters reported. The move is the latest pullback by U.S.-based financial firms amid legal threats from some U.S. states that membership could breach antitrust rules, Reuters said.
15. Climate Change Study: Roughly 15% of Americans deny that climate change is real, according to a University of Michigan study.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Funding - Residential Solar Technology: SunPower has raised $175 million in capital financing from Sol Holding, the company's majority shareholder and an indirect subsidiary of TotalEnergies and Global Infrastructure Partners. The funding surfaced the same day that SunPower announced weaker-than-expected Q4 2023 revenues and earnings. The funding "positions the company to navigate current industry headwinds and further reinforce its foundation for a more sustainable, resilient and agile business," SunPower asserted. SunPower's stock declined roughly 73% from February 2023 through mid-February 2024.
2. Fund: ALTÉRRA, a US$30 billion climate investment fund launched at COP28, is striving to become the fund of choice for the climate transition, ALTÉRRA CEO Majid Al Suwaidi said at the World Governments Summit. Majid Al Suwaidi also is COP28 Director-General...Â
3. Funding - Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Startups: United's Sustainable Flight Fund now exceeds $200 million. The fund invests in startups in an effort to reduce emissions and drive production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The fund now has 22 corporate partners. The latest partners include Aircastle, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Google, HIS, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Safran Corporate Ventures, and Technip Energies.
4. Financial Exit: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund exited its stake in hydrogen fuel cells maker Plug Power in Q4 2023, Seeking Alpha reported. The report surfaced the same day that Plug Power announced layoffs and other cost-saving measures.
5. M&A - Solar Power: SolarSquare, a rooftop solar company based in Mumbai, India, has acquired solar consultancy PV Diagnostics, according to Mercom. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. M&A - Consulting and Software: WAP Sustainability Consulting has acquired Atmos AI, a startup focused on ESG reporting software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - Solar Farms and Agriculture: Roughly 116,758 farms had solar panels in 2022, compared with 90,142 in 2017. Wind turbine installation, meanwhile, grew by only 2.7% during the same period, to 14,511 farms, Bloomberg reported. The data comes from the United States Department of Agriculture's 2022 Census of Agriculture.
2. European Union: A veteran hedge fund investor sees a further slump in European Union carbon permits on the horizon as energy supplies soar and demand remains subdued, Bloomberg reported. A flood of renewable power, combined with falling gas prices and a recovery in nuclear and hydro plants will keep the pressure on carbon, said Per Lekander, CEO of Clean Energy Transition LLP, the report said.
3. The Netherlands - Solar Policy: Enphase Energy applauded the Dutch Senate’s decision to reject a bill that would have phased out net energy metering (NEM). As a result, existing and new residential solar customers in the Netherlands will maintain access to the current benefits from NEM, Enphase asserted.
4. South Africa - Carbon Emissions: South Africa has the highest carbon intensity of any G20 country, Bloomberg reported.
5. India - Data Centers: Nxtra by Airtel, one of India's largest data center providers, plans to purchase substantial renewable energy from Ampln and Amplus Energy.
6. India - Renewable Energy Park: Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has activated the world's largest renewable energy park in Khavda, India. The solar energy farm is now supplying power to India's national grid.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Verdantix Climate Summit North America 2024 (February 20-21, Washington, D.C.)
- World ESG Summit 2024 (February 20-22, Saudi Arabia)
- Step Conference 2024: Earth Track (February 21-22, Dubai, UAE)
- Africa's Green Economy Summit 2024 (February 21-23, Cape Town, South Africa)
- Human Behavior and Sustainability Conference 2024 (February 22-23, Sanford University, 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.
