Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, renewable energy and green IT services companies, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Chief Sustainability Officers: Our database of chief sustainability officers now spans 417 CIOs. The latest additions include:
- Alastair Child, chief sustainability officer, Mars Wrigley
- Dano Weisbord, chief sustainability officer and executive director of campus planning, Tufts University
2. AI And Sustainability: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes "AI can be a powerful accelerant in addressing the climate crisis," according to his 2023 letter to Microsoft shareholders.
3. AI Chip: A newly developed chip from IBM, called NorthPole, could deliver faster, more energy-efficient AI capabilities, IBM asserts.
4. Partnership - Mobility: Volkswagen Group of America and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville have extended their research partnership through 2028. The partnership, originally signed in 2018, currently supports 27 active research projects and has already produced 15 publications and multiple pending patents. Researchers at an Innovation Hub in Knoxville are focused on "bringing more materials and power electronics solutions to Volkswagen Group products to support greater sustainability in mobility," the two organizations said.
5. Market Research and Forecast - Home Energy Management Systems: The market for residential energy management systems (REMS) will reach $1.3 billion in 2032, up from $827.7 million in 2023, according to Guidehouse Insights. That's a 5.2% compound annual growth rate, the report said. The forecast focused on three specific distributed energy resources (DER): solar generation, battery storage, and EV charging.
6. Market Research and Forecast - Distributed Energy Resource Management (DERM): The market for DERM systems will reach $1.874 billiion by 2030, up from $460 million in 2022. That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2%, according to the SNS Insider report.
7. What is Carbon Accounting: Cisco's Michael King offers answers here.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Funding: Vista Credit Partners, a subsidiary of Vista Equity Partners, has agreed to fund aPriori -- a developer of cloud-based software that "empowers manufacturers and product designers to accurately estimate, manage, and optimize production costs and sustainability." Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
2. Private Equity: Are private equity firms serious about sustainability? This Sustainability in Private Equity report for 2023, from Boston Consulting Group, may offer some clues.
3. M&A - Sustainable Investments: Responsible investment manager Alquity has acquired fund management group and platform VAM Funds for an undisclosed sum, International Advisor reported. Alquity emphasizes ESG funds and sustainable investment products.
4. M&A - Solar Projects: Ormat Technologies is acquiring various geothermal and solar assets in Nevada, Utah and Connecticut for $271 million. The seller is Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA), a subsidiary of Enel SpA. The acquired assets have generated annual revenue and EBITDA of roughly $35 million and $24 million, respectively, for the years 2020 through 2022. That means the deal's valuation is roughly 11.3 times annual EBITDA. The deal is expected to close by Q1 of 2024.
5. M&A List: See our M&A list tracking all sustainability, green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - Power Grid Resilience: The White House announced a $3.5 billion plan to improve America's electric grid.
2. Europe: Amazon has added 39 new renewable energy projects in Europe so far in 2023. The efforts have added more than one gigawatt of clean energy capacity to grids across Europe, the e-commerce and cloud services giant said.
3. Europe - Heat Pumps: Moving half of the funds spent on subsidies for fossil fuel heating to heat pumps could transition all European home heating to renewable methods by 2040, a European Environmental Bureau analysis suggests, Bloomberg reported.
4. Denmark - Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations: Allego N.V. has partnered with Go’on Gruppen A/S to install 168 fast charging ports at Go’on’s existing stations across Denmark. The first seven stations are expected to be commissioned between Q4 2023 and Q2 2024, and 60 additional stations are planned through Q4 2024
5. Middle East Telcos: Ooredoo Group and peer telcos continue to back the GCC ESG Telecommunications Alliance -- which first surfaced during Mobile World Congress 2022. The GCC ESG Telecommunications Alliance designed to drive sustainability across GCC telcos. GCC is short for Gulf Cooperation Council, which spans Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. This includes "minimizing emissions throughout the entire value chain, from the creation of services to their use by customers," the organizations said. Specific net-zero goals were not disclosed in an updated statement from October 22, 2023.
6. Singapore - Renewable Energy: Singapore, with a compound need to achieve carbon neutrality and energy security, may become Asia's renewable energy hub, Nikkei reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- VERGE 23 Climate Tech Event (October 24-26, San Jose, California)
- NAEM's EHS & Sustainability Management Forum 2023 (October 24-27, Cleveland, Ohio)
- Valencia Digital Summit 2023 (October 26-27, Valencia)
- Gartner Supply Chain Planning Summit 2023Â (October 29-31, London)
- Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders Summit 2023 (November 1-3, Abu Dhabi, UAE)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
1. Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
2. Future Updates: Send us your news tips. Please email me the details.
