Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners; renewable energy and green IT service providers; Today's sustainability news also involvesmanagement consultants; CIOs; chief sustainability officers (CSOs), c-suite members and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Microsoft: The technology giant is emphasizing a sustainable by design strategy that involves three priorities, according to a blog from Microsoft's CSO. The focus areas include:
- optimizing datacenter energy and water efficiency;
- advancing low-carbon materials, creating global markets to help advance sustainability across industries; and
- improving the energy efficiency of AI and cloud services.
2. Partnership - Quantum Computing: Microsoft and Quantinuum demonstrated various quantum computing technologies that are edging closer to commercial availability. The companies did not say how much power such applications may potentially consume.
3. Partnership: Accelsius has partnered with OptiCool Technologies to "accelerate the creation of waterless, direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems to serve a rapidly expanding market," the companies said.
4. Energy Transition: Schneider Electric has launched Materialize -- an effort to engage hundreds of industry suppliers across the minerals and metals sector. The goal is to "decarbonize power supply, mitigate the environmental impact of the energy-intensive processes related to these critical resources, and reduce the sector’s Scope 3 emissions," the company said.
5. Partners of the Year: Schneider Electric announced them here.
6. Higher Education: Vanderbilt University has launched the Vanderbilt Center for Sustainability, Energy and Climate (VSEC). The center will study such areas as:
- Energy integration;
- resource sustainability;
- climate change mitigation and adaptation; and
- systems risk, reliability and resilience.
7. ESG Software - Financial Services: Maestro, a software platform for the private equity industry, has launched an ESG survey module. The module enables private equity sponsors to "capture, analyze, and visualize ESG-related metrics, initiatives, and activities within individual portfolio companies," the company said.
8. Research - Green IT Services Market Growth Forecast: The green IT services market is expected to reach $32.1 billion by the end of 2030, which represents a 7.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2023, according to Infinity Business Insights. The forecast sounds conservative to us.
9. Research - EV Charging Market Growth Forecast: The EV charging station market will reach $12.1 billion b7 2030, up from $7.3 billion in 2024, according to Markets and Markets. That's an 8.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the forecaster said.
10. Settlement - George Carlin Estate vs. AI: George Carlin‘s estate has settled a lawsuit over an AI-generated imitation of the late comedian, with the creators agreeing to remove it from their YouTube channel and podcast feed, Variety reported. Related: See all AI lawsuit updates here.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Financing - Solar Energy and Power Storage: Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc., has secured a multi-currency facility of up to €110 million ($120 million) from a group of international banks led by Investec Bank Plc. The  The funding will "support Recurrent Energy in the execution of its global solar PV and energy storage project pipeline, as it transitions to become an independent power producer (IPP) and accelerates its growth strategy," the company said.
2. Funding - Energy Technology: Torus has raised $67 million. The raise involves new equity, conversion of outstanding notes, and a loan facility. Origin Ventures led the round. Torus designs, engineers, and manufactures energy storage and management products for the residential, commercial, and large-scale utility sectors.
3. Funding - Renewable Energy: Solar energy and energy storage producer MN8 Energy has raised $325 million through a private placement of convertible preferred stock, ESG Today reported.
4. M&A - Environmental Services: Montrose Environmental Group has acquired Engineering & Technical Associates (ETA) -- which specializes in Process Safety Management (PSM).
5. M&A - Building Engineering: NV5 Global, which specializes in sustainable building development, has acquired ASG Engineering Consultants -- a provider of structural engineering, permitting, and compliance services in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. M&A - IT Services: Accenture has acquired Intellera Consulting from Gyrus Capital. Interella is a professional services provider in Roma and Milan, Italy. The company has 1,400 employees focused on public service organizations that need more sustainable, agile and inclusive IT systems. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is Accenture's third IT services acquisition in Italy in recent months. The others involved Customer Management IT and SirfinPA.
7. M&A - Metal Recycling: Korea Zinc Inc. has acquired Kataman Metals, a US-based scrap metal trading company, at $55 million to expand the recycling business, KED Global reported.
8. M&A - HVAC Systems: Mitsubishi Electric has acquired AIRCALO, an air-conditioning company in France. The acquisition allows Mitsubishi to" expand and upgrade its hydronic HVAC systems business in the diversifying European market, including by meeting strong demand for made-to-order products and environmental awareness," the buyer said.
9. M&A - Renewable Energy: Aspen Power has acquired eight ground-mounted solar projects in Pennsylvania and New York State from Solar Site Developers. The sites total more than 41 megawatts of direct current (MWdc) projects. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
10. M&A - Private Equity and Sustainability Software: EQT Private Equity is acquiring Avetta, a developer of supply chain risk management software. Avetta's SaaS platform has enabled clients to "manage supply chain risks across health, safety, and sustainability," EQT said. The seller was Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
11. M&A - Private Equity and Sustainability Services: Morgan Stanley Capital Partners has acquired Resource Innovations, a tech-enabled services company focused on energy efficiency and sustainability. The seller was mid-market private equity firm BV Investment Partners. Resource Innovations, founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, provides advisory services, program management services and software to utility, government and corporate clients in the areas of energy efficiency and decarbonization with the goal of "lowering energy costs, reducing waste, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and improving grid resiliency," the buyer said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
12. Complete M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. COP29 - Tony Blair's Offer: The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), which was founded by the former U.K. prime minister in 2016, has approached the Azeri government with an offer of support for the COP29 climate talks in November 2024, Politico reported.
2. COP29 - Congo Meeting: Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev met with Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and Congo Basin of the Republic of Congo Arlette Soudan-Nonault, according to News.AZ. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on preparations for COP29, the report said.
3. United States - Building Decarbonization: The U.S. Department of Energy has released a federal blueprint to help decarbonize America’s buildings sector.
4. United States Wind Power Policy: The U.S. Interior Department on April 2, 2024 approved the country's eighth commercial-scale offshore wind project, which will be built off the coast of Massachusetts, bringing online electricity to power more than 900,000 homes, Reuters reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sustainability Conference on Ecopreneurship 2024 (April 8-9, Stanford University)
- Tantalus Users Conference 2024 (April 8-11, Fort Worth, Texas)
- Google Cloud Next 2024 Conference Dates (April 9-11, Las Vegas, Nevada)
- Engage24 Conference Dates (April 9-11, Lisbon, Portugal)
- 2024 ReMade Circular Economy Tech Summit and Conference (April 10-11, Washington, D.C.)
- 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.
