Sustainable IT and Climate Tech News 23 December 2024: Aggreko, Itron, Net Zero Banking Alliance, PwC, More

Here is today’s sustainable IT services and climate tech news, research and analysis -- written for technology partners, green IT service providers, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and climate accounting professionals.

A. Sustainable IT, Talent, Partnerships and Green Tech Alliances

1. Walmart - Net Zero Challenges: Walmart expects to miss near-term climate targets because the retailer is struggling to find low-cost clean technologies, among other challenges, Bloomberg reported.

2. Partnership - IT Services: ABB India and PwC India are partnering to assist customers with digital operations, cybersecurity, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives, the two companies said. Key customer outcomes will include energy optimization, operational excellence, and progress towards sustainability goals, the firms added.

3. Partnership - Distributed Energy Resource Management Services (DERMS):  Itron and Xcel Energy are partnering to manage distributed energy resources (DERs) in Colorado. The effort involves residential battery energy storage to "support grid flexibility and customer choice."

4. Reorganization: Unilever is merging its sustainability and external communications departments, months after scaling back its environmental targets, the Financial Times reported.

5. AI Lawsuit - Music Industry vs. Anthropic: A federal judge is reportedly poised to dismiss the majority of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by music publishers against Anthropic, MSP reported.

6. AI Lawsuit - News Corp vs. Perplexity AI: News Corp renewed its intellectual property complaint against Perplexity AI, alleging copyright infringement, false designation of origin, and trademark dilution, the National Law Review reported.

7. OpenAI Whistleblower Dies: Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher known for whistleblowing the company, has been found dead in his San Francisco apartment, The Mercury News reported. The apparent cause was suicide, according to the report.

8. AI and Electric Vehicle (EV) Designs: MIT engineers have developed an open-source database that houses over 8,000 aerodynamic car designs, Live Science reported. The database could train future AI models to design EVs in the future, the report said.

9. Financial Services - Net-Zero Banking Alliance Defection: Wells Fargo is the latest financial services firm to exit the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, Reuters reported. Goldman Sachs exited a few week ago.

B. Sustainability M&A, Climate Tech Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches

1. M&A - EV Charger Network App: ACMobility, part of Ayala Group, has acquired electric vehicle (EV) charging network app provider Evro. The acquired app allows users in the Philippines to locate, reserve, and manage charging stations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

2. M&A - Power Management Services:  Integrated Power Services (IPS) has acquired Switchgear Solutions -- which offers power management solutions for industrial, commercial, and renewable energy customers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is the latest in a growing list of IPS acquisitions. Other 2024 purchases include MDL Energie, ABB Industrial Services Business, Dual Electrotech, B&B Transformer, Houghton International, Cortes Industrial, Swiger Coil Systems, and Electric Motor Service Limited (EMSL).

C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News

1. United States - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resignation: Michael Regan, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plans to step down on December 31.

2. United States - California Climate Laws: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has called for public comment about California’s two major climate disclosure bills, know as Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261), Morrison Foerster reported. CARB’s request for feedback will be open for 60 days and all submissions will be made public, the report said.

3. United States - Data Center Energy Consumption: U.S. data center power demand could nearly triple in the next three years, and consume as much as 12% of the country's electricity, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report, as covered by Reuters.

4. European Data Centers - Net Zero Challenges: Volatile energy costs and grid instability are prompting data center operators to rethink their timelines for carbon reduction, a recent Aggreko survey found, according to TechRadar.

D. Sustainable IT and Green Technology Conference Calendar

1. CES 2025 (January 7-10, Las Vegas, Nevada)
2. Sustainable and Impact Investments International Conference 2025 (January 14-15, Dublin, Ireland)
3. Davos 2025 -- World Economic Forum 2025 annual meeting (January 20-24, Switzerland)
4. Sustainable Foods Summit 2025 (January 22-23, San Francisco, California)
5. Cleantech Forum North America 2025 (January 27-29 in San Diego, California)
6. Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences

E. Previous Updates & Future News

• Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
• Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainable IT, climate tech and renewable energy news for technology partners.