Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, renewable energy consultants and green IT service providers. Today's sustainability news also involves management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs), c-suite members and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): Circle these dates in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to make sure your business aligns with CSRD regulations.
2. Big Tech, AI Data Centers and Energy Consumption: President Joe Biden's administration is asking big technology companies to invest in new climate-friendly power generation to cover their surging demand, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters.
3. AI Data Centers Require Nuclear Power: Surging electricity demand for artificial intelligence and data centers means next-generation nuclear power “can’t fail,” according to a top US Energy Department official, Bloomberg reported.
4. AI Chips - Tesla, X and Elon Musk: After reports stated that Elon Musk routed Nvidia AI chips from Tesla to X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote on X: "Of the roughly $10B in AI-related expenditures I said Tesla would make this year, about half is internal, primarily the Tesla-designed AI inference computer and sensors present in all of our cars, plus Dojo. For building the AI training superclusters, NVidia hardware is about 2/3 of the cost. My current best guess for Nvidia purchases by Tesla are $3B to $4B this year."
5. Energy Consulting and IT Services: Accenture and Kraken Technologies are helping EDF’s UK retail business to "accelerate the migration of customers to its new platform, enabling them to effectively manage their energy use and cost," the companies said.
6. High Performance Computing (HPC) and Renewable Energhy: Lenovo, the global PC and IT infrastructure provider, has unveiled new solar panels at its in-house manufacturing facility in Budapest, Hungary. The result: Lenovo customers can test High Performance Computing (HPC) workloads at the facility using 100% solar energy.
7. Mobile Devices - Right to Repair: Google has changed its repair policy after criticism of a third-party parts ban, ArsTechnica reported.
8. Talent and Executive Leadership - Software: Future Planet, an AI sustainability software company, named these executives to the following four positions:
9. Research - Refurbished Laptop Global Market Forecast: The refurbished laptop market will reach $13.9 billion by 2032, which. represents a 5.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2024, Global Market Insights predicted.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Funding - Nuclear Fusion Startup: Xcimer Energy has raised $100 million to turn nuclear fusion, the source of the sun’s immense energy, into a viable way to power our planet’s electrical grid, Canary Media reported.
2. 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. Global Carbon Removal Targets: Governments need to plant more trees and deploy technologies that will quadruple the amount of carbon dioxide removed each year from the atmosphere in order to meet global climate goals, Reuters reported.
2. United States - New York Startups: New York City is becoming. a hub for climate-tech startups, BBC reported.
3. United States - Solar Energy: Two of the world's biggest solar panel makers, First Solar and Hanwha Qcells, are the first to register products under an environmental ratings system that will make them preferred solar equipment in U.S. government purchasing, Reuters reported. Combined, the companies have seven products that meet the EPEAT standard created by the Global Electronics Council, the reprot said.
4. United States - Solar Projects: Clearloop has activated the first two of three planned solar projects in Panola County, Mississippi — a community at the cross-section of the Mississippi Delta and the Appalachian Foothills, the company said. The projects, when combined with the Panola III Solar Farm, will prevent over 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and generate enough power for approximately 3,000 area homes annually, Clearloop said. More than 30 companies -- including Microsoft and Vista Equity Partners, for instance -- support the Panola I and II Solar Farms.
5. United States vs. China - Solar Energy Policies: Chinese solar firms are halting production at Southeast Asian factories as increased US trade barriers create uncertainty for exports from the region, Bloomberg reported.
6. European Union Banks: Some euro zone banks have fallen short of the European Central Bank's climate-related goals and may face fines, Reuters reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Regional Grey to Green Chicago Conference 2024 (June 6-7, Chicago)
- European Sustainable Energy Week 2024 Conference Dates (June 11-13, Brussels, Belgium)
- Responsible Business Europe 2024 (June 11-12, London, United Kingdom)
- Decarb Connect 2024 (June 11-13, Germany)
- International Conference on CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance 2024 (June 12-14, Sibiu, Romania)
- 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.
