Sustainable Technology News 09 September 2024: Back Market CMO, SustainaBase, WattCarbon, Workiva, More

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

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

1. Survey: CEOs rate AI and inflation as their top agenda items -- ahead of sustainability, a Bain survey reveals. Here are 10 takeaways from the 2024 Sustainability Survey of Consumers.

2. Talent - Refurbished Marketplace: Electronics marketplace Back Market has hired former Sonos and Lyft Chief Marketing Officer Joy Howard as its first permanent CMO, The Wall Street Journal reported.

3. Software - Energy Decarbonization: WattCarbon has launched WEATS Pro, a data platform to "provide companies with an auditable system of record to track their energy decarbonization projects."

4. ESG Software: This week's Workiva Amplify 2024 conference (September 9-11, Denver, Colorado) is expected will feature multiple ESG & sustainability sessions.

5. Carbon Accounting: Perdue Farms will leverage SustainaBase's carbon accounting platform to "accurately measure, monitor, and manage their carbon footprint across operations," the food and agriculture company said.

6. E-Waste Reduction: Microsoft is using robots to recycle hard drives and reduce e-waste.

7. IT Consulting, Aviation and Infrastructure: JFK International Air Terminal (JFKIAT) - the operator of JFK’s Terminal 4 - has hired global IT consulting firm Wipro to help meet the terminal's net zero targets. Wipro's sustainability practice is assessing the terminal’s greenhouse gas emissions; develop a carbon reduction roadmap; and create a 2023 sustainability report aligned with JFKIAT's sustainability targets. JFKIAT’s target is to reduce their Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% prior to 2030 and by 100% prior to 2050, Wipro said.

8. Data Centers - Liquid Cooling Technology: Giga Computing, a subsidiary of GIGABYTE, says its GIGABYTE G593 series servers support direct liquid cooling (DLC) technology to "advance green data centers using NVIDIA HGX H200 GPU."

9. Home Energy Management: The Wiser Home app, from Schneider Electric, now features AI-optimized energy management for water heaters and electric vehicle chargers.

10. Net Zero Energy Homes: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is assisting the City of Milwaukee to develop 25 all-electric, net-zero energy homes on vacant lots in three disadvantaged communities, the university said,

11. Partnership - Plastics Recycling: Schneider Electric and GR3N are partnering to create an "open automation system for the advanced plastic recycling industry."

12. Business Expansion: Schneider Electric is investing £42 million in a new manufacturing facility in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. More than 200 jobs will be created to "meet the increased demand for electrical equipment to drive the UK's move to cleaner energy including renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, and intelligent, energy-efficient buildings," the company said.

13. EV Production: Japan's Toyota Motor has slashed its electric vehicle production plans for 2026 by a third, the Nikkei business daily reported, becoming the latest automaker to roll back electric car plans as EV sales momentum wanes, Reuters said.

14. Tesla and xAI Partnership?: Elon Musk denied a report that two of his companies -- Tesla and the xAI startup -- have held revenue and AI sharing-related talks.

15. Apple - AI Strategy: In recent days, Apple decided to postpone more of its highly anticipated AI features, underscoring the idea that its AI push will take time to pay off, Bloomberg reported.

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

1. Mercedes Climate Tech Incubator: Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI)  is touting a Climate Tech Incubator in Hyderabad, India. The MBRDI incubator will "provide critical support to 25 social enterprises dedicated to sustainable mobility and environmental solutions," In collaboration with T-Hub, a prominent Indian startup incubator, MBRDI will offer seed funding, mentorship, and access to advanced technical expertise, the company said. Additionally, the program will engage over 500 students in a bootcamp designed to develop climate technology solutions, Mercedes noted. Related List: Dozens of climate tech incubators and accelerators.

2. Accelerator: TechStars Sustainability Paris has announced its September 2024 class. Startup companies featured in the incubator include:

• ADHERE GEAR (US) Sensor-based technology to monitor frozen and perishable food products
• Aethos Labs (Canada) A platform to build a secure, efficient battery supply chain
• Carbontribe (Estonia) Computer Vision based carbon credit generation platform
• ClimeRock (France) Enhanced rock weathering solution  
• ConsciESG (Albania) The platform for active asset managers who invest in financially thriving sustainable companies
• Dedalo AI (Italy) Carbon reduction software for IT emissions
• Electromaim (US) Micro hydro-generators, replacing pressure reducing valves (PRV)
• Lambda AI (Singapore) AI & satellite imagery-powered climate risk assessment platform
• Nditive 3D (Canada) AI-powered digital twin-driven gas monitoring system
• Parastruct (Austria) Technology transforming manufacturing waste into fully circular construction components
• Trashboard (France) Recycling cardboard into a high tech composite panel
• Wind Fisher (France) A patented Magnus effect airborne wind energy system  

3. M&A: Bentley Systems has acquired 3D geospatial company Cesium. The deal reinforces Bentley's digital twins software strategy. Customers often use digital twin software as part of an overall sustainability strategy. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Schneider Electric considered acquiring Bentley Systems in early 2024, but an M&A deal never acquired.

4. M&A - Environmental Services: Nurture Group has acquired Hortech, a carbon-neutral environmental business that serves customers across England, Wales and Scotland. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is Nurture Group's 49th acquisition.

5. 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. Italy - Nuclear Power Considerations:  Italy plans to draft, by early 2025, rules to allow the use of new nuclear power technologies, Reuters reported, signaling a potential reversal of the country's current ban on nuclear power production.

2. China - Policy: China is seeking public feedback on a plan to include cement, steel and aluminum production in its carbon emissions trading scheme by the end of 2024, Reuters reported.

D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar

1. Platform Global 2024 (September 10-12, Antibes, France)
2. Sustainability Live London (September 10-11, London, UK)
3. Innovate4Cities Conference 2024 (September 10-12, Montreal, Canada)
4. Oka Con 2024 (September 10-12, Ada, Oklahoma)
5. ICSD 2024 (September 11-12, Rome, Italy)
6. 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: If you have news to share then please email me the details.