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. Research - Carbon Reporting Challenges: Only 9% of companies comprehensively report Scopes 1,2, and 3 emissions, a Boston Consulting Group survey of nearly 2,000 companies found.
2. Refurbished IT Solutions: Keep an eye on urBusiness, a newly launched marketplace for refurbished smartphones and mobile devices.
3. Patents - AI Data Centers: Magma Power, a green energy startup in Tampa, Florida, has secured 11 global patents for its renewable energy technology. The patents cover Magma Power's solutions for AI data centers, bitcoin mining, renewable baseload electricity generation, green fuel production, and more.
4. Talent - Financial Services: Electrolux Group has appointed Ann-Sofi Jönsson as head of investor relations and sustainability Reporting, a press release indicated.
5. Talent - ESG Consulting: ESG&I has hired Peter Blackmore and Caroline Chan as partners and principal consultants focused on ESG consulting in Perth, Western Australia.
6. Talent - Higher Education: Brandeis University in mid-2024 quietly terminated the Office of Sustainability, calling into question both current and future sustainability initiatives at the University, The Justice reported.
7. Employee Training - IT Services: Deloitte has launched Deloitte Academies, a new workforce and upskilling-focused suite of immersive learning experiences, focused on high-demand skills areas including sustainability, AI, product innovation and leadership, ESG Today reported.
8. E-Waste - Alleged Fraud: Police raided six offices involved in processing illegal metal, plastic and e-waste around Pandamaran, Klang, a report said.
9. Mobile Computing: The Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have reduced their carbon footprints by 30% compared to earlier models, ESG News reported.
10. Amazon Net Zero Debate: Amazon has pushed back against greenwashing allegations, The Loadstar report. An investigation that questions Amazon's green commitment -- conducted by Stand.Earth Research Group, Ship It Zero and Pacific Environment -- was based on “inaccurate data”, Amazon told Loadstar.
11. Partnership - IT Services and SaaS: Deloitte has implemented GreenLight powered by Salesforce — a solution that combines Salesforce Net Zero Cloud with Deloitte’s proprietary technology — in more than 120 countries to help meet its sustainability goals.
12. Partnership - E-waste and IT Asset Disposition (ITAD): One New Zealand, in partnership with BMS-IT, is expanding its electronic equipment disposition service for Enterprise and Public Sector customers.
13. Partnership - Higher Education: Two North Carolina State professors partnered with Amazon to improve the long-term sustainability of the packaging industry, the university said.
14. Partnership - AI and Energy Management: IBM and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched new interactive models on energy within UNDP's global GeoHub platform. These solutions leverage IBM watsonx AI and more to help users analyze complex energy issues.
15. Partnership - Data Center Energy Efficiency: EkkoSense has worked with Virgin Media O2 to help the company achieve data center cooling energy savings of more than £1 million per year.
16. Partnership - Marketing: TrusTrace, Xoriant and Carbon Trail are partnering to help customers achieve more product marketing accountability, Paxton Media reported.
17. Partnership - Travel: Karma Wallet and Dyme Travel are partnering to help customers reduce the carbon impact of each trip, the two companies said.
18. Google - Data Center Reset: Google will rework from scratch its plans to build a $200 million data center in Santiago, Chile, amid various environmental impact concerns, Reuters reported.
19. Reorg - Renewable Energy Solutions: MARS has consolidated many of its brands around the MARS Energy Group moniker. The group now provides solar, battery storage, EV charging, and project financing for developers, commercial applications, and non-profit customers.
20. EV Charger Network - Tesla Challenges: Tesla's Supercharger network expansion has slowed in recent months, after widespread layoffs in April 2024 gutted the team responsible for installing new electric-car chargers and stations, The Wall Street Journal reported.
21. EV Charging - Layoffs: Blink Charging layoffs will impact 14% of employees, resulting in annualized savings of approximately $9 million, the EV charging company said. The layoffs will "begin immediately and be completed in the first quarter of 2025," Blink Charging said. The job cuts arrive ahead of a planned CEO transition. Blink Charging Chief Operating Officer Mike Battaglia will succeed President and CEO Brendan Jones on February 1, 2025, the EV charging company announced in August 2029.
22. EV Charging - Talent: ChargePoint has hired NTT Data Services and Omnitracs veteran David Vice as chief revenue officer.
23. AI Lawsuit: Neural AI has filed suit against Nvidia, alleging that a suite of software, including AI tools, infringed several machine learning technology patents, Bloomberg Law reported. An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment about the suit to Bloomberg Law.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Accelerator - Industry Decarbonization: Breakthrough Energy has launched its fourth Fellows Cohort -- featuring 25 startups that are developing technologies in hard-to-decarbonize industries.
2. Accelerator - Mobility: The Company Lab (CO.LAB) and gener8tor selected five startups for the second Sustainable Mobility Accelerator cohort. Each startup will get an initial $20,000 investment with potential for an additional funding of $100,000 and pilot programs tailored to Chattanooga’s technology ecosystem. The cohort includes:
3. Fund - AI and Data Centers: BlackRock is planning a more than $30B artificial intelligence investment fund with Microsoft to build data centers and energy projects to fill the growing demand for AI, SeekingAlpha reported.
4. For Sale - Wind Infrastructure Assets: BP plans to sell its U.S. onshore wind energy business because the assets don't align with BP's growth plans, Reuters reported.
5. Startup Funding - Carbon Accounting Software: Zevero of London, UK, has raised $7 million in seed funding. Spiral Capital led the round, with participation from East Ventures as well as several angel investors.
6. Startup Funding - Wind Energy: Renewcast, focused on wind energy generation forecasting, has secured €2M through a SAFE/CLA funding round, Silicon Canals reported.
7. Financing and Re-Brand: Elemental Impact, formerly known as Elemental Excelerator, is opening applications for projects to receive investments via a $100 millon funding program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
8. Financing - Real Estate: Carlyle announced a strategic investment into North Bridge ESG, a provider of real estate finance solutions. Carlyle committed to providing up to $1 billion for commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) loans by North Bridge, the companies said.
9. M&A - Accounting and ESG Software: Lefebvre Sarrut, an European provider of legal and tax knowledge, has acquired Toovalu, a developer of software for climate and ESG strategy management. The software helps customers to achieve CSRD compliance. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
10. M&A - Environmental Consulting: Verdantas of Tampa, Florida has acquired Aegis Environmental of Richmond, Virginia, according to Consulting.us. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
11. M&A - Construction Software: One Click LCA, which develops software to enable builders and manufacturers to track and reduce their carbon footprint, has acquired ENVI-met, which provides software for microclimate simulation in construction and other industries, ESG Today reported. 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 - Global Wartime Truce?: Azerbaijan has been accused of hypocrisy in calling for a global truce to coincide with the conference, The Guardian reported.
2. COP29 - Human Rights: The run-up to COP29 has seen more Azerbaijan government pressure on activists, a France24 media report alleges.
3. United States - EV Policy and Auto Industry Layoffs: Some auto workers blame the Biden-Harris administration’s heavy-handed electric-vehicle mandates for job losses, The New York Post reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- International Conference on Sustainability Education 2024 (September 19-20, New Delhi, India)
- 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 sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
