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. AWS Sustainability Scanner: Amazon continues to tout AWS Sustainability Scanner as a tool for developing more sustainable cloud workloads.
2. AI and Energy Consumption: Key Salesforce executives offered these views on AI and energy consumption in an interview with Techopedia.
3. Software - Grid and IT Optimization: Honeywell has introduced Honeywell Forge Performance+ for Utilities, a platform designed to "help utilities improve their operations and enhance performance of existing utility grid assets and IT investments."
4. Building Energy Management: R-Zero has launched the Building Intelligence Index, which helps building owners and managers to optimize real estate for occupancy, indoor air quality, well-being, and energy savings.
5. Skyscrapers: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill -- the architecture firm that designed the world’s tallest building -- is considering ways to build skyscrapers that can store energy using gravity, Bloomberg reported.
6. Aviation: Ardian has launched a free version of Ardian AirCarbon, the company's proprietary emission quantification and reduction tool for the aviation industry.
7. Software Launch: QINT.APP, a provider of SaaS solutions, has launched an AI-driven platform designed specifically for Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SDS) in the United Kingdom.
8. Hydro Power and Mobile Communications: NTT DOCOMO has demonstrated a cellular base station powered by a hydroelectric power-generation system and a jet turbine. While DOCOMO's green base stations mainly use solar power, this initiative aims to use renewable energy such as hydropower in places where solar panels are not practical. A commercial product based on the hyropower demonstration is expected to be available for purchase by March 2025.
9. Data Centers - North America: Web hosting giant OVH has opened up a massive, energy-efficient data center in Beauharnois, Quebec to act as its North American presence, Data Center Knowledge reported. The facility, located in a suburb of Montreal, has a 360,000 server capacity, the report said.
10. Layoffs: Siemens Energy wind turbine division -- known as Siemens Gamesa -- plans to cut 4,100 jobs, or around 15% of its workforce, the unit's Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt said in an internal letter to staff, Reuters reported.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Financial Warning - Solar Energy: Maxeon Solar's stock plunged after the manufacturer issued a “going concern” warning and said it will receive almost $200 million in investments from its top shareholder, Bloomberg reported. Maxeon’s troubles come as segments of the US solar industry have struggled amid high interest rates, overseas competition and changed California residential incentives that have hobbled installations, the report noted.
2. Startup Funding - Hydrogen-Powered Data Centers: Data center-as-a-service startup ECL has closed on a $10 million investment from Hyperwise Ventures, according to this report. The funding came as the company, incorporated at Edge Cloud Link Inc., unveiled the first delivery of its modular, off-the-grid data center that’s powered entirely by hydrogen, the report said.
3. Startup Funding: New York-based EcoRatings, which has developed an AI-based sustainability ranking system, has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round from Google and India-based investors, CityBiz reported. EvolveX, a startup accelerator program run by We Founder Circle, first invested in the startup in December 2023, the report noted.
4. Startup Funding: Seattle-based Climate Vault Solutions, a startup working to reduce carbon emissions, has raised $2.5 million in new investments, GeekWire reported. Total funding to date for Climate Vault is $11.9 million, the report said.
5. M&A - Wastewater Treatment Technology: Newterra has acquired Carbon Service and Equipment Company (CSEC) from Encotech Inc. CSEC specializes in efficient and effective water and wastewater treatment processes. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. M&A - EHS software: LabVantage Solutions has acquired SEIN Infotech South Korea -- a developer of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) management applications. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
7. M&A - Solar Energy: Apricus Generation has acquired a controlling stake in Nexus Renewables. The goal is to "create an industry-leading developer, aggregator, owner, and operator of solar and energy storage technologies." Apricus Generation is a new holding company designed to build a national distributed solar and battery development platform and Independent Power Producer (IPP). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
8. M&A - Renewable Energy: Brookfield has entered into exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in French renewable power producer Neoen -- valuing it at around 6.1 billion euros ($6.6 billion), Reuters reported.
9. 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: Azerbaijan, which will host this year’s United Nations climate summit, is working on a proposal to place a levy on oil, gas and coal production in order to fund climate action in developing countries, Bloomberg reported.
2. United States - California Solar Policy Challenges: California regulators dealt the struggling solar industry a fresh blow, Bloomberg reported, adopting rules that renewable advocates warn will discourage smaller projects.
3. Philippines - Solar Energy: Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. aims to build more solar power plants to secure over half of the Philippines’ total capacity in five years, Bloomberg reported, as the company joins a growing group raising funds to ride the country’s green energy push.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Cisco Live 2024 (June 2-6, Las Vegas, Nevada)
- ClimaTech 2024 (June 3-6, Boston, Massachusetts)
- Computex 2024 (June 3-7, Taipei, Taiwan)
- SAP Sapphire 2024 (June 3-5, Orlando, Florida)
- Siemens Realize Live Europe 2024 (June 3-5, Munich, Germany)
- 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.
