December 10, 2023

🌍 CAT Newsletter #199 - 2023-12-10

Hey CATs,

Welcome to issue 199 of the climateAction.tech (CAT) Newsletter - your weekly summary of what's happening inside the CAT community, and in the wider world of climate and tech. New to CAT or looking to re-discover the community? Try out our onboarding checklist.

Remember you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time - the link is at the bottom.

Stay safe & healthy 😌 💚 🐱

CAT Community News

Three ways to get involved

1. Fill out our member survey

2. Add your project / action / win / stuff you learned at CAT to our CAT member PAWS presentation

3. Join our last event of the year next Thursday

Slack channel highlights

• #greener-data-ai: A shared some research that compares carbon emissions between AI models on different tasks. Have a read and share your thoughts

• #climate-careers: A shared Project Drawdown’s latest Job Function Action Guides for product managers, designers, and engineers. Have you taken actions like these in your current role or previous role(s)? Reply in the thread

From our local channels: A said hi in #local-india, K shared a volunteering opportunity in #local-san-francisco-bay-area, M shared a speaker opportunity in #local-new-york, and and a while ago O shared an art installation in #local-canada!

CAT events for the rest of the year

:snowflake: Tue, Dec 12 (in-person) - London, UK: Climate Community Winter PartynOther in-person events were shared / are being planned in #local-aotearoa and #local-spain

🎉 Thu, Dec 14 - Americas, Europe, Africa: CAT 2023 – year in review and celebration (share your 2023 project/win/action here)

Other events have been shared or are being planned in #local-leeds and #greener-design

Community networking

CAT Roulette is taking a break as we transition into 2024. We’ll be back next year. See channel host @Brett Duboff’s message in the #cat-roulette channel for more.

🌱 A cutting from Branch

Issue 7 - Big Green Lies

For generations we’ve been lulled into thinking that all green cover must be beneficial—that vast symmetrical rows of identical crops symbolize abundance. I was shaken from this hold when I resolved to grow a native forest in my backyard. First, I had to dismantle the myth that all the verdant green I saw around me was benefiting the biodiversity of this ecosystem. Then I learned how native plants, that evolved in this landscape, sustain the ecosystem

** CAT videos**

CAT videos, geddit? 10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.

Google: Can Google AI make flying more sustainable?

Contrails are surprisingly responsible for about 35% of aviation’s global warming impact. This 6 minute long video outlines how researchers at Google partnered with American Airlines to study if accurately predict contrail forming regions, so pilots could choose routes to avoid them. Their initial results suggest that contrail avoidance could be the most cost-effective way to mitigate aviation’s climate impact in the short term. Note: winter holidays usually see an uptick in travel, so there’s a thread in the CAT slack to discuss, or share further resources, and comments.

** CAT Submitted Events**

Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.

None this week - check the slack!

Check #external-events in the CAT slack for more.

** Podcasts**

The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs

Zero: Al Gore plans to break the petrostate stranglehold on climate progress

Former US Vice President Al Gore has been going to COP summits since the beginning. But he’s much more than a COP-goer. Many of today’s climate activists say that Gore’s climate documentary An Inconvenient Truth was the reason they became activists. Bloomberg Green senior reporter Akshat Rathi spoke with Al Gore at the Bloomberg Green Summit at COP28 in Dubai to ask him how to break the stranglehold petrostates have over COP, why tackling climate change solves many other major problems, and why big emitters can no longer hide.

Catalyst with Shayle Khan: How to triple renewables by 2030

It took 12 years to triple global renewables — and now the world needs to do it again in just eight years. As the latest U.N. climate summit begins, there’s a proposal on the table to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030. Countries may agree to it in theory, but can the market meet it in practice? This week, we’ll look at why this tripling is necessary, how it could be done and which technologies will dominate.

Volts: Getting local communities on board with renewable energy, Australia edition

To hit its climate targets, the US must build an enormous amount of new clean energy infrastructure. Much of that infrastructure is going to be built in rural communities, and the resistance of those communities to that infrastructure is one of the greatest threats to the clean energy transition. One of those scholars and activists is Jarra Hicks, who got her PhD at the University of New South Wales with a dissertation on community-owned wind farms in rural, and co-authored a benefit-sharing guide and runs an online benefit-sharing course, both meant to help renewable energy developers better navigate this tricky territory.

Wicked Problems: Live(ish) from COP28UAE: Al Gore, Solarpunk, and Creativity with Visions2030

Welcome back to Wicked Problems. The climate tech podcast and newsletter that Al Gore agrees with - like we told you yesterday, do not mess with Mary Robinson. Elizabeth Thompson and Chris Hayes of Visions2030, a project that seeks to bring to harness the creative imagination of all of us to envision a future less Blade Runner’s Cyberpunk and more Wakanda’s Solarpunk.

Mystery AI Hype Theatre 300: Episode 19: The Murky Climate and Environmental Impact of Large Language Models

Drs. Emma Strubell and Sasha Luccioni join Emily and Alex for an environment-focused hour of AI hype. How much carbon does a single use of ChatGPT emit? What about the water or energy consumption of manufacturing the graphics processing units that train various large language models? Why even catastrophic estimates from well-meaning researchers may not tell the full story. (See also - full video ,version with chat linked on Twitch.tv)

** News Highlights**

Carbon Brief: Interactive - The pathways to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit

The interactive tool in this article unpacks what future levels of emissions could mean for global average temperatures, if – or when – the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit might be breached, and, in some cases, by how much and for how long.

Web Performance Calendar: Why web perf tools should be reporting website carbon emissions

Recently, a post from the web performance monitoring tool DebugBear about why they won’t report website carbon emissions in their platform caught my attention. It’s a very good post, pulling together information from a lot of sources, and presenting the reasoning behind their decision. In this post, I aim to provide a counter take, that looks at the present and future. I hope to emphasise how web performance tools can start integrating website carbon emissions calculations into their platforms.

Canary Media: Airlines have a big climate problem, and it’s not just CO2 emissions

A Virgin Atlantic flight from London to New York City grabbed the world’s attention last week when it successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean without burning fossil fuels — a first for a major airline. But proving that planes can safely fly on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel wasn’t the only purpose of the November 28 trip. Researchers traveling on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were also there to study another major climate problem caused by air travel: condensation trails, or ​“contrails.”

MySociety: You can use WhatDoTheyKnow for the good of the climate

As we look back on a million public requests, we’re also looking to the future and how WhatDoTheyKnow might be leveraged for the most important issue of our generation — the climate. There is, as it happens, a legal mechanism that was designed specially for requesting information about the environment, called Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) - similar to FOI in that they allow you to request information from authorities.

Atmos.Earth: How Amy Westervelt Sees Through the Smokescreen of COP28

As investigative journalist Amy Westervelt told me, this is not the first time lobbyists and petrostates have seized power at COP. It’s been that way from the beginning. But after decades of impunity, they’ve become more brazen. She joins Atmos to discuss what progress can be made with them at the helm, how to level-headedly interpret the wins from COP28, and whether it’s time to envisage a new, unsullied system of climate decision-making. 

Silicon Valley Power says data center load to double by 2035, will need geothermal power and batteries

Silicon Valley Power expects data center load - already the single largest load for the Californian utility - to almost double by 2035, said in their own planning documents. The Santa Clara-based company expects to turn to new renewable sources, including significant geothermal power, to help fuel this growth. For the data nerds, the full IRP (Intergrated Resource Plan) is available online.

Perspectives on e-scooters use: A multi-year cross-sectional approach to understanding e-scooter travel behavior in Portland, Oregon

New research shows that shared e-scooter adoption starts with a leisure-trip bias but pivots towards utilitarian uses over time. Another data point on why e-scooters can work well as a complement to public transport. (Note: this came from the stellar Sustainable Mobility newsletter).

**  Jobs**

Remember only jobs listing salary ranges are listed here - to get your job listed, you need to list a salary range. Folks can still look in the #jobs channel.

RouteZero - Full-stack software engineer - £30-35k - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok

RouteZero is hiring a full-stack developer (Flutter and Typescript). We’re decarbonising our customer’s largest source of emissions: travel. We aim to prevent millions of tonnes of CO₂ entering the atmosphere by helping customers deploy the most effective carbon-cutting actions, from low-carbon travel booking to carbon budgets and social influence tools.

Elemental Excelerator - Portfolio Experience Analyst - $54,600 - $85,400 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok

This role will be responsible for activating our community of engaged founders through the development of program communications, founder tools, newsletters, and general outreach, as well as supporting the organization and execution of portfolio-facing events and Elemental’s accelerator program tracks. This is a dynamic position that works both cross-collaboratively within the organization to provide transparency across portfolio team initiatives, and directly with companies to help them scale and make a positive impact.

Elemental Excelerator - Policy Lab Senior Operations Manager - $86,500-$140,100/year - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok

Elemental is seeking a passionate self-starter to serve as a Policy Lab Senior Operations. This position will report to Elemental’s Managing Director, Policy and support our work and systems to help Elemental’s portfolio companies and key policy leaders scale climate solutions with deep community impact. The role will also work closely with our Senior Policy Advisor who leads our Policy Fellows program and with our Senior Manager of Portfolio Experience who supervises coaching and other supports for our portfolio companies. The role requires excellent collaboration skills, strong workflow management, strong execution and attention to detail, and ability to create and maintain systems that assess key trends and data to enable innovation and impact in our team’s work.

Elemental Excelerator - Developer in Residence - The starting hourly rate for this opportunity is $150/hr. - Contract - Flexible - remote ok

Elemental is seeking a Developer in Residence to join our team and support our portfolio of climate tech entrepreneurs as they navigate the complexities of deploying a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) or early commercial climate tech project. In addition to bringing your expertise as a project developer to 1:1 and group work with our portfolio companies, you will serve as a thought partner to Elemental as we work to develop and build out more support offerings for our portfolio, including a roster of specialized project developers to support their journey.

Ford Foundation - Technology Fellow - 117k - 136k USD - Permanent - Onsite only

Ford Foundation's Natural Resources and Climate Change International (NRCC-I) team is hiring a Technology Fellow to join their team. The Tech Fellow will integrate into the NRCC team on a two-year contract, , and will also be a part of the broader Technology Fellowship Program, which was created to support integrated learning and action at the intersection of social justice and technology throughout the work of the foundation.

Monthly CAT thank you

📝 For adding knowledge to Outline: @mrchrisadams @Alja Isaković @Elisa @melissa @Chiamaka Iberosi @Justyna Łabądź @Patrick Campbell

💰 For supporting us financially on Open Collective: @Poppe Guthrie @Todd @Thibaud Colas @Mike Gifford (CivicActions) @fershad @Michael Napper @Chris Pointon @James Crowley @Jeff Burka @asim @HeatherB @Nic Wistreich @Michelle Barker and all you lovely anonymous supporters

❤️  For volunteering within the community:  @Hannah @roundcrisis @Siôn @Brett Duboff @Elisa @Łukasz Mastalerz @Claire Thornewill @Owen Rogers @Tom Kennes @Aïda @Caroline Schneider @Nat Darke @Clare Tomassian (she/her) @Ben Tongue @Dan @Matt Sirkis @Gaël Duez @Poppe Guthrie @Evan Hahn @Alja Isaković @Mary ManWant to get to know the volunteers? Check out the volunteer profiles on our blog