š CAT Newsletter 213 - 2023-03-31
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 213 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 outĀ our onboarding checklist.
Remember you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time - the link is at the bottom.
Stay safe & healthy š š š±
CAT Community News
š Get involved
2min:Ā Complete thisĀ quick surveyĀ on digital sustainability efforts within your organization to support the Ecoweb project in advancing a greener web. Learn more about the Ecoweb projectĀ here.
5min:Ā Share our EcowebĀ surveyĀ viaĀ LinkedInĀ to help us gather as much valuable insight as possible. Your participation makes a difference!
7min: Submit song suggestions for a Branch CAT-playlist. To understand more about this idea or see some prompts, head over toĀ this google formĀ or check out Hannah'sĀ post on Slack.
š§ Knowledge base nosedive
Behavior & Psychology: Are you looking for actions & resources that can help you cope with challenging emotions evoked by the climate crisis? Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to explore resources recommended by CAT members. And join the #behavior-psychology channel on Slack to further discuss coping strategies and recommendations.
š CAT events
Fri, May 17 - Zurich [in person]:Ā Zurich hackathonĀ (for more info seeĀ Fiona's message on Slack)\nTue, May 21Ā - Vienna [in person]: Proposed meetup byĀ @Bjƶrn GanslandtĀ inĀ #local-austria\nOther local events were shared inĀ #local-germany,Ā #local-london,Ā #local-france,Ā #local-germany,Ā #local-oregonĀ andĀ #local-latin-america
š© Community networking
Get to know other CATs and make some friends in the community.Ā Every 2 weeks, we match 2-3 CATs so you can connect over a quick 30-minute call. Simply joinĀ #cat-roulette, pick your region and wait for a message fromĀ DonutĀ about your match! Our next round of matches will go out onĀ Fri, Apr 12. More info
Media, events, and news
šŗ CAT recommendations
š± A cutting from Branch
Open call for Branch Issue 8 (Spring 2024)
The open call for Branch magazine has closed! Remember though - there are still 7 issues worth on Branch website that have been created over the years, all ready for you to read. The site design is an open source wordpress theme, and pull requests are accepted. There a handful of issues open on the github repo for the Branch theme, so if you know your way around wordpress they may be of interest.
ā¶ļø CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
CNBC: Why Tire Companies Love EVs
The tire business can be a brutal one - low growth, low margins and extreme competition. Tire makers are at the mercy of ups and downs of raw material prices. About half of customers are largely indifferent to the brand of tires they buy. Price is the main differentiator. But industry analysts say the rise of EVs provides tire makers with the biggest growth opportunity they have seen in decades, with estimates that tires on EVs can cost 20 percent more and require replacement 50 percent more frequently. Learn more in the video.
š¤Ā Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Outrage and Optimism 238. Impatient for Change with Hannah Ritchie
This week, the hosts welcome Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor at Our World in Data and a Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford as our guest and discuss her book 'Not the End of the World, How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet'. In this compelling episode, join the hosts and special guest Hannah as they delve into the intricate dynamics of data, cautious optimism, and doom narratives within the climate community.
Catalyst with Shayle Khan: The electricity gauntlet has arrived
The electricity gauntlet we covered last year has been having a moment in the national spotlight, with coverage of rising load growth in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. On one side of the gauntlet, demand for electricity is rising, driven by new loads like EVs, data centers, and electrification. On the other side, electricity supply is slow to grow, bogged down by years-long interconnection queues, the immense challenges of building transmission, and other bottlenecks. So what does all this mean for emissions and prices? And what tools do we have to make it through this electricity gauntlet?
The Big Switch: Part 3 - The High Stakes for Battery Ingredients
Batteries can replace gasoline in our cars, or diesel in our generators, with electricity. But batteries and petroleum-based fuels share something in common: they both rely on energy-intensive processes to turn extracted materials into something useful. In this episode, we dig into step two of the supply chain: processing all those minerals into usable ingredients for batteries.
Environment Variables: Greening Digital and the Rebound Effect
In this episode of Environment Variables, host Chris Adams delves into the rebound effect with Vlad CoroamÄ, founder of the Roegen Center for Sustainability, covering how it applies to digital, where it came from, and how technologists can design with the rebound effect in mind.
Green IO #35 - Cybersecurity and sustainability: friend or foe? with Mary Prokhorova and Michael J. Oghia
In this episode Gaƫl Duez invited two experts on the field, Mary Prokhorova from InDevLab and Michael Oghia from Datacenter Changemakers, to discuss the nuances of cybersecurity and sustainability's relationship.
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š Submitted events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Tue Apr 02 2024 - Climate is only part of the planet's problem, How can I help with the whole solution?
Masterclass on regenerative principles and solutions with Chad Frischmann and Amanda Joy Ravenhill.
Wed Apr 03 2024 - Industrial decarbonization By MCJ Collective with 9-Zero
Join us for a great panel and networking event around Industrial Decarbonization: Beyond cement and steel. Are you curious about the estate of affairs in the chemical industry decarbonization? Join us for panel and networking! ā
Thu Apr 04 2024 - UK #GovClimate Show and Tell
This monthly show and tell is for people working in the UK public sector. It's low key and friendly - 2 to 3 speakers, 5 minutes each + short Q&As.
It's for sharing progress, struggles, questions, half-finished-things. See you there!
Thu Apr 18 2024 - Green IO Singapore
The go-to conference where responsible technologists based in South-East Asia can get the latest insights from thought leaders in Tech Sustainability and hands-on feedback from practitioners scaling Green IT.
Thu Apr 25 2024 - Eco Compute 2024
Discover EcoCompute, the first engineering conference on sustainability in hardware & software! Join us in Munich on April 25-26 at the House of Communication. Immerse in cutting-edge talks, connect with industry leaders, explore practical solutions. https://www.eco-compute.io/
Fri May 17 2024 - Climate Solutions Intensive ā A two-day deep dive into strategy, scenarios, and systems thinking (California)
The course delves into climate solutions, impacts, and system structures. Gain clarity on high-leverage actions you or your team can take to address the climate and equity challenges, using En-ROADSāa global simulator Climate Interactive co-developed with MIT
š° News Highlights
Repair.eu: A comprehensive overview of the current repair incentive systems: repair funds and vouchers
Now the right to repair was passed in the EU, its useful to understand what support is out there to make it easier to extend the life of gadgets and other kit. This post offers that overview.
Green Rocks: Fear-mongering in the Cobalt-sphere?
Climate technologies require enormous amounts of metal. Ian Morse's monthly round up covers developments in the world of mining for transition metals, and analysis with a climate justice focus.
Carbon brief: Mapping where tree-planting has the greatest climate benefit
Restoring tree cover is now firmly established as a strategy for removing carbon from the atmosphere to help tackle climate change. In some locations, this warming can partially or even completely outweigh the benefit of increased carbon uptake by the trees, by absorbing heat that would otherwise be reflected. Our study provides the maps that quantify the absolute and relative changes in albedo anywhere on Earth where we might grow trees.
Datacenter Dynamics: UK data center power demand to jump six-fold in ten years, National Grid CEO warns
The CEO of British utility National Grid has warned that data center power use is set to grow dramatically, putting further strain on an already-constrained grid:
"Demand on the grid is growing dramatically, and forecast to double by 2050 as heat, transport, and industry continue to electrify. Future growth in foundational technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing will mean larger-scale, energy-intensive computing infrastructure. Demand from commercial data centers will increase six-fold, just in the next ten years, and in homes, there will be an increasing shift towards heat pumps and electric vehicles."
New York Times: In France, the Future Is Arriving on a Barge
The Seine is becoming a test case for a European plan to cut carbon emissions by turning rivers into the new highways.
Heatmap News The EPA's New Truck and Bus Rules Could Be Good for Rivian ā and BYD:
The Biden administration continued its crackdown on carbon pollution from the transportation sector on Friday, finalizing tough new limits on tailpipe emissions from heavy-duty trucks and buses. The new rules, which the Environmental Protection Agency projects will keep a billion tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, would push more trucks and buses to use electric motors or experiment with alternative fuels.
The Register: Intel's green dream is chips without any dips in Mother Nature's health
Intel is seeking alternatives to harmful chemicals that the electronics industry has used for decades, amid growing concerns about the potentially negative impacts on the environment and human health. The chipmaking biz is again pushing the environmental bandwagon, committing to become the "industry's most sustainable foundry" and joining with other tech outfits to develop an industry-wide net zero roadmap.
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.
TransitionZero - Product Manager - Ā£ 44,286.17 - Ā£51,808.55 - Permanent - Onsite only
We are a climate analytics not-for-profit established in 2021. We're building easy to use energy transition modelling software to give governments, businesses and investors the tools to understand and decide how to transition to carbon free energy. The Product Manager will work collaboratively with the Head of Product on the product strategy and roadmap for our energy systems modelling software. A key aspect of the role will be to drive usage of and engagement with the product.
Twist - Senior Fullstack Dev - 75-90k - Permanent - Totally remote
Twist is a software company that is helping unlock financing sustainable assets and innovative business models. Think electric truck, heat pumps and batteries. Our role is to assist banks in effectively deploying debt capital towards these ventures. By compiling comprehensive risk and environmental data, we enable banks to accurately assess, monitor and simulate both the risk and impact of their investments. Read about our mission here. We are looking for a Full Stack Developer to join our small team to help build the Twist platform. You'll be part of a core team that's responsible for the full software development life cycle, from conception to deployment. We need a candidate who is comfortable owning and running what they build. We're looking for someone whose comfortable with some or all of the technologies we use.
Marble - Founder in Residence, Geothermal - Anywhere - 2.5-3K per month - Contract - Flexible - remote ok
Dive into the geothermal revolution and help unlock clean, sustainable energy for our planet. We're on the hunt for entrepreneurial engineers/scientists from geothermal, oil & gas, or similar sectors. If you're passionate about innovation and ready to explore cutting-edge approaches to power the net zero economy, we want you.
SELF - Head of Software Engineering - 100,000-130,000 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
We are America's first local nonprofit CDFI/ Green Bank. SELF's mission is to provide access to affordable and innovative financing for a just and equitable transition to a clean energy economy. SELF finances climate resiliency, renewable energy, clean transportation and water conservation projects with a focus on serving low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities.
SELF is the only hybrid green bank/CDFI with a proprietary consumer lending program for climate related home improvements tailored to meet the needs and ability to repay of LMI residents. SELF is leveraging technology to expand its Green Home" loan program across the United States.
We are looking for a founding head engineer to help build & scale our core financial platform to support a historic growth opportunity.
Elemental Excelerator - Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis - $125,000 to $238,000 / year - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
Elemental is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking financial planning and analysis professional to join our team. This new team member will be an innovative, collaborative, and communicative problem solver who understands the leverage to be gained from financial data in driving organizational results.This newly crafted role will develop and lead new financial processes and analyses in order to substantially scale our team and impact.
This position will report to the Chief Financial Officer. The role will be tasked with developing financial plans and reports that serve all of the various units within the organization including philanthropic fund development, government grant management, and the portfolio company investment operation.
ExpectAI - Full Stack Engineer & Data Scientist - Ā£35-45K, commensurate with experience - Permanent -
Join me in building ExpectAI's climate action platform that enables our customers to find and take profitable decarbonisation actions with confidence
Icebreaker One - Trust Framework Solutions Architect - Up to Ā£500/day - Contract - 3 days/wk until Dec 2024 - Totally remote
Icebreaker One is a UK-headquartered non-profit working to improve data sharing between organisations in order to accelerate the transition to net zero. Inspired by the explosion of financial service innovation brought about by Open Banking, we are applying the same model, known as a Trust Framework, to collaboratively design, govern and operate secure data sharing infrastructure across the economy. The Trust Framework Solutions Architect will help organisations from startups to PLCs understand and participate in these ecosystems from a technical perspective.
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