š CAT Newsletter 216 - 2024-04-21
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 216 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.
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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!
30min/week: We need YOU! Help write and curate a sectionĀ in this very newsletter. Reach out toĀ @SandraĀ if you can spare 30mins every week to help!
#ļøā£ Slack cleanup
Last week we archived and renamed a few Slack channels in order to encourage deeper discussions. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know inĀ #6-cat-community-feedback.
š§ Knowledge base nosedive
Greener Design: Get inspired to green your design practice by browsing this collection of resources, suggested actions, sustainable design principles, and more. Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to challenge the way you design websites or other digital products, and learn to reflect on the broader impact and context of your work.
š CAT events
Fri, May 17 - Zurich [in person]:Ā Zurich hackathonĀ (for more info seeĀ Fiona's message on Slack)
Tue, May 21Ā - Vienna [in person]: Meetup organized byĀ @Bjƶrn GanslandtĀ inĀ #local-austria
Other local events were shared / are being proposed inĀ #local-munich,Ā #local-new-york,Ā #local-san-francisco-bay-area,Ā #local-london, andĀ #local-switzerland
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 26. 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.
Planet A: Germany's hidden leaking nuclear waste dump
Following from last week's episode, why people want to put small nuclear reactors everywhere, Germany has a dirty little secret. In the middle of the country, deep underground, a radioactive waste dump has been leaking for decades. And nobody really knows what do to with it.
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 240. 40 Seconds to Save The World! with Paul Goodenough
This week, the hosts discuss the much celebrated ruling last week at the European Court of Human Rights when over 2000 women aged 64 and up, took the Swiss Government to court for failing to protect them from the growing effects of climate change which proved detrimental to their healthm and won, opening up a pathway for other similar cases to now be heard.
We are then joined by the incredible Paul Goodenough. Paul co-founded Rewriting Earth, a global collaboration of 300+ of the most influential storytellers creating non-political, non-judgemental content to reach mainstream audiences not typically engaged with environmental issues
Shift Key: Why a Climate Startup Is Building the World's Biggest Airplane
Radia is a $1 billion climate tech startup with an unusual pitch: It is trying to build the world's largest airplane. Its proposed aircraft, the Radia Wind Runner, would be as long as a football field, nearly as wide as a New York city block, and capable of carrying 12 times the volume of a Boeing 747. Such a plane could ferry massive wind-turbine blades, unlocking what the company calls "gigawind" ā the ability to build offshore-sized wind turbines on land.
In this week's episode, Rob and Jesse talk to Radia's CEO, Mark Lundstrom, discussing why the world needs a bigger plane, how such a new aircraft gets licensed, and why massive wind turbines could be such a big deal for renewable electricity.
Environment Variables: Building Green Software
In this episode of Environment Variables, host Chris Adams introduces the co-authors of Building Green Software - Anne, Sara, and Sarah. Through candid discussions, they explore the process of writing about green software development and highlight key insights gained along the way, touching on the interconnectedness between sustainability and existing best practices in software engineering, and the lessons learnt writing the newest O'reilly book on green software.
Green IO #36 - Climate change challenges to data centers: lessons from Singapore with PS Lee
In episode 36, Gaƫl Duez discussed with Professor PS Lee, National University of Singapore Dean's Chair of Mechanical Engineering and one of the top experts worldwide on data center cooling. They cover the challenges of making data centers sustainable in some of the hottest, most humid parts of the world, where it's a challenge to keep both computers and people cool enough to function.
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.
Mon Apr 22 2024 - ClimateCon Boulder 2024
The second ever ClimateCon! in Boulder will be an engaging and unforgettable day focused on sustainable solutions to combat climate change. There will be 20+ panels to discuss the latest in climate innovation.
Wed Apr 24 2024 - Simplifying Nature with Origami & AI
An in-person event in Denver Colorado to explore different ways to represent the natural world, including using AI to tell stories of climate change and origami to represent the formation of galaxies! š¤Æ
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/
Thu May 16 2024 - Climate Action Week Sydney - Does Cloud Co$t the Earth?
"Does Cloud Cost the Earth?", Every decision in the cloud has a 'cost, an economic cost, and an environmental cost. We're asking if decision making is costing businesses and the planet more than it should. Is it the technology or is it the way we are using it?
Thu May 16 2024 - Building a Climate Action Habit Into a Busy Life
Whether you're at the start of your climate and nature journey, or you've been taking action for a while but feel in a bit of a rut, this session will leave you feeling energised and ready to be part of building a better world. Use code CAT for a free ticket.
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
MIT Technology Review: the problem with plugin hybrids
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we're still underestimating the emissions they produce. According to new real-world driving data from the European Commission, plug-in hybrids produce roughly 3.5 times the emissions official estimates suggest. The difference is largely linked to driver habits: people tend to charge plug-in hybrids and drive them in electric mode less than expected. (discuss this in the CAT slack)
The Guardian: How to spot five of the fossil fuel industry's biggest disinformation tactics
Amy Westervelt and Kyle Pope have covered climate disinformation for a combined 20-plus years ā here's their guide on how to decode it. (discuss in the CAT slack)
Canary Media: the country's e-scooter experiment working? The results are mixed
Electric scooters and other micromobility solutions can help reduce transit emissions ā but it depends on how they're deployed, used and managed. (discuss in the CAT slack)
Carbon Brief: India election 2024: What the manifestos say on energy and climate change
Hundreds of millions of Indians will head to the polls from 19 April to 1 June amid scorching heat to cast their votes in the world's biggest elections. Their decisions could have significant consequences for how ā or even if ā India meets its climate goals and adapts rapidly to now almost daily extreme weather impacts. Find out the stakes for the world's most population nation, and largest democracy. (discuss in the CAT slack)
Al Jazeera: Did cloud seeding cause Dubai floods? Why experts say no
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was inundated with water on Tuesday after storms dumped more than a year and a half's rain in just a few hours, flooding roads as well as the international airport based in the metropolis of Dubai. Neighbouring Oman also witnessed heavy rains and flooding that killed at least 20 people. Here is what we know about the reasons behind the record rainfall and subsequent flooding in the UAE and Oman. (discuss in the CAT slack)
LinkedIn: Zevvy: Good ideas don't always make for good startups
In March 2021, Zevvy the first consumer-oriented, pay-per-mile EV lease available in the U.S, aimed at high mileage drivers. So we set out to solve the problem of EV adoption by the customers who benefit the most from an EV's low operating costs, and generate the largest share of transport emissions, but are historically overlooked and underserved. Here are the lessons learned after shutting down the company. (discuss in the CAT slack)
Reuters: New York sues meatpacking giant JBS over climate claims
Attorney General Letitia James said JBS USA Food Co, the Brazilian company's American-based unit, has "no viable plan" to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, making its stated commitment to achieving that goal false and misleading. She also said reaching the goal was "infeasible" given JBS' plan to increase production and therefore its carbon footprint, on top of greenhouse gas emissions that had by 2021 exceeded those of the entire country of Ireland. (discuss in the CAT slack)
Financial Times: US pushed behind scenes for approval of corporate carbon offset plan
The push came ahead of a policy decision by SBTi announced last week to allow companies to use carbon credits to offset their pollution. Advisers to former US climate envoy John Kerry's heavily lobbied the world's top corporate climate targets oversight group to reverse its opposition to the use of controversial carbon credits, according to sources familiar with the process.nKerry advisers lobbied for carbon offset approval to channel funds to clean-energy projects in poorer countries (discuss in the CAT slack)
Grist: Staggering quantities of energy transition metals are winding up in the garbage bin
To build all of the solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, and other technologies necessary to fight climate change, we're going to need a lot more metals. Mining those metals from the Earth creates damage and pollution that threaten ecosystems and communities. But there's another potential source of the copper, nickel, aluminum, and rare-earth minerals needed to stabilize the climate: the mountain of electronic waste humanity discards each year.Ā (discuss in the CAT slack)
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.
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.
Terawatt Infrastructure - Senior Manager, Grants & Incentives - $160,000-$180,000 - Permanent - Onsite only
Looking for someone to lead critical grant and incentive acquisition and execution strategies in the EV space! Terawatt is an EV fleet charging company looking to decarbonize fleet transportation.
Vizzuality - Back End Engineer - NodeJS - 30.000 - 49.000 EUR - Permanent
We are looking for a passionate Back-End Engineer to join team Vizzuality! Are you a skilled developer who thrives on using your talents to make a positive impact? Vizzuality creates data-driven tools for international organizations tackling climate change, biodiversity, and inequality. This could be your chance to make a real difference!
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