🌍 CAT Newsletter 229 - 2024-07-21
CAT 229 - 2024-07-21
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 229 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
🙋 Get involved
1️⃣ Missed the CAT July Open Meeting, during which we discussed CAT projects and mini grants, updates on CAT as a CIC (Community Interest Company), and more? Fear not, you can catch up with Melissa's thread in #4-cat-events or see the full meeting notes in Outline (log in with your CAT Slack account to view). A few particular areas that need help:
- #climate-careers: How can we make the channel more useful? Reply in the thread 🧵
- New short-term committee: Help us create standards & a process for vetting potential collaborators (3-5 meetings) - interest form
2️⃣ Get involved in local things! Local events were shared in #local-vancouver, #local-san-francisco-bay-area and #local-australia. G said hi in #local-scotland and O said hi in #local-aotearoa. A shared a volunteer opportunity in #local-uk. L talked about the tech workers coalition in #local-netherlands. @Aydin Mshared a speaker opportunity in #local-germany. And there were also events in #local-leeds, #local-munich, and #local-new-york recently. Did you attend? What did you learn?
🏝️ Taking a break
- #cat-roulette will be back in September (see channel host @Brett Duboff's message in the channel)
- CAT organisers are taking a break from Aug 5th - Aug 18th
🧠 Knowledge base deepdive
Films, Books, Media: Looking for climate-related content recommendations for your summer (or winter) vacation? Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to explore what other CATs are reading, watching, or listening to, and help a fellow CAT learn something new by adding your own recommendations.
Media, events, and news
😺 CAT recommendations
🌱 A cutting from Branch issue 8
Alternative networks: Consciously designing from within earthly dynamics
Jesse Thompson, lecturer in the Design School at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London gives a tour of some of the most interesting alternative internet projects in the art world:
"At times, it might seem easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of the current internet. But these projects – and many others like them – beautifully counter that notion, simply by existing. They provide the ferment for possible futures worth cultivating. The truth is that the mainstream, one-size-fits-all approach for a universally scalable, fossil-fuel powered planetary network is a monocultural approach to communication technology. The model strives for sanitation when what we really need are more options for how we connect with each other and the world."
▶️ CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
BBC Ideas: What happens when the permafrost thaws?
Around 11% of the Earth's land mass is covered by permafrost. But its delicate balance is being threatened by climate change.
🎤 Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Volts: How are we going to decarbonize shipping?
In this episode, David Wooley and Ed Carr, lead authors of recent papers outlining policy and technology options for reducing emissions in the shipping industry, discuss the fuels (and batteries?) that could power ships of the future, the policies needed to move forward, and California's pivotal role.
Zero: The climate activist trying to change banks from the inside
Lucie Pinson is a climate activist focused on the banks that fund fossil fuel projects. But she doesn't march, chant, picket corporate headquarters, or glue herself to the road. Instead, she and her team at the Paris-based nonprofit Reclaim Finance get to know Corporate Social Responsibility officers, trawl through company statements and portfolios, and join shareholder calls. Reclaim Finance's strategy is all about finding ways to pressure big financial institutions from the inside– and it works. She tells Akshat Rathi about some of the successes her organization has had, and why even bank employees who don't care about green issues might find reasons to work with her.
Catalyst with Shayle Khan: Can chip efficiency slow AI's energy demand?
In March, Nvidia announced a new microchip designed for AI that is 25 times more energy efficient than its predecessor. Two months later, Google announced one with a 67% efficiency improvement. Today, the rest of the semiconductor industry is hyper focused on efficiency gains.
Will they save us from ballooning data center energy demands? Shayle and Christian examine the factors driving those trends and what we can do about it, covering topics like whether chip efficiency improvements will lead to energy savings or just more powerful computing.
Environment Variables: The Week in Green Software: Tackling the Energy Challenges of AI
Producer Chris Skipper is joined by guests Marjolein Pordon of ladylowcode.com fame and Andri Johnston from Cambridge University Press & Assessment to discuss the sustainability challenges associated with AI's increasing energy demands and the role of data centers in addressing these challenges. Marjolein emphasizes the need for sustainable infrastructure and the potential synergy between low-code platforms and AI. Andri shares insights from CUP&A's efforts to understand and mitigate digital carbon emissions, highlighting the importance of transparency and accurate reporting from cloud service providers like AWS.
Green IO #43 - Digital sustainability in a Tech behemoth: Japan with Trista Bridges and Paul Beddie
How can a country defining itself as an high-tech spearheader can embrace IT sustainability? Japan is a fascinating example of both the contradictions and the synergies that such a journey creates. In this episode, Gael Duez welcomes two long-time Japan-based experts: Paul Beddie, VP and Sustainability Lead at Capgemini, and Trista Bridges, the co-author of Leading Sustainably, and a member of EcoVadis' Purpose Committee. Their exchange on IT sustainability initiatives in Japan led to many takeaways including: the stakeholder-oriented nature of Japanese society, the emergence of Japanese startups focusing on sustainability, the role of regulations in driving sustainability efforts in Japan, And much more.
📅 Submitted events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Fri Jul 26 2024 - TBLI Virtual Networking
Expand your work connections using your phone or computer.
Join the TBLI Virtual Networking (Mixer) and connect with impact investors, entrepreneurs, and sustainability thought leaders worldwide through our immersive virtual platform.
🕒 Timed 1-on-1 Speed Networking
Fri Jul 26 2024 - Climate Change Roundtable
I am hosting 3 members of Congress to discuss climate change policy. Please join the Vice Chair Democratic Caucus, Ted Lieu & Judy Chu, Mark Takano. Friday, July 26 10:30 - noon PST
QuantumScape, 1750 Automation Pkwy, San Jose CA
Thu Aug 08 2024 - CEN Workshop: Guidelines and Requirements for Ending Fossil Fuel Use in Supply Chains
The absence of standardized criteria for fossil-free products leads to confusion and hinders progress in reducing fossil fuel reliance. This workshop aims to create a clear framework to guide companies in transitioning to renewable energy, increase consumer confidence through transparent claims, and help regulatory bodies implement effective policies.
Thu Sep 19 2024 - How to: Embrace Imperfect Climate Action - with Sami Grover
Join Sami Grover, writer and author of 'We Are All Climate Hypocrites Now' to explore how embracing our limitations can unlock the power of a movement. Sami will help us move past blame, shame and carbon footprints to practical pathways to action that actually make a difference.
Wed Oct 02 2024 - BBC Climate Creatives Conference 2024
Climate Creatives returns for its fourth annual conference in association with BBC Academy Fusion.
Tue Oct 08 2024 - The Global Nature Positive Summit 2024
Global Nature Positive Summit aims to boost private sector investment to protect and repair our environment. With a focus on solutions to climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
Fri Oct 11 2024 - Better Software
Italian Conference about Sustainable IT
Mon Oct 14 2024 - SxSW Sydney
From a grassroots start in Austin TX, 1987 to a new, second home in Sydney Australia. Tech Innovation with track focus on Energy, Climate & Sustainability
📰 News Highlights
The Guardian: Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25
Campaigners receive longest ever sentences for non-violent protest after being convicted of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. Roger Hallam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu and Cressida Gethin were found guilty last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for coordinating direct action protests on the M25 over four days in November 2022.
Hallam received a five-year sentence on Thursday, while the other four were each sentenced to four years. All five had spoken on a Zoom call trying to recruit potential volunteers for the actions, which involved activists climbing gantries at strategic points on the London orbital motorway.
Reuters: BP expecting peak in oil demand in 2025, and rapid renewables growth
BP expects oil demand to peak next year and wind and solar capacity to grow rapidly in both of the two main scenarios in its influential annual Energy Outlook, a study of the evolution of the global energy system to 2050 it published on Wednesday. Carbon emissions, caused predominantly by the burning of fossil fuels, also peak in the mid 2020s in both scenarios. We cover the key points in the report.
Ecosia: The UK has an opportunity to promote climate and nature
It is four years into the UN's decade of decisive climate action, and the role of governments to enact meaningful policies has never been more critical. In the UK last week, the Labour Party achieved a record landslide win and Keir Starmer must now demonstrate true leadership by addressing climate change and biodiversity loss head on.
The new UK government should support the Climate & Nature Bill, a comprehensive legislative proposal that addresses the full extent of the climate and nature crisis in line with the most up-to-date science. We are pleased to have joined many other businesses to support this bill.
Canary Media: Vermont is on the cusp of mandating 100% clean electricity by 2035
The state's Senate approved the measure this week, putting Vermont on track to be among the first states to fully decarbonize its power grid. Vermont state lawmakers just passed a measure that would require all utilities to provide 100 percent clean energy by 2035.
The bill would put the state on track to be among the first to fully decarbonize, outpaced only by Rhode Island, which requires utilities to provide all-renewable power by 2033.
IEEE Spectrum: A Clean, Green Way to Recycle Solar Panels
Inside a shipping container in an industrial area of Venice, the Italian startup 9-Tech is taking a crack at a looming global problem: how to responsibly recycle the 54 million to 160 million tonnes of solar modules that are expected to reach the end of their productive lives by 2050. The company uses no toxic chemicals, releases no pollutants into the environment, and recovers up to 90 percent of the materials in a solar panel, says Francesco Miserocchi, chief technology officer at 9-Tech.
The Register: Don't blame AI for rise in carbon emissions, says Google exec
Google's chief scientist claims that AI is being unfairly blamed for the rise in his company's carbon dioxide emissions, and says the tech giant's efforts to switch to entirely clean energy by 2030 remains on track.
Earlier this month, the Mountain View-based biz published its annual environmental report, containing the admission that its CO2 emissions for 2023 were up 13 percent year-on-year, and up by 48 percent compared to the 2019 target base year.
Datacenter Dynamics: AWS, Digital Realty, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Schneider Electric call for greater supplier transparency on Scope 3 emissions
The hyperscalers, Digital Realty, and Schneider Electric have signed an open letter asking suppliers to better detail their emissions as they move to reduce the sector's carbon footprint. Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, and Microsoft were among the iMasons Climate Accord Governing Body Members that described the importance of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). EPDs are standardized, third-party-verified documents that report the embodied emissions of a product, and the greenhouse gases produced by product through its entire lifecycle. This includes raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, product use, and product end-of-life.
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. Remember: if you're looking for advice finding a role, check our #climate-careers channel.
Icebreaker One - Django developer - 400 GBP day for around 5 days - Contract - Flexible - remote ok
We are looking for a django developer to take an existing open source community directory application, designed for finding members with complementary skills and interests, and customise it needs within our network for a short project. The open source project is linked in the job description.
Open Energy Transition - Full-stack/Backend/Frontend Software Engineer - EUR 40-80K/year for full-stack/backend, 30-60K for frontend/UX - Permanent - Totally remote
Open Energy Transition is a non-profit energy tech company that uses and develops open-source software solutions and contributes to open data to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable, accessible and reliable energy. Our goal is to increase the pace and reduce the cost of energy system planning decisions through open collaboration and innovation. We are looking to hire 2 software engineers for two projects: a cloud compute solution for solving large energy models, and a solver benchmark website that compares various OSS/proprietary solvers on energy modelling benchmarks. The goal is to build robust, secure, and efficient open-source software to be used for energy and climate modelling and play a part in accelerating the climate transition.
PowerX.co - Senior Full Stack Software Engineer - $136,000 to $204,000 - Permanent -
PowerX is building energy management solutions for businesses, starting with restaurants. We believe that by equipping restaurants with the best tools to use less energy and save money, we can tackle climate change, one store at a time. PowerX is seeking a Senior Full Stack Software Engineer to play a foundational technical role in our product journey. In this role, you will be tasked with developing our product, which includes collaborating with other engineers, product owners, designers, and data team to architect, implement, and maintain new and existing features.
BlueConduit - Data Scientist - $125-145K - Permanent -
BlueConduit was founded in 2019 in response to the Flint water crisis. First in Flint, and then across the country, we pioneered the predictive modeling approach to lead service line identification and replacement, accelerating the removal of this significant health concern and saving communities millions of dollars in avoided digs. We are passionate about using data science and AI for public good, improving social equity, and protecting the environment, and are now working in new ways to help serve communities' needs outside lead service line replacement.
Verna - Software Engineers (multiple) - circa £70k + share options - Permanent - Totally remote
Verna builds software to help people manage land in the best way for the environment – enhancing biodiversity and drawing down carbon, whilst making sustainable returns. Our main B2B SaaS product supports ecologists and planning professionals to ensure that developments enhance nature. Verna has been backed by the UK Government and investors including Octopus Ventures. We have substantial, and growing, revenues and reserves.
We are looking for two software engineers to expand our product development team. We seek talented, flexible, creative engineers who are happy to get stuck into all aspects of developing compelling, effective, and accessible product experiences.
Like ecosystems, teams are more vibrant, innovative, and resilient when they are more diverse. We welcome applications from everyone, and particularly people from under-represented groups of every kind.
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