š CAT Newsletter 234 - 2024-08-25
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 234 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§ Knowledge base deepdive
Climate careers: Looking for new career opportunities? Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to explore advice and resources on how to transition into climate work. And help a fellow CAT learn something new by sharing your own climate career advice.
#ļøā£ Slack channel highlights
#greener-webdev:Ā MĀ started a thread about how CATs got interested in the topic of greener web development! Have a read through the answers so far and/or join the conversation inĀ the thread.
#greener-infra:Ā OĀ asked forĀ opinions on Amazons sustainability reportsĀ andĀ shared a quote from the Goldman Sachs report.
#greener-data-ai:Ā PĀ shared anĀ article on sustainable AI. Have a read andĀ share your thoughts in the thread.
ā¤ļø Help a CAT
BĀ is looking for charities or companies inĀ #local-ukĀ who accept donations of cables.Ā Any pointers?
PĀ asked whether there's a no-code website builder that creates lightweight websites without being bloated with unnecessary code.Ā NĀ sharedĀ SproutĀ andĀ NĀ andĀ DĀ also suggested some alternatives.Ā Any more thoughts from anyone?
š CAT events
Thu, Sep 19 - London [in-person]:Ā Green IO ConferenceĀ where CAT will have a booth and participate in the NGO roundtable
Other local events events were shared inĀ #local-chicago,Ā #local-denver,Ā #local-latin-america,Ā #local-london,Ā #local-netherlands, andĀ #local-san-francisco-bay-area.
š© Community networking
#cat-roulette will be back in September. 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, Sep 6th. More info
Media, events, and news
šŗ CAT recommendations
š± A cutting from Branch issue 8
The perfect data paradox
"If you don't want to be a pioneer, these reasons for avoiding using imperfect data will serve you well. They are answers that are routinely used when lobbying, when answering customer demands for emissions data and when satisfying your investors.
But, if you hear them, or you're thinking about speaking them ā remember that there are others who have already chosen solutions over avoidance, and there are many more lining up behind them.Ā "
ā¶ļø CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: How can we harness gravity to solve our energy needs?
Gravity batteries are a new big hope for storing excess renewable electricity. The idea is ingenious. Does it pass the reality check?
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
Volts: How is new clean-energy manufacturing affecting red & purple states?
Through the passage of IRA and CHIPS, the Biden administration has invested billions of dollars and created more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in purple and red districts that have been hard-hit by globalization and disinvestment. In this episode, Julian Spector of Canary Media, reporting from these communities, shares about local reactions to this influx of new money and opportunities, and the reality that Trump's Project 2025 wants to roll back the tax credits fueling this growth.
Zero: How the humble refrigerator changed the world
The "cold chain" that delivers our food is inconspicuous but vast. The US alone boasts around 5.5 billion cubic feet of refrigerated space; that's 150 Empire State Buildings' worth of freezers. Now, the developing world is catching up. On Zero, Nicola Twilley, author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves, discusses how refrigeration became so ubiquitous and what our reliance on it means for our palates and the planet.
Catalyst with Shayle Khan: Hunting for geologic hydrogen
Hydrogen has two big problems: cost and supply. As a low-carbon feedstock, it could decarbonize planes, industry, and power plants. It could even replace the oil in plastics and chemicals.
But the leading contenders for low-carbon hydrogen production ā like using zero-carbon power for electrolysis and methane pyrolysis ā just haven't cut it yet. So far, the price points are too high and the scale of production is too low to spur a hydrogen revolution.
But instead of synthesizing hydrogen, what if we pumped naturally-occurring hydrogen reservoirs out of the ground, instead of drilling for oil and natural gas?
Environment Variables: Green Software with Gaƫl Amongst the Whales
Host Chris Adams is joined once again by Gaƫl Duez to discuss the latest news in green software around AI. They discuss insights from recent reports by Google, Meta, and Amazon, as well as looking at the implementation of the GSF's Software Carbon Intensity metric. Similarly, the conversation touches on the distribution of renewable energies and the use of different means of measuring carbon in reporting, and how this can affect the behavior of consumers and organizations alike. Tune in for an enlightening discussion on the latest in green software
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.
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.
Sun Aug 29 2027 - Biodiversity Basics for Product Professionals
The products we build rely on and affect nature. This workshop will address:
- What is biodiversity and why is it relevant for product professionals
- What can you do & practical examples
- Your takeaway: first biodiversity analysis along your product's value chain
Tue Sep 17 2024 - How to Build a Culture of Inclusion at Your Startup
Join us to hear from Rachel Crowther, founder of Squash. In the fast-paced world of climate startups, itās easy to overlook the importance of an inclusive culture. However, diverse teams are more creative, resilient and agile.
Thu Sep 19 2024 - Green IO London
The go-to conference for responsible technologists in London. Get the latest insights from thought leaders in Tech Sustainability and hands-on feedback from practitioners scaling Green IT.
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
Mon Oct 14 2024 - SOSV Climate Tech Summit
The SOSV Climate Tech Summit is a virtual, free event designed for the climate tech startup ecosystem and open to all. It covers everything from climate venture investing to the major categories of climate tech. Save your seat today!
š° News Highlights
Nature: Light bulbs have energy ratings ā so why can't AI chatbots?
The rising energy and environmental cost of the artificial-intelligence boom is fuelling concern. Green policy mechanisms that already exist offer a path towards a solution. Special shout out one of the authors, CAT member Boris Gamazaychikov in the #greener-data-ai channel!
Futurism: Study Finds Consumers Are Actively Turned Off by Products That Use AI
As detailed in a new study published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, researchers presented 1,000 respondents with questions and descriptions of products. Surprisingly ā or perhaps not, depending on your perspective ā they found that products described as using AI were consistently less popular.
"When AI is mentioned, it tends to lower emotional trust, which in turn decreases purchase intentions," said lead author and Washington State University clinical assistant profess of marketing Mesut Cicek in a statement. "We found emotional trust plays a critical role in how consumers perceive AI-powered products."
Developers: š
Ars Technica: From coal plant to data center: Old power stations are being repurposed
Booming demand for artificial intelligence is encouraging big tech companies and their suppliers to explore converting old power stations and industrial sites into data centers. The trend echoes moves by the power-intensive bitcoin mining industry, which has looked to repurpose disused industrial sites including old aluminum smelters.
Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 will be āno-car Games,ā with venues accessible via public transit: Mayor
Los Angeles, the city famous for its vast freeways full of stop-and-go traffic, has a bold plan in mind for getting people to the 2028 Olympics: no cars.
L.A. mayor Karen Bass said Saturday the city is working on expanding its public transportation system to hold a āno-car Gamesā in four years, which means spectators will have to take public transportation to all Olympic venues. To accomplish this, she added that L.A. will need more than 3,000 buses and plans to borrow them from around the U.S.
Carbon brief: Meeting 1.5C warming limit hinges on governments more than technology, study says
The ability of governments to implement climate policies effectively is the āmost importantā factor in the feasibility of limiting global warming to 1.5C, a new study says. The future warming pathways used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that holding warming to 1.5C is unlikely, but still possible, when considering the technological feasibility and project-level economic costs of reaching net-zero emissions. However, the new study, published in Nature Climate Change, warns that adding in political and institutional constraints on mitigation make limiting warming to 1.5C even more challenging.
Green Web Foundation: EU sustainability regulation experts: can you help us?
Following on from our announcement of funding for the carbon.txt project, we put out a call for research interview participants with deep domain knowledge about the slew of new laws mandating corporate environmental disclosure over the coming months.
If you know your CSRD from your ESRS, or why in Europe the Energy Efficiency Directive is a big deal, we'd like to talk to you. There is compensation available for your time (150 EUR for a 45 minute confidential interview), and the findings of this research will help inform the technical development of the carbon.txt convention, as well as the software libraries we build to make it easy to use.
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.
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 Ā£70k + share options - Permanent - Totally remote
Verna builds software to help people manage land in the best way for the environment ā 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.
Fresh Food Connect - Board Member - Volunteer
Fresh Food Connect is a nationwide nonprofit that mobilizes gardeners to support hunger relief through homegrown produce donations. We're looking to expand our board this year and would love to consider a CAT community member.
Are you passionate about food/ag systems, hunger relief, gardening, local climate solutions, and/or community building? Do you have experience in tech development, strategic partnerships, legal, or finance? If so, please consider applying! Bonus if you're in San Diego or Seattle, our next two expansion cities.
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