From electric boats to precision farming and record clean energy gains, this issue tracks the breakthroughs powering the race to net zero.

ENTER ENERGY EFFICIENCY: We found a boost of encouragement for the planet at a bracing talk at Stanford University by energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins, the co-founder of Rocky Mountain Institute (now RMI). Speed & Scale proposes that the world can reach net zero by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy, and removing any carbon left over–in that order of importance. Lovins focuses more closely on conservation, on the demand side. He argues that the cleanest energy–not to mention the cheapest energy–is the energy we don’t use in the first place.

Lovins points out that the U.S. economy already uses 65 percent less energy per unit of GDP than it did in 1975. He believes that we’ve entered a new era of scalable, “radical end-use efficiency,” where existing technology could deliver energy five times more efficiently by 2060. How will this happen? Here are four ways it could:

• On the power grid, advanced transmission wires can double or triple maximum current while slashing the two thirds of electricity that’s lost between generation and end use.

• In buildings, “integrative design” and deep retrofits for heating and cooling can yield energy savings of up to 90 percent “without costing more per unit of saved energy.” 

• In construction, smarter structural design–using far less steel or cement without losing strength or stiffness–can help slash demand for those high-emissions materials by half or more. In factories, low-friction pipes and ducts “could save roughly one fifth of the world’s electricity.” 

• In transport, the use of ultralight, ultrastrong materials, such as the carbon fiber in BMW’s i3 EVs, can quadruple a car’s efficiency while cutting costs with fewer batteries.

The less energy we use, Lovins reasons, the lighter the grid’s burden–and the faster fossil fuels can be displaced and retired. As he drolly noted: “Familiar resources like copper orebodies and oil reservoirs are finite and depletable assemblages of atoms. But energy efficiency resources are infinitely expandable assemblages of ideas, depleting only stupidity–a very abundant resource.” 

OKRs in the News

🚗 1.0 – Electrify Transportation

• Contrail and Error: A new approach to alleviate aviation’s climate focuses on contrails, the white trails of iced water and soot that planes leave behind–and that contribute roughly two percent to the world’s effective radiative forcing, a factor in global warming. The idea is to eliminate contrails by rerouting a small fraction of flights with advanced atmospheric modeling. While low-carbon alternatives to jet fuel are still critical for decarbonizing the sector, the new strategy could deliver significant, low-cost emissions reductions in the near term (Sustainability by numbers).

• GM’s Metal Detector: Rare earth magnets, essential for making everything from electric motors to headlights, are a major supply chain vulnerability for American auto companies, with China controlling 90 percent of global production. But thanks to early investments in manufacturing the magnets, General Motors is positioned to build a large domestic supply (The Wall Street Journal).

🐄 3.0 – Fix Food

• Food Fight 2.0: A new update to the controversial EAT-Lancet report urges wealthy countries to slash meat consumption and shift toward more plant-based diets. Despite evidence that the change could prevent 15 million deaths annually and cut farm emissions by 15 percent, backlash from the meat lobby and right-wing populists hinders progress (Bloomberg).

• Crop It Like It’s Hot: Using drones to guide fertilizer application and retire unproductive cropland, a pilot program across ten Michigan farms is cutting carbon emissions by 4,000 tons a year. This “precision conservation” approach elevates ecological benefits as a core goal of agricultural practices, not just a byproduct (The New York Times).

Podcast Highlight🎙️

How much time do you spend commuting to and from work in your car? Do you drive alone? 🚗

In the U.S., transportation emits more carbon pollution than any other sector. Back in 1991, Washington State decided to take matters into their own hands to reduce both traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

In the latest Speed & Scale episode, hosts Ryan and Anjali talk to Brian Lagerberg, who helped cut the number of miles Washingtonians drove at a time when almost every other state was moving in the opposite direction. They unpack what made Washington an incredible success, and how other cities and states can follow the same path.

🌳 4.0 – Protect Nature

• CO2 Spiking: In 2024, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere showed the biggest year-over-year jump on record, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization. Mean global levels of CO2 climbed to 423.9 parts per million, or 3.5 parts per million higher than in 2023. The uptick reflected a surge in wildfires, as well as reduced absorption by carbon sinks on land and in the oceans (The New York Times).

• Woodn’t It Be Nice: Global funding for forest protection reached just $84 billion in 2024, well short of the $300 billion needed annually by 2030 to meet international climate, biodiversity, and land restoration goals. As wildfires surge and deforestation accelerates, the UN warns that forest finance must triple. More support is especially for tropical countries and Indigenous groups who manage over a third of global forests but receive just 13 percent of conservation funding (The New York Times).

• Climate’s Stress Test: Kevin Stiroh, the Federal Reserve’s former top climate official, warns that unchecked extreme weather could trigger long-term, structural shocks across the U.S. economy. This year’s insured catastrophe losses surged to $145 billion. With limited tools and data, Stiroh says that U.S. financial institutions are flying blind and struggling to manage escalating risks that are already playing out in real time (Bloomberg).

🧱 5.0 – Clean Up Industry

• Set in Low-Carbon Stone: To shrink the carbon footprint of its data centers, Microsoft is helping to fund low-carbon cement maker Fortera’s first commercial plant. Fortera’s ReCarb material slashes emissions by up to 70 percent, offering a scalable solution for one of the world’s dirtiest industries (The Software Report).

• Wrought and Ready: New research finds that green hydrogen-based steelmaking could become cost-competitive in Europe as early as 2026, potentially transforming an industry that accounts for up to 10 percent of global CO₂ emissions. But without rapid deployment, the report warns, the EU steel sector risks losing out to countries with access to low-cost renewable energy (Nature).

🧹 6.0 – Remove Carbon

• Rock On, Carbon Off: In Brazil, Terradot is accelerating natural carbon removal  by scaling “enhanced rock weathering,” which absorbs carbon dioxide by spreading ultrafine volcanic rock across farmlands. The startup has signed contracts to remove 300,000 tons of CO2, and has already deployed 100,000 tons of basalt over 17 square miles (The Washington Post).

• Canada Gets the Capture: After U.S. funding setbacks, CarbonCapture Inc. relocated its 2,000-ton direct air capture (DAC) system to Alberta. Drawn by Canada’s stronger incentives and faster grid access, including up to 72 percent in tax credits, the project will become the country’s largest DAC site when it launches this October (Bloomberg).

🏛️ 7.0 – Win Politics And Policy

• Methane Moment: Following the success of the Montreal Protocol, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is calling for a legally binding global deal to cut methane pollution. COP30 is shaping up as a turning point for methane momentum, as some experts suggest that a coalition of willing nations or domestic laws may reduce emissions faster (Climate Change News).

OKR Highlight

The European Parliament signaled a major rollback of its sustainability reporting initiative that could exempt up to 80 percent of companies from reporting requirements. Lawmakers reached a deal on the new Omnibus I agreement, which raises thresholds for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and limits the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to firms with over 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion in revenue. Aimed at lightening compliance burdens, the move risks weakening climate transparency and accountability across global supply chains.

Speed & Scale’s KR 8.3 calls for all Fortune Global 500 companies to commit to net zero by 2050, in line with the standard set by the United Nations. Without strong disclosure standards, progress toward this goal could stall as companies face less regulatory pressure to track and report emissions. Transparent reporting remains critical for corporate climate pledges to translate into measurable impact.

🏃 8.0 – Turn Movements Into Action

• Australia’s Renewable Reality: Thanks to strategic storage and transmission upgrades, Australia is rapidly shifting from coal to renewables, with its grid operator projecting a near-total coal phaseout by 2035. Renewables already account for 77 percent of generation for half-hour periods, and the Australian Energy Market Operator says that installing the right tech at speed will put the country within reach of 100 percent renewables (Canary Media).

• Nuclear Gets Its Orders: Amid growing threats to grid stability, the U.S. Army’s new Janus Program aims to boost resilience by deploying mobile microreactors to power nine military bases by 2028. The plan is backed by an executive order signed by President Trump to support national security, which could help launch a new wave of nuclear startups building next-gen nuclear reactors (The Wall Street Journal).

⚡ 9.0 – Innovate!

• Methane Munchers: Scientists are diving into mud volcanoes and seafloor vents in search of methane-eating microbes that could help curb climate change. These ancient organisms are already quietly consuming methane across the planet. Harnessed at scale, they could become powerful tools in the global fight against short-term warming (The New York Times).

• Batteries Behind the Lines: To withstand another winter of Russian attacks, Ukraine has deployed a $140 million network of U.S.-designed battery parks at undisclosed sites. With 200 MW of capacity—enough to power 600,000 homes for two hours—these systems stabilize the grid, prevent blackouts, and buy engineers time amid intensifying drone and missile strikes (The Wall Street Journal).

💰 10.0 – Invest!

• Climate Change Price Tag: There were 14 $1 billion-plus climate-linked disasters in the U.S. in just the first six months of 2025–well over the long-term annual average of nine such events. The Los Angeles wildfires in January were the costliest single disaster, wreaking more than $60 billion in devastation. The nation’s climate disaster data base was reopened by Climate Central, a nonprofit research and media group, after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stopped project operations in May (Climate Central).

• Watt Street Rebound: This year’s global investment in climate tech has already topped 2024 totals, hitting $56 billion in just nine months. Energy-hungry data centers and AI hype have reignited interest in clean energy, storage, and nuclear, with major players like Brookfield, CATL, and JPMorgan leaning in. JPMorgan recently launched a $1.5 trillion Security and Resiliency Initiative, including up to $10 billion in direct equity and venture capital to accelerate critical industries (Bloomberg and JPMorgan Chase).

• Adaptation Pays Off: A new report ahead of COP30 finds that investing in climate resilience could unlock $1.3 trillion annually, create 280 million jobs by 2035, and boost GDP by up to 15 percent in vulnerable countries. With every $1 invested yielding over $10 in benefits, the study makes a clear economic case to put resilience at the center of global growth (SystemIQ).

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