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Welcome to Zeroing In by Speed & Scale, where we cut through the noise to deliver a data-driven update on progress toward net zero. |
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CHINA’S BOLD MOVES TOWARD THE TRANSITION: China’s massive rollout of renewable energy is fast accelerating. Its investments in the sector have expanded to the point that experts now expect the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to peak years earlier than anticipated. In 2023 alone, according to new government data, China installed 217 gigawatts of solar power, a 55 percent increase over the last year. That translates to more than 500 million solar panels, far greater than the total installed solar capacity in the U.S. For the first time, China’s total additions in zero-emission power capacity, including hydropower and nuclear, were enough to cover the entire increase in domestic electricity demand. |
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🚗 1.0 – Electrify Transportation Sustainable Aviation Fund: United Airlines announced new corporate partners—including Google—to its investment fund focused on sustainable aviation fuels. Committed capital exceeds $200 million (ESG Today). No Apple EV: Apple ends its quest to build its own EV, adding an explanation that it’s shifting resources to artificial intelligence research (The Wall Street Journal). …But a Chinese Smartphone Builder Leaps Into the Market: Less than three years after establishing its own automotive arm to develop and build EVs, Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi announces plans to bring its electric car to market (Electrek). Biden Calls Chinese EVs a National Security Threat: President Biden ordered the Commerce Department to open an investigation into security threats around Chinese cars and trucks in the U.S. auto market, citing a concern that the vehicles’ operating systems could relay sensitive information to Beijing (The New York Times). Electrified Trucking Projections: A new report by Energy Innovation projects that fast-falling battery prices for EVs could transform long-haul trucking. According to the updated forecast, electric versions with batteries will cost less upfront for all five major vehicle types, including long-haul tractor trucks, by 2030 (Energy Innovation).
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💡 2.0 – Decarbonize the Grid Reconductoring: Grid operators have introduced a new method to carry more power without building more infrastructure. The innovation will string higher-quality wires along existing poles and towers. This simple solution may play a big role in building up U.S. capacity without the need for costly permitting that often slows new construction (Clean Technica). Need for Speed: According to the latest data, oil and gas plants will need to be retired five times faster over the next twelve years to meet long-term climate targets globally, meaning that an average of 64 gigawatts (GW) of oil- and gas-fired capacity should come offline each year until 2035 (Global Energy Monitor). Revitalizing Uranium Mines: Across the U.S. and allied countries, owners of left-for-dead uranium mines are restarting operations to capitalize on rising demand for nuclear fuel (Yahoo Finance). Frackers Drilling for Clean Power: Oil and gas companies are accelerating investments in geothermal energy. They’re betting that technologies that fueled the shale revolution can make geothermal a substantial producer of clean power. Chevron, BP, and Devon Energy are all getting in on the action. They’re using the same technology as frackers—but instead of hunting for oil and gas—they’re looking for underground heat (The Wall Street Journal).
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🧱 5.0 – Clean Up Industry EU Targets Plastic Waste: The EU is targeting plastic and packaging waste during an era of takeout food, aiming to reduce waste from plastic packaging by 5 percent by 2030 and 15 percent by 2040. Empty space in packaging will be eliminated and takeout containers will be required to be made from partly reusable materials (Bloomberg). Hot New Investment is Heat: BlackRock and Saudi Aramco join a group of financiers pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into startups making heat batteries. The idea is to electrify production in such emissions-heavy industries as cement and steel (The Wall Street Journal).
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🧹 6.0 – Remove Carbon New Plant in the Ocean: UCLA is building the world’s largest ocean-based carbon removal plant. The $20 million system will be capable of removing 3,650 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year while producing 105 metric tons of carbon-negative hydrogen (University of California, Los Angeles). Need for Scale: Across the vast realm of carbon credit purchases, removal projects continue to account for but a tiny fraction. There is not nearly enough carbon removal and storage capacity to meet present needs, much less future demand. To align with the Paris Agreement, removal needs to be scaled thirty-fold (University of Oxford).
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🏛️ 7.0 – Win Politics and Policy Biden’s State of the Union on Climate Crisis: President Biden spoke about climate change in stark terms during the State of the Union address, calling it the “climate crisis.” He linked tackling climate change to economic benefits and job gains and pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act’s impact (The New York Times). Biden’s Climate Progress Report: An analysis of the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act so far finds that electric vehicles are booming as expected, but renewable power isn’t growing as quickly as hoped (Clean Investment Monitor). SEC Weakens Disclosure Rule: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has removed a requirement for corporations to disclose their Scope 3 emissions (Reuters). Climate and the 2024 Elections: Economist Impact sets the record straight—democracy is good for climate action. 22 of the 25 countries with legally binding net-zero targets are democracies, while the majority of those without targets are autocracies. Prompted by the clean energy revolution, climate is an important issue on the ballot in many democratic countries this year (Economist Impact). NBER’s Climate Policy Reform Advice: A nonprofit research organization concluded a critical report on our climate progress so far. The bottom line is that we’re on track to hit our target five years too late, and that the only way to get on track would be a price on carbon (National Bureau of Economic Research).
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OKR Highlight: 7.0 Win Politics and Policy
It’s been a year and a half since the Inflation Reduction Act became law, and over two years since the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was enacted. Since then, significant strides have been made in tracking the impact of these policies. The Clean Investment Monitor (CIM), introduced in September 2023, tracks both public and private investments in the clean technologies incentivized by these bills. Notably, CIM predicts that if both policies were to be implemented in full, they could slash emissions by an estimated 37 to 42 percent by 2030 (relative to 2005 levels). |
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🏃 8.0 – Turn Movements into Action |
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⚡ 9.0 – Innovate New Eye in the Sky: The satellite MethaneSAT is now sweeping the globe with a high-resolution infrared sensor to detect and track methane leaks from oil and gas sites worldwide. You can follow MethaneSAT’s progress on their website (The New York Times). Climate-Resistant Kelp: Google is working with Australian scientists to use artificial intelligence to locate remnant giant kelp forests and identify genetic traits that can help kelp survive a warming ocean (Bloomberg).
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💰 10.0 – Invest Clean Tech Cashes Up: Investments in fledgling clean technologies such as carbon capture and hydrogen rose tenfold in 2023. Fueled by President Biden’s signature climate law, investments in clean technology and transportation overall surged to $239 billion, up 38 percent over 2022 (Bloomberg). ESG Investing, Sans Acronym: The world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, has abandoned the “ESG” acronym while pumping billions of dollars into clean energy, calling it “transition investing” (The Wall Street Journal). Small Decline in Climate Capital: In Q1 of 2024, venture capital firms have raised $3.2 billion across 18 climate funds, down approximately 20 percent from the same period last year (Axios). CA100+ Loses Members: U.S. fund giants JPMorgan Asset Management, State Street Global Advisors, and Pacific Investment Management Co. withdrew from Climate Action 100+, the world’s largest investor coalition on climate change (Bloomberg).
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