Talking Climate Tech 006 redux

Last week's newsletter - wildfires, startups, DJT, guests, the angry sea and Pylon of the Month!

Talking Climate Tech 006 redux
Photo by Felipe Dornellas / Unsplash

3.2.1, and you're back at the desk!

And like that, it's gone, although to be fair it was a good long festive break for most people. Except those with kids. πŸ˜„

Has much been going on since we were last here? Well, yep, there is quite a lot going on in the world, obviously, not least of all massive climate change-induced wildfires in January [!!?] across California.

The largest of which is 31sq miles. For a bit of perspective, see the map from NBC News as of 9 Jan.

What to expect next? More of the same, this is climate change

Right, onwards, what's the format again?

πŸ’Έ Startup News

πŸ”Ž Deeper Dive

🏑 Konfab News

πŸ˜ƒ Other Stuff

Let's go, oh and don't forget to tell your friends! Give it a forward, a like, pass it on, repurpose it, recycle it, find a second home... you get the picture!


πŸ’Έ Startups to Watch

What's happening in startup land? Here are 3 I have been taking a look at recently. A pick and mix across sectors this week, all from the US coincidentally:

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Zanskar - AI analytics for geothermal exploration, raised $30m in May 2024 with Obvious Ventures plus Munich Re Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Safar Partners, First Star Ventures, and Clearvision Ventures. Followed by a Series A $12m in August 2024 with Grantham Environmental Ventures joining.

❓
Why it matters - Finding the right locations and geologies for geothermal suited to power generation is challenging and expensive. Fast, accurate discovery is key to cost-effective scaling. A carbon-neutral grid may require up to 1TW of baseload clean power. ⚑

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Inari Agriculture - raised $144M in funding, bringing their total raise to date to $720m, for their advanced breeding technologies to create nature-positive seeds for a more sustainable global food system. 

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Why it matters - Using technology to advance seed productivity and sustainability. Think ⬆️ 20% in yield, ⬇️ 40% in nitrogen use, ⬇️ 40% in water use. Then think about climate change - flooding, drought, biodiversity loss, population migration - and the pressure on our future food supply. 🌱

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Electra - has raised $180.4 million to develop a novel electrowinning process [borrowed from copper/nickel processing] for extracting pure iron from low-grade ores, aiming to reduce carbon emissions in the steelmaking industry.

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Why it matters - Iron production today is highly polluting, responsible for the majority of emissions for steelmaking, which itself generates 7% of the world’s carbon emissions. ⚫ We need Green Steel, electric-arc furnaces, instead of fossil fuel-fired are coming online. Europe's green knight in this market is Stegra, more on them here.

πŸ”Ž Deeper Dive

Got some more time, well you might if you aren't fully back in the swing of things.

Interesting breakdown from data analyst Ben James who you can follow here, with his UK electricty bill breakdown. We have some of the most expensive electricity in the world - find out why.

Electricity Bill Breakdown | 2024-2025 Average, historical data
UK electricity bill split between wholesale generation, network charges, subsidies and policy costs. Includes historical data on BSUoS, DUoS, TNUoS, CfDs, FiTs, Renewables Obligation and more.

What's Your Bill All About?

As you know I like to keep an eye on Donald J Trump in general, and his likely environmental policy changes, not least of all the pending expansion of US 'drill baby drill' - last thing we need is more oil and gas. See California Donald. πŸ”₯

Why 'drill baby drill' is not actually the sound economic policy he thinks it is here.

In the meantime, my prediction after the elcetion that DJT would bid for Greenland might be coming to fruition soon, although he might just take it, along with Panama and Canada. 🀯 We are in for a rocky ride people. πŸ˜”

🏑 Konfab News

Whats been happening at HQ? Well some eating, drinking and lounging, but beyond that, we've kept the lights on! [via 100% renewable electricity]

New colour theme on the website, to match our dark winter mood! 😎

Next interviews are in planning, lined up in the coming weeks;

πŸŽ™οΈ Jack Lewis of Ada Mode, data, AI and energy system modeling

πŸŽ™οΈ ex-CEO of European Thermal Energy Storage scale-up ♨️

πŸŽ™οΈ Founder of an EU rail freight decarbonisation startup πŸš†

More guest articles on the way, next up;

Geothermal and the UK Opportunity to Decarbonise Heat -

Simon Todd of UK Geothermal specialists Causeway Energies. πŸ’‘


New Guest Post

I'm reasonably confident there aren't many market strategists and content writers out there who have both Mechanical and Chemical Engineering qualifications. πŸ¦„

Luckily we have one as friend of the show πŸ˜‰ Adam Kimmel gives us an overview on how to be seen and heard as a climate tech startup, with his overview and some snippets from me, on 'Climate Tech Engineering Marketing.'

Climate Tech - How to be Seen and Heard?
Marketing plays a crucial role in modern climate technology, promoting innovative solutions to address global environmental challenges.

πŸ˜ƒ Other Stuff

Not all climate tech innovation is made equal. Can't see this one making the cut to be honest πŸ˜†

My other solar-powered cloak is at the dry cleaner.
Anker is showing off a concept that it calls the β€œworld’s first wearable solar panel.” Like its solar umbrella product, the cloak uses perovskite solar cells, with 30W maximum input and USB-C output to charge your phone. The LED strips make it very Blade Runner chic, and I can confirm that it’s quite warm. Not sure how much use I’d get out of it in Seattle though…

A Harry Potter Solar fashion-future?

Raising Engagement

We need to win 'hearts and minds' as they say, to raise global awareness on climate change. Like it or not, celebs resonate. Sometimes all you need is a voice...

If its Harrison Ford as the angry sea, everyone should listen πŸ‘‚

Harrison Ford is the Ocean


Pylon of the Month

Decembers beauty is finally up! November seemed to be a rest month. More details here, in the meantime feast your eyes on this snow angel, from Yorkshire again.

132 kV line near Huddersfield
132 kV line near Huddersfield

That's it for this week!

Thanks as always, stay warm/cool and safe, where ever you are πŸ™

Kane 🌱