Talking Climate Tech 008 redux

Last week's newsletter - Trump train-wreck, Chii-naa, AI data centres, Pretty Woman is Mother Nature and Pylon of the Month!

Talking Climate Tech 008 redux
Photo by Darren Halstead / Unsplash

Last week's reflections....w/c 20th January

Well, I did warn you last week about 'Blue Monday'!!

So that was Inauguration Week and all that it entailed - from Executive Orders flying about like confetti, to the tech-bros called up to the front row usurping the cabinet, to the errant arm salutes of SS Musk.

Shock and Awe indeed - a couple of key elements in all the noise we can dip into for climate, energy and environmental fall-out further on.

Let's go...

πŸ’Έ Startup News | πŸ”Ž Deeper Dive | 🏑 Konfab News | πŸ˜ƒ Other Stuff

πŸ’₯ Trump Watch

Just for this week only, πŸ’Έ Startup News has been ousted to focus on the DJT train-wreck for climate [and everything else], why it matters, and how we can stay on track. Deep breath...

What's Changed?

Executive Orders to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement - even China thinks he's crazy on this one! Response here.

It takes 1 year to get out though, thankfully - recap on the scope of the Paris Agreement here. Implications are many, especially for climate and those most affected in the Global South.

'Drill baby drill' is generally perceived as a retrograde policy and won't have the desired effect he thinks. Fossil Fuel demand is falling and will continue to fall, such is the progress of renewables. Oversupply will force prices down, the trend is set.

IEA Fossil Fuel Demand Forecast 2050
IEA Fossil Fuel Demand Forecast 2050

Plus he's stepped out of the World Health Organisation [πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ !?] and a bunch of other stuff, as part of his 'negotiation tactics' or isolationist policy. More Exec Order tracking here to keep up with.

Oh, and not to forget 'harmful' offshore wind πŸ™„ roll-back.

That's approx 2.4GW at current FID that will be affected, 10.5GW permitted but pre-FID, and 25GW early stage, that will all be impacted in the US. πŸ“‰

Today’s actions threaten to strand $25 billion already flowing into new ports, vessels, and manufacturing centers, and curtail future investments across our country.

From Liz Burdock, founder and CEO of the US offshore renewable energy industry organisation, Oceantic Network.

The domino effect.

Why it's a bad idea?

Well aside from the obvious, China is playing the long game. Populist TV ratings only get you so far, China has its eye on being THE super-power. They are busy decarbonising, ahead of any schedule, at such a pace it's staggering.

They reach their Solar & Wind GW targets 6 years ahead of schedule. Coal's share of generation is now down to 50% and falling rapidly. They have twice as much in build as the rest of the world combined! 🀯

And storage, yep, some of that as well. Pumped Hydro, a lot of Pumped Hydro. About 30% + of the global total.

πŸ’§50GW operational, 89GW in build, 276GW in planning. [May 2023]

By the time the US has sorted itself out after this 4-year carnage, China will be well on its way to being a clean economy. Then the tables will turn - think punitive carbon taxes, tariffs πŸ˜† and emission measures for the US, crippling it on the world stage... couldn't happen, could it? πŸ€”

All His Own Way?

Not likely, the upside in the US is the power of the States. πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ

The Blue states will certainly be pressing ahead with their plans, more on that here. Also, remember that Texas [yes, home of Oil] and California are in a race to be renewable champions.

There is money to be made in renewables, you can't stop progress - the trend is up after the blip.

Further reading on how States and Local Gov can keep on pushing forward despite Trump here. The C40 Cities make their feelings known here.

And the global corporates, well they are carrying on regardless with electrification.

πŸ”Ž Deeper Dive

Want to take some further reading over the weekend, try these;

Ocean temperatures are on the rise, again. Should you be concerned, well yes absolutely - it's the hottest it's ever been, and the effect goes deeper than ever before, to about 2km.

The ocean is a critical part of the Earth's climateβ€”most of the from global warming is stored in the ocean (90%) and the ocean covers 70% of the Earth's surface. Because of this, the ocean dictates our by transferring heat and moisture into the atmosphere. The ocean also controls how fast climate change happens.

Great read from Corporate Knights as always - the thing is with DJT climate policy, other than trying to 'dill baby dill', he has to deal with what's already happening.

Can't deny what's slapping you in the face daily, or blame the other side forever.

And that means events such as the LA fires;

Insurance losses are estimated to reach as high as US$40 billion. Including economic losses and related financial impacts, AccuWeather puts the cost over US$250 billion.

Oh yeah, they are still burning of course. More evacuations, spread and containment efforts. Epic battle and effort by those taking this head-on. πŸ‘

They might all be wishing for rain, but without the vegetation and infrastructure to bind the land, mudslides and more climate chaos will likely ensue.

Climate breakdown is the gift that keeps on giving.

A lot of talk about AI and Data Centres this last couple of weeks, from the UK government-backed programme, and then the USA. 🧠

The challenge? How to ensure we don't overbuild DC assets without integrated holistic planning? The temptation will be rapid deployment and grid connections. The US giants will be looking at firing up their own CCGT generation on-site, which brings its own issues to the party, 'drill baby drill'.

πŸ€”
Why it matters? Well think about water consumption, [approx 300,000 gallons per day per DC!], reducing cooling load, heat offtake and integrated heat networks in adjacent areas, utilising locational renewable generation curtailment etc. the list goes on - it's potentially a golden opportunity for AI and it's wider benefits, it could also be a net positive or negative for climate.

🏑 Konfab News

Guest Article

Refresher on the latest article - Geothermal to Accelerate the Decarbonisation of UK Heat from Simon Todd of UK Geothermal specialists Causeway Energies showing us the way forward with his piece here;

Geothermal to Accelerate the Decarbonisation of UK Heat
The decarbonisation of Heat is a major challenge for the UK. It represents approximately 50% of our energy use, ranking ahead of Transport and Power.

More Geothermal

I will be up in London on Monday 27th at an informal meeting of the great and good of UK Geothermal as we look to foster collaboration and accelerate deployment of this critical solution to heat decarbonisation in the UK. ♨️


πŸ˜ƒ Other Stuff

Nature

In our regular 'Nature is Speaking' spot, why wouldn't we want to hear from Mother Nature herself - Julia Roberts 🀩

Julia Roberts is Mother Nature

Pylon of the Month

Just like policy decisions, pylons can make about turns, or 90 degrees in this case.

From the back catalogue, February 2024, we get this deviant, pivoting off at 90 ‴️

D90 Pylon - Blackstone Edge, Lancashire/Yorkshire Border, UK
D90 Pylon - Blackstone Edge, Lancashire/Yorkshire Border, UK

To be fair, one Trump Exec Order that could be interesting is the JFK assassination file release - Kevin Costner will finally be proved one way or another, a remake? 🎬

Anyway, that's it for this week!

Back to some normaility and sanity hopefully next week....

Thanks as always, let's keep pushing forward with all things climate tech and the solutions/challenges that are being delivered in the real world.

Despite everything you might see and hear, the momentum is unstoppable! 🌍

Stay warm/cool and safe, wherever you are πŸ™

Kane 🌱

PS - don't forget to share this email and spread the word! πŸ”Š