Greenify #43: Wrapping up 2022
December 30, 2022
This week’s editions marks our final one for 2022. It has been an eventful first year for us, and would like to thank all of our subscribers for reading us, supporting us and providing us with constant constructive feedback. As we move towards 2023, we are incredibly excited to see how the green transition unfolds, and can’t wait to report on the most interesting innovations and companies in climate technology! If you’ve liked what you read, please support us by sharing Greenify with a friend, we would be extremely grateful! With that, best wishes to all for a wonderful 2023. 💚
Pier Luigi Colizzi, Manfredi Bizzarri
📌 Fact of the week
The average Western household buys 40.3 pounds (18.3 kilograms) of plastic toys per child every year, according to Bloomberg.
Hottest news of the week…
Regulation 🗃 – India’s hydrogen quest
What happened: According to Reuters, India is planning a $2.2 billion incentive program to reduce production costs of green hydrogen by 20% over the next five years. This comes after several corporates in India had already announced individual targets related to hydrogen production and use. Adani Enterprises, earlier this year, partnered with TotalEnergies with the ambition of creating the “world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem”. 🗺️
Zoom out: In the context of the green transition, the role companies and governments have to play is massive. Governments particularly will be responsible in subsidizing several industries/innovations to improve scalability and enable a cost-effective transition. Many countries seem to be firm believers in the hydrogen economy, with major initiatives coming from China, the EU, India, Japan and South Korea.💸
Business 💰 – Japan steps up its LNG efforts
What happened: This week, several Japanese companies have signed a binding agreement with Oman LNG to increase their imports of LNG from the partially state-owned company. Among these Japanese firms are JERA, power generation company who will purchase 800,000 tonnes per year, and trading houses Mitsui & Co and Itochu Corp, who will purchase 750,000 and 800,000 tonnes per year respectively. Last year, Japan imported 1.9 million tonnes of LNG from Oman, 2.6% of its total imports.📈
Zoom out: Since Russia invaded Ukraine, LNG prices skyrocketed as many countries upped their demand for the fuel in an effort to steer away from Russian gas. As we step into 2023, the IEA expects the LNG market to further tighten from a demand/supply perspective, as China’s reopening measures should further boost demand. Globally, Japan remains the country with the largest liquified natural gas (LNG) import capacity in operation, at 228 million metric tons per year.🥇
Innovation 💡 - Modifying the skies
What happened: A start-up called Make Sunsets has carried out solar geoengineering tests for the first time in history. Solar geoengineering is a practice that consists in spraying sulfur and other similar particles in the stratosphere in an effort to reflect more sunlight back to space and potentially ease global warming. The start-up is planning to then sell carbon offset credits it generates to emitting companies.🤔
Zoom out: Geo-engineering is controversial, as little is known on its long term effects. However, we know that it is relatively cheap and easy to carry out, making it a potentially breakthrough practice if proven to be safe and effective. Regulations on this practice are still missing, but Make Sunset’s CEO declared that his provoking tests are an effort to stimulate a faster response to global warming from the wider climate community rather than an entrepreneurial venture.😬
Deep dives of the week…
Chart of the week - Training for the future
Earlier this year, Linkedin published the “Global Green Skills Report 2022”, looking at how the green transition will affect the future job market. Skills shortages are a massive issue, and retraining the workforce for the upcoming economy is a must if countries want to achieve the ambitious decarbonization goals they have set. Between 2020 and 2021, the fastest growing green jobs were “Wind Turbine Technician” and “Solar Consultant”, two professions clearly geared towards the renewables world. 🧑🔬
Company of the week - Climate Asset Management!
No, this is not us trying to recap this week’s company with three words but it’s actually the company’s official name. Climate Asset Management is the result of a joint venture between HSBC Asset Management and climate change investment and advisory firm Pollination. It invests through two main strategies: 1) Natural Capital Strategy (NCS), which backs projects aimed at protecting and restoring vital biodiversity, and 2) Nature Based Carbon Strategy (NBCS), which aims to unlock the supply of high carbon credits for corporates and investors. Earlier this month, the firm has closed over $650 million for Natural Capital projects.🌳
Tweet of the week - The power of the sun
Twitter’s star @Rainmaker1973 shared an interesting map this week looking at the unlimited potential of the sun as the world’s energy source. Simply put, a small yet highly sun-exposed region in Algeria’s part of the Sahara would harness enough light from the sun to power the entire world. Clearly, this does not take into account other important parts of the equation, such as the transmission infrastructure needed, yet it shows once again how renewables will be the answer for our future. ☀️
Source: Twitter
👋 See you next Friday, for the best sum up of this coming week!
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