Greenify #56: Net Zero issues
March 31, 2023
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📌 Fact of the week
According to Bloomberg, almost 90% of China’s coal-fired capacity is less than 20 years old, implying they are still here to stay for a long time… 😩
Hottest news of the week…
Regulation 🗃 – Uk’s net zero strategy: failure or realism?
What happened: The UK's new net zero strategy, published on Thursday, will not achieve its own legally enforceable emissions targets. The admission follows a court ruling last year stating the existing plan was unlawful because it lacked detail on how the net zero target would be reached. The revised strategy shows that the government will only achieve 92% of the necessary emission reductions by 2030 and 97% by 2037, short of the key milestone required for the country to reach net zero by 2050. 😬
Zoom out: Environmental analysts and politicians criticised the lack of joined-up thinking in the government's proposals and pointed out the UK risks losing its position as a world leader in renewable energy. Several welcomed the government’s focus on nascent but proven technologies such as carbon capture and storage but others questioned the lack of interest in quicker solutions such as insulating homes and building more onshore wind. 🤔
Business 💰 – EV state of play
What happened: A couple of news in the EV industry this week. On one hand, California based company Faraday Future started EV production of its EV FF91 model, its first luxury electric car. Production was initially planned for late 2022, yet the company faced several issues and also raised doubts about its ability to survive financially. 🚗
Zoom out: As the EV industry is approaching mass adoption, a scenario is unfolding by which some OEMs are leveraging the opportunity and scaling whilst other companies are struggling. For instance, EV start-up Lucid said this week it would cut 18% of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan. It will be interesting to see how Biden’s IRA will impact EV production in the U.S. and who will exploit the opportunities provided by it.🔋
Innovation 💡 - Tackling heat consumption in NY!
What happened: Logical Buildings and Keyframe Capital have revealed plans to install and operate smart thermostats in thousands of rental units at low to no upfront cost for building owners in New York and New Jersey. The $110m financing vehicle aims to help apartment owners earn money from reducing energy use and curbing CO2 emissions, with the thermostats linked up to Logical Buildings' virtual power plant (VPP) platform that controls their temperature settings in real time to reduce electricity and heating energy demand. 👍
Zoom out: Energy use in buildings accounts for ~17.5% of total GHG equivalents emissions, and specific residential building account for ~11%… hence we are talking about a huge issue! The New York City Climate Mobilization Act, passed in 2019, calls for buildings over 25,000 square feet to cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 80% by 2050, and assesses financial penalties for those that fail to meet targets starting in 2024. This plan represents one of a growing number of energy infrastructure investments targeting the split-incentive problem in large multi-apartments buildings. Hopefully the big apple can stimulate other global capitals to follow! 🤞
Deep dives of the week…
Chart of the week - Netherlands 🤝 Sun
The Netherlands now has more than 1 kilowatt of solar capacity per inhabitant. In solar, capacity and generation are two different concepts: to generate electricity, simply put, the sun has to shine. On that basis, you wouldn’t expect the Netherlands to have “performed”… however, the Netherlands generated 14% of electricity from solar surpassing Spain as a European leader. 😦
Company of the week - Agreena, creating CO2 natural sinks.
Agreena is a digital platform that helps farmers transition from emitting CO2 to storing it in their soils by adopting regenerative farming practices. More specifically, Agreena partners with farmers to help them adopt regenerative agriculture practices that enhance soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve biodiversity. Via its digital platform, farmers can plan, track and validate improvements for their regenerative journey, transitioning from emitting CO2 to drawing CO2 down and storing it within their soils. This creates a new revenue stream for farmers through carbon credits, which are validated via Agreena’s certificates and downstream services. This climate/ fintech start-up has raised €46m ($52m) in series B funding, which will support the continued expansion of global carbon farming initiatives and new fintech solutions.
👋 See you next Friday, for the best sum up of this coming week!
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