Greenify #57: Recycling, green hydrogen and smart heating, what else?
April 7, 2023
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📌 Fact of the week
Earlier this week, Exxon said its Low Carbon business unit has the potential to outperform the company's traditional oil and gas as soon as a decade from now. 📈
Hottest news of the week…
Regulation 🗃 – Sustainable mining needed!
What happened: An Ecuador court ruled the suspension of a copper mining project in the country over irregular environmental licenses. The mining project, ran by Chile’s Codelco and Ecuador’s state-run ENAMI, despite being in advanced exploration phase, did not comply with proper environmental parameters. Ecuador, home to many indigenous communities as well as many mineral resources, faces a trade-off between biodiversity protection/social issues and economic growth. 👮
Zoom out: Mining and biodiversity are closely linked. Mining involves altering natural land and potentially endangering biodiversity in the area, leading to many political disputes globally. A recent example which captured massive media attention occurred in Serbia, where the government revoked Rio Tinto’s lithium mine permits. Like it or not, it becomes essential for mining companies to comply with regulation and ensure biodiversity preservation on their sites. Doing otherwise can cause reputational damage, and, ultimately, an increased cost of capital to run operations. 💸
Business 💰 – Two giants partner to reduce tech emissions!
What happened: Google has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Orsted, a world leading renewable company, to purchase 150 MW of wind-powered electricity for the next 15 years! The electricity will be generated from Helena Wind Farm, a recent investment Orsted made in Texas. The farm is capable of generating 268MW, enough to power ~90,000 houses! The electricity will be used to power Google’s energy intensive data centres, cloud regions and offices 24/7, contributing to the company’s effort to run on 100% renewable electricity by 2030! 🍀
Zoom out: A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is a contract between a buyer and a seller where the buyer agrees to purchase electricity off the grid and from a specific (usually renewable) source at an agreed price for a specified period of time. This is the first PPA between thee two giant companies in the US, and the second worldwide! To appropriately evaluate renewable investments, it is important to think about generation efficiency… hence, you will be happy to hear Texas is considered the 2nd best state for on-shore wind farms, according to the American Wind Energy Association! 💪
Innovation 💡 - Using old laptops to build EV’s batteries!
What happened: Volkswagen is partnering with Redwood Materials, a leader in battery recycling, to recover the batteries from old consumer electronics and recycle the valuable materials, which will be then used in the manufacturing of new electric vehicles’ batteries. Initially, the project will start at small scale, using bins to collect consumer electronics in some VW dealers across the US. Hopefully, over time, this move will: 1) scale in the future to all VW Group’s dealers 2) incentivise competitors to set up similar plans! 🤞
Zoom out: We consider Redwood the “Tesla” of battery recycling at the moment, and have already coronated it in Greenify #46. This company shreds batteries using hydrometallurgy (considered the most efficient existing recycling technology) and obtains a black mass containing more than 95% of the critical minerals present in previous batteries. The company has historically been involved only in B2B activities and mainly recycled larger batteries, until it recently opened up to individual consumer programs, in order to collect as many valuable materials as possible! The idea is definitely a good one, as it contributes to Redwood’s existing goals of reducing 1) battery costs 2) need to mine new critical resources. 😃
Deep dives of the week…
Chart of the week - Green hydrogen, hype or reality? 🤔
Green hydrogen is one of the most debated topics among clean tech experts. Its potential use cases span several industries, yet exorbitant costs for electrolyser technology seem to ultimately limit its development. This chart looks at total funding raised and deal count in the hydrogen startup ecosystem. Last year coincided with a massive spike in funding yet a decline in deals, implying a larger ticket per deal. Interestingly, 2022 was also the rate hikes year, which led to a slow-down in the overall VC industry: we wonder how much of the $10.4bn was private/public investing. Will 2022 be remembered as an outlier or will mark a “new normal”? Predictions for 2023 are not encouraging…😦
Company of the week - Ecobee - playing into the right market 👍
Featured as one of the top 10 green tech companies to look out for in 2023 by Eco Tech Daily, Ecobee is geared into the wider building energy efficiency theme, as it manufactures smart thermostats which enable energy and cost savings when heating your home. According to the company, their products have enabled over 25 TWh of energy savings. To better understand smart heating’s market relevance, check below our “Deal of the week”. 🧠
Deal of the week - Tado - winning in the right market? 😉
German home heating Tado startup raised an additional €12.5m in funding following a €43m funding in January. The company develops smart thermostats and a platform to manage home heating and cooling. Buildings’ energy efficiency is at the forefront of Europe’s agenda; before the whole heat pump wave kicks off, using existing heating/cooling systems more efficiently allows easy savings on energy costs and the environment.🤑
Not to be missed 🤓
You may want to check out The Economist this week, an important briefing on the strategic importance of electricity grids is waiting for you 😉
👋 See you next Friday, for the best sum up of this coming week!
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