5-Million-Mile EV Batteries, Planet-Saving AI, and Quantum Chips—Don’t Miss This Week’s Must-Reads!

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Happy new year everyone, and welcome to the first edition of FutureProof - my Tech and Sustainability Digest for 2025.

I hope you had a relaxing break over the holiday period. Plenty of interesting stories have happened in the cleantech space in the last few weeks, so I’m going to quickly go through the most interesting ones.

In the News:

Good Climate News

7 Quiet Climate Breakthroughs You Won’t Believe You Missed! - While the world buzzes over big-ticket headlines, a host of under-the-radar innovations has been steadily reshaping our planet’s future. From subtle shifts in the way we protect forests, to clever new solutions for cleaning up the ocean, these “silent heroes” are making a massive impact behind the scenes. Get ready to discover how micro-reforestation, soil-carbon hacks, and game-changing material sciences are joining forces to combat climate change—one small step at a time!

Kismet: Did you know that using a specific seaweed feed can reduce methane emissions from cows by over 80%? It’s a surprising example of the sort of quiet, high-impact strategies popping up in these lesser-known climate breakthroughs!

Artificial Intelligence

AI vs. Ovarian Cancer: The High-Tech Battle for Early Detection! - Imagine blood tests so smart, they can sniff out ovarian cancer years before symptoms appear! Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are using teeny-tiny nanotubes (50,000 times thinner than a human hair) to hunt down subtle clues hidden in your bloodstream. But that’s just the start: AI swoops in to decode these complex signals and separate normal blood markers from cancer red flags. This cutting-edge approach could also transform the fight against other deadly infections like pneumonia, with algorithms diagnosing problems in hours instead of days.

Kismet: Did you know that one of the biggest hurdles to detecting ovarian cancer early is that it often starts in the fallopian tubes—making it harder to spot until it’s already spread? AI-powered nanotube tests might finally give us that crucial early warning!

Electromobility

China’s EV Boom: Car Trade-In Subsidies Recharged! - China is turning up the voltage on its EV revolution by renewing car trade-in subsidies to help drivers swap out outdated gas-guzzlers for sleek, climate-friendly models. This fresh wave of support aims to cut carbon emissions, power economic growth, and give homegrown automakers a big boost in the global green mobility race. It’s a major move in China’s ongoing drive to dominate the EV landscape and pave the road for a cleaner future.

Kismet: Did you know China already sells more electric cars than any other nation—and this policy could push its share of the global EV market over the 50% mark in the coming years? Buckle up!

BYD Surpasses Tesla: A New Champion in the EV Arena? - In a development sure to shake up the electric vehicle landscape, BYD has officially outpaced Tesla in global EV production—a triumph fueled by BYD’s ambitious expansion and robust supply chain and Tesla’s falling sales figures given its CEO’s antics. This milestone sends a powerful signal of China’s growing influence in the clean mobility race. With other automakers also ramping up production of EVs, expect the competition to spark even more innovation and excitement in the months ahead.

Kismet: Here’s a curveball—BYD stands for “Build Your Dreams,” and it began as a humble battery company. Now, it’s building entire cars with those same battery-making superpowers!

Surprise Upside: EV Batteries May Last 40% Longer Than We Thought! - A brand-new study indicates electric vehicle batteries could outperform our current expectations by a whopping 40%! Not only does this strengthen consumer confidence in going electric, but it also paves the way for exciting “second-life” battery uses in energy storage and beyond. This breakthrough may well turn range anxiety into a distant memory and cement EVs as a cornerstone of the clean-energy revolution.

Kismet: Believe it or not, some EV batteries retain up to 80% of their capacity after 10 years on the road—more than enough to power entire homes when repurposed for stationary storage!

The 5-Million-Mile Battery: A Game-Changer for EVs! - A jaw-dropping breakthrough in lithium-ion technology suggests batteries could soon power electric vehicles for up to five million miles—yes, five million! That’s a staggering leap forward for durability and range, slashing both costs and environmental footprints by reducing the frequency of battery replacements. If these claims hold true, EV owners might one day drive their car’s entire lifetime without ever needing a new battery, paving the way for a more sustainable (and wallet-friendly) electric future. This, if it became the norm would likely change the business model for transportation with batteries being manufactured once, and re-used many times.

Kismet: Five million miles is enough to circle the globe 200 times!

Clean Energy

California’s Renewable Magic: 100% Clean Power Achieved on 98 Days—No Blackouts! - A brand-new study in the journal Renewable Energy reveals that the world’s fifth-largest economy (California!) ran on over 100% wind, water, and solar power for 98 out of 116 days between late winter and early summer 2024—averaging nearly five full hours per day at total clean-energy coverage. Even more impressive, there were no blackouts, and electricity spot prices plunged by over 50% compared to the same period in 2023.

Researchers from Stanford, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of California, Berkeley highlight that fossil gas usage dropped by 40% during these 116 days, thanks to the massive uptick in renewables and battery storage. Solar capacity shot up by 31%, wind by 8%, and batteries by a stunning 105%. Contrary to popular belief, California’s electricity prices are not driven upward by renewables—rather, the study shows states with the highest percentage of clean energy tend to enjoy lower electricity rates overall.

Kismet: Did you know battery storage soared so much that at times it supplied 12% of California’s nighttime demand? That’s the kind of after-dark backup that proves renewables can rock around the clock!

Big Battery Bonanza: Gigawatt-Scale Project Promises Price Revolution! - The California story above is just the beginning. A massive new energy storage project could usher in an era of unbelievably affordable big batteries, according to RenewEconomy. Developers say the costs have plunged so far, this project may end up setting a new, lower price benchmark—making it even easier for utility-scale battery power to compete with fossil fuels. This milestone hints at a rapid shift toward large-capacity energy storage worldwide, making grids more resilient and green power more profitable.

Kismet: Believe it or not, battery prices have dropped more than 80% in just the last decade—accelerating the path to a future where renewable energy can be stored around the clock!

Quantum Computing

Meet Willow: Google’s Quantum Chip That Tackles 10 Septillion Years in 5 Minutes! - Google’s new “Willow” quantum chip reportedly solves problems in minutes that even the most powerful supercomputers would need 10 septillion years to crack. Its breakthrough lies in better error correction, letting more qubits run with fewer mistakes. While a fully practical quantum computer is still years off, Willow pushes us closer to a future where tasks like designing new drugs, optimizing logistics, and even nuclear fusion research get a quantum-speed boost.

Kismet: Willow must be kept at ultra-low temperatures—but other teams are racing to create quantum tech that might someday run at room temperature!

Social Media

In case you missed it, Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that Meta will do away with fact checking on its properties (Facebook, Instagram, and Threads) in the US. This is widely perceived as Mark kissing the ring of the new king (after already donating $1m to the inauguration).

This has generated a huge backlash online, not least from people who can remember back to the elections of 2016, and how Facebook was weaponised by the likes of Cambridge Analytics to spread disinformation. And, as you can see below, the cartoonists and satirists have had a field day.

On the other hand, Bluesky, the only major social media platform not owned by a billionaire, and with strong safety features designed in from the start, just announced a fresh round of funding valuing it at around $700m. This was announced before Mark made the announcement about fact-checking, so I suspect that will have significantly benefited Bluesky. Already, I have had a load of new people start to follow me on Bluesky. If you’d like to follow me on Bluesky, I’m at TomRaftery.com there.

Latest Podcast Episodes

Climate Confident

Building a Resilient Food System: My Chat with McCain Foods’ Charlie Angelakos - In this episode of Climate Confident, I sit down with Charlie Angelakos—Global VP of External Affairs & Sustainability at McCain Foods—to talk about their ambitious plan to reach 100% regenerative farming by 2030. With 3,500 farmers on board, McCain is proving that healthier soil equals lower emissions and less need for chemical inputs. Plus, their “Farms of the Future” project already shows a 30% drop in emissions and a 17% cut in fertilizers. Working together with farmers, and educating consumers along the way, McCain’s vision for a climate-resilient food system is inspiring—and totally doable.

Kismet: You might be surprised to learn that certain regenerative techniques can help capture more carbon per acre than a young forest—which means saving the planet could start right on our plates!

Sustainable Supply Chain

Tackling Scope 3 Emissions with AI: The Future of Sustainable Supply Chains - In this kickoff to 2025, I chat with Jenna Fink from Zero100 about transforming sustainability from a burden into an opportunity. She explains how Scope 3 emissions reporting can become a game-changer and why AI—like PepsiCo’s Perfect Sorting—can slash waste while boosting efficiency. The conversation emphasizes leveraging data, working with suppliers, and empowering internal champions to hit climate goals without sacrificing speed or structure.

Kismet: AI-driven sorting systems can even reduce food waste—and emissions—one potato chip at a time!

In upcoming episodes of the podcasts I will be talking to Kristin Naragon, Chief Strategy Officer at Akeneo, George Wade, CEO at Zevero, Anders Lindberg, President at Wärtsilä Energy, and Angelo Campus, CEO at Box Energy

Don’t forget to follow the podcasts in your podcast app of choice to ensure you don’t miss any episodes.

Featured Charts

China is set to reach 50% of new car sales being EVs this year - especially given the continuation of the EV subsidies this year, as reported above.

What is the lowest emissions way to deliver parcels? Unsurprisingly it is using an e-cargo bike.

Coal is in serious decline in the US, (and it was phased out of the UK grid in September 2024) and wind and solar are on the rise, now contributing more to the generation mix than coal. Worryingly though, gas hasn’t started to decline yet.

Not just the US and UK, coal is being replaced in the Polish grid as well which traditionally was one of the highest emitting in Europe.

Misc stuff

This one seems timely!

Engage

If you made it this far, well done! If you liked this newsletter, or learned something new, feel free to share this newsletter with family and friends. Encourage folks to sign up for it.

Finally, since being impacted by the tech layoffs, I'm currently in the market for a new role. If you know someone who could benefit from my tech savvy, sustainability, and strong social media expertise, I'd be grateful for a referral.

This is such a good idea for an app, I’m surprised no-one has rolled it out already

If you have any comments or suggestions for how I can improve this newsletter, don’t hesitate to let me know. Thanks.

*** Be aware that any typos you find in this newsletter are texts to see who is paying attention! ***

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