AI's pizza suggestions, zero emissions concrete, and US attitudes to climate change changing

Hi everyone, welcome to another edition of my free fortnightly newsletter - there’s been a lot happening in the world of tech (especially AI) and sustainability since the last edition of this newsletter, so let’s dive in, but first Google has started adding AI to its search, but as we can see here, it still needs a bit of work! 😀

In the News: Technology Meets Sustainability

Some of the bigger news stories from the tech and sustainability space

•  Hello GTP-4o - Of course, one of the biggest announcements of this last couple of weeks has to have been Open AI’s launch of its new AI model ChatGPT 4o (where the o stands for omni). The timing of the announcement was very strategic, given it took place at short notice, the day before Google’s long announced AI day to grab all the attention, and ensure Google’s announcements were overshadowed by this news. The demos of the capabilities of 4o were extremely impressive, but the new features are going to be slowly rolled out over the next few weeks (apart from the text version which is now widely available), so we’ll have to wait to see just how good they really are! Link
  

  

  
  

• Toyota once again ranked as worst automaker on climate lobbying globally - If you own a Toyota, you may not want to read this one! In a ranking of automakers, where the car makers are ranked by how much they lobby to stop climate legislation, and the car makers EV plans. Toyota has consistently lobbied against vehicle emissions regulations, and has some of the lowest targets for EV manufacturing sticking as they are with hybrids, the same way Kodak stuck with film. Link 
  

  

• Battery storage is about to overtake global capacity of pumped hydro - Pumped hydro has been for the longest time the best way to store excess electricity, but it has issues. It is very expensive to build, and it requires a very specific geography (two lakes separated by a couple of hundred meters height), so it isn’t an ideal storage solution. Lithium ion batteries (and more recently vanadium flow batteries) are jumping in to fill that need. As prices of battery storage is falling year on year, more and more grid scale batteries are being deployed, and vey soon the amount of battery storage deployed will supersede all the world’s pumped hydro storage. A phenomenal milestone. Link
  

  

• Oakland is now first in the US to have a 100% electric school bus fleet – and it’s V2G - And speaking of battery storage, electric vehicles are also big batteries on wheels! One great use case for electric vehicles is school buses. School buses travel on set known routes every day, and go back to base every afternoon/evening when the kids all been dropped home. So, they can transport the children in a clean vehicle that isn’t belching out nasty diesel fumes, and charge up overnight at base, ready to transport the kids all over again the following day. However, where it gets even better is if the buses can give electricity back to the grid at times of peak demand, then they can act like a virtual power plant, and stabilize the grid the same way a giant battery can, and this is exactly what the EV bus fleet in Oakland is doing. It is phenomenal to see, and more school districts should follow their lead. Link
  

  

• Activists 'hack' billboards across Manchester in protest against oil giant Shell - Activists from the Brandalism collective have replaced more than 200 billboards across the UK to protest British Cycling for its sponsorship deal with Shell. They say Shell’s sponsorship is particularly egregious because the company is currently rowing back on its climate commitments, and sponsorship deals like these are a cover for their strategy of increasing climate destruction for profit maximisation. Link
  

  

• 73% of Americans now believe climate change is happening - A recent tool out of the Yale program on Climate Change Communication has some fascinating data. It shows as I said in the headline that 73% of Americans believe in climate change, but then it also breaks down the respondents by age, gender, and political outlook. Unsurprisingly, of those who identified as Conservative Republicans, only 23% thought climate change is manmade, however that same group, when asked if they would support regulation CO2 as a pollutant, 42% said yes, and 43% of them would support a requirement of 20% renewables! Link
  

  

• Scientists say they can make zero-emission cement - A team at the University of Cambridge have come up with a low cost way of making cement with zero emissions. The manufacture of cement today causes three times more emissions than global air travel, so finding a zero emissions way to create it is a bit of a holy grail. The team have found a way to recycle existing concrete using electric furnaces, which if powered by renewable energy would be zero emissions, as well as reducing the waste from the existing concrete. Let’s hope it can scale. Link
  

  

These are just a small selection of the fascinating stories I have come across in the recent weeks. I post most of the stories I come across on Threads (I’m using Twitter less and less), so if you want to see more stories like this, follow me there (if you’re not already).

Blog posts

Some of my latest writings on my blog

• Why Ethical and Sustainable Supply Chains are Crucial for Today’s Businesses - As global supply chains become increasingly complex, businesses face mounting pressure from consumers, regulators, and stakeholders to demonstrate responsible practices. In this blog post I talk about the importance of continuous engagement, digitalization, and the evolving regulatory landscape, emphasizing the need for a proactive and holistic approach to supply chain management. Link

Podcast Highlights

Recent episodes

• Climate Confident

  • Saving Ourselves: Climate Action and Activism with Dana R. Fisher - In this episode I talk with Prof Dana R. Fisher director of the Centre for Environment, Community, and Equity at American University and author of the new book, Saving Ourselves - From Climate Shocks to Climate Action about all things climate activism. Dana is the person who coined the expression Apocalyptic Optimism, and we had a fascinating conversation. Check it out here

  • Carbon Neutral Farming: How Regenerative Agriculture Can Save Our Soil and Boost Profits - In this episode I talked to Robin Saluoks, CEO and founder of eAgronom, an agriTech company that works with farmers to help them grow their profits, while at the same time engaging in regenerative agriculture. Check it out here
    

• Sustainable Supply Chain

  • East Meets West: The Impact of ESG on Asian Manufacturing - In this episode I sit down with JP Stevenson, Director of ESG Analytics at Global Assurance company LRQA, to delve into the intricate world of global supply chain management. We explore the evolving landscape of ESG compliance, the vital role of digitalisation in achieving transparency, and the imperative for systemic reforms.

    Check it out here

  • From Cost-Cutting to Carbon Footprints: The Evolution of Procurement - In this episode I spoke with Anders Lillevik, CEO and founder of Focal Point. We discussed the evolving landscape of procurement, highlighting its shift from cost-saving to incorporating supplier risk management and sustainability. Check it out here
    
    
    In coming episodes of the podcasts I will be talking to companies like Dexory about robots, SettleMint about blockchain in supply chain, Ansell about smart connected safety equipment, and more. Follow the podcasts in your podcast app of choice to ensure you don’t miss any episodes.

Featured Charts

• In the news stories section above, I mentioned the increasing utilization of batteries in electricity grids. Below you can see a great example in the Californian grid with almost no batteries being used in April 2021, and by April 2024, batteries are making a significant and rapidly increasing contribution
  

  

  
  

• If you hear people talking about all the waste associated with solar panels (“…landfills filled with solar panels”), feel free to show them this graph!
  

  

• Fascinating data from Ember on solar power by country. It is amazing to see China and India so high up the charts for the amount of solar power generated, only to then disappear completely when ranked by % share, and per capita production
  

  

  
  

• Similarly, when it comes to wind energy, China is way out in the lead when it comes to the amount of electricity generated, but as a share of the electricity generated, or on a per capita basis, China still has a long way to go. I was delighted to see Ireland 2nd in the ranking for % share though. Great stuff, just a few more turbines and put Denmark in the rearview mirror :)
  

  

• Finally some of you will know I drive an electric vehicle. I bought my EV secondhand back in 2022, and it has been an excellent investment. I’m buying electricity at €0.11/kWh, and the car uses 16 kWh to drive 100km (60 miles), so that is €1.76 to drive 100km. And that is the worst case scenario, cos I generally try to charge the car when the day is sunny, and the solar panels are producing, so in that scenario, it is free!
  Below is a screen grab from the car’s app. You can see that at an 88% state of charge, the car has a projected range of 474km (296 miles). It is awesome. Check out the secondhand EV market. There are some excellent bargains to be had!
  

  

Misc stuff

I came across this excellent infographic on the importance of trees for mitigating the heat island effect

Finally we know what happened the unicorns!

And lastly, is this the best ever opening paragraph for a textbook?

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.
  
  Do please get in touch with me with your thoughts and suggestions on how I can improve the newsletter, or with any other suggestions you may have.
  

• Finally, since being impacted by the tech layoffs, I'm currently on 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.

Here’s the link to the video of cats reacting to seeing their owners with a cat filter on their faces. The video is hilarious, and at the same time fascinating to see the reactions of the cats. It is amazing to realise that they are so self-aware that they recognise themselves on their owners screens. The reaction of the last cat is soooo sweet!!!

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