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Hey everyone, welcome to this week’s FutureProof - my Tech and Sustainability Digest. Another week has zoomed by. How did it get to be October already? Plenty of stories again this week. I hope you enjoy them.
As always this newsletter is dedicated to surfacing and sharing good news stories across tech and sustainability. If good news sounds like something you need, read on. And please share this newsletter with anyone/everyone else you feel could do with a little cheering up!
Now, on with the stories:
Climate
Consumers Are Voting Green With Their Wallets
Turns out, “greenwashing fatigue” hasn’t stopped the tide - it’s supercharged it. A whopping 89% of global consumers have changed their shopping habits to be more eco-friendly, and 80% are willing to pay more for sustainable products. In the U.S., the eco-friendly retail market is growing 71% faster than traditional retail, with Americans projected to spend $217 billion on green goods this year alone.
Highlights:
91% of U.S. consumers say they shop eco-friendly
Gen Z is leading the charge: 79% consider sustainability when choosing brands
70% of new products launched globally in 2024 were eco-friendly
Why This Matters: Consumers aren’t waiting for politicians, they’re dragging the market toward sustainability, one purchase at a time.
Kismet: If “eco-friendly” were a country, its 2025 retail economy would rank just behind Italy’s GDP - proof that climate action isn’t just moral, it’s monumental economics.
👉 Full story here
Your Bank Might Be Funding the Climate Crisis - Literally
Remember those glossy “net-zero by 2050” promises from the big banks? Turns out, many were about as solid as a chocolate teapot. In 2024 alone, global banks funnelled a staggering $869 billion (that’s billion with a b!) into fossil fuels - yes, the same industry who’s business model is planetary destruction, for profit. Even worse, household names like HSBC and Barclays have now quit the UN’s Net Zero Banking Alliance, leaving their green credentials in the shredder.
Highlights:
JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and Barclays among the biggest fossil fuel financiers in 2024
95% of fossil fuel financing happens via general-purpose loans that dodge “green” pledges
Only a handful of banks (Triodos, Co-operative) are truly transparent about their climate impact
Why This Matters: Your current account might be quietly bankrolling the next oil field, switching to a greener bank could be one of the most powerful climate actions you’ll ever take. Btw, I had a recent episode of the Climate Confident podcast with Scott Ryan, Founder and CEO of Investature on this very topic. check it out here.
Kismet: If the global fossil-fuel lending total of 2024 were a nation’s GDP, it’d sit comfortably between Switzerland and Saudi Arabia, proving the real energy superpower isn’t oil, it’s money. 👉 Full story here
Allianz Warns: Insurers Can’t Protect a 3°C World
When your insurer starts sounding like the IPCC, you know things are serious. Allianz has issued a stark warning - climate change isn’t just an environmental crisis, it’s a financial one. As disasters grow costlier and more frequent, entire regions could soon become “uninsurable.” To keep the world insurable, Allianz is going all in: cutting emissions from its corporate insurance portfolio by 45% by 2030, pouring €170 billion into sustainable investments, and backing wind, solar, and even green hydrogen projects.
Highlights:
At 3°C of warming, insurance markets could collapse entirely
Allianz now invests €43 billion specifically in low-carbon solutions
Nearly €5 billion in annual revenue already comes from sustainable insurance products
Why This Matters: If insurers can’t price climate risk, the financial system itself starts to melt, faster than a Greenland glacier in July.
Kismet: Since 2000, only one-third of natural disaster losses have been insured, the rest? A silent, trillion-euro tab quietly picked up by taxpayers, farmers, and families.
👉 Full story here
AI News
AstraZeneca Bets $555 Million That AI Can Decode the Human Immune System
In a deal that screams either “future of medicine,” or “Massive AI bubble”, AstraZeneca just inked a $555 million partnership with San Francisco startup Algen Biotechnologies to use AI and CRISPR to crack the code of chronic inflammatory diseases. Algen’s “AlgenBrain” platform will sift through mountains of genomic data to identify new drug targets, while AstraZeneca gets the keys to turn those discoveries into next-gen immunology treatments.
Highlights:
Algen’s AI-powered functional genomics tech hunts new drug targets for autoimmune diseases
AstraZeneca gets exclusive rights to develop drugs from the discoveries
Follows AstraZeneca’s other AI mega-deals worth $5.3B (CSPC) and $200M (Tempus + Pathos)
Why This Matters: AI isn’t just speeding up drug discovery - it’s rewriting biology’s rulebook and compressing years of lab work into days of computation.
Kismet: AstraZeneca’s AI tools can already predict over 1,000 diseases before diagnosis - meaning your digital twin might get a prescription before you even get symptoms. 🧬🤯 👉 Full story here
Google DeepMind’s “CodeMender” Can Patch Software Before Hackers Strike
DeepMind just dropped CodeMender, an AI agent that automatically finds and fixes security flaws in code, before humans even know they exist. Built on Gemini’s Deep Think models, CodeMender doesn’t just react to bugs; it proactively rewrites unsafe code, sealing off entire categories of vulnerabilities. In its first six months, it’s already upstreamed 72 fixes into major open-source projects, some millions of lines long.
Highlights:
CodeMender autonomously detects, debugs, and patches vulnerabilities using Gemini-powered reasoning
It can rewrite unsafe code to eliminate whole classes of exploits like buffer overflows
Early deployment secured popular libraries including libwebp, once exploited in iPhone zero-click attacks
Why This Matters: Cybersecurity is about to flip from reactive defence to AI-powered offence, where machines harden the world’s software faster than hackers can break it.
Kismet: The same AI family that made AlphaFold crack the protein-folding puzzle is now teaching code to heal itself - evolution, meet recursion. 👉 Full story here
Electromobility
Electric Cars Surge Past the Halfway Mark in the UK
The EV revolution just hit a new gear (sorry, bad pun!). In September, electric and hybrid vehicles made up over half of all new cars sold in the UK - a record-smashing milestone. Pure EV sales jumped 32% to 72,779, fuelled by discounts, new models, and the UK’s revived £3,750 government grant. Even better, private EV ownership is rising fast, and new Chinese entrants like BYD and Jaecoo are charging into the top-10 best-sellers list.
Highlights:
EVs and hybrids now account for 50%+ of UK new car sales
Government grant cuts up to £3,750 off eligible electric models under £37k
Interest in EVs on AutoTrader has surged 50% since July
Why This Matters: We’re watching the tipping point unfold, EVs are no longer the future; they are the market. The combustion engine is officially the endangered species on British roads.
Kismet: If the UK kept up September’s EV adoption rate all year, petrol pumps would outnumber chargers for the last time before the 2030s even begin. 👉 Full story here
Clean Energy
It Finally Happened: Renewables Just Beat Coal Globally
History has been made. In the first half of 2025, renewables officially overtook coal as the world’s largest source of electricity. According to Ember’s Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights, solar and wind didn’t just keep up with demand growth, they crushed it, supplying 109% of new electricity needs worldwide. Solar alone met 83% of the global increase in demand, while fossil generation flatlined and emissions fell slightly despite more power use.
Highlights:
Renewables supplied 34.3% of global electricity vs. coal’s 33.1% - a first in history
Solar generation surged 31%, adding a record 306 TWh, with China alone responsible for 55% of global growth
Global power sector emissions fell by 12 MtCO₂, even as demand rose 2.6%
Why This Matters:This isn’t just a milestone - it’s a massive tipping point. The age of fossil dominance in electricity is over. From here on out, every new terawatt-hour belongs to the sun and the wind.
Kismet: Without solar and wind’s growth this year, emissions would’ve risen by as much CO₂ as the entire African continent emits in six months, proof that clean energy isn’t just working; it’s rewriting the climate curve. 👉 Full story here
Spain Just Decoupled from Gas — and It’s Paying Off Big Time
Spain has quietly pulled off something most of Europe only dreams about: it’s broken the link between fossil gas and electricity prices. Thanks to a surge in solar and wind, Spain now enjoys some of the lowest wholesale electricity prices in Europe - 32% below the EU average, while cutting fossil fuel influence on pricing by a staggering 75% since 2019.
The April blackout did reveal one weak spot - the grid still leans on gas for stability, but post-crisis reforms are fast-tracking battery storage, grid upgrades, and interconnectors to seal the deal on fossil-free power.
Highlights:
Wind and solar met 46% of Spain’s electricity demand in H1 2025, up from 27% in 2019
Fossil generation down to 20% of demand, compared to 40%+ in Italy and Germany
Gas’s role in setting electricity prices dropped from 75% of hours in 2019 to just 19%
Why This Matters: Spain’s renewables didn’t just lower emissions - they slashed household bills and ended gas’s grip on power prices, proving the energy transition literally pays.
Kismet: The clean energy boom saved Spain €13.5 billion in avoided gas imports over five years, nearly five times what it spent on its transmission grid. No wonder my own tariff’s just €0.06/kWh off-peak. 👉 Full story here
It’s Hard to Drone a Solar Panel
Leave it to Bill McKibben to find poetry in resilience. As Ukraine’s war drags on, its people have discovered an unexpected superpower: distributed clean energy. While Russia’s refineries and coal plants go up in smoke, literally, Ukraine’s solar rooftops, wind farms, and battery systems keep hospitals, schools, and homes running. Solar panels, after all, don’t explode when hit; they’re cheap, quick to replace, and too scattered to bomb effectively. In war, that’s game-changing.
Highlights:
Ukraine has installed solar and battery systems on hospitals, schools, and housing blocks nationwide
Centralised fossil fuel infrastructure has proved fragile and easy to target, while clean energy keeps lights, and surgeries, on
Experts predict millions of green jobs in the rebuild, from veterans to drone engineers repurposing their skills
Why This Matters: The war has turned energy decentralisation from a climate goal into a national security doctrine, clean energy isn’t just sustainable; it’s unbreakable.
Kismet: You can bomb a pipeline. You can torch a refinery. But you can’t drone 10,000 rooftop solar panels, and that might just be the most revolutionary military fact of the decade. 👉 Full story here
Storage
Six-Hour Batteries Are Here — and Baseload Is Getting a Makeover
Australia just took a giant leap toward 24/7 renewables. Neoen, the clean energy powerhouse now owned by Brookfield, has begun construction on its first six-hour grid battery, right after completing the country’s largest battery ever, the 560 MW Collie “solar soaker,” four months ahead of schedule. The new Muchea battery north of Perth (164 MW/905 MWh) will soak up solar during the day and pump it back out through the evening peak, delivering the kind of steady, flexible power once reserved for gas or coal.
Highlights:
Neoen’s Collie battery: 560 MW / 2,240 MWh, now live and feeding evening peaks
New Muchea six-hour battery to use 252 Tesla Megapack 2XL units, the first of its kind in Australia
Falling battery costs and federal backing are making long-duration storage finally profitable
Why This Matters: This isn’t just another grid battery, it’s the beginning of baseload solar. Long-duration storage like this flips the script: sunlight by day, stable power by night, no fossils required.
Kismet: At six hours of capacity, Muchea could store enough energy to power half a million homes through the evening pea, the clean energy equivalent of a new gas plant, minus the carbon, the noise, and the smell. 👉 Full story here
Zinc-Air Batteries Could Solve America’s Storage Problem
Forget lithium, the next frontier in energy storage might be zinc and fresh air. Canadian startup e-Zinc has cracked the long-standing chemistry challenge of rechargeable zinc-air batteries, and its solution could store clean power for up to 24 hours, at a fraction of lithium-ion’s cost. Backed by Toyota Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Eni Next, the company just opened a manufacturing plant in Ontario, aiming to commercialise a safe, non-flammable, water-based system that uses cheap, abundant zinc instead of rare metals.
Highlights:
e-Zinc’s batteries offer up to 24 hours of storage, meeting the U.S. DOE’s long-duration energy goal
Built with non-flammable electrolytes, eliminating fire risk and supply chain volatility
Funded by global heavyweights including Toyota, Eni, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Why This Matters: This breakthrough could make 100% renewable grids practical, affordable, and local, no more relying on lithium or luck to keep the lights on overnight.
Kismet: Zinc-air batteries boast an energy density up to 440 Wh/kg, twice that of lithium-ion, which means one shipping container of zinc could hold enough clean energy to power a small town till sunrise. 👉 Full story here
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Latest Publications
Latest Blog Post
Why Decarbonising Power Is the 21st-Century Economic Upgrade We Can’t Afford to Delay
This week on the blog, I dig into the Ember story from above about how renewables have overtaken coal. Not in theory, in generation. Solar and wind now supply more electricity worldwide than coal, and the economics are so decisive they make fossil fuels look like dial-up internet in a fibre-optic world. I argue that the next frontier isn’t just generation, it’s resilience, storage, and grid intelligence. Because the fastest way to stabilise prices, slash emissions, and keep the lights on? Clean power, wired smartly.
Highlights:
Renewables supplied 34.3% of global electricity in H1 2025, beating coal’s 33.1%
91% of new renewables undercut the cheapest fossil fuel projects
Neoen’s six-hour “solar-soaker” battery and Italy’s 10 GWh auction show how storage is the new backbone
Why This Matters: The future isn’t about choosing between climate action and growth, decarbonising power is the growth plan. Clean energy is cheaper, faster, and infinitely more secure than the fossil-fuel status quo.
Kismet: Spain’s olive oil crisis may be a warning sign, but it’s also a metaphor: when the old systems overheat, it’s time for a full-scale upgrade. 👉 Full story here
Climate Confident:
“What’s Good for You Is Good for the Planet” - Rethinking Food Service Sustainability
This week on Climate Confident, I spoke with Sherie Nelson, Senior Director of Responsibility and Wellness at Elior North America, a company serving millions of meals a day across schools, hospitals, corporations, and senior centres. Sherie’s a registered dietitian turned sustainability leader, and her approach is simple but radical: healthy food and climate-friendly food are the same thing.
She shared how Elior has already cut food waste by 64% since 2022, how they’re designing “plant-forward” menus that customers actually want to eat, and why packaging, composting, and even menu language (“roasted tomato pasta” beats “vegan pasta”) are crucial climate levers.
Highlights:
Food accounts for 25–30% of global emissions, yet small changes in menus can yield big reductions
Elior has reduced food waste by 64% and is piloting AI tools for real-time waste tracking
Their plant-forward “Mesa Table” concept lets diners choose, but always starts with a plant base
Why This Matters: Food systems are responsible for nearly a third of global emissions. Reducing food waste and rethinking menus isn’t just good PR, it’s one of the fastest, most scalable forms of climate action.
Kismet: If every institutional kitchen worldwide cut food waste by 50%, it would erase the carbon footprint of the entire aviation sector. Yes, your lunch tray could be cleaner than a flight path. 🎧 Listen to the full episode
Sustainable Supply Chain:
“You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Measure” — Inside Marine Decarbonisation with Life-Cycle Data
In this week’s Sustainable Supply Chain episode, I spoke with Ollie Taylor, Founder & Director of Marine Futures and creator of the MarineShift360 platform, a life-cycle assessment (LCA) tool that’s changing how the marine industry designs for decarbonisation. Ollie’s mission is brilliantly simple: use data to expose where emissions truly occur, so manufacturers can design them out before a single hull is built.
He shared how nine years ago, an electric-boat project accidentally produced higher emissions than diesel, all because no one had modelled the full life cycle. That moment sparked Marine Futures and a crusade to make LCA as fundamental as CAD or CFD in product design.
Highlights:
80% of a product’s lifetime impact is decided during its design phase, yet most firms still guess
MarineShift360 brings real-time, supplier-verified data to designers’ fingertips
Investors now demand LCA transparency to ensure assets won’t become “stranded”
Why This Matters: Without credible, comparable data, “green” design risks becoming just another marketing exercise. LCA makes sustainability measurable, and mistakes visible.
Kismet: A single yacht spends 90% of its life docked, meaning its carbon footprint is mostly in the materials, not the fuel. The real climate revolution for shipping won’t happen at sea; it starts on the drawing board. 🎧 Listen to the full episode
Coming Soon to the podcasts
BREAKING: Big news coming shortly to the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast - stay tuned!!!
In the coming episodes I will be talking to Christopher Carrick, Founder & CTO of Lignin Industries, and Jackie Wu, CEO of Corvus Robotics where we’ll be talking autonomous drones!
Don’t forget to follow the podcasts in your podcast app of choice to ensure you don’t miss any episodes.
Featured Chart
The Chinese install base, and growth rate puts the rest of the world to shame!
The US is backing fossil fuels, which as we saw above are in decline, while China is earning more today from clean energy, and betting on the future.
It is not just Spain that is benefiting from cheaper energy as a result of deploying renewables, all these US states are too.
Misc stuff
Round and round the money goes, where it stops, no-one knows, but one thing we know for sure is it will be one big bubble burst!!!
Engage
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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 really grateful for a referral.
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 tests to see who is paying attention! ***
And Finally
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