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Hey everyone, welcome to FutureProof - my Tech and Sustainability Digest.
Again, it has been a busy few weeks since the last edition of this newsletter.
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!
Climate News
Climate
✈️ No More Ads for Arsonists: Spain to Axe Fossil Fuel & Short-Hop Flight Promos
Spain’s just given Big Oil a swift kick in the billboard. A new draft law will ban fossil fuel advertising and clamp down on those daft 300km domestic flights that could easily be a train ride, unless you’re flying electric (good luck with that). It’s like Dry January, but for carbon.
And yes, this is the same Spain where you can already train from Madrid to Barcelona in under 2.5 hours with Wi-Fi, wine, and no turbulence.
Key Highlights:
Fossil fuel ads (including for petrol/diesel cars) will be banned nationwide, full stop.
Domestic flights under 2.5 hours face restrictions if there’s a decent train alternative.
Exceptions allowed for campaigns that genuinely educate on energy transition - greenwashing, beware.
Why This Matters: Because it’s 2025, and we’re still being sold gas-guzzlers like they’re sports drinks. Spain’s finally decided: enough is enough.
Kismet: Amsterdam Schiphol airport has already banned fossil fuel and short-haul flight ads from 2023, and nobody’s missed them. 👉 Full story here
🛩️ Champagne Climate Tax: Spain, France & Friends Say “Pay Up, Jet Setters”
In another story with a Spanish flavour, it turns out the ultra-rich may soon be paying a bit more to pollute the skies with their flying penthouses. Spain, France, the Netherlands, and a crew of EU countries are rallying to slap a tax on private jets and frequent flyers, finally putting a price on those sky-high emissions that literally never land.
Key Highlights:
9 EU countries, led by France and Spain, have called for an EU-wide tax on private jets and frequent flyers.
The plan aims to correct “regressive” aviation taxation, commercial passengers pay more tax than the super-rich.
EU Commission now under pressure to draft proposals and end the VIP free ride.
Why This Matters: Because the 1% taking off in private jets while the rest of us recycle hummus lids is a climate parody that needs cancelling, with interest.
Kismet: Just one private jet emits as much CO₂ in one hour as the average European does in a month. And yes, many of those jets fly empty, just to be available. 👉 Full story here
Science News
☠️ 1,500 Dead, Blame the Heat: Scientists Can Now Pin Deaths on Climate Change — in Real Time
It’s official: NewScientist reports that climate change is no longer just a vague future threat, it’s been named, measured, and blamed for killing 1,500 people in just 10 days during Europe’s latest scorcher. For the first time, scientists have calculated, almost immediately, how many of those deaths wouldn’t have happened in a cooler world. It’s brutal. But it’s also groundbreaking.
Key Highlights:
Europe’s late-June heatwave killed 2,300 people, and two-thirds of those deaths were caused directly by climate change.
Researchers combined temperature data with mortality models to pinpoint the climate-driven toll, fast.
Vulnerable cities like Milan, Madrid, and London saw hundreds of excess deaths, worsened by poor ventilation, air pollution, and lack of green space.
Why This Matters: Because now we’re not just measuring heat, we’re quantifying climate accountability in human lives, in real time. That’s power. That’s leverage. That’s how change starts.
Kismet: In Madrid, a staggering 90% of the heatwave deaths were attributed to climate change, making it one of the clearest signals yet that adaptation isn’t optional, it’s overdue. 👉 Full story here
🦾 Five Times Lighter, Just as Mighty: Carbon Nanotube Motors Could Supercharge EVs
South Korean scientists have just built an electric motor that’s five times lighter than a standard one, using carbon nanotubes so advanced they make aluminium look like medieval tech. Same torque, way less weight, and none of the rare earth baggage. It’s like someone swapped your V8 for a Dyson and it got faster.
Key Highlights:
The new motor uses carbon nanotube windings instead of copper, slashing weight by 80%.
Delivers comparable power and torque with zero rare earth magnets, a major sustainability and supply chain win.
Potential applications in EVs, drones, e-bikes, and anywhere weight is a premium (looking at you, flying taxis).
Why This Matters: Because EVs aren’t just about batteries, motors matter. And this could make them lighter, cheaper, and way less geopolitically awkward to source.
Kismet: The researchers say their nanotube wires are three times more conductive than copper, meaning not only are they lighter, they’re smarter with electrons too. 👉 Full story here
Artificial Intelligence
🤖 Park Like a Pro - or BYD Pays You: China’s EV Giant Bets Big on Self-Parking AI
BYD just threw down the gauntlet: their new DiPilot 100 self-parking system is so confident, they’re offering a money-back guarantee if it fails. No “beta” tag, no “coming soon”, just: “Try it. If it flops, we’ll pay.” That’s not just bold, that’s BYD saying to the Teslas and the BMWs: hold my (fully charged) beer.
Key Highlights:
BYD’s DiPilot 100 system offers fully automated self-parking, including without anyone in the car.
It comes with a “parking guarantee” refund - if it doesn’t work as promised, BYD pays you.
Available on the new BYD Han sedan, it uses AI, 12 ultrasonic radars, 5 cameras, and some serious confidence.
Why This Matters: Because autonomous features aren’t just about convenience, they’re now a competitive moat, and BYD’s bet just made a splash in the EV arms race.
Kismet: The system can remember up to 10 individual parking spaces, so your car can drop you off at work, park itself around the corner, and come back to fetch you like a well-trained robo-dog. 👉 Full story here
👗 AI But Make It Fashion: Google’s New App Might Kill the Fitting Room (and Your Return Pile)
Google just dropped Doppl - an AI-powered app that lets you see what clothes look like on your own body before you buy them. Think of it as a digital fitting room without the awkward lighting or the panic of getting stuck in a too-small jumper. It’s early days and limited release, but the implications are huge for fashion, waste, and your dignity.
Key Highlights:
Doppl creates an AI-generated, photorealistic avatar of you, using just two smartphone snaps.
It lets users see how clothes will look on their actual body shape, not some 6’2” runway ghost with zero internal organs.
Could help cut down on returns, shipping emissions, and fast fashion waste, while saving shoppers a world of hassle.
Why This Matters: Because fashion returns are an environmental trainwreck, and if AI can stop us from impulse-buying clothes we’ll hate in a week, that’s a win for wardrobes and the planet.
Kismet: Online clothing returns in the US alone generate over 15 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. Doppl could help that number finally shrink faster than a polyester top in a hot wash. 👉 Full story here
Electromobility
🚗 It’s Official: Electric Cars Really Are Cleaner — No Matter What the Oil Lobby Says
A fresh deep-dive from the ICCT torches one of the fossil lobby’s favourite talking points: that electric cars aren’t “really” cleaner when you consider the manufacture of the battery. Well, spoiler alert: they absolutely are. Even when you factor in battery production, real-world energy use, and grid emissions over time, BEVs come out on top, by miles.
Key Highlights:
BEVs emit 73% less CO₂ over their lifetime than petrol cars, and 78% less if charged with renewables.
Production emissions (mostly from batteries) are offset in less than two years of driving.
Hybrids and plug-in hybrids? Still way behind. Hydrogen? Only works if it’s green (which it mostly isn’t).
Why This Matters: Because the “dirty EV” myth refuses to die, and this report is the silver stake through its oily little heart, data-driven, EU-specific, and future-proof.
Kismet : Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are often marketed as climate-friendly, but this report found their real-world emissions can be three times higher than advertised, thanks to drivers rarely charging them and relying heavily on petrol. So much for the best of both worlds. 👉 Full story here
🔋 From Tesla to Terabytes: This Data Centre Runs Entirely on Used EV Batteries
In the Netherlands, a new data centre is running 100% on second-life EV batteries, and no, this isn’t a proof of concept tucked behind a shed. It’s commercial-scale, grid-independent, and powered by 1.6MWh of battery muscle salvaged from discarded EVs. Your old Nissan Leaf could be storing someone’s cat videos right now.
Key Highlights:
Dutch company Skoon Energy built a fully off-grid data centre powered by second-life EV batteries.
It uses 24 battery packs, totalling 1.6 MWh, to deliver stable, clean energy without new lithium.
The system includes on-site solar and advanced AI for smart load balancing and energy efficiency.
Why This Matters: Because this isn’t just reuse, it’s reinvention. Giving EV batteries a second gig before recycling them is how we bend the emissions curve and the cost curve.
Kismet: Even after retirement from vehicles, EV batteries can retain up to 80% of their original capacity, more than enough to keep data centres running, festivals lit, or microgrids humming for years. 👉 Full story here
⚡ Flooring It = Longevity? EV Battery Myth Just Got Smoked
Great news for EV drivers who enjoy the odd spirited launch at traffic lights, a new study says hitting the accelerator hard doesn’t kill your battery. In fact, flooring it regularly might even help keep it in better shape. That’s right: granny driving is not battery-friendly. In that case, my EV battery is going to live forever!
Key Highlights:
A six-year study of 6,000 EVs found no evidence that hard acceleration damages battery life.
In many cases, frequent acceleration correlated with slower degradation, likely due to better thermal cycling and active cooling.
What really matters? Fast charging and heat, those are your battery’s actual frenemies.
Why This Matters: Because EV doubters love to cry “battery wear” every time you blink near the accelerator. Turns out, it’s nonsense - you can zoom and preserve range.
Kismet: Some EVs tested still had over 90% of their original battery health after more than 250,000 km, putting them on track to outlast most petrol engines and the patience of any climate denier. 👉 Full story here
🚛 Volvo’s Quiet Revolution: 5,000 Electric Semis Delivered, No Hype Needed
While Elon’s still teasing the Tesla Semi like it’s the second coming, Volvo Trucks just coolly delivered their 5,000th electric heavy-duty truck, with all the fanfare of a librarian’s birthday. No livestream. No lasers. Just reliable, scalable decarbonisation rolling out across Europe and beyond.
Key Highlights:
Volvo has now delivered 5,000 electric trucks globally, mostly to commercial freight operators.
The trucks are already operating in 45 countries, across long haul, construction, and urban logistics.
Volvo says demand is rising fast, with production capacity now scaling across three continents.
Why This Matters: Because it proves the clean freight transition isn’t some future pipe dream, it’s already hauling goods across Europe, today, quietly doing the climate’s dirty work.
Kismet: Volvo’s electric semis have already racked up 80 million km on the road, enough to circle the planet 2,000 times with zero tailpipe emissions. 👉 Full story here
Clean Energy
☀️ The Sun Is Having a Moment — and It Only Took 4.6 Billion Years
In a beautifully sun-drenched essay for the New Yorker, Bill McKibben reminds us that the big fiery ball in the sky, once just background scenery, is now the main character. After millennia of being underutilised (and frankly disrespected), solar power is scaling faster than any tech in human history. The Sun’s not just rising, it’s taking over.
Key Highlights:
Solar is now the cheapest electricity in history, and growing faster than fossil fuels ever did.
The pace is staggering: we’re now adding more solar capacity every month than we did in entire years just a decade ago.
McKibben argues that the sun’s comeback isn’t just technical, it’s civilisational, reshaping geopolitics, economics, and even architecture.
Why This Matters: Because it’s not just the climate argument anymore, the sun is winning on price, speed, and sheer abundance. The fossil era is being outshone.
Kismet: In 2023, the world added twice as much solar power as all new coal, gas, and oil combined — and the IEA says we’re just getting warmed up. 👉 Full story here
☀️ History Made: Solar Becomes the EU’s Biggest Power Source for the First Time Ever
It finally happened, in June 2025, solar energy overtook every other source to become the largest single provider of electricity in the EU. Yep, bigger than gas. Bigger than nuclear. Even bigger than coal, which is now just coughing in the corner. Europe just had its first real solar summer, and it won’t be the last.
Key Highlights:
In June, solar supplied 18% of all EU electricity, beating out gas (17%) and coal (just 10%).
Spain led the charge (naturally), but Germany, Italy, and Greece weren’t far behind, all hitting record solar shares.
Ember says solar avoided 10 million tonnes of CO₂ and saved €2.6 billion in fossil gas imports in just one month.
Why This Matters: Because it’s a climate milestone and an economic flex, the EU’s finally walking the walk on clean power, with the sun leading the way.
Kismet: Back in 2008, solar made up just 0.1% of the EU’s electricity. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s top of the leaderboard, proving that exponential growth isn’t just hype, it’s policy-powered physics. 👉 Full story here
🌞 24/7 Solar Is Here — And It’s Rewriting the Rules Everywhere
Solar just hit a jaw-dropping milestone: in May, the EU generated solar electricity in every single hour of every single day. That’s right, sunlight, even after dark. But this isn’t just a European headline. Around the world, from California to Gujarat, from Chile to China, solar’s relentless rise is proving that round-the-clock clean power isn’t a pipe dream, it’s already on the grid.
Key Highlights:
In May 2025, solar ran continuously across Europe, thanks to smart grids, storage, and cross-border sharing.
Globally, record solar capacity additions are enabling 24/7 clean power, with countries like India, the US, and Australia pushing night-time solar via storage.
Surplus solar is now driving negative electricity prices in multiple markets, flipping traditional power economics on their head.
Why This Matters: Because when solar never sleeps, coal and gas don’t get a look in, and the transition becomes not just inevitable, but irreversible.
Kismet: The IEA projects that by 2027, the world will add more solar annually than the entire electricity capacity of the US. We’re not just catching up, we’re leapfrogging. 👉 Full story here
💨 Trump Says Renewables Break the Grid — Texas Says “Hold My Wind Turbine”
In a recent rally, Trump called wind and solar “bad energy” and blamed them for destabilising the power grid. Unfortunately for him, reality, and Texas, just responded with a big, renewable-powered eye-roll. In the middle of a brutal summer heatwave, it was wind and solar that kept the Texas grid from melting, not fossil fuels.
Key Highlights:
Texas broke demand records four times in one week, and renewables were the backbone of supply.
On some days, solar met up to 20% of grid demand, and wind chipped in another 25%, all while natural gas underperformed.
ERCOT data shows that renewables helped stabilise grid frequency and kept blackouts at bay.
Why This Matters: Because political theatre aside, the data doesn’t lie: the grid of the future is already here, and it runs on sun and wind, even in Texas.
Kismet: Texas now generates more wind power than any other US state, and it’s second only to California in solar, making it arguably America’s biggest accidental climate hero. 👉 Full story here
⚡ China’s Going Full Netflix — While Trump’s Still Betting on VHS
China is building clean energy infrastructure at a scale the world has never seen. Solar, wind, batteries, gigawatts on gigawatts. They’re leaping into the future, testing the depth with both feet. Meanwhile, in the US, Trump is out here trying to reboot coal like it’s 1983, doubling down on fossil fuels in a world that’s already moved on.
Key Highlights:
China will hit its 2030 renewables target five years early, installing more solar this year alone than the US has in total.
Massive clean energy hubs in Inner Mongolia and Gansu will generate power on par with entire countries, Spain-level output, just from renewables.
The US, under Trump, is pushing fossil subsidies and attacking clean energy as “bad for the grid”, despite record-breaking solar and wind stabilising it, even in Texas as we’ve seen.
Why This Matters: Because this isn’t just a climate contest, it’s an economic one. China is locking in cheap, future-proof energy. The US is pulling a full Kodak and pretending film still has a shot.
Kismet: In 2023, solar became the cheapest form of electricity in history. China listened. Trump called it “bad energy.” One of them is building the next century. The other is betting on Blockbuster. I wonder if it has anything to do with Trump’s inauguration fund receiving $19m from the fossil fuel industry? Nah, probably a coincidence, right? 👉 Full story here
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Latest Publications
🛑 End the Oil Arms Race: The Fossil Fuel Treaty That Could Actually Save Us
In my latest blog post, I explore a deceptively simple idea that could change everything: what if we treated fossil fuels like the weapons of mass destruction that they are, and created a non-proliferation treaty to stop their expansion, accelerate their phase-out, and ensure a just transition for all? It’s already gaining traction, and it might just be the bold, global policy lever we’ve been waiting for.
Key Highlights:
The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is modelled after the nuclear treaty, with goals to end expansion, phase out production, and support workers and communities.
Over 100 Nobel laureates, 3,000 scientists, and a growing list of nation-states and cities are backing the call.
The science is brutally clear: existing fossil fuel projects are enough to overshoot 1.5ºC. We don’t need more. We need an exit strategy.
Why This Matters: Because we already have the Paris Agreement for demand, this is the missing piece on supply. No more new oil fields. No more fossil lock-ins. Just a clear, coordinated, global wind-down.
Kismet: The World Health Organization, the Vatican, and the European Parliament have all endorsed the treaty. It’s not fringe, it’s becoming the mainstream climate litmus test. 👉 Read the full post here
🧠 Procurement’s Plot Twist: From Cost Centre to Climate Command
In this recent episode of the Sustainable Supply Chain podcast, I sat down with Pierre Laprée, Chief Product Officer at SpendHQ, to talk about why procurement is no longer just about squeezing suppliers, it’s now ground zero for managing supply chain risk, sustainability goals, and regulatory exposure. If you think procurement’s boring, this one might just change your mind.
Key Highlights:
Procurement teams hold the key to real-time Scope 3 emissions visibility, ESG compliance, and actual supplier diversity tracking.
Risk isn’t just financial anymore, think cyberattacks, climate chaos, and modern slavery, and yes, procurement can flag all of it.
Most companies still treat risk like it’s 2015, Pierre argues it’s time to manage sustainability like sales: rolling forecasts, live dashboards, and continuous course correction.
Why This Matters: Because the data exists, it’s just stuck in silos. Procurement can turn that noise into insight, and insight into impact. And that’s what the future of sustainable supply chains depends on.
Kismet: Pierre points out that 25% of European bankruptcies are caused by late payments. Want to reduce risk? Start by paying your suppliers on time. Revolutionary.
🌐 Internet Ads vs. the Planet: The $600B Industry You Didn’t Know Was Wrecking the Climate
In this week’s Climate Confident podcast, I sat down with Frank Maguire from Sharethrough to unpack the shockingly massive, and mostly invisible, carbon footprint of digital advertising. Turns out, the infrastructure powering those banner ads, autoplay videos, and creepy product suggestions is chugging energy like a data centre on Red Bull. But there’s good news: ad tech is finally waking up, and some are even trying to lead the charge to net zero.
Key Highlights:
Did you know digital ads emit as much CO₂ as the aviation industry, thanks to massive real-time server auctions and inefficient ad supply chains?
Tools like Green PMPs help advertisers cut emissions and improve campaign performance by skipping the worst offenders.
The Green Media Summit and initiatives like Ad Net Zero are pushing the whole ad ecosystem, brands, agencies, platforms, toward measurable action.
Why This Matters: Because sustainability isn’t just about trucks and turbines, it’s also about what loads on your screen. Cleaning up digital ads is low-hanging fruit with high-impact potential.
Kismet: Just one million ad impressions can emit as much CO₂ as a round-trip flight from Boston to London. And the industry serves hundreds of billions every day. Let that pixel sink in. 🎧 Listen to the full episode
Coming Soon to the podcasts
In upcoming episodes of the podcasts I will be talking to Erik Garcell, Director of Enterprise Development for Classic (a quantum computing software company); Matt Trubow, Commercial Director of Hidden; Kanika Chandaria, Climate Lead for Agreena; and Ori Shaashua, Co-founder and CCO of Gigablue.
Don’t forget to follow the podcasts in your podcast app of choice to ensure you don’t miss any episodes.
Featured Charts
A gigawatt is roughly the output of a nuclear reactor. In 2004 it took a year to deploy 1 gigawatt of solar power. By 2023, that had fallen to one day, and the pace is only picking up!
China is powering ahead (I know it is a bad pun, but in fairness Statista started it!).
Misc stuff
English is a weird language!
Yup!
Spain has got an incredibly mixed cultural heritage
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.
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