In today’s edition:

🇩🇪 Super-cheap German public transport

🪫 The next battery-material squeeze

🍩 Getting rid of food waste

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💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

Germany's public transport success 

What happened: Germany’s three-month experiment with super-cheap public transport reduced carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to powering about 350,000 homes for a year.

Detail: The 9-euro ($9) monthly ticket, which allows nationwide travel on regional trains, subways, trams and buses, prevented 1.8 million tons of CO2 because commuters didn’t use their cars as much, according to the VDV public-transport lobby. Some 52 million of the tickets have been sold, with one in ten buyers ditching at least one of their daily auto trips,

Dual-impact: The trial, which runs out at the end of this month, is meant to help soften the blow from inflation in Europe’s biggest economy amid a surge in energy and fuel prices.

India bans carbon credit exports 

In the same week India formally approved commitments to cut emissions by 45% by 2030, the world’s 3rd-biggest economy announced plans to set up a new carbon credit market - with a twist.

The detail: India will set up a market where companies can trade emissions - to incentivise players in energy, cement and steel to outperform their emission standards to gain credits which they can then sell to underperformers.

The twist: India has announced a ban on foreign trading in their new scheme, following the footsteps of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Honduras.

Why? Concerns that if too many carbon credits are sold abroad, there won’t be enough credits left for local governments to reach their targets. It’s similar to nations' efforts to secure domestic energy supplies before allowing export.

Bank of England warns of rising insurance costs related to climate litigation 

Climate-related legal action threatens to push corporate insurance costs even higher. The industry is warning that success for activists will force a repricing of cover that has become more expensive recently. The coming wave of cases has caught the attention of insurers, who say the cost of directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance could rise if activists win some big cases. 

Importance: Underwriters are increasingly scrutinising potential clients - asking questions such as whether their net zero strategies has been independently reviewed. This is increasing pressure for businesses to make concerted climate action if they want to keep costs down.

🤖 Future of Tech (1-minute read)

The next big battery material squeeze is Old Batteries 

The situ: Big-name auto giants, specialist recycling firms and even mining company Glencore Plc are pouring money into transforming waste into the commodities needed for EV batteries - a move to mitigate against the growing insecurity of these raw materials.

The challenge: Increasing investment has led to a wave of battery recycling factories - but there’s nowhere near enough scrap yet to feed them all. Capacity is predicted to surge 10x by 2025 (and leave 3x more recycling factory space than scrap to run the plants). One contributing factor is old batteries increasingly being snapped up for reuse in other vehicles or less-demanding applications like energy storage.

Why it's important: Some recycling plants are already talking about supplementing their plants with freshly mined material - a counterintuitive solution given that recycling is intended to be a crucial and environmentally friendly answer to mined production of metals like lithium and cobalt.

Potential for radical energy supply in California 

Context: In the US, state governments offer electric/utility companies a monopoly on selling/providing electricity - an arrangement protected by law to ensure everyone (regardless of income) has access to a generally reliable electric grid.

Bucking the trend: One of America’s largest rooftop solar companies, Sunnova Energy, has requested permission to let it compete with incumbent/investor-owned utilities to provide electricity to new residential development as a private “micro-utility”.

What’s a “micro utility”? A supply system using renewables doesn’t rely on the conventional electricity grid. Solar panels and batteries will be installed at each home, and consumers will get a simplified electric bill showing the net electricity creation and usage. 

The bigger picture: Rooftop solar businesses, like Sunnova, are trying to become profitable as many rely on tax credits provided by the federal government. Building/operating microgrids will provide steady income but (if successful) could transform rooftop solar companies into the kind of utility companies have long fought against.

💡 Deep Dive (1-minute read)

Closing the food waste gap

The situation: By 2030, it’s predicted that 2.1 billion tonnes of food will be lost or wasted annually, equating to around $1.5 trillion in squandered value - putting food waste as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, 840 million people (one-tenth of the human population) go hungry. There are challenges and corresponding solutions spanning the entire value chain:

Key Driver 1: Awareness - Poor visibility into the extent of food loss/waste and the forces contributing to the problem. The lack of awareness is particularly acute among consumers and farmers. 

• Potential solution: Establish public-private partnerships to train farmers and workers on protecting their crops against pests/diseases/weeds and how to reduce loss of harvests. 

• Example: CropLife International provides training to millions of small-holder farmers and agri-workers in over 60 countries, helping protect crops and reduce product loss before, during and after harvest.

Key Driver 2: Supply Chain Infrastructure - A huge amount of food is lost because it goes bad before it gets to markets and consumers. 

• Potential solution: Adapt cold-storage technology for smallholder farming operations where electricity supply is scarce.

• Example: ColdHubs is a Nigeria-based tech company that builds modular, solar-powered walk-in cold rooms to prevent postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables. 

Key Driver 3: Supply Chain Efficiency - Better data relating to supply and demand for food production would improve tracking of loss and waste. 

• Potential solution: Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for food loss and waste, and use technology to monitor and track performance against metrics.

• Example: Ikea has partnered with LeanPath, a food waste tech company, to implement a tracking system in their food production operations. The system tracks and measures waste alongside identifying the causes (E.G., Overproduction and spoilage)

Key Driver 4: Policy - Disposing of food is cheap and easy as (generally) regulators and tax policies don’t penalise producers and consumers for waste, nor does it incentivise change.

• Potential solution: Policy and regulation should penalise waste and make it easier for businesses to donate food that would otherwise be wasted. 

• Example: New York’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law requires businesses/institutions (like restaurants and colleges) to donate excess edible food and recycle scraps in organic recycling facilities.

Our take: Innovation and collaboration between players across the value chain (particularly between raw material producers and retailers) will be key to embracing the opportunities presented by tackling food waste. Those willing to take risks, experiment with technology and lead in the fight against food waste will be rewarded - through resource savings and winning favour of a growing mass of conscious consumers.

💭 Little Bytes

Quote: “Inequality and poverty play a huge role in enabling us to move forward… Net-zero poverty has to be as much of a goal as net-zero emissions.” Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, co-president of the Club of Rome think tank

Stat:  “Monster Monsoon” leaves one-third of Pakistan underwater, affecting 33 million people

Watch: How a house on Mars could look

💰 Deal room…

• H2 Green Steel scored €190m in Series B  to support its ambition to accelerate the decarbonization of the steel industry, using green hydrogen

• Elestor raised €30M flow batteries using hydrogen and bromine as active materials, both available in virtually unlimited quantities.

• Recurve raised $18M in Series B for its ‘virtal power plant’ to accelerate the transition to clean energy by reducing stress on the grid during periods of high demand

• Oxwash raised £10 million in Series A for its green on-demand laundry service for commercial businesses

🗞 In other news…

• City buildings constructed from timber could cut 100 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2100 -  roughly 10 per cent of the remaining carbon budget to limit warming to 2°C, per new research.

• Schemes by farmers and landowners to restore nature and reduce flooding while still producing food will be supported by the government in 22 locations across England.

• Conservationists want to let elephants loose in Europe, a study looked at what could happen if this becomes a reality

• California will be the first state in the US to install solar panels over canals as a way to combat drought

Written by Colin and Ollie - Drop us a message!