Sustainability watch: record temperatures, emission targets, and offshore wind

Carbon removal technology company CarbonCure Technologies announced that it has raised USD 80 m in a new equity round, with proceeds aimed at scaling the company’s emissions reduction solutions for the concrete sector and growing its supply of carbon credits. Buildings are a key source of environmental and climate impact, generating nearly 40% of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and embodied carbon, or carbon emitted from the manufacturing of building materials and construction accounting for around half of carbon emissions from new construction. Cement production, a key ingredient in concrete, accounting for approximately 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, with over 900 kg of CO2 emissions generated for every 1000 kg of material produced. The company’s technology is retrofitted into concrete plants to allow producers to inject captured CO2 into fresh concrete during mixing, in a process that mineralises the CO2 while also increasing the concrete’s strength.

A global initiative designed to grow the USD 2 bn market for carbon offsets outlined criteria for new voluntary standards, and hopes to issued labelled credits by the end of the year to bring transparency to the unregulated marketplace. Demand for carbon offsets - credits for emissions-reducing activity that can be generated through projects such as tree planting - is expected to grow as companies with net-zero goals buy them to cancel out emissions elsewhere. But the market is unregulated, with many different standards and approaches making it difficult for companies to assess which credits they should use.

Maine moved a step closer to becoming the East Coast’s first floating offshore wind location after lawmakers approved a bill paving the way for deep-water development. The bill includes pathways for utility companies to purchase wind power and for developers to build port infrastructure using local workers. The state has a goal to install 3 GW of offshore wind energy by 2040, bringing Maine closer to its goal of powering its grid with 100% renewable energy by that year. The bill would help Maine contribute to the Biden administration’s target of deploying 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035. Geography in the Gulf of Maine would most likely require floating wind turbines because the ocean floor there may be too deep to install fixed-bottom structures, which are the norm along the rest of the East Coast.

European power prices fell below zero again as production from solar farms overwhelms the grid early in the afternoon. It’s an increasingly common phenomenon as Europe races to build more cheap solar farms to cut demand for fossil fuels. Intraday prices in Germany, the region’s biggest power market, turned negative in July, according to data from Epex Spot SE. Power generation can be inflexible, especially with subsidies to encourage more renewable producers. Sometimes it can be cheaper for a plant to pay consumers to use more electricity than it would be to shut down for an hour or two. And some renewable output — like rooftop solar in the Netherlands — gets paid regardless of the market price. Those factors help push prices below zero

India has hosted talks on a possible deal to supply 10 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen to the European Union, which in turn would invest in one such clean energy project in India, according to Reuters. Reuters reported India will consider bilateral agreements with countries to allow them to use carbon credits linked to the production green hydrogen, or hydrogen made using renewable energy, in India in exchange for investment and purchase deals.

US Congress still faces serious hurdles to winning approval for long-stalled legislation to speed the adoption of self-driving cars. Republicans and some Democrats want fast action, raising concerns that China could surpass the United States in deploying cars without human drivers. Safety groups, plaintiffs' lawyers and labour unions are raising concerns about the legislation. Autonomous vehicle legislation in Congress has been stalled for more than six years. Proposals would allow automakers to obtain exemptions to deploy tens of thousands of vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards.

Tesla and China’s top automakers pledged to maintain fair competition and avoid “abnormal pricing” in the world’s biggest EV market, signaling a possible end to a price war that’s rattled the industry this year. Executives from 16 companies took part in a signing ceremony at the China Auto Forum in Shanghai, acknowledging and committing to four points laid out in the pledge. Weak demand in China partly stemmed from the legacy of Covid, and also from expectations that car prices would continue falling. The resulting inventory buildup paved the way for discounts and exacerbated concerns in government, which is in the midst of a campaign to promote EV adoption in rural areas, among other measures to lift the auto industry and wider consumption.

Rivian Automotive started delivering the electric vans it makes for Amazon to Europe in the EV maker’s first commercial shipments outside the US. Amazon will roll out more than 300 delivery vans to German cities including Munich, Berlin and Dusseldorf. Rivian’s largest shareholder and biggest customer has ordered 100,000 vans to be delivered by the end of the decade. Amazon already has deployed more than 3,000 of Rivian’s vans in cities across the US. While the manufacturer initially agreed to deliver 10,000 vans by the end of last year, it fell short of that target

Shipping’s international regulator set non-binding emissions goals that fail to align with restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to industry experts. The International Maritime Organization adopted a net zero target for 2050, with interim “checkpoints” by 2030 and 2040. If followed, the new strategy would not cut shipping emissions quickly enough to align the industry’s pollution with the Paris Agreement’s stretch goal to limit global warming to 1.5C, the experts said. Shipping carries more than 80% of world trade and spews more CO2 into the atmosphere each year than Germany. The new goals are a major improvement on the IMO’s previous 2050 target of only a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions versus 2008.

Seven global car manufacturers including General Motors and Stellantis NV are joining forces to install at least 30,000 fast chargers for electric vehicles across North America. The new stations will support both Tesla’s North American Charging Standard and the competing Combined Charging System, with the first chargers opening in summer 2024, according to a joint statement. The venture is backed by GM, Stellantis, Hyundai Motor Co, Kia Corp, Honda Motor Co Ltd, Mercedes-Benz Group AG and BMW AG. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the companies would collectively invest at least USD 1 bn in the effort. Fast charging in the US is becoming more competitive as networks open up to Tesla’s plug design, which has quickly become the standard. GM, Ford Motor Co., Rivian Automotive and Mercedes all said they would adopt Tesla’s Supercharger network in North America, even as they announced plans to build their own stations.

Walmart and PepsiCo announced the launch of a new strategic collaboration aimed at enabling the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices on more than 2 million acres of farmland in the US and Canada. The company’s plan to invest USD 120 m focused on supporting farmers to improve soil health and water quality. Regenerative agriculture practices are aimed at addressing the environmental impact of the sector, and include techniques to improve and restore ecosystems, build soil health and fertility, reduce emissions, enhance watershed management, increase biodiversity, and improve farmers’ livelihoods. Agriculture has emerged as a major focus area for climate action, as the sector accounts for a significant proportion of GHG emissions, and is among the most difficult areas to address climate impact. The sector contributes a significant proportion of the climate impact of the food and beverage sector, which in turn accounts for approximately a third of global GHG emissions.

Major supermarket chains in Singapore have started charging for plastic bags, a government move designed to encourage shoppers to use reusable totes that is years behind countries including South Korea and Japan. Around 400 outlets — or two-thirds of all supermarkets in Singapore — are required to charge shoppers at least USD 0.04 for each disposable bag. The fee applies to bags of any material type, though plastic is by far the most commonly used material at major grocery stores such as FairPrice, Sheng Siong and Cold Storage. Under its Zero Waste Masterplan, Singapore aims to reduce the amount of waste sent to its only landfill each day by 30% by 2030. But compared with other Asian countries, Singapore has been a laggard when it comes to slowing down plastic consumption in stores. In Japan, a mandatory charge on plastic bags in all retail shops was put in place in 2020, while South Korea banned single-used plastic bags at major supermarkets in 2019. Thailand also banned single-use plastic bags at major stores in 2020.