This week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories — 13 July

Posts 13 Jul 2017

Why have banks worth €6.1 trillion pledged to calculate their climate risks? How does an invisibility cloak makes solar panels work more efficiently? And, could minuscule vertical farms be coming to your local grocery store?

This, and more, in the week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories.

1. Berlin start-up Infarm aims to put tiny vertical farms in grocery stores

The start-up thinks the future of fresh produce could include distributed farming, with more food being grown in smaller systems near the point of sale instead of being shipped from larger farms further away.

2. Banks worth €6.1 trillion pledge to calculate costs of climate risks

Eleven of the world’s biggest banks, including Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG, have signed up to a UN-backed disclosure effort to see how much exposure they have to risk from climate-change. With more than €6.1 trillion under management, better information on the costs of global warming will push lenders to transition toward green investments.

3. Welsh Water turns the tap on 100 per cent green electricity

Taking a shower, flushing the loo and making a cup of tea has become more sustainable for the people of Wales with the news their water supplier has switched to 100 per cent green electricity.

4. Green fashion leaders strip carbon, water and waste from operations

A coalition of major fashion retailers are making progress against promises to cut their environmental impact, with the results of a new report suggesting the group is on track to meet 2020 targets to slash their waste, carbon, and water footprints.

5. Just 100 companies responsible for 71 per cent of global emissions

A relatively small number or fossil fuel producers and their investors could hold the key to tackling climate change. Just 100 companies have been the source of over 70 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, finds a new report. The Carbon Majors Report pinpoints how a relatively small set of fossil fuel producers may hold the key to systemic change on carbon emissions.

6. Invisibility cloak makes solar panels work more efficiently

A new material that hides the metal grid on top of solar panels making them nine per cent more efficient in lab tests has been created by a team from a German University.

Separately, Swedish solar technology firm Sol Voltaics raised €18.7m to help commercialise its new technology for boosting solar panel efficiency.

7. This is how hot your city could be by the end of the century

A new map shows the predicted summer temperature changes in cities around the world, along with what might happen instead if the world manages to make moderate cuts in emissions roughly in line with what’s planned in the Paris Agreement. Without emissions cuts, by 2100, Madrid could be more like Erbil, Iraq. Rome could be more like Port Said, Egypt.

8. Google to power Dutch data center with solar energy

Google will purchase all the electricity generated by the largest solar park in the Netherlands over the next decade to power a recently opened data centre housing thousands of servers. They will also start getting Norwegian wind power by September.

9. New campaign to increase electric vehicle sales

Global forum The Clean Energy Ministerial announced a new campaign called EV 30@30 to speed up the deployment of electric vehicles and target at least 30 per cent new electric vehicle sales by 2030. Nissan has also said it expects up to 20 per cent of European sales to be zero emission cars by 2020, and Bloomberg estimated separately that electric vehicle purchases would accelerate 300-fold to 54 per cent of New Car Sales by 2040.

10. Coca-Cola to increase amount of recycled plastic in its bottles

Coca-Cola has said it will increase the amount of recycled plastic in its bottles to 50 per cent by 2020 amid pressure from environmentalists over runaway use of disposable packaging.

However, Coke’s scheme was criticised as PR spin by green groups.

This week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories — 13 July

1.

Berlin start-up Infarm aims to put tiny vertical farms in grocery stores

2.

Banks worth €6.1 trillion pledge to calculate costs of climate risks

3.

Welsh Water turns the tap on 100 per cent green electricity

4.

Green fashion leaders strip carbon, water and waste from operations

5.

Just 100 companies responsible for 71 per cent of global emissions

6.

Invisibility cloak makes solar panels work more efficiently

7.

This is how hot your city could be by the end of the century

8.

Google to power Dutch data center with solar energy

9.

New campaign to increase electric vehicle sales

10.

Coca-Cola to increase amount of recycled plastic in its bottles

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