"Most importantly, trade, in the climate change era, allows economies with relatively clean sources of energy to specialize in energy-intensive goods and services. It is essential both to shift the footprint of global production to where things can be made at the least cost to the environment and to allow the dirtier producers in the developing world to acquire technologies — mostly originated in richer nations — that will enable them to reduce their emissions, too."
Articles from Around the Web
Why oil majors Shell and BP are combining solar energy and agricultural production
"Today, the U.S. has about five gigawatts of agrivoltaic projects, encompassing more than 35,000 acres across over 30 different states. While this only represents about 3% of the country’s installed solar capacity, it’s a growing industry, and farmers are taking note."
Bill Gates-Backed Startup to Use Old Wood to Remove Carbon From the Air
"Graphyte is in the process of building its first plant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, near local timber and rice mills that could serve as biomass sources, according to Rogers. It’s also in the process of signing customer offtake agreements, or a contractual commitment to buy carbon removal services at a predetermined price upon delivery. The first carbon blocks are expected to be produced by January 2024. The startup projects the project will have the capacity to remove 5,000 tons of CO2 per year by the end of 2023 and 50,000 by July of 2024."
Why companies are racing to build the world’s biggest bug farm
"Insect start-ups hope large facilities will help them get their foot in the door with big buyers in the market for fish and livestock feed, pet food and fertilizer. 'If you are just [producing] a few tons or tens of tons you don’t exist,' said Antoine Hubert, co-founder of Ynsect,a French start-up that specializes in mealworms. 'This is why we have to design something pretty massive, because you need thousands of tons if not tens of thousands of tons to exist for a single buyer.'"
Amazon Expands Renewable Portfolio With Solar Farm at Reclaimed Coal Mine
"The second project in Maryland will be built in Kent County. The Amazon Solar Farm Maryland—Morgnec, which could have as much as 45 MW of generation capacity, is one of Amazon’s first agrovoltaic solar projects. The installation will use bifacial solar panels to harvest the sun’s energy, while at the same time allowing for the land beneath the panels to be used for growing crops."
How Unilever uses AI to cut petrochemicals out of laundry soap
"Arzeda, which raised a $33 million Series B round of venture funding in March 2022, doesn’t just help companies with discovery. It’s also a co-development partner. It has already worked with Unilever to design, engineer and test the enzymes in real-world testing quantities. The next step will be to scale production of the enzymes and help commercialize them. 'We are getting better and better at the design with every undertaking,' said Arzeda CEO Alexandre Zanghellini."
Carbon markets seek a reboot in the face of existential challenges
Bill Spindle of Cipher reports on the challenges of carbon markets. “As COP28 approaches, the industry is attempting a major reboot. After years of intense activity by dozens of study groups and implementation committees, the carbon trading industry has launched fresh initiatives to raise the quality of offsets and codify what claims buyers can credibly...
Exxon Makes Lithium Play in Long-Term Bet on EV Demand
"The lithium industry, if it continues to grow in southwest Arkansas, is expected to bring thousands of jobs to a corner of the state that was in decline for decades after the 1980s oil crash. Thousands moved away as the region’s oil wells dried up and big plants closed."
How Much Can Trees Fight Climate Change? Massively, but Not Alone, Study Finds.
"Restoring global forests where they occur naturally could potentially capture an additional 226 gigatons of planet-warming carbon, equivalent to about a third of the amount that humans have released since the beginning of the Industrial Era, according to a new study published on Monday in the journal Nature."
A Tiny Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Turbine Can Power 10,000 Homes
"The Energy Department anticipates that new supercritical carbon dioxide turbines can shave energy consumption at power plants by 10%, but that’s just for starters. They have a much smaller footprint than their steam-driven cousins, resulting in manufacturing efficiencies all along the supply chain."
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