The Triple Bottom - 🌱 Elon’s Virtual Power Plant

Denmark agrees highest corporate carbon tax in Europe 
In 2030 businesses operating in Denmark will need to pay $159 per tonne of CO2 produced during their processes. The tax is also flexible as companies with “mineralogical processes” (such as cement maker Aalborg Portland = Denmark’s heaviest polluter) will initially pay a reduced price of $18 dollars per tonne to prevent an exodus of heavy emitting companies which could damage the Danish economy.
Importance? A high carbon tax is an efficient way for Denmark to reach the 2030 target of 70% greenhouse gas emissions reduction from 1990 levels. The tax incentivises businesses to avoid higher costs by lowering operational & supply chain emissions. Plus, if the policy succeeds it could set an example for other nations to raise carbon taxes too.

BlackRock Urges SEC to Change Climate-Risk Disclosure Plan 
The Situ: BlackRock is pushing back on key parts of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s bid to get publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.
Specifics: Blackrock is challenging elements of proposed disclosures that go beyond standards in other markets (Like TCFD) such as mandating reporting on indirect (Scope 3) emissions from upstream and downstream activities in its value chain.
Why? Concerns that the extra disclosure requirements will decrease the effectiveness of the commission’s overarching goal of providing reliable, comparable, and consistent climate-related information to investors AND heighten compliance costs to an unmanageable level. 
What next: The SEC will consider feedback from Blackrock and others  and decide whether any amendments are required.

UK Infrastructure Bank to funnel £22bn into clean energy, transport and digitisation 
The bank which was launched 12-months ago to finance the UK’s net-zero transition has received £22bn in financial capacity and has now (for the first time) outlined how it intends to invest this money. Clean energy is listed as the largest area of investment through support for initiatives such as subsidy-free renewables, low-carbon hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. The bank’s already invested in 7 deals worth £610mn, and these plans further narrow the scope of investment over the near-future.

Tesla launches new virtual power plant that pays Powerwall owners
The headline: Tesla has launched a virtual power plant (VPP) in California that will pay Tesla Powerwall owners to help stabilize the electricity grid by releasing stored energy when demand is high (aka load balancing). 
The benefits: California’s grid is less likely to experience blackouts and allow for a cleaner energy supply during emergencies instead of relying on less-efficient, fossil-fuel power stations. 
What’s a Powerwall & VPP? Powerwall = a rechargeable home battery that stores energy from solar or the grid. VPP = Using individual household energy storage systems (i.e., lots of individual Powerwalls) in tandem to bulk-supply energy to stabilise the grid when demand peaks.
Tesla’s VPP: Tesla has partnered with PG&E to compensate participants (depending on the events/number of Powerwalls homeowners have they could earn from $10 to $60 per event).

• Mussel shells which are causing issues by clogging-up London water pipes are being turned into bio-glass tiles rather than dumped in landfill. 

• The world’s largest vertical farm is being built in the UK with the ambition to eliminate imports of soft fruit, herbs and salads into the country within a decade.

• Ecuador may need to suspend oil production completely within 48 hours due to acts of vandalism, taking over wells and closing roads amid anti-government protests.

• Carlsberg to trial 8,000 bio-based beer bottles across Europe.

• Precision serving: Vodafone tech to help deliver Wimbledon's sustainable strawberries using IoT.

3 of these stories are true, 1 is not, guess which…

• NFT showcasing a COVID-19 vaccine goes to auction

• Scientists investigating “blood snow” in the Alps 

• Students develop “glow in the dark” concrete

• 3D-printed bananas trialled at stores in Australia