April 18, 2023 | Read Online

Rocks On

Happy Tuesday. After signing a deal with carbon capture startup UNDO, Microsoft is turning to British farms for help.

In today’s edition:

🇮🇳 India’s solar boost

📱 Apple’s fresh recycling targets

🚗 Biden gets tough with EVs

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💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

British farms to help Microsoft's de-carbonisation

Microsoft has signed a new carbon removal deal with start-up UNDO, which is developing tech in enhanced rock weathering (ERW) for carbon capture. UNDO claims ERW is faster and cheaper than man-made carbon removal technologies such as direct air capture (DAC).

Details: UNDO’s tech involves spreading crushed basalt rock across agricultural land, accelerating the weathering process, enhancing carbon sequestration and reducing the farm's greenhouse gas level. Microsoft will purchase carbon credits for the carbon captured through the UNDO project in the UK, which is predicted to enable the removal of 5,000 tonnes of CO2 over 20 years.

https://un-do.com/

Biden proposes toughest auto emissions rules yet to boost EV sales dramatically

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new tailpipe emissions limits that could require as much as 67% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2032 to be all-electric.

How it works: The limits wouldn’t require a specific amount of annual EV sales but rather set pollution standards for cars and trucks, forcing the auto industry to sell more EVs to meet the requirements.

Ambition: The proposed limits would surpass President Joe Biden’s previous commitment to have EVs make up roughly 50% of cars sold by 2030. EV sales accounted for only 5.8% of all the 13.8 million new vehicles sold in the country last year, an increase from 3.1% the year before.

India's healthcare facilities to get solar and energy efficiency boost

The IKEA Foundation has partnered with the Selco Foundation to provide $48mn of funding for installing solar and energy storage systems on 25,000 healthcare facilities across India, which collectively serve over 170 million people. This investment will boost the ability of these healthcare facilities to save lives and provide quality healthcare while simultaneously helping to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C trajectory in reach.

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

🍎 NovoNutrients, a startup that aims to turn carbon dioxide into protein, has secured $3 million in early VC from Woodside Energy, one of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies.

🏠 Haven Energy Raises $4.2M in Seed Funding for their marketplaces which guides homeowners through selecting, quoting and financing a home battery system, to pairing homeowners with qualified and vetted electricians to perform the installation, and embedding their hardware into an aggregated virtual power plant.

🚗 ChargeLab picks up additional $15m, ups Series A round to $30m for its software platform that manages EV charging equipment.

☀️ ClimateAi Raised $22 Million in Series B Funding for its application of machine learning to climate risk forecasting to build end-to-end resilience to climate change.

💭 Little Bytes

Quote: “Electric mobility is a key part of reducing global carbon emissions and the technology is moving fast. We can now race up to speeds of 320kph, up from 225kph In Formula E’s first year in 2014/15.” Envision Racing driver Sebastien Buemi

Stat: European aviation industry claims bill of €‎800bn to reach net zero emissions

Watch: The startups catching waste methane to power data centres

🗞 In other news…

Apple has pledged to only use recycled cobalt in its batteries by 2025, while also accelerating efforts to source more recycled tin and gold.

Major technology companies, including Spotify and Klarna, have committed to funding climate transformation initiatives which will support carbon removal, decarbonisation and nature restoration.

Germany shuts down its final three nuclear power plants, but govt admits the plan has downsides. The move has proved divisive, with anti-nuclear campaigners welcoming the decision while others raise concerns about fuel scarcity.

Ford to spend $1.3bn to convert Canadian plant to EV production with a capacity to produce 2 million EVs by the end of 2026.

🎣 Gone Phishing

Three of these stories are true, one we've made up. Guess which:

Taxidermy bird drones give dead birds new life

Woman spends 500 days alone in a cave for human experiment

Bear breaks into car, drinks 69 cans of Orange Crush

Emu takes police on 15-mile chase

Written by Colin and Ollie - Drop us a message!

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toughest auto emissions rules manmade carbon removal technologies new tailpipe emissions limits new carbon removal deal The IKEA Foundation fresh recycling targets crushed basalt rock greenhouse gas level direct air capture enhanced rock weathering energy storage systems carbon capture startup annual EV sales President Joe Biden

Market Mix - Rocks On

Rocks On

💼 Big Business (1-minute read)

British farms to help Microsoft's de-carbonisation

Biden proposes toughest auto emissions rules yet to boost EV sales dramatically

India's healthcare facilities to get solar and energy efficiency boost

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

💭 Little Bytes

🗞 In other news…

🎣 Gone Phishing

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