Weeds are a huge problem for farmers, who have historically used herbicides to eradicate them. And now, some weeds are evolving into superweeds, or weeds that genetically mutate to be able to survive chemicals that used to kill them off. But what if a robot was able to kill weeds without using herbicides?

That’s where the Model Element, a solar-powered AI robot developed by startup Aigen that weeds crops without chemicals, could play a role. The company is one of the 2024 winners of Amazon Web Services’ Compute for Climate Fellowship, and wants to help farmers decrease their dependence on herbicides.

A farming Roomba: Kenny Lee, Aigen’s CEO and co-founder, described the robot as “a Roomba for the farm,” or an autonomous robot that cleans up a farm by cutting the roots of weeds, like a hoe would. The Model Element also has AI cameras that allow it to identify which plants are weeds and understand plant anatomy, so it can hit weeds where it hurts.

With the Model Element, Aigen is trying to solve two problems: first, to overcome superweeds without using a traditional hoe, which relies on physical labor and can be very time-consuming. And second, automating the process without using more energy—hence the solar-powered machines.

“This is a perfect accumulation of all of these things coming together and delivering on a need with climate and agriculture,” Lee told Tech Brew.

Keep reading here.—TC

Federal support for the clean-energy transition may be in question during a second Trump administration, but a new survey underscores broad support for electrification among one key group of stakeholders: parents.

Highland Electric Fleets, which started in 2019 and provides electrification services to school districts and other fleet operators, commissioned the survey, which “found that 65% of US parents would prefer their child ride on an electric school bus than a diesel-powered one,” per a news release.

“The vast majority of parents and community members do believe that this is better, this is going to be better for their kids, they’ve got a better shot of avoiding pediatric asthma. There’s a strong preference for this technology,” Duncan McIntyre, Highland’s founder and CEO, told Tech Brew of the survey’s main takeaways. “That was pretty profound to see, because we get pushback at school board meetings all the time from people who are still learning.”

Keep reading here.—JG

The United Auto Workers recently made progress in its campaign to organize workers across the EV sector––but the next four years are likely to be challenging for organized labor with a less friendly administration in power.

The UAW announced in November that a “supermajority of workers” at a joint-venture EV battery plant in Kentucky had signed cards indicating their support for unionization and taking their organizing campaign public (the union didn’t specify how many workers had signed, and workers would still have to vote to join the union). The plant, called BlueOval SK, is part of a joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On.

In a statement, BlueOval SK HR Director Neva Burke said, “We are excited about our future and strive to maintain our direct relationship with our employees.”

The news comes on the heels of recent gains the UAW has made at Ultium Cells, a joint venture that produces batteries for General Motors’ EVs. Ultium workers at a plant in Ohio ratified their first contract in June, and workers at an Ultium plant in Tennessee joined the UAW in September.

“The ability of the UAW to successfully organize the Ford joint-venture battery plant in Kentucky is a major milestone,” Harley Shaiken, a labor expert and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, told Tech Brew. Still, he acknowledged that “it’s still very much an uphill climb for the future.”

Keep reading here.—JG