SHIPPING

You're Gonna Need a Greener Boat

Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, is placing a $1.4 billion order for eight new ships that run on carbon-neutral fuel.

The move is the “single largest step taken so far to decarbonize the global shipping industry,” the Guardian wrote. Which is important, because those container ships photobombing your beach selfies are also major contributors to climate change: The sector accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

• The new ships, which are expected to be delivered by 2024, are more electric F-150 than Nissan Leaf. With the ability to handle 16,000 containers, they’re only slightly smaller than the gigantic Ever Given, which was carrying 18,300 when it got stuck in the Suez Canal.  

Big picture: Trying to power huge ships with an inexpensive clean energy source has been a challenge. Electric sounds inciting, until you learn that a large container ship would go through 10,000 Tesla S85 batteries...every day. 

• Maersk’s new ships run on carbon-neutral methanol, which is produced from renewable sources like biomass.
• Other lower-carbon fuel options include ammonia, hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, and nuclear energy, though each has pros and cons. Commodities trader Cargill is even adding sails to some of its cargo ships to get a wind boost. 

This is about way more than shipping lines

Any company that sends goods across oceans (aka most of the big ones) is feeling pressure from consumers to give their supply chains a green paint job. Maersk said that more than half of its 200 largest customers, including Disney and Amazon, have pledged to reduce carbon emissions in their supply chains, or are in the process of doing so.

So while the new ships will cost 10%–15% above traditional prices, Maersk thinks that its customers will be willing to pay more to pollute less. – NF

GEOPOLITICS

Airbnb Opens Its Doors to Afghan Refugees

CEO Brian Chesky tweeted Tuesday that the home rental platform will temporarily house as many as 20,000 Afghan refugees and asked hosts to open up their homes to meet that goal. 

Airbnb will cover all the costs as part of its ongoing nonprofit program Airbnb.org, which has housed 75,000 people in need since 2012.

The backstory: The US and other countries have been frantically airlifting their citizens and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan after the government collapsed and the Taliban took over. Yesterday, President Biden said the US had assisted in evacuating 70,700 people since August 14.

Where will they go?

If recent history is any indication, not too far. Neighboring countries Iran and Pakistan hosted the most Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in 2020.

What about the US? Congress added 8,000 “special immigrant visas” intended for Afghan nationals who work for the US government, and the Biden administration told humanitarian groups to prepare for as many as 50,000 Afghan refugees who aren’t eligible for that visa to enter the US under a new designation called “humanitarian parole.”

Looking ahead...President Biden confirmed yesterday that the airlift will probably end on the Taliban-imposed deadline of August 31, despite allies urging him to extend it beyond that date. – JW

AUTO

Waymo's on a Mission, in the Mission

Waymo, Google’s sister company, started offering robotaxi rides to people in San Francisco yesterday. These vehicles do drive themselves, but beware: There will be a safety driver at the wheel, and they will pitch you their app idea.

Why it matters: SF becomes Waymo’s second market in its quest to build out a robotaxi network in cities across the globe. The company has been running a fully driverless ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area since last fall. But San Francisco, with its steep hills, trolley lines, and illustrious people-watching, presents a unique challenge for any driver, let alone a robot one.

Zoom out: While Waymo’s announcement is a step forward, autonomous vehicles face a road more winding than Lombard Street. Waymo’s service is not that popular in Phoenix, according to Emerging Tech Brew, and this week even the bombastic Elon Musk admitted that Tesla’s Full-Self Driving tech is “actually not great.” – NF

+ For more self-driving car news, sign up for Emerging Tech Brew.

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: Unvaccinated people are 29x more likely to be hospitalized for Covid-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, according to a new CDC report. The unvaccinated are also 5x more likely to contract Covid-19 in the first place, the report says. Nearly 40% of the US population have not received at least one shot of a vaccine.

Quote: “It is a risky time to be traveling right now.”

Hawaii Governor David Ige wants you to fulfill your White Lotus fantasies another time. He’s asking that visitors avoid coming to Hawaii on vacation through the end of October to reduce the spread of Covid-19. 

Read: A portrait of a professional baby maker. (Neo.life)

SOCIAL MEDIA

#tiktokmademebuyit

Soon you could only be one click away from buying the ChomChom roller you saw in a TikTok video. E-commerce platform Shopify said it's partnering with TikTok to add a tab for in-app shopping. The new commerce feature, which will be available to Shopify merchants with TikTok business accounts, is currently being piloted by a group that includes Kylie Jenner.

The partnership reflects a new era of "social commerce.” Instead of shopping online by typing something into Google, people are buying things based on influencers' recommendations.

As more social media platforms roll out shopping features, the US social commerce industry is expected to reach $50 billion in annual sales by 2023, per eMarketer. Facebook’s social commerce platform, Marketplace, hit 1 billion users in April. 

• “Just imagine kids 20 years from now—they’re going to be shocked to hear that we had to use a search engine when buying something,” Jet.com founder Marc Lore told the Brew.

Looking ahead...TikTok hopes to replicate the success of its Chinese sibling, Douyin, which racked up $26 billion from e-commerce transactions in its first year of operation. – SQ

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• The White House is hosting Big Tech execs including Amazon’s Andy Jassy, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella for an event on cybersecurity today.
• Goldman Sachs is requiring anyone who enters its US offices to be vaccinated, clients included.
• At least two US diplomats had to be evacuated from Vietnam after suffering reported cases of “Havana syndrome.” Learn about what that is here.
• Peloton’s Tread, which it recalled and then redesigned after several injuries and one death, is going back on sale next week.

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BREW'S BETS

Typing game: Post this link in your company’s main Slack channel and watch all your coworkers go Lord of the Flies to beat each other. The Brew’s winner was Emerging Tech reporter Hayden Field with a time of 3.122 seconds.

How the US drains itself: Drop a raindrop anywhere in the US, then watch its path to the ocean. 

Keep tabs on your stocks: We don't recommend checking your stocks all the time, but here's an easy way to find the live price of a stock on Excel and Google Sheets, courtesy of Money Scoop. 

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GAMES

The Puzzle Section

Word Search: What's more fun than identifying ice cream truck classics? 

Greater Than or Less Than?

1. Seasons of Breaking Bad / Seasons of Sopranos
2. Population of New York State / Population of New England 
3. GameStop quarterly revenue / AMC quarterly revenue
4. Height of the Burj Khalifa / Height of 10 Washington Monuments stacked on top of one another

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ANSWER

1. There are fewer seasons of Breaking Bad 
2. New York’s population is greater than New England’s
3. GameStop has more revenue than AMC
4. 10 Washington Monuments would tower over the Burj Khalifa