Buenos días,
A quick recap of the week. Is there ESG greenwashing risk?; a giant DAC marine mammal, more positive news in terms of VC generalist money migrating into Climate Tech and more.
Here we go!
Chart of the week: Despite a real momentum in green investment; greenwashing is a real risk
From Bloomberg Green Daily’s Tim Quinson: Questions about exaggerated claims abound, since the vast majority of funds claiming adherence to net-zero investment strategies are subject to “large and obvious greenwashing risks, Goltz said.
One of those risks is the temptation to game the system so as to earn better scores rather than truly make a difference. Money managers, along with regulators, should reassess the investment standards and practices in the area of climate alignment, Goltz said. Funds need to go beyond displaying the “green scores” of their portfolios and instead invest in stocks “in a way that provides incentives for companies to act on climate change.”
Felix Goltz is a member of the EDHEC-Scientific Beta research chair that compiled the study 65-page report called: Doing Good or Feeling Good? Detecting Greenwashing in Climate Investing.
The largest Direct Air Capture (DAC) and storage facility has been inaugurated in Iceland. Climeworks named the facility - Orca to capture and store 4,000 metric tons of CO2 a year. However, the magnitude and scope of Orca will be tiny (just about 0.1% of Iceland’s CO2 emissions per year will be captured) showing the challenges of scaling up this technology to really make a difference on a Gigaton scale. It’s estimated that the current cost runs at$600-800/ ton, substantially higher than the holy grail of $100-150/ton of climate negative technologies for truly taking off.
Founders Factory is launching their first pre-seed investment program dedicated to Climate Tech. They're doing this in partnership with G-Force: Boris Zeleny (behind AVG, sold to AVAST for $1.4bn), Marian Gazdik (Startup Grind), Péter Küllői, and Miklos Kobor.
This program offers €150k cash investment, 6-months of bespoke support from their team of experts, completely tailored to each startup's needs and growth objectives, access to a global network of partners, investors and founders. The focus areas of this pre/seed round are:
♻️ Circular economy
🏡 Sustainable housing
🚲🚶Climate-friendly mobility
💨 Carbon/methane capture & storage
🥘 Sustainable food & feed production
ExxonMobil Introduces Renewable Diesel Process Technology
“ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing has introduced ExxonMobil Renewable Diesel process technology (“EMRD”) to help meet the evolving needs for mobility, while utilizing renewable feedstock. This new process technology converts feedstocks including, but not limited to, vegetable oils, unconverted cooking oil and animal fats, into renewable diesel.”
This kind of news is well received, however, how “renewable” is renewable diesel? Producing biofuels directly competes against food production for land
Map of the week: Mapping Methane Emissions in California
In October 2016, an aircraft equipped with NASA’s Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer–Next-Generation (AVIRIS-NG) instrument detected multiple plumes of methane arising from the Sunshine Canyon landfill near Santa Clarita, California. The plumes were large enough that researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) notified facility operators and local enforcement agencies about it. It was an important step in a process of better accounting for local emissions of the gas.
Methane has 28 times more global warming potential than CO2, it makes up to 17.2% of total greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, waste treatment and gas flaring. Sometimes the importance of reducing emissions of methane is overlooked because methane in the atmosphere gets removed faster than CO2 (around 10-12 years). However, the release of large amount of methane in the atmosphere can have serious consequences, hence, the importance of monitoring methane leaks.
If you want to send us an idea or a tip, a #ClimateTech company that we should have a look at, or if you have any questions, please reach us at: davidcongeof@gmail.com or arraiz.p.daniel@gmail.com.
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