Climate News | TechCrunch

Microsoft bets a carbon removal bake-off will help offset its skyrocketing AI emissions

Tim De Chant — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:23:57 +0000

Microsoft is buying 10,000 tons of carbon credits from Deep Sky, a direct air capture developer.

Ecolectro stuffs hydrogen production into shipping containers to cut costs

Tim De Chant — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 17:00:00 +0000

The startup figures the best way to rein in costs is to bring production closer to where it’s being used.

Nearly half of AI data centers may not have enough power by 2027

Tim De Chant — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:31:22 +0000

AI’s insatiable thirst for electricity is expected to surge in the coming years.

Atlas.co wants its web-based mapping tool to be the Figma of geospatial data

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Startup inspiration can strike anywhere. But for Atlas.co*, a freemium browser-based, real-time mapping tool that’s being built by an Oslo, Norway-based team of (initially student) engineers, the realization that there might be a business opportunity in competing with expensive legacy mapping software hit the founders during class. “When we took introduction class to GIS [geographic […]

Lyten buys battery manufacturing assets from beleaguered Northvolt

Tim De Chant — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 16:17:26 +0000

Silicon Valley unicorn Lyten will gain equipment and space to start making its lithium-sulfur batteries.

NitroVolt is helping farmers make their own fertilizer using renewable power

Tim De Chant — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 14:15:14 +0000

The majority of the world’s ammonia is produced using the 115-year-old Haber-Bosch process, which is heavily reliant on natural gas. NitroVolt could change that.

Germany’s Klim raises $22M to take its regenerative farming platform international

Mike Butcher — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 13:00:00 +0000

Global food production generates at least a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, more than 80% of which comes from agriculture. But addressing that impact is easier said than done since there are simply so many moving parts to address. “Regenerative” farming is often touted as one way to make progress toward several sustainability goals, as it offers […]

Ecosia and Qwant, two European search engines, join forces on an index to shrink reliance on Big Tech

Natasha Lomas, Ivan Mehta — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Qwant, France’s privacy-focused search engine, and Ecosia, a Berlin-based not-for-profit search engine that uses ad revenue to fund tree planting and other climate-focused initiatives, are joining forces on a joint venture to develop their own European search index. The pair hopes this move will help drive innovation in their respective search engines — including and […]

As demand for lithium explodes, battery recycling startup Tozero sprints to scale with $11.7M seed

Natasha Lomas — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 05:00:00 +0000

Tozero, a Munich-based startup that recovers valuable raw materials from recycled lithium-ion batteries, is gearing up to scale. The startup just closed an oversubscribed €11 million seed round (around $11.7M) to step up production by building its first industrial deployment (A.K.A first-of-a-kind or FOAK) plant. Currently, Tozero’s pilot plant processes nine tonnes of lithium-ion battery […]

SpaceX alums find traction on Earth with their Mars-inspired CO2-to-fuel tech

Tim De Chant — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 17:30:26 +0000

Though General Galactic is focused on producing methane, the company isn’t necessarily looking to displace the fuel from heating and energy.

Large funds are too invested in the energy transition to turn back now

Tim De Chant — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:11:20 +0000

The recent U.S. election might appear bad for climate tech, but the energy transition has enough financial momentum that experts aren’t expecting investment trends to change anytime soon.

Why founders shouldn’t chase massive TAMs

Tim De Chant — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:44:00 +0000

Not every investor will be impressed by a founder’s massive prospective TAM, short for total addressable market.

Ulysses is using robots to restore seagrass populations

Rebecca Szkutak — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 14:01:54 +0000

Seagrass punches above its weight. The marine plant only occupies 0.1% of the ocean floor but can be credited with supporting marine ecosystems of plants and fish, filtering ocean water, and capturing quite a bit of carbon. Seagrass is also being destroyed, due to climate change and other factors, with meadows reducing 7% globally each […]

Glint Solar grabs $8M to help accelerate solar energy adoption across Europe

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Solar energy is booming, which is good news for Glint Solar. The Norwegian software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup has built a platform that’s helping energy giants and large solar developers such as E.ON, Recurrent Energy, and Statkraft cut the time it takes to plan and pre-design solar installations to accelerate the transition to renewables. Glint’s software pulls in […]

How Trump’s election could affect the startup-friendly Inflation Reduction Act

Tim De Chant — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:59:18 +0000

While Trump's administration is unlikely to be supportive of certain climate tech startups, it will have a harder time ending the broadly popular law.

Google is opening an AI hub in oil-rich Saudi Arabia

Tim De Chant — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 19:55:03 +0000

The new AI hub will support research into Arab language AI models and “Saudi-specific AI applications.”

Oil giant BP is killing 18 hydrogen projects, chilling the nascent industry

Tim De Chant — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 17:45:34 +0000

The hydrogen industry, which has relied on oil and gas companies both financially and through lobbying efforts, is preparing for a grim outcome.

How a box on a roof helped Transaera land $8.2 million in funding

Tim De Chant — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 16:00:40 +0000

The company has been toiling for seven years, developing a novel air conditioning technology and searching for a beachhead market.

Regulators deliver successive blows to Amazon and Meta’s nuclear power ambitions

Tim De Chant — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 19:00:21 +0000

A series of recent rulings from regulators dashed the Big Tech companies' hopes of finding a quick fix for their electricity needs.

How to build a company that can save the world and generate a profit

Tim De Chant — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:53:00 +0000

For startups that hope to save the world, or at least make it a better place, balancing impact with profit can be tricky.