Good morning all and welcome back to the Green New Spiel, the newsletter bringing you the latest stories and developments in the world of clean-tech, green energy and other climate related news.
We are back with some fantastic stories today! Remember to drop us a message if you want us to cover more of a particular sector / space 💡
This week on the Green New Spiel:
🌳 Big Pharma Trees - AstraZeneca doubles down on tree planting
🍄 Mushrooms helping revive ecosystems
🧐 Exxon completes the largest carbon-management investment since the IRA
⚡️ Tesla could be your energy provider
🇪🇺 EU’s Nature Restoration Law
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🌳 Big Pharma Trees - AstraZeneca doubles down on tree planting
AstraZeneca has expanded its global reforestation program, committing to plant over 200 million trees world wide by 2030, thanks to a $400m investment. The reforestation project will look to plant 247,000 acres, mainly across Brazil, India, Vietnam, Ghana and Rwanda.
The benefits of planting trees are often debated as critics highlight the fact that there (i) isn’t enough land to mitigate all GHG emissions, (ii) they don’t start absorbing material amounts of carbon for several years and (iii) they can be cut or burnt down. Whilst all of the three points above are of course true, they will still need to be one of the solutions over the coming years.
Remember - if you want to plant trees yourself (for free) - download TreeApp (we’re not being paid to say this!)
🍄 Mushrooms helping revive ecosystems
In the North Pacific atoll of Palmyra, one of the most remote places on Earth, a biologist from the University of Amsterdam is researching fungi, exploring the possibility of using below ground microorganisms to restore heavily degraded ecosystems. Studies have repeatedly shown a drastic increase in tree or crop productivity when certain fungi are added.
In an attempt to protect coral reefs from rising sea temperatures and increasingly acidic waters, researchers are looking to use Palmyra as a test case for restoring native plants to the atoll, which has been overrun by invasive species. Native trees are part of a complex web that connects life on land and in the water. Similar islands and atolls hold 20% of the Earth’s biodiversity, so protecting them is imperative.
🧐 Exxon completes the largest carbon-management investment since the IRA
Exxon has bought Denbury, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery company, for $4.9 billion. However, don’t get too excited just yet. CCS is sometimes criticised for the fact that it can actually be used to support increased fossil fuel extraction: in this case, Denbury specialises in using carbon dioxide to extract oil from old wells. This does of course mean Exxon in theory needs to drill less to extract that same amount of oil.
How Exxon will use the asset is still to be seen: this acquisition could be a benefit the CCS industry over the long term, leveraging its experience to advance the technology and the educate policy makers. Or it could simply use it to increase oil recovery and crowd out more environmentally progressive uses of CCS. We’re not keeping our fingers crossed.
⚡️ Tesla could be your energy provider
Tesla is bucking the consolidation trend and is looking to enter the UK energy market by offering electricity to households and operating "virtual power plants." The move would enable Tesla customers with Powerwall batteries, solar panels, or electric vehicles to store and sell electricity back to the grid. Tesla previously applied for an electricity generator license in the UK and may also consider large-scale battery storage projects.
🇪🇺 EU’s Nature Restoration Law
The EU Nature Restoration Law, a part of the EU's Green Deal, was adopted by parliament. It aims to restore 20% of the EU's degraded ecosystems by 2030 and requires member states to commit to binding targets for nature restoration. The regulation needs to now get approval from the parliament's environment committee, which previously voted it down.
Over 80% of the EU's habitats are in poor condition, and implementing the law is deemed essential to meet the bloc's 2050 net-zero goals. Remember - huge amounts of carbon can be stored in healthy, rich soil and restoring ecosystems can help achieve this.
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Ciao,
Carlo and Rob