Sustainability Community

I came across this report by Breakthrough Energy - really great online presentation of it, very visual. The report has a welcoming message from Bill Gates. 

Bill says that for him 2023 was a year of climate dissonance. One one hand, there were frequent once-in-a-century natural disasters happening every week (fires in Greece and Maui, heat waves in India, drought in Kenya, orange sky in New York), and still, the world pumped more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than in any year prior. On the other hand, 2023 makes Bill feel more hopeful than any point in his two decades of working to confront climate change. The answer to that is Innovation. A few snapshots from Bill and the report:

• There are no silver bullets for climate change, but hydrogen comes close
• Even if humanity stopped emitting CO2 tomorrow, climate change wouldn't be solved
• Important to understand that carbon removal is not an excuse to keep emitting or to slow down our transition to a clean energy economy
• a core component of the world's net-zero strategy is "electrifying everything"
• We need to get those climate change innovators out into the real world

The report looks at 5 grand challenges to accelerating clean industrial transition: electricity, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and buildings. It also gives an update on carbon management (different methods of carbon removal and management and why they are not an excuse to keep polluting).

Do we have members with the experience of investing in any of these 5 spaces and in cleantech? How optimistic are you that we will keep transitioning to clean energy world at the right pace? What stands in the way?

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Aya Pariy
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Attachment(s)

Break through energy Interactive -State-of-the-Transition...pdf   36.97 MB 1 version

Hello community,

I saw this bizarre news about  an innovative robot that looks like a dog and throws flames around. At a time when we are witnessing so many disastrous nature fires, yet this innovation not only was engineered but also now is being sold by a company in Ohio. The robot dog throws flames around.

This part of robotics market is completely unregulated in the US at the moment and one doesnt event need a license to sell these. "In a surprising move that has sparked both curiosity and concern, an Ohio-based company has introduced a new robotic marvel to the market. Dubbed the "Thermonator," this innovative creation combines cutting-edge robotics with a controversial feature-a built-in flamethrower.

As discussions unfold about the implications of this new robotic offering, one thing remains clear-the Thermonator has ignited a fiery conversation about the intersection of technology, regulation, and societal expectations in the realm of robotics."  There is more information and  a video here 

And the good news is that there are robots that can help monitor air quality.  IVAAIU City is a collective aiming to smooth robot-human relationships. It's demonstrating a robot air quality monitor at VIvaTech 2024 in Paris. Read more here

Right, so my mind, prone to thrillers and action movies, is now imagining "thermonators" throwing flames around and those VivaTech nice robots sending us alarms that the air quality is very poor because of thermonators. We do need another robot who will put out the fires then. Why not equip the robot dog with water so that it splashes water around instead of fire?

On a serious note, those members who invest in "sustainability" robotics and devices, how do you see this space developing?