October 23, 2021

Weekend Reads: Google's Vision of a Carbon-Free HQ; San Diego's RE Future

It's the weekend! Kick back and catch up with these must-read articles from around the web.

Google’s Biggest Moonshot Is Its Search for a Carbon-Free Future (Bloomberg) Google Bay View, the company’s newest campus, consists of three squat buildings nestled near the San Francisco Bay shoreline a few miles east of its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The first things visitors notice are the roofs. They curve down gently from pinched peaks, like circus tents, sloping almost to the ground. Each roof is blanketed with overlapping solar panels that glisten with a brushed metal sheen on the edges. Google calls this design Dragonscale, and indeed it looks as if a mystical beast is curled up by the water in Silicon Valley.

Europe’s sustainable finance regulation will drive global change (IFA Magazine) Europe’s groundbreaking sustainable finance regulations are reshaping the market for sustainable investment, bringing new companies to market, encouraging greater disclosure and setting a benchmark for the rest of the world, according to NN Investment Partners (NN IP). The EU has led the world in its response towards climate change and environmental degradation, seeking to achieve no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and to decouple economic growth from the use of natural resources. The need for more sustainable investment is pressing. An additional EUR 180 billion will be needed each year to put Europe on the path to environmental and socio-economic stability by 2030, according to the European Commission.

Webinar: Maximize Savings with Solar + Storage + EV Charging (Enel X) Wednesday, November 03, 2021, 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. More businesses are offering electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure at workplaces and electrifying their fleets, creating new opportunities to combine renewable technologies. By pairing electric vehicles with solar-plus-storage, facilities can reap significant energy savings, further decrease GHG emissions, and increase facility resiliency. In this webinar, industry experts from Enel X will discuss how combining solar + storage + EV charging creates value for businesses. They’ll discuss the modeling process, business impacts, and optimal metering strategies, touching on topics such as the value of pairing solar + storage to help electrify a workplace; how to maximize EV charging project savings through incentives, smart charging technology, utility programs and metering structures; and a case study of a recent solar + storage + EV project. REGISTER HERE

Wave. Offshore wind. Geothermal. Are these the next power resources for San Diego County? (The San Diego Union-Tribune) In addition to renewable energy projects featuring solar, wind and energy storage, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved looking at the potential of wave energy, offshore wind and geothermal to someday provide electricity in unincorporated areas of the county. “Everything should be on the table,” Supervisor Joel Anderson said prior to the board meeting. “We should be exploring every opportunity, not just solar and not just wind.” Chairman Nathan Fletcher, a Democrat, joined Anderson, a Republican, in bringing the proposal before the board, which passed it, 5-0. The vote is part of the county’s Regional Decarbonization Framework that looks to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions and reduce pollution and ground-level ozone. The county has adopted a sustainability plan to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 and slash net carbon emissions to zero by 2035.

Biden administration announces goal of 5 million homes powered by community solar (The Hill) The Department of Energy on Friday announced a target of the equivalent of five million homes powered by community solar energy by 2025. The target would save $1 billion and contribute to administration goals of fully renewable electricity by 2035, according to the department. “Community solar is one of the most powerful tools we have to provide affordable solar energy to all American households, regardless of whether they own a home or have a roof suitable for solar panels,” Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement. “Achieving these ambitious targets will lead to meaningful energy cost savings, create jobs in these communities, and make our clean energy transition more equitable.”

Net-Zero Emissions: The Steps Companies and Investors Can Consider (Visual Capitalist) To help prevent the worst effects of climate change, a growing number of companies are pledging to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In fact, the percentage of companies declaring a net-zero target nearly doubled from 2019 to 2020. With urgency building, how can companies and investors approach net-zero emissions? The above infographic from MSCI highlights the steps these two groups can take, from defining a strategy to reporting progress. Setting a net-zero emissions target means reducing carbon emissions to the greatest extent possible, and compensating for the remaining unavoidable emissions via removal. Companies and investors can take four broad steps to move toward their targets.

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